Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
The endless golden rice paddies rippled under the breeze like golden waves.
These past few days, every household in Dongxi Village had been busy with harvesting.
This morning, Xu Chuan performed his "Daily Divination" to divine his fortune.
[Today's divination: Upper-middle. Today while harvesting rice, you will encounter Uncle Chen's family. You have a chance of obtaining information about an internal energy manual and ownerless rice paddies from Uncle Chen]
Xu Chuan's face lit up with joy.
My efforts these past days divining about this matter weren't in vain. I finally didn't miss this opportunity.
An internal energy manual?
It was indeed time to consider practicing martial arts. However, Xu Chuan hadn't yet decided which child should pursue the martial path, as this would determine the allocation of the second generation's talents.
In the fields.
"Brother Chuan, your family's rice is really excellent. Each grain is plump and large. The yield from your ten mu is comparable to fifteen or sixteen mu from my family."
A dark-skinned man looked at Xu Chuan's rice paddy, his eyes clearly filled with envy.
This person was called Chen Ergou, Uncle Chen's second son, only a year younger than Xu Chuan.
He had admired and looked up to him since childhood.
Their family's rice paddy was next to Xu Chuan's.
"Do you have some secret method? Teach me."
"What nonsense are you talking about? If there were a secret method, why would I tell you?" Uncle Chen walked over at this moment, scolding and grumbling.
"Uncle Chen, there's no secret method. This is all Heaven's blessing."
"Heaven Rewards Diligence," so what Xu Chuan said wasn't wrong.
Uncle Chen laughed heartily, "Who in Dongxi Village doesn't know that San Shu, you're skilled at farming? Otherwise, the Xu family wouldn't have insisted you stay back then."
"You were wise to quit your long-term work and strike out on your own. Now your days are getting better and better."
"Still can't compare to your family, Uncle Chen."
Uncle Chen's family had two sons and two daughters, one hundred twenty mu of rice paddies, twenty mu of farmland, and thirty mu of forest. They were quite a wealthy household in Dongxi Village.
Moreover, their eldest son was very capable and had some martial arts talent.
He was already a third-rate martial artist, had settled in Qingjiang County town, and married the youngest daughter of a wealthy merchant family.
"With all this farm work these days, isn't Big Brother Daming coming back?" A thought arose in Xu Chuan, and he asked casually.
Speaking of his eldest son Chen Ming, Uncle Chen's eyes flashed with a complex expression of both pride and helplessness.
"Your Big Brother Daming is a martial artist. He has his own matters to attend to."
Family disgrace shouldn't be publicized, so naturally Uncle Chen wouldn't speak poorly of his son in front of outsiders.
"I really envy Big Brother Daming. When I have money in the future, I'll also buy an internal energy manual for my son to practice. Uncle Chen, if you see Big Brother Daming, remember to ask for me."
"No problem, it's a small matter." Uncle Chen grinned and patted his chest, "This world isn't very stable. It's good to practice some martial arts for self-defense."
As he spoke, he sighed slightly with emotion, "If only Old Yu had your mindset, he wouldn't have been robbed in the middle of the night with his whole family killed."
"How pitiful!"
"However, the martial path is very costly. San Shu, you must be mentally prepared." Uncle Chen's tone shifted again as he earnestly cautioned.
Without talent, having money alone would ultimately amount to nothing.
"I understand, Uncle Chen."
"It's such a pity about Uncle Yu's family. What happened to their farmland?"
"When people die, everything becomes nothing." Uncle Chen's eyes brightened, a smile appearing in them.
"The government naturally has to take it back. It'll probably happen in the next couple days. If you happen to run into the government runners, it's best to act immediately."
"After all, your family's population keeps increasing, the children are growing up, and even though your rice paddy yields are several percent higher than others, ten mu is too little."
Having his thoughts seen through, Xu Chuan wasn't surprised. He scratched his head and flattered, "Nothing can escape Uncle Chen's notice. I do have this plan.
Now that life is gradually improving and the population is steadily increasing, I'm starting to consider increasing the family's landholdings."
Whether ordinary commoners or wealthy households, all valued farmland greatly. Unless absolutely necessary, they would never easily sell rice paddies.
This was the foundation of their survival.
Even if the family declined after several generations, as long as the farmland remained, it would always be a guarantee for their descendants' livelihood.
Buying rice paddies required luck.
Fortunately, Xu Chuan's luck wasn't bad, and he had waited for this opportunity.
As for the internal energy manual, it wasn't the most important thing right now. If the price was too high, he could only give it up for now and plan for it later.
Xu Chuan was very clear about what the Xu family needed most at present.
His mindset was as steady as an old dog!
The Great Wei Dynasty incorporated both martial and immortal paths, with separate systems for martial officials and immortal officials. However, because the immortal path had high requirements for aptitude and those who could cultivate immortality were one in ten thousand, once they achieved success in cultivation, their strength far surpassed martial artists.
Therefore, the status of immortal officials in the Great Wei Dynasty was clearly higher but regardless of which path, one had to possess certain strength and, more importantly, connections.
Becoming a martial or immortal official of the Great Wei Dynasty was equivalent to entering the civil service system of Xu Chuan's previous life.
This was an iron rice bowl!
Any martial artist or low-level immortal cultivator greatly desired this.
If managed well, in just ten or twenty years, it could rapidly strengthen the family clan.
After chatting for a while, both families began harvesting.
The Xu family only had ten mu of farmland. They had already been harvesting for over ten days previously, and not much remained. Because his movements were swift, Xu Chuan finished in half a day.
After lunch, Xu Chuan had to go to the threshing ground to sun-dry the harvested rice. This was to reduce moisture and prevent mold.
"Father, where are you going?" the two little ones asked.
"Father is going to sun-dry the rice."
"Father, I'll help you." Xu Mingwei looked up at Xu Chuan, his little hands clenched into fists, his childish face firm and determined.
"Good, Shitou will help Father."
Xu Chuan rubbed Xu Mingwei's head, his eyes full of affection.
Such a sensible child, which parents wouldn't be pleased?
At this moment, Xu Mingyuan also called out in his baby voice, "I want to go too, Father."
"Go, go, go, everyone go!"
There were quite a few people busy at the threshing ground. Seeing Xu Chuan arrive with his two children, they all smiled and praised how sensible and capable his children were.
Xu Chuan also responded with smiles, beginning a brief parental mutual praise session. However, the two little ones were children after all. After working for not very long, tempted by something unknown, they ran off somewhere.
Xu Mingwei was already quite sensible, so Xu Chuan was relatively at ease. However, when they returned covered in mud, Xu Chuan still scolded them.
Then he stripped them clean and stuffed them into a wooden tub, having Bai Jing wash them.
Xu Mingwei and Xu Mingyuan played around in the wooden tub, splashing water that soaked Bai Jing's clothes, putting on quite a wet temptation show in front of Xu Chuan.
…
Late at night.
Stars dotted the sky, and the evening breeze rode on moonlight, bringing threads of coolness.
Bai Jing once again practiced her flute-playing skills, going deep then shallow, with nimble fingering techniques.
Her skills became increasingly proficient, receiving Xu Chuan's praise.
The next day.
[Today's divination: Auspicious. At the quarter hour of si, the county registrar of Qingjiang will arrive at the entrance of Dongxi Village. You have a high probability of purchasing fifty mu of rice paddies]
"Fifty mu of rice paddies?"