After marrying the hunter, he became more and more abnormal

What could Ling Chuan say? Of course, he would say what the young man thought.

"Yes, we plan to grow it ourselves."

His words shattered their hopes, and disappointment was evident on Liu Youde's dark face.

Liu Zheng glanced at him, then turned and returned the land deed to Ling Chuan, saying solemnly, "This is a valuable item; please keep it safe."

Ling Chuan hummed in agreement, folded the land deed, and stuffed it into his clothes.

Realizing that renting land was impossible, Liu Youde quickly gave up on the idea. He then decided to settle for second best, thinking that the Lingchuan family had so much land to cultivate that the two of them would definitely be too busy. He thought he could ask them if they needed any help and find some work to do. It would be close to home in the village, and he would know what was going on at home.

Liu Youde no longer had the courage to ask Ling Chuan. He hesitated for a while, and only after the others went over to talk to Xia Mo did he find an opportunity to speak: "Ze-ge'er, with so much land, what do you plan to plant? Do you need any help? What do you think of your uncle?"

Other villagers: !

I'm really impressed. We both have brains, so why does this guy's brain work so fast?

Xia Mo glanced at Liu Youde with surprise, but he didn't look cunning. He said truthfully, "Let's plant sugarcane. If needed, we'll consider it, Uncle."

Seeing that he agreed, Liu Youde's eyes lit up with joy, and he said excitedly, "Okay, thank you, Brother Ze. Uncle is not afraid of hardship, and can do all the dirty and tiring work."

Seeing this, other villagers also recommended themselves or their family members to Xia Mo.

“Me too, me too. Look at your aunt, Zege. I’m also a great worker, no less capable than those young people. If your family needs any help, you can call me.”

"Alas, I can no longer do it, but my husband is still capable. He often helps out at the estates of wealthy families."

“Ze-ge’er, and my son and his husband, they can do it too, they’re young, strong and quick…”

Xia Mo: "..."

In the end, Xia Mo used the same words to deal with the person, since they might really need to hire someone to help them later. As for who to hire, they would decide that later.

The villagers got the answer they wanted, and their faces lit up with smiles. Their mouths were full of honey as they praised Xia Mo for being virtuous, capable, and lucky. They said that Ling Chuan was very fortunate to have married her, and even Xiao Anyu was brought up to be praised.

For Xiao Anyu, this was the first time he had been praised by so many unfamiliar adults, and he was a little dazed and confused.

Xia Mo smiled and gently brushed the stray hairs from his forehead. Although these words weren't particularly sincere praise, they were better than hurtful words. As for the rest, they would teach and guide him slowly in the future.

"Ze-ge'er, what is that sugarcane you're going to plant? I've never seen it before in my life," Liu Youde asked curiously.

“That’s it.” Xia Mo tilted his head slightly and pointed to the small bundle of sugarcane.

"Sugarcane is a crop we found in a foreign land. It is juicy and sweet, making it an excellent raw material. If we can successfully cultivate it, our business will no longer be at the mercy of others, and our hard work on this trip will not have been in vain."

Everyone stared in astonishment at the small bundle of something that looked like bamboo dyed black.

"That's sugarcane?"

"It doesn't look very appetizing."

"It's delicious, the juice is so sweet, I ate some last night." Xiao Anyu retorted softly, but unfortunately everyone's attention was on the sugarcane, and no one except Xia Mo and Ling Chuan heard what he said.

"Really? Is this stick-like thing really as strange as Zege'er says?"

"How do you plant this? What do the seeds look like?"

"Ze-ge'er, can I plant some too? How many sugarcane seeds did your family buy? Could you spare some for me?"

Several villagers chatted amongst themselves, staring at the sugarcane from left to right, up to down, and even pulling out a stalk for a closer look. Apart from being hard and stiff, they couldn't find anything unusual about it. They really wanted to try a bite, but unfortunately, it wasn't theirs.

Liu Youde was at a loss. He had only asked out of curiosity, but he did not expect Ze Ge'er to be so quick to explain the uses of sugarcane. Wouldn't Ling Chuan blame him for this?

Feeling uneasy, he quickly glanced at Ling Chuan, only to see him still with that cold, aloof demeanor, revealing no emotion whatsoever.

Liu Youde: "..." Okay, if you can't tell, then I'll assume he doesn't mind.

As the village chief, Liu Zheng thought far more about the uses of sugarcane than others.

This sugarcane can be used to make sugar, and it will be planted on a large scale, which will surely cause quite a stir. At that time, many villagers will probably want to follow suit and plant sugarcane.

If it could truly lead the village to prosperity, Liu Zheng would absolutely support it wholeheartedly, but that's not the case right now, at least not yet.

He knew that the seeds of any sweet crop or crop that could generate huge profits were usually firmly controlled or even monopolized by powerful families. Ling Chuan and Ze Ge'er were probably able to get so many sugarcane seeds because of their maternal uncle's family. Maybe those hundred acres of land were prepared for this.

The villagers have no money and no extra land. Even if Lingchuan were willing to share sugarcane seeds with them, the price would certainly be high. Furthermore, there's the issue of survival rate after planting. If the crops don't grow well, the losses would be enormous. They might spend money, land, and labor only to end up with nothing. Few households in the village can afford such a fate.

This is just one of the problems. I'm afraid someone might not be able to bear the consequences themselves and turn around and blame the Lingchuan family...

Liu Zheng stared intently into thought, then looked at the villagers surrounding him, asking about the price of sugarcane seeds. His brows furrowed in worry.

Scarcity drives up prices, so Xia Mo quoted a high price: ten coins per stalk, which is the top section of the sugarcane. This immediately scared away several people.

"Ten coins? That's so expensive! Ze-ge, have you been scammed?!"

"That's right, will anyone buy it if it's so expensive? My husband only earns fifty coins a day carrying loads."

Xia Mo smiled and said, "It is a bit expensive, but they don't have to worry about not having buyers. We only managed to get some because of my uncle's connections. We've decided to take a gamble."

Liu Zheng coughed lightly and said at the right moment, "Alright, alright, you all know how expensive sugar is, so stop blindly joining in the fun. You only make money if you grow sugarcane well. And don't blame me for pouring cold water on you, how many acres of land do you have? How many acres do they have? You just want to grow sugarcane, but what about growing other grains? What about eating?"

The villagers, already shocked by the high prices, froze and fell silent. Wasn't the village chief's question pointless?

Liu Youde didn't have any particular thoughts. He had little land and had never considered growing sugarcane himself. After hearing that even a single sugarcane seed was so expensive, he was even less inclined to do so; he couldn't afford to gamble.

It has to be said that Liu Zheng's cold water was just right, completely waking up the people who were fantasizing about making a fortune by growing sugarcane.

Wanting to make money is fine, and wanting to live a good life is also understandable, but one must act within one's means.

The villagers, who had been so enthusiastic before, were now all dejected.

Xia Mo glanced at them and then dropped another bombshell: "Sugarcane has a long growing period. The person who sold me the sugarcane said it usually takes seven to nine months. We only have one harvest a year here. The success or failure depends not only on careful tending, but also on whether the weather cooperates and on pest problems."

The people present were all old farmers who had been farming for decades and knew these things better than Xia Mo. Upon hearing this, they all expressed their feelings and no longer held much hope of making money by growing sugarcane.

"Alas, when it comes to farming, isn't it always about relying on God to give us food? We're just afraid of His mood swings, with droughts killing us and floods drowning us."

“Who says otherwise? My family’s few acres of barren land already have low yields. There was a time when the weather was so dry that it caused a reduction in grain production. My family couldn’t even have a bowl of thick porridge for several days, so we had to add more tapioca flour…”