Xu Xingchen had already distributed the wheat and asked several people to bring the planting results at a fixed time every day. One purpose was to test how the wheat ripened with nutrient solution would grow under normal water and soil irrigation, and the other was to secretly teach them the techniques of growing wheat.
The happiest person among them was Zhou Xiaoniang. She took the best care of her seeds, and theirs grew the best among them. They had already grown into ears of wheat.
In the shed, Xu Xingchen was rolling up his sleeves and kneading the mixture of wheat and glutinous rice in a wooden basin. After steaming, it became soft, sticky and thick.
"...We can't live like this anymore, let's split up!"
"Hey, what are you talking about? What can I do if someone comes to me?"
Zhou Xiaoniang and Shuanzi were arguing as they walked towards the shed. Xu Xingchen heard their quarrel from a distance. She shook the water off her hands, stood up and went forward to ask.
"What's going on?" She pulled the man aside.
Zhou Xiaoniang wiped her tears and stamped her feet as she told the reason for the couple's quarrel.
"Shuanzi has a distant relative who always comes to ask Shuanzi for money, saying it's a loan, but he never paid it back. Last night, that distant relative came again, and Shuanzi gave the money away again."
Xu Xingchen echoed the relatives who scolded Shuanzi, saying, "That's too much. Not only did they borrow money and not pay it back, but they also treated your family like an ATM."
"Kick wide? What is that?" Zhou Xiaoniang took her hand away from wiping her tears and asked this strange word.
"Well, it means... something like a purse."
"oh..."
"That's not important. Let me talk to Shuanzi. You ferment the wheat and glutinous rice first, and then we can make the exclusive secret recipe." Xu Xingchen tried to divert her attention with the "exclusive secret recipe".
"Yeah, okay."
Zhou Xiaoniang's attention was indeed diverted. After all, money is the most important thing to her.
Shuanzi squatted in the shed in boredom, frequently glancing inside at Zhou Xiaoniang. Xu Xingchen walked up to him and said, "I heard from Zhou Xiaoniang that Shuanzi is really something. You know that your distant relative only knows how to take money from you, yet you always borrow from him."
Shuanzi inserted his fingers into his tangled hair and said sullenly, "Xu Meizi, you don't know this, but his family once saved my mother, and they always use this incident to threaten me to borrow money."
"Ah? This..." Xu Xingchen wanted to ask why he didn't sue the authorities, but then he remembered that it seemed that civil disputes were not dealt with in ancient times.
After a long silence, she could only offer a few words of comfort.
“Ouch—”
When Xu Xingchen heard the voice, she knew who was coming. She looked at the person with a headache.
Aunt Wang, carrying a basket, pointed at Xu Xingchen with her orchid finger raised and said, "I was wondering why Miss Xu wanted to build that damn factory. Apparently, it's just to build the factory, but the real purpose is to seduce men."
Aunt Wang just passed by Xu Xingchen's house from the town, but saw Xu Xingchen and Shuanzi standing together, which gave her the opportunity to annoy them.
Xu Xingchen frowned, "How did I hook up with a man?"
"You still say no, what are you and Shuanzi doing here? Miss Zhou is still working in there."
"They were arguing, and I just gave them some words of advice." Xu Xingchen explained calmly.
Aunt Wang was amused. "And then you planned to take advantage of the situation."
Xu Xingchen's face turned cold. She wanted to talk to her nicely, but she didn't give her a chance.
"Aunt Wang, you need to provide evidence when you speak. Be careful not to have ghosts and monsters pull out your tongue at night."
Aunt Wang's expression froze. This feudal village still believed in ghosts and gods. After a moment of panic, she stubbornly retorted, "You, stop trying to scare me. Everything I said is true. I saw it with my own eyes."
Shuanzi also explained to Aunt Wang with an awkward expression: "Aunt Wang, don't talk nonsense. Sister Xu was just talking to me, she didn't..."
"Aunt Wang, what you mean is, if you stand with a man, I can also say that you are seducing him?" Xu Xingchen said with a sarcastic look on his face.
"Stop trying to switch things up. Now we're talking about you hooking up with men." Aunt Wang retorted.
To deal with people like Aunt Wang, you have to use magic to defeat them.
Xu Xingchen approached Aunt Wang, stopped and waved to Shuanzi to come over, "Shuanzi, come here." Shuanzi followed the command blankly.
After directing the person to Aunt Wang, she said to Shuanzi, "Shuanzi, say hello to Aunt Wang."
"Hello, Aunt Wang."
Aunt Wang looked at Xu Xingchen in confusion. Is this Widow Xu crazy?
Xu Xingchen took two steps back, crossed his arms, and said, "Now, I also saw Aunt Wang talking to the man. Aunt Wang, you are seducing Shuanzi."
"Okay, okay, you sharp-tongued bitch!" Aunt Wang pointed at Xu Xingchen's trembling hand and said, "You're just making up stories!"
"I don't know if it's just a far-fetched argument or not. I only know that you are slandering people, Aunt Wang. Are those two light bulbs on your face?"
Aunt Wang didn't understand what the word "light bulb" meant, but she inexplicably felt that it was not a good word.
Zhou Xiaoniang heard the quarrel and came out to check. When Shuanzi saw the people, his eyes lit up and he called out, "Wife." Zhou Xiaoniang asked what happened.
Aunt Wang, the wicked one, started to complain and pulled Zhou Xiaoniang over to her, saying, "Zhou Xiaoniang, oh my, you don't know, Widow Xu was just whispering to Shuanzi, and I saw her, but she refuses to admit it."
Zhou Xiaoniang glanced at Xu Xingchen, and Xu Xingchen looked back at her fearlessly.
"Aunt Wang must be mistaken. Shuanzi would never do that."
Aunt Wang stamped her feet and said, "Oh, not yet. You didn't see how blatant the look in Widow Xu's eyes was when she looked at your Shuanzi."
Zhou Xiaoniang still shook her head and believed that Aunt Wang had seen it wrong, so Aunt Wang left in a hurry.
Aunt Wang caused this trouble. Seeing Zhou Xiaoniang's dazed look, Xu Xingchen asked Zhou Xiaoniang and others to go back and continue cultivating the wheat seedlings and not do it today.
The few of them had to leave, and this time Shuanzi and Zhou Xiaoniang went back side by side.
Jun Haoyue came back from collecting firewood on the mountain and found that there was no one in the shed. He walked into the yard and saw Xu Xingchen twisting the fermented wheat wrapped in linen with his thin arms.
Xu Xingchen saw him as if he had seen a savior, "Jun Haoyue, come and help."
Jun Haoyue rolled up his sleeves as he walked and took the linen ball. It felt sticky to his touch and he frowned almost imperceptibly.
"What is this for?"
Xu Xingchen snorted and said proudly, "This is called malt sugar. Don't stop twisting it. Keep twisting it."
Jun Haoyue resigned himself to his fate and continued twisting. After three or four times, he finally collected two large porcelain bowls. Xu Xingchen carefully carried the bowls into the kitchen.
Light a fire, boil, and Xu Xingchen keeps stirring with a spatula until the juice in the pot turns brown and thick.
Jun Haoyue, dressed in white, added firewood to her fire. He glanced into the pot and said, "Is this the malt sugar you mentioned?"
"Yes, I'm going to sell it in town tomorrow."
"Then I'll go with you."
"Yeah, yeah?" Xu Xingchen stopped stirring. "You want to go too?"
Jun Haoyue lowered his head and added more firewood, "Yes."
He would not make the same mistake a second time and let her face the same danger again alone.
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