A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

He Jinglan was secretly overjoyed, but she had to maintain an innocent facade.

"What 'barbarian'? They have names. When did you become so rude?"

Jealous! Jealous! Eat as much as you want!

The best way is to finish a whole vat of aged vinegar, so sour that you lose all your senses!

Seeing Mu Nanzhao's expression, He Jinglan continued to fan the flames, "To be honest, what's wrong with Boss An? He's good-looking, has a great figure and temperament, and is rich and capable."

"Most importantly, Mr. An's family are large landowners who farm, and he also runs a fruit tree seedling business. He and Xixi will definitely have plenty of topics to talk about in their daily chats."

"Also, my Xixi just wants to farm peacefully and live a stable and prosperous life, and Boss An can give her all of that."

"Enough!" Mu Nanzhao interrupted He Jinglan coldly.

"Are you a matchmaker? I don't have time to listen to your list of all his good points!"

He Jinglan blinked. "Then what do you want to hear?"

She was suddenly startled and raised her hand to cover her mouth. "You wouldn't... be blaming me for not urging Xixi to marry you sooner, would you?"

A suspicious blush rose behind Mu Nanzhao's ears, but he quickly suppressed it by secretly circulating his qi.

"You're overthinking it. I'm just here to tell you that the situation is unstable right now. Don't go looking for trouble and trying to stir up chaos."

Having said that, Mu Nanzhao turned and left.

Instead of getting angry at the warning, He Jinglan looked at Mu Nanzhao's back and smirked.

No matter how harsh their words, they didn't outright deny it...

As He Jinglan walked towards the front yard, she thought to herself with delight, "That cold-faced powerful minister Mu Nanzhao, who never cared about the lives of others, is chasing after his wife with tears streaming down his face. Isn't that more entertaining than all the opera troupes in the capital combined?"

If I could witness it with my own eyes, my life would be worthwhile!

Gu Xixi woke up from her afternoon nap, quickly drank a cup of tea, and then headed out.

The tea that Anqing and Aunt Zhang worked together to roast was pretty good; at least it wasn't burnt and retained its aroma.

As Gu Xixi stood up, she looked at He Jinglan and An Qinghe, who were already standing, and said, "I'm going to take a walk in my own wheat field and then I'll be right back. There's nothing interesting to see today, so don't come with me."

The two still wanted to object.

Gu Xixi gave her instructions one by one: "Jinglan, you stay home and watch Shitou do his studies. If our family produces a scholar in the future, you will have a share of the credit."

“Brother An, haven’t you been observing the Bodhi tree in our village and recording data recently? Keep it up, it has potential.”

And so, Gu Xixi successfully ditched her two tagalongs and headed towards the wheat field alone.

As early summer arrives, the wheat has already begun to ear, and the dense, large ears of wheat are a delightful sight to behold.

Gu Xixi walked a long way past the first plot of land but didn't see any of her employees.

It's supposed to be today for routine weeding, but nobody's here.

Gu Xixi believed that the workers wouldn't slack off, and thinking that something might have happened, she quickened her pace to search for them.

After walking for a while, we heard a commotion coming from deep within the wheat field.

"Did you do this on purpose?"

"Gu Xixi is so cunning! How could you trick me like this! You put that bucket of fertilizer on the edge of the field, deliberately making me take it to water the land, just to harm me!"

Judging from the voice, it's definitely Second Master Gu.

A young employee retorted, "Take it to water the fields? You're obviously stealing it."

“Every time we go to the toilet while we're eating, you don't even ask a question, you just grab the bucket and run off!”

"A thief is coming to the person who lost the item to demand an explanation—such a strange thing has really opened our eyes!"

Master Gu, enraged and embarrassed, retorted, "Who are you calling a thief? If you're so capable, go ahead and report me to the authorities and have them arrest me!"

“I’ve been watering it for a month or so, but look at the wheat ears now! Why are Gu Xixi’s wheat ears so plentiful and big! Mine are shriveled and small, not even as good as the ones I used to make with my own manure in previous years!”

"Isn't this evidence obvious enough? You must have deliberately fooled me in that bucket. Gu Xixi's secret recipe for growing grain wasn't in there!"

"You've really screwed me over this time. I even wanted to go to court to plead my case. Gu Xixi even plotted against and harmed her own second grandfather. She has to give me an explanation!"

Gu Xixi sighed and walked into the wheat field. "What explanation does Second Grandfather want?"

I thought this trip was just a casual visit, but I didn't expect that I wouldn't be able to go back anytime soon.

Upon hearing Gu Xixi's voice, Second Master Gu was startled, and his arrogance subsided slightly.

Gu Xixi looked down and saw a patch of trampled wheat on the ground, her expression instantly turning cold.

"Old Chen, did Second Master Gu do all this?"

Chen Dafu walked over and said, "I saw it with my own eyes."

Other workers said, "We rushed over after hearing the noise and saw this old man stomping and kicking like a mad dog, and even tearing at the wheat with his bare hands."

"If I hadn't stopped him, who knows how much more he would have abused her!"

Gu Xixi said, "This plot of land was claimed by Old Chen. I've noted down how many wheat plants there are. After the summer harvest, I will personally make up for Old Chen's share of the losses."

The workers were deeply moved; their employer was truly kind!

Chen Dafu said gratefully, "Actually, it's not much, the employer doesn't need to make a special payment to me."

Gu Xixi said, "No matter how much it is, it's all your hard work and blood, how can we just let it go like this?"

"If you don't want compensation..."

Gu Xixi looked at Second Master Gu with a sharp gaze, "Won't anyone dare to come to my house and make a scene tomorrow?"

Master Gu shrank back slightly, his arrogance diminishing further.

He maintained the air of an elder and said, "Xixi, you can't turn the tables on me."

"Look at the state of my wheat! Even with the fertilizer and water you provided, the yield is at least 20% lower than in previous years!"

"I may have knocked down a few of your wheat stalks, but that's not enough to offset my losses. You still have to compensate me!"

Gu Xixi laughed out loud, "Compensation? Second Master Gu is really dreaming."

Master Gu's face turned ashen. "You framed me. Aren't you afraid I'll take you to court?"

“Okay,” Gu Xixi said with a relaxed smile, “Go ahead and sue now.”

"However, seeing that you are old, I kindly remind you that there is nothing wrong with the fertilizer I mixed."

"But besides these, I have other methods to use in combination, and I need to apply them at different times to make the wheat grow tall and strong."

“You only stole some leftover fertilizer and water, and then used it during the critical period of wheat tasseling. This will only have the opposite effect and cause the wheat to suffer from malnutrition.”

The workers listened with rapt attention.

This is why the employer arranged for them to do things step by step; each step could neither be done ahead of schedule nor delayed.

Indeed, farming is a science.

Even those who followed their master's instructions to farm dared not say they had fully mastered the skills.

Chen Dafu looked at Master Gu and said sarcastically, "It seems that he has only himself to blame."

He cupped his hands to Gu Xixi and said, "Master, do you think we should also report this to the authorities?"

"After all, the cost, time and effort you put into mixing those fertilizers are considerable."

Why not accuse him of theft?