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

Seeing that Aunt Zhang was hesitant, Gu Xixi urged, "What happened? Tell me."

Aunt Zhang then said with a strange expression, "Everyone, put that couple down and ask them what happened."

"Old Gu stammered and said he couldn't remember anything."

"That Liu guy seems to have lost his mind. He suddenly dragged our Chen Fang into this, saying he's a vixen who walks silently and leaves no shadow!"

"Do you think this was really done by Xiao Chen? A vixen... isn't that a bit too far-fetched..."

Before Aunt Zhang could finish speaking, Gu Xixi suddenly sprang up from the bedside and dashed out of the room like a gust of wind.

Aunt Zhang stared in disbelief. What happened now?

Gu Xixi went straight to the sand pile in the yard, and breathed a sigh of relief after seeing it clearly.

The sand pile remained exactly as she had arranged it yesterday, showing no signs of being disturbed by any external force.

Aunt Zhang caught up and found Xixi smiling broadly, looking like she was in a very good mood.

Gu Xixi asked, "How did the others react when Liu talked such nonsense?"

Aunt Zhang thought for a moment and said truthfully, "Anyway, Gu Laosan didn't say anything, but everyone thinks that Liu Shi was overly frightened. I don't think anyone believes her or suspects our family."

Gu Xixi laughed and said, "Auntie, don't worry. Chen Fang was sent by the government. I didn't pick him up in the wild. How could he be a fox?"

Even if it's a fox, it's a good fox that can guard the house.

Looking further into the sand dunes, there was joy. Tiny green specks, glistening with morning dew, were scattered about.

Aunt Zhang exclaimed in surprise, "How can thirty or so wild yam roots sprout so many buds?"

Three days ago, Gu Xixi found several yam bushes in the mountains.

She dug it all up from the back and cut it into sections, avoiding the sprouting points.

Then soak it in a homemade sprouting solution and bury it in the sand.

Aunt Zhang couldn't understand Xixi's actions at the time, and just thought it was a child playing around when she had nothing to do.

She also secretly felt bad that all those yams were wasted because they weren't eaten.

But only now did she realize that all that Xixi had done was for the sake of cultivating seedlings.

Aunt Zhang wiped her eyes with relief; her child had finally grown up and knew how to manage the household affairs.

However, even she had never heard of this method of seedling cultivation. How did Xixi come up with it?

Gu Xixi squatted down to check the seedlings and said with satisfaction, "We can plant them in another day or two."

This type of wild yam matures in the cool autumn.

As a medicinal herb, it could be sold to pharmacies in the city for money; as food, it could be kept by the family to feed themselves.

After sitting idle for half a year and running out of money, Aunt Zhang was finally about to earn some income, and she was full of energy. "Okay, I'll go hoe the fields in a bit!"

"No rush." ​​Gu Xixi pulled Aunt Zhang aside. "How about I ask you to find someone?"

Aunt Zhang said, "I went to a few houses to sound them out, but they were all reluctant. They kept saying things like, 'You, you... sigh.'"

Gu Xixi was not surprised by this. "They said I'm a spendthrift and that I'd never pay wages if I worked for them."

"They say I'm a girl who can't hold my head up, so why should I order around a bunch of men?"

"There might be even worse things to hear, right?"

Aunt Zhang looked at Xixi with heartache, "A bunch of idle men have no guts, don't take it to heart."

Gu Xixi smiled and said, "The past is the past."

"Auntie, please spread the word for me that I'm going to hire people to grow millet."

"The method of hiring is different from before; each person is assigned a plot of land, and the amount is calculated per acre."

"After the autumn harvest, the wages come from the grain produced per mu of land, with a reward of 150 jin per mu. The more you work, the more you earn."

Aunt Zhang exclaimed in surprise, "Only 150 jin per mu? Aren't we losing out big time!"

"And if things continue like this, what if some people show up but don't actually put in the work, yet still get paid the same amount in the end?!"

The current market rate for farmhands is that after a season of farming, each person's total pay is no more than one hundred coins or one hundred catties of grain, plus room and board provided.

Gu Xixi's family owned thirty-two mu of land, and Gu Bapi used to hire seven people.

Based on local millet production, even the best land yields only about 300 jin (150 catties) of millet, and ordinary land yields even less.

Gu Xixi's arrangement was tantamount to using half of the harvest as payment.

Looking across the entire Daye Dynasty, there's simply no fool willing to do this kind of business!

“Auntie, don’t worry,” Gu Xixi said, “I have another request.”

She said it like this.

Aunt Zhang nervously counted on her fingers, reciting the instructions one by one: "First, a trial period; those whose performance is unsatisfactory will not be hired."

Gu Xixi nodded and said, "I have to go out again, so I'll leave this matter to you."

Aunt Zhang was still very anxious. "Xixi, have you thought this through?"

"Once the terms are announced, a bunch of people will rush to offer them, and it will be too late to regret it then!"

Gu Xixi said, "The farming season waits for no one, and I just want them to come as soon as possible."

Winter comes early in the north, and there's only time to plant fast-maturing crops now. The next ten days will be the last chance this year.

She smiled at Aunt Zhang, her eyes bright and confident, "Auntie, please trust me this time."

Scientists never prove themselves with words.

If she were to say that the yield of millet per mu has increased from 300 jin to 600 jin, people would only think she is a crazy person who is bragging, right?

The door to the west room opened.

Mu Nanzhao walked towards Gu Xixi, his long hair neatly tied up, looking refreshing and handsome.

Gu Xixi took the initiative to greet her, "Good morning."

Mu Nanzhao responded coldly, "Hmm."

Xixi was in a good mood at the moment and didn't care about his attitude.

Seeing that Aunt Zhang wasn't around, she asked with a smile, "Did a thief break into the house last night?"

Mu Nanzhao neither agreed nor disagreed.

Catching a thief was a trivial matter; in the past, he wouldn't have needed to get involved at all.

He had to take matters into his own hands last night, and bringing it up again wouldn't make him feel proud.

Gu Xixi solemnly cupped her hands and said, "Thank you, otherwise my yam seedlings would have been destroyed by them."

Mu Nanzhao glanced at her, then surprisingly took the initiative and walked out with his hands behind his back.

"Didn't you say you wanted to escape and pick them? Why aren't you leaving?"

Gu Xixi was taken aback, then quickly caught up, "How did you know?"

She hadn't told Aunt Zhang about this.

Mu Nanzhao said, "Judging from the attitude of your third uncle and aunt, you've been taken advantage of by them quite a bit in the past."

He paused, then added, "But at least you're not as stupid now."

Gu Xixi gritted her teeth and sneered, "You don't need to worry about that."

"If I get into a fight with someone later, you'd better stand far away."

The courtyard of Gu Laosan's house was quiet.

Gu Qingye and her older brother went to work in the fields, leaving only Gu Laosan and Liu Shi at home.

The two of them had been hanging there all night in the mountain wind, and their bodies ached all over. They were now asleep inside.

Suddenly, a loud banging was heard on the door.

Then came the girl's clear voice, "Third Uncle, Third Aunt! The door wasn't locked!! I came in by myself!!!"

Startled, Liu hurriedly shoved Gu Laosan, "Dad, wake up! It's Gu Xixi!"

Gu Laosan rolled over and yawned. "Ignore her. She's just watching the house and no one's answering. She'll leave in a bit."

Liu said in a panic, "She must have come from what happened last night!"

"I said her Chen Fang is a vixen in disguise. If it weren't for him backing her up, that brat wouldn't dare to come knocking on our door!"