Female-to-male: I live on farming

Lei Zhong looked thinner than the day they met, with messy stubble on his chin.

After coming in, he said nothing, but took out his indenture from his arms and presented it to Qin Ke with both hands.

Qin Ke lowered his eyes and slowly took the indenture that dominated a person's destiny. Although he accepted it, in his mind, Lei Zhong and Han Qi were not slaves without human rights. They were more like employees working under him.

"My dear, my lady."

Seeing Qin Ke accepted the contract, Lei Zhong lowered his head slightly, which was a gesture of submission and acknowledgement of his master.

"Okay, there are only my wife and I at home, and there are not so many rules here. Let Han Qi take you to settle down."

Qin Ke touched his chin and felt that if he wanted to recruit more people in the future, the yard next door would not be able to accommodate them.

However, Lei Zhong's arrival resolved Qin Ke's worries. When he heard that they were going to patrol the melon field at night, he took the initiative to suggest that he could stay there at night.

Not long after the spring plowing, Qin Ke had already anticipated the need for night patrols to prevent theft, so he took Li Nanqiao to cut down some trees and built a simple wooden house next to the melon field. Now that the temperature at night is cool, it will not be cold to sleep there.

Qin Ke thought about it and felt that Lei Zhong had traveled all over the country for many years and had rich experience in surviving in the wild. He would remain vigilant even when sleeping. He was a good candidate to guard the melon field, so he readily agreed.

So Lei Zhong took his bedding and lived in the wooden house in the melon field on the first and fifteenth nights of the lunar month.

In just two months, from the first to the fifteenth day of the lunar month, it has grown a lot in size, and you can't catch up with it even if you run as fast as you can. Animals' hearing and sense of smell are more sensitive than humans, and they are good at guarding the house.

Qin Ke didn't know that his name had already spread to the distant Jinzhou.

"Master, this is a specialty sent by Song Qingshan from Yong'an Town. Please take a look." A man in dark tights bowed and presented it with both hands. His eyes were always on the ground, and he didn't dare to look directly at the person in front of him.

"Oh, Yong'an Town?" A very gentle and pleasant voice sounded.

This person was none other than the current head of the Gu family, Gu Lanxi. She smiled faintly and took the greeting letter presented by her subordinates. The letter was full of flattery and expressions of loyalty. Gu Lanxi glanced over it and her eyes went straight to the introduction of the items presented at the back.

"Watermelon? Interesting, go cut it and see."

"Yes." The man hurriedly bowed and retreated.

"Lanxi?" After the man left, a man with a bright and handsome face and eyes as cold as stars walked out from the screen behind. However, he was thinner than an ordinary man. He pursed his thin lips and walked with upright and steady steps.

"Are you awake?" Gu Lanxi took a few steps forward and held his arm.

"My injury has healed, there's no need to be so careful." The man smiled and patted her hand. His originally dignified expression turned into a heart full of spring water in front of her.

While the two were sitting on the couch and talking, the servant who had just left was already carrying a plate of sliced ​​watermelon and kneeling on one knee in front of them: "Master, son-in-law, I've asked someone to test it and it's non-toxic."

Different from the way it is eaten in restaurants and ordinary people's homes, the chefs here know that the skin of the watermelon is inedible, so they directly remove the skin and then cut the bright red flesh into cubes and place them on the plate.

Gu Lanxi picked up a piece with a fork out of curiosity and put it in her mouth.

Seeing the satisfaction on her face, the man picked up a piece and put it in his mouth to taste.

"It's really sweet and juicy. Song Qingshan said that this is a fruit grown by a countryman named Qin Ke from seeds he bought from foreign countries. It has brought a lot of business to their restaurant." Gu Lanxi couldn't help but eat another piece before picking up the handkerchief to wipe his hands.

"Fanbang?" The man raised his eyebrows and said with a smile, "Fanbang has paid tribute to our dynasty for many years, but this is not the case."

Seeing his strange expression, Gu Lanxi waved her hand, signaling everyone else to leave. After they were the only two left in the room, she asked, "You mean, this person named Qin Ke is lying?"

"I'm just guessing. Either the foreign countries do have this thing, but it's everywhere and cheap, so it can't be used as a tribute; or Qin Ke has a secret."

Of course, he prefers the latter possibility.

This new variety, which had never been heard of or seen in our dynasty, was so valuable to foreign merchants who traveled far and wide that they took handfuls of seeds and sold them to farmers in remote towns.

What's more, how could the people who make a living by farming have limited food and clothing on a daily basis spend money to buy some seeds they have never heard of, and instead of planting rice and soybeans, plant seeds that they don't know what they will produce?

"In that case, we have to inspect our family's property anyway, so why don't we go to Yong'an Town as our next stop?" Gu Lanxi was also curious about the person who could grow this, so she suggested.

Qin Ke, not knowing that he had aroused suspicion from others, was sitting in the main hall with a solemn expression. He asked coldly, "Are you sure you hit his leg?"

"That's right. The other party brought several people. I was not familiar with this place, so I didn't chase them." Lei Zhong sat at the lower side with his head half lowered.

"I'm so angry. At first I thought you were worrying too much, but I didn't expect that there would really be someone who would do such a petty theft." Li Nanqiao stood up angrily with a look of indignation on his face.

Han Qi pulled her and pushed Li Nanqiao, who was spinning in circles in anger, back to her seat.

Qin Ke had already prepared for the worst, so he wasn't that angry at this moment.

He knew why Li Nanqiao was so angry. Qin Ke's family's fields were located in a relatively remote area and outsiders could not find them at all.

The melon thieves were able to sneak into the melon field quietly in the dark, so they must have someone from their own village acting as an insider, or the melon thieves were definitely from their own village.

No matter which possibility it was, it was enough to make Li Nanqiao extremely angry.

"How about this, we will go to the fields and pick all the ripe watermelons and store them. This way, even if they come again, we can reduce some of the losses." After Qin Ke gave the order, he turned his head and looked at Li Nanqiao, "Nanqiao, go walk around the village first and ask if there are any outsiders in the village in the past two days, and then see if you can find out who has a leg injury and has difficulty walking."

Li Nanqiao also calmed down, and after receiving Qin Ke's instructions, he hurriedly stood up and took action.

The rest of the people followed Qin Ke to the fields to pick melons. Qin Ke noticed that after the first batch of melons were ripe, the second batch of melons began to bloom and bear fruit.

He had stored some watermelons in the space before. The space could extend the shelf life of the watermelons, but he didn't dare to do it too blatantly and only put them into the space little by little.

Han Qi pulled all the ripe watermelons from the melon field back home. It took him three trips to finish the haul. It is estimated that this batch of watermelons will be enough for Caiyue Tower's use in the next few days.

In this way, even if the melon thief comes again, the watermelons he steals will be those that are not fully ripe.

However, Qin Ke estimated that with Lei Zhong in the melon field, it would be difficult for that group of people to succeed.

Although it cost thirty taels of silver, Qin Ke felt it was worth it. Lei Zhong was not only steady in temperament and experienced in the martial arts world, but also very skilled. For some reason, Li Nanqiao suddenly wanted to learn martial arts from Lei Zhong.

So during the day, Lei Zhong could often be seen holding a willow branch in his hand, staring at her as she squatted in the yard, with a serious and extremely stern expression.