Grass and mustard reign supreme

Chapter 47 An Unspeakable Flutter

As Cheng Lao Er looked up, sweat seeped into his eyes, stinging him so much that he squinted.

"His uncle!"

"Uncle!"

Cheng Erniangzi and her eldest son put down the plow and happily came to greet them.

"Shh~" Leopard Head raised his finger, making a shushing gesture.

This large area of ​​land was reclaimed by the Cheng family; there were no other villagers there.

But Leopard Head still cautiously glanced around.

His gaze fell on an old man holding a plow in the distant field, and he paused for a moment.

That was his elderly father.

Leopard Head withdrew his gaze and gestured towards the woods outside the field: "Second brother, come with me."

He took two steps, then turned back and gave another instruction.

"Second son's wife, you and Dazhuang should pretend you've never seen me, and don't tell anyone!"

"Yes, yes!" Cheng Erniangzi and her son responded repeatedly.

Seeing his father follow his uncle into the woods, Cheng Zhuang asked in confusion:
"Mother, now that Uncle has come down the mountain, why don't you go and see Grandpa and my aunt?"

What's he up to when he came to see my dad? Why is he acting so suspiciously?

"What do you know, you're just a kid? Your uncle has his reasons for doing what he wants. Just listen to him."

The backbone of the Cheng family now is Leopard Head.

If it weren't for Leopard Head, the Cheng family wouldn't have been able to acquire so much land in just over twenty years.

Without Leopard Head, even if they had worked tirelessly to reclaim a large tract of wasteland, it would have been seized by Master Zhang long ago, leaving them with the same fate as Zhen Laoshi.

In the hearts of the Cheng family, the eldest brother, Leopard Head, had long surpassed their father, who was very prolific, in prestige.

……

When it comes to matters of love, Qingmei was like a blank sheet of paper, untouched by any impurities, yet she repeatedly eavesdropped on the sounds coming from Yang Can's room through the window.

Those embarrassing sounds, night after night, permeated the window paper, and quietly painted a touch of rouge on the tip of her heart.

These repeated eavesdropping and imaginings unexpectedly became her most secretive enlightenment lessons.

Now that Yang Can is taking the initiative to flirt, that fragile window paper is easily broken.

Yang Can's witty joke, full of double meaning, made Xiao Qingmei blush with shyness.

Even a fleeting glance between them felt like a butterfly fluttering across the lake of her heart.

For Yang Can, teasing such a young girl who was just beginning to experience love had a unique charm.

But for the young plum, that taste was even sweeter than the first bloom of jasmine.

The young girl began to fall for him little by little.

Under the tree, the village head, Lai Gulu, and the field supervisor, Peng, stood side by side.

As was their habit in winter, they kept their hands in their sleeves and craned their necks slightly forward.

From a distance, they look like two hanged ghosts hanging from a big tree.

They didn't understand this kind of romance between men and women, even though they had both been with more than one woman.

Seeing that Deacon Yang and Deacon Qingmei were chatting happily on the edge of the field, Peng Jin couldn't help but ask:

"Hey, you deadbeat, shall we go over and listen in?"

Lai Gulu said dismissively, "Let them talk about whatever they want."

Anyway, wherever he goes, we'll keep an eye on him, so we don't have to worry about anything going wrong!

Gradually, they both began to realize that the two of them... were flirting?
Peng Jin's suspicions vanished instantly, and he burst out laughing.

"Old deadbeat, in my opinion, our manor lord is just suspicious and harbors ill intentions."

Look at Steward Yang, does he have any intention of inspecting our Feng'an Manor at all?
He's clearly using this as an opportunity to bring his mistress down the mountain for a secret rendezvous.

Lai Gulu laughed and said, "Isn't that perfect? ​​As long as he doesn't cause trouble for us, then everyone's happy."

"Make this guy happy as soon as possible, then get him out of here, and everything will be fine."

If Yang Can were to use his methods on modern young girls, he might as well use his good looks to seduce them; the success rate would probably be higher.

But in this era, she was completely powerless against a young woman like Qingmei, who was a blank slate when it came to matters of the heart.

With Yang Can's silver tongue, Xiao Qingmei quickly blushed and gave in.

Forget about being unreasonable; she doesn't even dare to respond to Yang Can's words anymore.

It's so hot and exciting to listen to, who could stand it?

Yang Can knew when to stop. He had already opened her heart today; why worry about opening even more tomorrow?

Yang Can said, "Let's go over there and take another look."

Yang Can called over Lai Gulu and Peng Jin, and walked towards a farmer's house where people were plowing the land.

That was a tenant farmer from Feng'an Village, using Zhang Yunyi's oxen for plowing.

Of course, the ox wasn't given to him for free; the cost would be included in the rent during the autumn harvest.

Yang Can simply wandered around aimlessly, deliberately trying to lull Zhang Yunyi into a false sense of security.

But when he got closer and saw the plow pulled by the old ox, Yang Can suddenly felt that it was not quite the plow he remembered.

Yang Can observed carefully for a long time before suddenly realizing what was happening.

It turns out the plowshare is straight; no wonder it always looks a bit clumsy, and even the oxen struggle to pull it.

Peng Jin asked with a smile, "Deacon Yang, are you also interested in farming?"

Yang Can frowned slightly and said, "Peng Tianjian, you don't know this, but my studies are quite diverse, and I have also dabbled in various crafts and ingenuity."

This is indeed my first time seeing farmland being plowed, but from what I've observed, the plowshares carried by the oxen are far too heavy and cumbersome, making deep plowing particularly difficult.

Upon hearing this, Peng Jin felt a little disdainful. "You're a bookish man who's lazy and doesn't know anything about farming. What are you pretending to be?"
But he still smiled politely and said, "What Deacon Yang says is true. Farmers toil in the fields and make a living; it is indeed very difficult for them."

Lai Gulu said proudly, "Although this plow is clumsy, it is already the best farming tool."

For families who don't even have a plow, such large tracts of land are simply impossible to cultivate.

"In our Feng'an Village, we have plows and oxen, so the tenants have suffered much less."

As soon as they arrived, some weathered, dark-skinned tenant farmers gathered around.

The people didn't dare to get too close, so they stood to the side with bowed backs and a forced smile.

The head of the estate and the supervisor of the fields have both come, and they are treating this young master with such respect. This young master must be an even more important person, so how could they dare to be disrespectful?

Upon hearing Peng Jin's words, the farmers quickly smiled obsequiously and nodded and bowed repeatedly.

Yang Can pondered for a moment and said, "Everyone in the world depends on food as their heaven. And the source of food is primarily agriculture."

You should understand the principle that "a skilled craftsman must first have the right tools."

Since this plow is so clumsy, hasn't anyone considered making improvements to the agricultural tools invented by our ancestors?

Lai Gulu couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Lai Gulu realized he had lost his composure, but didn't know how to recover, and his face turned bright red.

Yang Can, however, disagreed. Instead, he turned to an old craftsman beside him with great interest and asked, "What does Old Man Tie think?"

"Iron Master" is a polite and refined way of addressing a blacksmith.

This old craftsman is named Li Yue, and most of the farm tools in the village were made by him.

The plow in the field today was just made and delivered by him.

Li Yue shook his head and said, "Reporting to the master, this old man's skills were passed down from his ancestors."

I dare not be careless in my work, but I only strive to make farm tools that are sturdy and durable.

As for improving farm tools... this old man has no such ability.

Yang Can smiled and said, "While watching these farmers tilling the fields just now, I suddenly had an idea and wanted to make an improvement to this kind of plowshare."

Everyone was astonished. Given Yang Can's refined and scholarly demeanor, they simply couldn't associate him with farm tools.

Little Qingmei stared at Yang Can with her big, dark eyes, looking worried.

They just didn't want to stand in the sun in the fields, but don't make up that excuse.

If you can't do anything in the future, won't you be secretly laughed at?
Yang Can said, "Although I have my own ideas, if I want to take action, I still need to rely on Tie Weng."

If we can truly create a farming tool that benefits the people, we will both be remembered for generations to come.

This old blacksmith, had never had such a grand ambition in his entire life.
Yang Can's enormous offer left him dizzy and speechless for a moment.

Lai Gulu was secretly delighted upon hearing this.

He didn't believe that Deacon Yang, who had never even gotten his hands dirty, could improve any farm tools.

However, if Yang Canruo really gets caught up in this, wouldn't he be too busy to cause trouble for Feng'anzhuang?

Lai Gulu quickly flattered him, saying, "Deacon Yang, if you can really improve the plow, that would be a great merit!"

Old Li, what are you daydreaming about? With such a golden opportunity, why aren't you fully cooperating with our Deacon Yang?

Lai Gulu gave Peng Jin a wink, and Peng Jin immediately understood and stepped forward to sing a hymn of praise.

Yang Can is still young, and after being praised by Lai Gulu and Peng Jin, he seems to have gotten a little carried away.

He pulled Li Yue and said excitedly, "Let's go back now."

Mr. Yang shared his thoughts, hoping that Mr. Tie would consider them.

Yang Can stopped wandering around and took Li the blacksmith back to the village, heading straight for Li's blacksmith shop.

As soon as Yang Can arrived at the blacksmith shop, he pulled Li Yue to squat under the big jujube tree in the yard and started drawing on the sandy ground with a branch.

Yang Can wasn't a researcher of agricultural tools, so of course he couldn't accurately draw the curved plow right away.

However, just knowing the name is enough to understand the difference between it and the straight-plow.

Moreover, Yang Can had seen pictures of curved plows online.

Now, if he wants to draw a "roughly" version of it, he can still manage it.

Li the blacksmith has practical experience, while Yang Can can only draw a rough sketch.

In this way, Li the blacksmith could quickly identify the problems and come up with solutions regarding how the various parts should be combined and assembled.

Discovering that he was truly useful, Li the blacksmith's confidence soared.

For a time, Deacon Yang and Blacksmith Li were engrossed in designing improved farm tools, talking back and forth, completely absorbed in their work.

Lai Gulu and Peng Jin successfully tricked Yang Can into becoming crippled.

But this also made them both very bored.

The tea at the blacksmith's shop was terrible; it was coarse tea brewed with jujube leaves that made your tongue numb.

But they can't leave. Who knows if Yang Can is just pretending to be weak while actually being strong?

What if Yang Can goes searching everywhere as soon as they leave?
If Yang Can discovers the hidden fields and households in Feng'an Village, then things will be in trouble.

Qingmei also had nothing to do, but she didn't feel bored because Yang Can was there.

Li the blacksmith's wife brought Qingmei a basket of dried dates.

Qingmei sat under the jujube tree, picking up plump jujubes, eating them while watching Yang Can and Li the blacksmith discuss intently.

She had been flustered by Yang Can's teasing, her heart filled with shyness and joy. She was both afraid of Yang Can speaking and eager to hear him speak.

Now that things had quieted down, she sat alone to the side, quietly watching the handsome and focused man.

A strange, indescribable feeling slowly welled up in Qingmei's heart.

It was an indescribable flutter of excitement that made her both anxious and hopeful.

(End of this chapter)