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

The old doctor chuckled, "The young couple's just having a little tiff, what else could it be!"

Aunt Zhang was very puzzled. "Weren't things fine before? They even went shopping in the county town together. Did something happen in the county town?"

As the old doctor collected distilled water, he comforted Aunt Zhang, saying, "These two little kids are fine today, but they get angry again tomorrow. It happens all the time."

"They'll always solve their own problems. It's not good for us adults to get too involved."

Aunt Zhang thought the old doctor was right, and she had no other choice but to continue to wait and see.

In the afternoon, Mu Nanzhao was not home again.

Gu Xixi was tending to her experimental samples in the yard, and before she finished, Village Chief Qian arrived.

"My dear niece, something terrible has happened!"

Gu Xixi was pruning a pot of wolfberry trees, her eyes fixed intently on the ground, the scissors in her hand never stopping.

"Uncle Qian, don't worry, is it because of those families that grow water spinach?"

Old Qian was taken aback. "How did you know?"

After Gu Xixi finished trimming the last section, she turned around and said, "They made money selling water spinach."

"If there's any immediate profit to be made, then what I said before might not count."

Old Qian said, "Although water spinach can regulate the soil, it consumes a lot of water and fertilizer, so we can't plant too much of it. First of all, our village itself is not rich in water resources, so it is not suitable for planting water-consuming crops."

"Secondly, over time, the soil fertility will be excessively depleted, and if grain is planted again later, the yield will inevitably be reduced."

Old Qian said with exasperation, "I've remembered everything you told me back then."

"But they've completely forgotten about it now."

"Yesterday, Sister-in-law Qin tried to persuade the other families not to expand their planting, but some of them wouldn't listen to her advice and even argued with her, saying things like, 'You don't have the guts to make money, and you're trying to stop us.'"

"Listen to this! What utter nonsense!"

Gu Xixi remained noncommittal and asked, "You came to see me not just to scold them, right?"

Old Qian gave an embarrassed smile, "After all, I was the one who took charge of this matter back then."

“Other villages have heard about this, and several village chiefs have even asked me for advice!”

"The results seem pretty good right now. If this good thing turns into a bad thing, my reputation as the village chief of Huachi Ferry will be ruined..."

Gu Xixi found it somewhat amusing, "Uncle Qian is certainly honest."

"But now, what do you want me to do?"

Old Qian said, "You come with me, or I'll take the lead and persuade them."

"You just need to tell them the consequences of doing this again, and you don't need to worry about anything else."

"That way, they'll be angry inside, and in the end, they'll only take it out on me."

Gu Xixi agreed.

Old Qian gathered several families together, including Sister-in-law Qin and her husband.

Gu Xixi repeated what she had said before.

Some people disagreed, saying, "Autumn is almost here, and we can only plant for another month or so at most. I don't believe it will have much of an impact."

Gu Xixi said, "As for how big it is, it really doesn't have much of an impact."

Old Qian was surprised; it wasn't what they had agreed upon beforehand.

Gu Xixi smiled slightly as she glanced at everyone.

"The soil was originally mixed with wood ash, and after planting several kinds of vegetables together, the balance was adjusted, and the soil fertility is stronger than before."

"Once the winter wheat is planted, if there are no natural disasters and the weather and rainfall are normal next year, the yield will increase by at least 10% compared to this year."

Several farmers were stunned. Ten percent? And that's at least!

Gu Xixi took in all the changes in their expressions.

She said casually, "Anyway, it's only 10%, it won't have much of an impact."

Grain is the lifeblood of farmers.

They can tell whether increasing their wheat income by 10% is more important than selling a few more baskets of water spinach right now.

Sister-in-law Qin deliberately raised her voice, "Now we're selling water spinach, isn't it all because we listened to the village chief and Xixi back then?"

"So this time, our family will listen to Xixi."

The other companies exchanged glances.

Last night they had secretly agreed to leave Qin's family out and have all the families work together.

At that point, even the village chief won't be able to say much.

The situation has changed.

The problem is, whoever makes this decision first, won't they be slapping themselves and everyone else in the face?

Gu Xixi whispered to Lao Qian, "The rest is up to you."

Old Qian immediately adopted a posture, cleared his throat, and said, "What are you all dawdling about?"

"They've already said all the nice things they wanted to say to you, so listen carefully to what they mean, understand?!"

Finally, someone spoke up: "Farming is something that can't be rushed."

"In a few more days, the pumpkins in my field should be ripe."

Once someone started, others followed suit, saying, "Yes, although the pumpkins and radishes I grow need to overwinter, I'm quite busy lately, so there's really no need to grow anything else."

In fact, Gu Xixi's estimate of a 10% increase in production was conservative.

The benefits of plant-activated and improved soil, combined with the long-lasting fertility of decomposed wood ash, will gradually become apparent in the future.

With the matter resolved, Gu Xixi went around to her own field again.

Each worker was assigned a plot of land to cultivate, and they all worked diligently and conscientiously.

After the millet and yam in the field got on track, their growth at each stage met expectations.

There's actually not much work for Gu Xixi to do right now.

But she just didn't want to go home so early today.

I wonder what Mu Nanzhao has been busy with lately. Has he gone back yet?

As agreed, I should go see Madam Meng tomorrow.

Will he ask her to go together?

If he didn't say anything, what if his plan was shelved because of it? Would something bad happen?

If he asks, should she casually agree?

Despite her frustration, Gu Xixi slowly began her journey home.

If she lingered in the fields for too long and the laborers saw her, they might suspect that their employer was dissatisfied with her in some way.

However, Mu Nanzhao still hadn't returned by the time the moon rose above the treetops.

After washing up, Gu Xixi lay down and closed her eyes. She didn't know how much time had passed when she suddenly heard a soft knocking on the window.

She sat up abruptly.

As if sensing something, she ran over and opened the window without asking a single question.

The moon is shining brightly tonight, filling the courtyard with silvery light.

Mu Nanzhao stood in the moonlight, which was as clear as water, and opened his right hand to Gu Xixi. "Take it."

Gu Xixi saw that he had a folded handkerchief in his hand, square and neat, and it was obvious that something was wrapped inside.

"What's this?"

Mu Nanzhao said, "You'll know once you open it."

Gu Xixi glanced at him, took the handkerchief and held it in her palm, carefully unwrapping it.

The first thing you see is a soft, moist glow, with both large and small beads.

She looked up in surprise, "Pearls?"

Mu Nanzhao said, "You should keep it. Madam Meng has a good impression of you, so it's more appropriate for you to give it to her."

"In addition, you can choose any one of them to make up for the expenses of that day."

After he said that, he turned and left.

"Wait a minute!" Gu Xi called out to Mu Nanzhao, "Didn't you say you weren't really planning to do business?"

"Why did you bring these again?"

Mu Nanzhao stood with his back to her, "This is all thanks to your reminder. We should go all out with the act."

"How can a pearl merchant gain people's trust without showing them some pearls?"