After fleeing famine, I have thousands of acres of fertile land

"Lihua, who are these clothes made for?"

Zhou knocked on the door and walked into the yard as if she was familiar with the place.

"My sister-in-law is here and made this for my eldest son. He's busy going up and down the mountain all day and night, and his clothes are full of holes." Lihua got up and went to the house to get a stool, put it in the yard, and grabbed a handful of peanuts. These were harvested last year, but the family couldn't bear to eat them, so they kept them until now.

Zhou took the peanuts and the two chatted for a while about work in the fields, then turned the topic to the children.

"Lihua, it's time for Ye Xin to talk about his wife. What are your plans?"

When Lihua heard Zhou mention this, she did not hide it. "Sister-in-law, your Dalang is engaged. I really envy you, but I am unfamiliar with the place and don't know where to find one."

"When I was arranging a marriage for Dalang, I met a matchmaker named Liu in Lianhua Village. She sent a message today saying that she had found someone to introduce her to. Dalang is engaged and she thought of your Ye Xin."

Lihua was so happy to hear this that she stopped sewing. "Sister-in-law, this is a good thing. Thank you for thinking about my son. If it works out, I'll ask Ye Xin to send you a carp."

Zhou was an enthusiastic person. She asked Lihua to prepare three packages of cakes and take them to see the couple early the next morning.

Zhou took Lihua's family to Lianhua Village and first went to Liu the matchmaker's house.

Matchmaker Liu saw Zhou and a few others coming in, "Where's your son? Why does he look different from last time? I remembered it wrongly."

Zhou explained first, "My son has been engaged. This is my nephew. Please introduce him to me."

Then she explained the situation of Lihua's family in detail. Lihua also said many words of gratitude and handed over the cakes she had brought for Matchmaker Liu.

Matchmaker Liu's face looked much better. As long as she had the thing, it didn't matter who she told. Besides, Ye Xin's family was not bad either.

"Sister Lihua, your boy is tall and strong, and he looks like a good worker. I'll take you to meet the girl today. This girl is also hardworking, and you will definitely like her when you meet her."

After Zhou introduced the two people to each other, he did not get involved and just listened from the side.

A few people went to the girl's house. When they got there, they saw that the yard was swept cleanly and the family was dressed neatly. They looked like a decent family.

The two sides were chatting animatedly, and Zhou was responsible for praising Ye Xin on the side. The girl came out and served some water, and the two young men's faces were red.

When leaving, Lihua glanced at her son and left a bag of pastries. Ye Xin's face was full of smiles.

Several people first sent Matchmaker Liu home, "Sister Liu, thank you for your hard work in helping me. If this marriage is successful, I will give you a big red envelope."

Matchmaker Liu was happy to hear this, "Don't worry, Lihua, I'll take care of it."

Matchmaker Liu plans to go to the girl's home again tomorrow. "When I get the letter tomorrow, I'll go to your home and tell you."

The two chatted for a while and then went home separately. When they got home, Li and Ye Qing had already prepared dinner and asked Lihua's family to stay for dinner before going back.

The next afternoon, Matchmaker Liu came to the village and brought the news that the girl's family agreed. Lihua was delighted and gave another ten cents.

People of suitable age in the village all come to find Liu the matchmaker and ask her to introduce couples to the girls and boys in the village.

It was already evening when Matchmaker Liu left the village. She even made a special trip to Ye Qing's house to thank Zhou for introducing her to the business.

After sending Liu the matchmaker away, Zhou stopped paying attention to the matter. The watermelons at home were about to ripen, and they would need to work in the fields for a while.

"Grandma, it's time to eat watermelon." Ye Qing walked in with a watermelon.

Li came out of the house and said, "The watermelon is not ripe yet, how can we eat watermelon?"

Ye Qing smiled so hard that he couldn't close his mouth. "When I was weeding in the watermelon field, I saw this watermelon was ripe. It seemed to be one of the first ones to grow."

Ye Qing washed the watermelon, hung it in the well, let it cool for a while, and ate it to cool down during the hottest time of the day at noon.

Everyone who had worked in the fields at noon came back. Ye Qing brought the watermelon up, wiped it clean, took a knife, cut it into small pieces, and shared it with everyone.

"It's so sweet. This is my first time eating watermelon and it tastes better than I imagined." Ye Dalang expressed his opinion first.

Everyone else nodded in agreement. Watermelon was a rare commodity, and my family had never been willing to buy one to eat before.

Ye Qing thought it was okay, not so amazing, he had eaten sweeter melons before. But here, it was already pretty good.

After finishing his meal, Ye Dalang went to the watermelon field immediately. Since he knew it was so delicious, he must take a closer look.

From then on, Ye Qing took Wangcai and Heizi to look after the watermelons in the field during the day, while Ye Lao Da and Ye Da Lang looked after them at night. Although it was a bit hard, looking at the watermelons all over the field was like looking at money all over the field.

After waiting for a few more days, the first batch of watermelons were about to ripen, and Ye Qing wanted to hear what Boss Ye planned.

"Dad, how are you going to sell watermelons?"

Boss Ye made up his mind, "Pick the melons in the morning and I'll go and sell them."

Boss Ye had never grown watermelons before, so he didn't know that watermelons ripen very quickly. Some of the watermelons exploded before he could pick them in time.

When Boss Ye heard that the watermelons could not be stored, he began to worry. It would be a pity if the watermelons on the three mu of land rotted. Besides, the melons were about to ripen, and both sides were waiting to sell them.

Ye Qing felt that there were not many watermelons at home, so it would be better to go the upper-class route. "Dad, you should sell the watermelons to the restaurant first. There probably aren't many people in the city willing to buy them."

"Then I'll go to the restaurant where we bought our lobster last year and ask. I'm familiar with the owners."

He did what he said. That afternoon, Boss Ye picked the first dozen ripe watermelons in the field and went to the city to deliver the watermelons to restaurants one by one.

The restaurant owners tasted the watermelons and kept them. Some restaurants heard about it and came to Boss Ye to order some.

Gradually, more and more watermelons were ripe. Ye Qing asked Boss Ye to pull half a cart of watermelons and half a cart of melons to send some to the county magistrate, Lord Wu, to taste.

This is to show my presence with Lord Wu. If anything happens, I can still ask Lord Wu for help.

Boss Ye found a yamen runner, and after a while Lord Wu called Boss Ye in.

Boss Ye first paid his respects to Lord Wu before repeating his purpose of visit.

"You are Ye Wen Ning, from Kaoshan Village. There are many capable people in your village. You are the ones who grow watermelons. Every summer when I want to eat watermelons, I have to find a caravan to transport them for me. This year I will have a treat." Lord Wu likes to see the people come to thank him the most. It makes him feel accomplished.

"It is all thanks to your leadership that we can buy watermelon and melon seeds in Wu'an City. My family planted three acres of land this year, and we will plant more next year. If you want to eat watermelon, just send me a message and I will deliver it to you personally." Boss Ye said sincerely.

Lord Wu was even more satisfied with Boss Ye, and he also kept Kaoshan Village in mind.