Category: The Big Landlord

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Chapter 123.3 – Development

Every time A-Qi recalled these words, he never regretted his decision. On the contrary, he was very thankful that he did not hesitate for too long.

He wanted his children to live well, so no matter what they wanted him to do, as long as his children could have a good life, then he was willing to do anything.

As for whether Mayor Xu would retaliate against him afterwards, this was not within the scope of A-Qi’s consideration.

After agreeing to the man’s condition, that person promised to protect him thoroughly.

The events of what happened in Magou River soon spread to other parts of Ali Xiang.

When they first heard about this incident, many people expressed their disbelief, but when they learned that the people living in Magou River had already received food and money, they all became excited.

However, along with this news, there was a rumor.

Xu Wei Ye was not willing to just roll over and accept it. He had the short man spread rumors that the Magou River incident was false, and that the villagers must not be fooled.

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There were indeed some people who believed their words, but the eyes of the masses were sharp.

They found that dozens of farmers in Magou River were digging up the rice seedlings in their fields and tilling the soil again, as if they were preparing to plant other crops. Not only that, but they discovered that the villagers of Magou River all had bright smiles on their faces, and all of their clothes were brand new.

Some people instantly got jealous.

If the news was false, then why did the lives of the Magou River villagers improved?

Gradually, the people stopped believing in the rumors that Xu Wei Ye spread, and everyone began to expect An Zi Ran to also come to them to buy their field. Even if they didn’t get back double, they were still willing to cooperate.

Three days later, An Zi Ran and his party finally came to He-Li.

He-Li was the second place that An Zi Ran took note of. This was also one of the most suitable places for planting cotton in Ali Xiang, but the living standards of the villagers in He-Li were slightly better than that of Magou River, so An Zi Ran did not choose this place for their first stop.

Their arrival immediately attracted the attention of all the villagers in He-Li.

The villagers of He-Li have long heard about the events that had transpired at Magou River.

Some of the people believed in the validity of the news they heard, while others were stuck in the mid-way point between belief and disbelief, but a large portion of the population was willing to give it a try. The people here were all comparatively smarter.

With just a bit of conversion, they could figure out that one year’s worth of net profit from their harvests was only half of what An Zi Ran was offering. Some people’s profits were even less than half of what An Zi Ran was offering.

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What’s more, their land was all contracted, and the contract had a limited number of years signed on. When time ran out, they had to return that land. But if that land became their own land, then it would be a different matter.

He-Li’s stop was much smoother than Magou River. Although some of the people still maintained a wait-and-see attitude, most of them signed the agreement.

At the same time, the name of the Imperial Fu Palace was started to become a ringing success*.

[*T/N: As in more people are learning about the Imperial Fu Palace in a positive manner.]

The older generation, who were suppressed by Xu Wei Ye, came forward and said that Ali Xiang was indeed the Imperial Fu Palace’s territory.

At this point, the villagers finally learned that their master was not Xu Wei Ye, and that Xu Wei Ye was only a servant under the “employment” of the Imperial Fu Palace.

Xu Wei Ye’s ten years of hard work was completely ruined.

Half a month later, a crazy phase of digging up rice seedlings exploded across Ali Xiang.

A large number of rice seedling were dug out from the field, the soil was all renovated, and sprinkled with the cottonseeds that An Zi Ran had brought.

Early on, Guan Su had already commanded some people to carefully sift through the seeds for the good ones.

Cottonseeds had green cores and black cores. In order to prevent this kind of thing, An Zi Ran had people soak the seeds first, and when it was time to plant the seeds, they could just directly dump the seeds into the fields.

[T/N: The previous paragraph might be a bit confusing. I have no knowledge of farming, but my understanding of the author’s meaning is that some cottonseeds have a rotten core, so they had to pick out the bad ones by soaking them ahead of time.]

However, not all soil was suitable for planting cotton,

For example, in Xinhe, some places were more suitable for beets and melons, and some places were more suitable for the development of animal husbandry.

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

An Zi Ran also “bought” back these places, and the situation was the same as the villagers in Magou River.

Xinhe slowly got better, but Xu Wei Ye did not have a good time.

He still had some secrets that no one knew about in Ali Xiang, but if the people of the Imperial Fu Palace discovered his secrets, then he was over.

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Chapter 123.2 – Development

A-Qi returned to the crowd with two large sacks of grain and four strings of genuine copper coins. Half of that money was for the few acres of land he had contracted before. Originally, it was supposed to be one string of coins for one year, but An Zi Ran paid him twice over.

Everyone immediately surrounded him and asked him about the contents of the agreement. Most people were illiterate, so they could only ask the literate A-Qi.

A-Qi answered them truthfully.

After listening to him, the fat man who kept opposing An Zi Ran said in a peculiar way: “A-Qi, you’ve been speaking up for them all along, just now too. Could it be that you received some benefit from them beforehand?”

A-Qi glanced at him calmly, “I only know that with this rice and flour, I can feed my three children. With this amount of money, I can also buy them a lot of new clothes. They will be well fed and well clothed. I can also send them off to school, so that they don’t have to suffer like their dad.”

Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.

At first, the other villagers thought that what the man said was not without reason, A-Qi’s attitude was indeed somewhat unusual, but in the blink of an eye, A-Qi’s words moved them and changed their opinions.

It didn’t matter if young and strong people like them didn’t have enough food to eat, but it wasn’t right for the children and the elderly in their families to go hungry.

If the children and elderly could have just a slightly better life, then these people wouldn’t hesitate even if it cost them their lives.

“Hey, don’t be fooled by him, he is just putting on an act.”

The short man noticed that many people looked moved by A-Qi’s words, and he was immediately anxious, but his words were no longer working. Several people walked over to Guan Su to sign the contract and then went to Shao Fei to receive food and money.

Some people burst into tears of joy and knelt down on the spot. They hadn’t seen so much rice in the rice barrel of their house for a long time, never mind twenty catties of flour.

Before long, all the families of Magou River signed an agreement with An Zi Ran, except for the short man who had tried to sow dissent. The villagers did not know that he was working for Xu Wei Ye, but no one tried to persuade him, because his family consisted of only himself, and there was never a day when he had gone hungry.

Seeing how the situation had settled, Xu Wei Ye’s mood was overcast by black clouds.

The one thing that he failed to calculate was that An Zi Ran would be willing to put down capital and rather sustain monetary loss than to lose Magou River.

The conditions he offered were actually not particularly high. At most, the income level was the same as that of the people in An Yuan County, but for the villagers of Ali Xiang, it was already very good, especially since they would each own a piece of land after three years.

“That goddamn A-Qi, he actually dared to ruin my plans!”

Xu Wei Ye’s teeth itched with hatred. His plan was clearly about to succeed, but then this A-Qi burst out of no where and completely ruined his plan.

As if feeling a malicious gaze on him, A-Qi suddenly turned his head and looked over. He happened to meet Xu Wei Ye’s sinister gaze and was taken aback. He did not expect that their mayor would show such a creepy expression. But after a bit of thought, he was once again relieved. Even if Mayor Xu hated him, he did not have a single regret ever since he made a promise with that man.

That day when A-Qi left his house, he met a man.

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The man claimed to be the subordinate of the real master of Ali Xiang, and had came to him because he wanted to discuss something with him.

A-Qi was different from most of the villagers in Ali Xiang. He has attended school before and knew more than the others. So when he heard the man talking about the real owner of Ali Xiang, he immediately thought of a topic that was banned by the mayor ten years ago.

A-Qi remembered that the emperor of Da Ya had personally granted the territory of Ali Xiang to the Imperial Fu Palace. It has been thirty years or so, but because the Imperial Fu Palace never sent anyone to claim the land, Ali Xiang was pressed under the thumb of the Xu father and son pair for decades. Gradually, many people forgot about the Imperial Fu Palace, and some never even knew that the territory belonged to the Imperial Fu Palace.

Despite his education, A-Qi was still just an ordinary person, and at that moment he was a bit dazed.

“My master said that he is willing to help your family, provide you and your children with meat for meals three times a day, and give you new clothes to wear every day, as long as you are willing to do us a little favor.”

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Chapter 123.1 – Development

The crowd’s disputing voices have exploded, only a few people were able to restrain themselves.

Xu Wei Ye walked in front of An Zi Ran with a hypocritical expression of patient persuasion on his face.

“Fu-wangfei, you can’t just casually spout such words. If you can’t do it, you’d better think carefully before saying it, otherwise it is a deception. It’s not good. There will be retribution.”

“Thank you for the reminder, Mayor Xu.” An Zi Ran replied calmly. “I don’t have anything, just a little bit of money, so you don’t have to worry!”

Xu Wei Ye’s mouth twitched.

Did this person not understand human speech? With which ear did he use to hear concern from Xu Wei Ye’s words?

An Zi Ran asked Shao Fei to carry out the things that they had prepared. Sacks of rice and flour were removed from the cart one after another. In a split second, everyone’s eyes were dazzled. The sounds of arguing gradually disappeared, replaced by curious and restless expressions.

They had never seen so much rice and flour, especially flour that was made from wheat.

Although Ali Xiang was suitable for growing wheat, the villagers were not aware of this, so in their eyes, wheat was even more rare than rice, and the price of wheat was therefore more expensive.

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But what was more rare was that wheat was not like rice, which could only be used to make congee. Flour grounded from wheat could not only be used to make bread and steamed buns, but also biscuits, noodles, and other foods. Just a little bit of ingredient could fill one’s stomach without the need for side dishes at all.

Thirty catties of rice and twenty catties flour, with a bit of frugality, a family of four like A-Qi and his children could have food to eat every day for a month. Moreover, it was to the point of being able to eat their fill. In addition to all that, there were even two strings of coins.

Two strings of coins could be used to buy other necessities, such as oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, etc. As well as buy new clothes and quilts for the children. It should be noted that nearly ninety percent of all the households by the Magou River wore old clothes. Even during the New Year they did not get new clothes to wear.

If what the youth said was true, even if their fields were newly contracted, the villagers would still be willing to hand them over. But everyone still did not dare to believe it just like that.

Looking at the sacks of rice and flour moved in front of them, every hesitated. You look at me, and I look at you, but no one dared to be the first one to step out.

They weren’t complete idiots.

Some people could see very clearly that Mayor Xu did not want them to agree to the other party’s conditions.

But what was placed in front of them afterwards made them waver, because it was the sound of jangling copper coins hitting against each other. A string of coins was taken out of a coin pouch.

They have clearly already arranged everything. Each coin pouch contained two strings of copper coins. There were several dozen pouches, just waiting for them to nod their heads and agree. Then they would be able to obtain the money.

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“I said I will not force you, but to make you feel more at ease, I can sign a contract with you to protect each and every one of your interests. Those who agree to this can come to me.”

An Zi Ran looked at all the villagers’ hopeful yet hesitant and cautious faces.

When he finished speaking, no one responded for a long while after.

An Zi Ran was not anxious at all.

Instead, Xu Wei Ye became increasingly pleased. Just when he wanted to step out, someone walked up to An Zi Ran before him.

This person was precisely A-Qi.

A-Qi looked at An Zi Ran and summoned the courage to say: “I, I am willing.”

An Zi Ran nodded, “Go to the left side to sign an agreement. After signing, you can go to the right side to get food and money.”

A-Qi walked up to Guan Su suspiciously, and Guan Su showed him a copy of the agreement that he had already written up.

Although A-Qi was a farmer, he was one of the few literate people of Magou River. After reading the content of the agreement, he confirmed that it was indeed the same as what was verbally promised. Not only were there no disadvantages for them, everything was also advantageous for them. He signed the contract without raising any objection.

His family’s field was only contracted for three years. And this year was the second year. Even now, he had yet to break even, but their family already had problems with getting enough food.

If they don’t agree to this, they won’t have to wait for the field contract to be up, the family will starve to death before that happens.

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Chapter 122.2 – Calculation

There was a saying that money will make the Devil turn millstones*.

[*T/N: 有钱能使鬼推磨 – (idiom) with money, you can do anything you like]

An Zi Ran may not have anything else, but he had plenty of money. Just Tian Long Gambling House alone earned him several times the amount of money that selling rice did. He has been saving that money for this very moment.

This was the so-called ‘you have a plan, and I have a ladder to climb over walls.’

[T/N: ‘你有张良计，我又过墙梯 ’ – the above phrase in quotation marks is saying that Xu Wei Ye may have been plotting against them, but AZR and them have a countermeasure, as in, ‘I have a ladder to climb over the obstacles you put before me’ kind of meaning.]

“Some people may not understand why your annual harvest is always so small when you have all worked very hard, going to the fields early and returning home late, and suffering from backaches and waist pains. Even getting enough food is becoming a problem. That is because you are planting something unsuitable on land that is best suited for growing other crops…”

An Zi Ran first introduced himself, and then he expounded on the pros and cons to them.

These villagers were doing everything that they could just to be able to provide the bare minimum for their families. They had no knowledge about crop and land compatibility, but many of them truly understood. It was just because of Xu Wei Ye that they did not dare to resist. Now that An Zi Ran had put forth the proposal, some echoing sentiments rippled through the crowd.

“Right now, I have a method to solve your current dilemma, but it depends on whether or not you are willing to try.”

At this time, there was a scoffing sound from the crowd.

“Your so-called solution is to have us dig out the rice seedlings in the fields and plant the weird crops that you brought, right? In the end, it’s all for your own benefit. You don’t really want to help us. We all know that you asked for a hundred acres of land to grow that kind of stuff, but it wasn’t enough, and that’s why you’re turning your attention onto us now.”

An Zi Ran looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was a short but plump man. On his face was an expression of provocation. Just one look was enough to determine that this was someone Xu Wei Ye had planted in the crowd. He deliberately said those words to sway the crowd’s thoughts. And there were indeed some people in the crowd who were shook by his words.

“Excuse me, what is this method you speak of?”

Not long after, a man suddenly stepped out from the crowd to ask.

Xu Wei Ye narrowed his eyes and looked over at the man. With a glance, he recognized that this man was A-Qi. Xu Wei Ye had a deeper impression of him because the man’s wife had abandoned him and their children to leave Ali Xiang. A cold light flashed through his eyes.

A-Qi did not seem to notice Xu Wei Ye’s gaze. He looked at An Zi Ran without blinking.

An Zi Ran glanced at him and said, “What he said is not all wrong. I do want you to dig out the rice seedlings in the fields, but not for free. I know that some of your field contracts still have one or two more years before they expire. I want to terminate these contracts earlier, but I will return the contract money to you. Of course, I will not force you, this is all up to your will, however…”

“Haha, this person finally shows his true colors. He just wants to take back the land from our hands. Don’t be deceived by him. He doesn’t have any good intentions at all.”

The man interrupted his words with a loud laugh and started to sow dissension.

Because An Zi Ran had yet to get to the main point, some people were getting agitated. Their voices got louder and louder until A-Qi spoke again.

“Everyone, stay calm and listen to what else this young man wants to say. After all, the decision is in our hands. We won’t lose out just by listening.”

Some people felt that what he said made sense, so they calmed down.

Xu Wei Ye and the fat man immediately shot daggers at A-Qi with their eyes. This person has repeatedly sabotaged their plan. Could it be that An Zi Ran has bribed him?

An Zi Ran calmly said: “For those who accept, I will ask you to work for me. I will give you thirty catties of rice and twenty catties of flour every month. In addition, everyone can get two strings of coins. For those who work for me for three consecutive years, I will give them a piece of land. This piece of land will forever belong to that person. There is no need to contract the land. All business transactions will be up to you.”

There was dead silence all around.

Everyone looked at him in disbelief. How could there be such a good thing?

“Don’t be fooled by him. He must be trying to trick us into handing over our land.” At Xu Wei Ye’s signal, the short man finally reacted, and his sharp voice broke the silence in an instant.

“That’s right, how could there be such a good thing!”

The murmuring voices sounded one after another. This time, there was no need to instigate them at all. Not many people could believe that there was such a good thing in this world, so their first reaction was to believe that An Zi Ran was lying to them.

More and more echoes rose from the crowd and some people looked at An Zi Ran with unkind eyes.

Xu Wei Ye stopped looking sullen and he faced An Zi Ran triumphantly. Not to mention the villagers, even he could not believe it.

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Chapter 122.1 – Calculation

Ten days later, An Zi Ran and Fu Wu Tian finally walked out of the Xu Manor.

For this outing, their destination was once again Xinhe. The horse carriage that was parked outside the entrance to the Xu Manor quickly took them away from the manor.

The doorman watched them leave and immediately reported the news to Xu Wei Ye.

Xu Wei Ye immediately decided to go see what they were up to.

Rumors have been circulating for ten days, but contrary to expectation, nothing happened. Some of the villagers saw that the outsiders did not take any special actions during this time and they gradually became less concerned. Their reactions were not as agitated as they were at the beginning. Everyone just went back and did what they usually had to do.

On the eleventh day, the arrival of An Zi Ran and his group did not arouse the villagers’ rejection. However, this time, the group had come prepared.

Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.

The villagers near the Magou River were the most archetypal representatives of Xinhe.

They were representative because they were the first villagers ordered by Xu Wei Ye to plant rice. So to the other villagers, they were like an advertisement.

[T/N: The wording was confusing in the raws, but I think the author is trying to say that this group of people were the first ones ordered to plant rice, and then the rest of the villagers followed, so this group of people is like the spearhead or representative of what they do.]

However, rice wasn’t something that was easily cultivated just because you said you wanted to plant it. At that time, they had just finished harvesting the rice in the field less than a month ago. The seedlings in the rice field had just been sown for twenty days. And in general, the seedlings need to be up to thirty days old before they could be pull up and split. If this were done too soon, it would affect the rice seedlings. If that were the case, the harvest would be smaller.

The people were already having a hard time, but Xu Wei Ye added hail to snow*.

[*T/N: added hail to snow = (idiom) to make things worse in a bad situation]

The villagers have long been dissatisfied with Xu Wei Ye, but because of his identity and status in Ali Xiang, they did not dare to resist, and they did not even dare to say anything.

These ten days of waiting were not only used to reduce the villagers’ vigilance, but also used to investigate for information. Only when the information was in his hands could An Zi Ran determine his next step. So Guan Su and the others have been going out and about these days to help him investigate the information he needed. Ultimately, they fixed on Magou River.

Their arrival attracted the attention of dozens of families along the Magou River. But very few people dared to approach them. Most of them stood and watched from afar.

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An Zi Ran asked Guan Su to call the villagers together in the name of Xu Wei Ye, saying that there was important news to be announced. Some people did not believe them, because they did not see Xu Wei Ye, but it did not take long before Xu Wei Ye, who was secretly following behind them, was spotted. Once they saw him, the villagers quickly assembled.

Xu Wei Ye’s face turned black as he realized that his actions were all within An Zi Ran’s plan.

They had long known that he was following their trail, but they did not expose him for this very purpose.

Without him, the villagers of Ali Xiang would not believe a group of outsiders so easily. He was counting on this point from the beginning, but he did not expect that the other side had already planned for this. It looked like their secretive movements before were precisely for drawing him in. Indeed, well calculated!

Contrariwise, Xu Wei Ye misunderstood this point.

Their actions were secretive because they did not want Xu Wei Ye to know what they were doing. As for luring him in, it was not a problem at all. Xue Wei Ye was suspicious by nature and wanted to control the whole situation. Even if they did not bait him, he would still follow them.

“You really know how to joke. I clearly did not call for everyone to assemble.” Xu Wei Ye smiled insincerely. He did not want to allow An Zi Ran’s plan to go smoothly.

Hearing his words, the villagers immediately started to whisper amongst themselves.

Xu Wei Ye smiled with satisfaction.

An Zi Ran did not panic and said: “I’m afraid the one that is joking is Mayor Xu. Mayor Xu has been the mayor for ten years. You must not forget whom the land beneath your feet belongs to. Starting from your father’s generation, Ali Xiang should have already been branded with the words Imperial Fu Palace, and you are but a servant of the Imperial Fu Palace. The master has an order, so shouldn’t Mayor Xu carry it out?”

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

The whispering voices grew even louder. There were some villagers here who were from the generation of Xu Wei Ye’s father. As soon as they heard the words Imperial Fu Palace, they remembered it. The ones who didn’t know asked around, and then they also understood what happened. They could not cover the shock on their faces.

Xu Wei Ye’s face turned sullen. He has been stirring up trouble in Ali Xiang for so many years; he has long forgotten that there was a master above him who could end his life anytime, anywhere.

Seeing that he did not deny it, the villagers of Magou River were seventy percent convinced. But there were still some people with dazed expressions on their faces. Ali Xiang suddenly changed masters. This was a somewhat big shock to them.

After using Xu Wei Ye and dealing him a hard psychological blow, An Zi Ran ignored him and turned his attention to the presently restless villagers.

He exuded a cold temperament, but it was not the kind that intimidated people at first glance. He was elegant and had good skin. At first glance, he gave the villagers the impression of a youth that was gentle and mild as jade. Waiting for him to speak, the villagers gradually calmed down.

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Chapter 121.3 – Household Management

Fu Wu Tian’s men ran out every day, and when they came back, they went directly to An Zi Ran and Fu Wu Tian’s room. Xu Wei Ye sent someone to secretly investigate, but he could not find out anything.

“Mayor, do you think they will…”

Yang Long, who was Xu Wei Ye’s trusted aide, made a gesture of slitting his own throat as he trailed off.

Although he was confident in the mayor’s plan, the other side was not ordinary either. They were people from the Imperial Fu Palace. If those people wanted to kill them, they certainly would not be able to resist, so he was very worried over whether or not the other side would go down this extreme path.

“They won’t!”

Xu Wei Ye denied it without hesitation.

“Mayor, how can you be so sure?”

Xu Wei Ye told Yang Long his conjecture, and it was the same as what An Zi Ran and them had thought. This was also one of the points he was counting on. But precisely because he was aware of this one point, he was really curious about what exactly the other side was planning. It was a pity that their opponent’s defense was too tight. His people could not get close at all.

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“No matter what they want to do, I will not let them succeed.”

There was a really dark look in Xu Wei Ye’s eyes.

In Xinhe there were dozen of families near the Magou River. These people each have four to five acres of land. Their fields were suitable for growing wheat, corn, and cotton. But Xu Wei Ye had cleared the wild area and turned the place into rice paddies. Due to the unsuitable climatic conditions here, the annual harvest was low.

Every year, dozens of families could just barely get by. There was no surplus at all. So their living conditions were actually not very good.

One of the families couldn’t even manage to get enough food to be full.

The head of the household of this family was named A-Qi. He and his wife have two sons and one daughter. However, his wife was an outsider. Because she could not handle the poverty, she left five years ago, leaving A-Qi to take care of their three children.

In order to not let his three children go hungry, A-Qi often rose early and went to bed late. But every year, the annual harvest did not grow. He vaguely knew the reason, but he never dared to think about it. In this way, his family struggled on the poverty line. This year, even having food for meals was becoming a problem.

“Children, time to eat.”

After returning from the field, A-Qi brought out the leftover food from yesterday and warmed it up. Then he went into the room and called his children out to eat. Soon after, three children came running out.

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The oldest child was ten years old. The youngest – the daughter – was only five years old. All three children were skinny. It was clear that they did not have enough to eat, but there was an enviable spirit in their eyes.

There were very few things on the table. There was only half a pot of congee that was eighty percent water and some salted vegetables.

A-Qi filled a bowl of congee for the youngest daughter first. There were not many rice grains in the congee, not even one-third of the bowl full.

The youngest daughter smiled happily, “Thank you, Dad.”

A-Qi touched her head, “Eat.”

The eldest son was already sensible and served himself and his younger brother. They ate the congee and the salted vegetables with gusto. Looking at them, A-Qi was very gratified, but also felt he had let them down. If it weren’t for him being so useless, then they would not have to follow him and bear these hardships.

Just thinking about it turned the rims of his eyes red.

A-Qi did not want to cry in front of his children, and quickly stood up.

“Dad, aren’t you eating?” the eldest son, Jiang, immediately asked.

His younger brother and sister instantly put down the tableware and looked at their dad. If their dad didn’t eat, then they wouldn’t eat.

A-Qi kept his back to his children so that they wouldn’t see him cry.

“Dad has already eaten. You guys eat. Dad will go take a look at the field. I will be back in a bit. Jiang, you have to take good care of your brother sister, understand?”

After all, Jiang was still young, so he didn’t perceive anything wrong with his dad. He immediately assured him that he would not only take good care of his siblings, but also help with cleaning and housework.

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

A-Qi was choked with emotions. He quickly went out and walked until he couldn’t see his children. He slid weakly against the wall. He couldn’t help but feel a burst of grief. What should he do so that his three children would be able to eat their fill and wear warm clothes?

This year’s rice seedlings have just been planted, but their family did not have much rice. Whether they could survive this winter was already a foreseeable problem. It was impossible to borrow food from others, because their conditions were no better than his family.

A wave of despair washed over A-Qi.

At this moment, a pair of feet in black boots appeared in front of him.

“Excuse me, is this the house of A-Qi?”

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Chapter 121.2 – Household Management

After reaching an agreement, they all went out.

An Zi Ran was going to take a look at the cottonseeds that Guan Su had planted.

At the outset, An Zi Ran already had a plan when he sent Guan Su’s group to Ali Xiang ahead of them.

Ever since Fu Wu Tian told him that Ali Xiang was suitable for growing cotton, it gave him a thorough understanding of the geographical ecology and climate of Ali Xiang.

Later, he highlighted several areas suitable for growing cotton on a map of Ali Xiang, and gave that map to Guan Su before he headed off.

It was a pity that he only completed a small part of the tasks. The other areas were occupied by crops that Xu Wei Ye had the villagers plant.

After they went out, Xu Wei Ye called for his own people. He had them release rumors, saying that there were some people who wanted to take their land, but did not specify on what was being done. It was fine as long as it made the villagers resist An Zi Ran and his plans.

Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.

Some time ago, the same thing happened when Guan Su came here. Although afterwards the situation ended with nothing definite, as long as the rumors spread again, the villagers of Ali Xiang would definitely recall that incident. Then Xu Wei Ye’s plan would already be half successful.

On the other side, An Zi Ran and his company of people have reached Xinhe.

Xinhe was located in the north of Ali Xiang. It was a small county in Ali Xiang. It was the place that Xu Wei Ye has allocated them to plant cotton, but the area was less than a hundred acres big.

A hundred acres wasn’t very productive. So it was necessary to expand the planting area, but how to expand was a problem.

Xinhe was rich in biological resources, and the conditions were better for developing forests and animal husbandry.

However, under the management of Xu Wei Ye, Xinhe did the opposite.

When Xu Wei Ye learned that Guan Su wanted the land here, he allocated nearly 100 acres of land to Guan Su. Then in the following blink of the eye, the villagers had planted rice on the rest of the land. Therefore, when they walked over here, all along the way they only saw rice seedlings.

“That Xu Wei Ye doesn’t have much ability, but he really knows how to waste (the resources of) Ali Xiang.”

The more An Zi Ran saw, the worse his mood got. Not many people could make him angry, but this Xu Wei Ye could be counted as one of them.

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Fu Wu Tian stared at his profile, “Does wangfei have a way?”

The others immediately perked up their ears.

They all hated that arrogant face of Xu Wei Ye’s, especially Shao Fei, so they all hoped that the wangfei could teach him a lesson.

In fact, with Fu Wu Tian’s capability, he could totally execute Xu Wei Ye on the spot*. This was his territory. Even the emperor could not get involved.

[*T/N: 就地正法 – “to execute on the spot” is an idiom. It can mean “summary execution” or “to carry out the law on the spot”]

But Xu Wei Ye and his father have poured all of their efforts into Ali Xiang for thirty years, and have entered deeply into the people’s hearts. Whereas for them, the Fu family has not appeared here for more than two decades, so many people have forgotten them.

If they killed Xu Wei Ye as soon as they came here, it was very likely to cause panic among the villagers, which was not conducive to An Zi Ran’s plans for development in Ali Xiang.

“Of course I have a way. You guys can just sit back and watch.”

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

An Zi Ran dropped a teaser, but for the time being he did not intend to tell them what the method was.

Xu Wei Ye would have never guessed that An Zi Ran chose the most direct and simple method, and it was the type of method that no one could refuse.

After looking over the situation in Xinhe, the group returned to the Xu Manor. By then, the sun was almost below the horizon.

Xu Wei Ye knew that they would not be able to reap any results. He came over to put on an act and say a few words of sympathy. After receiving a satisfactory answer, he left.

The next day, the rumors that Xu Wei Ye commanded his people to spread had already circulated through Ali Xiang.

Against Xu Wei Ye’s expectations, An Zi Ran and them did not act immediately, and they did not go out on this day. Instead, they stayed in the Xu Manor and did not take a step out of the door.

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Chapter 121.1 – Household Management

Xu Wei Ye had long expected that they would mention this issue, and he had already came up with an excuse.

The excuse was the same as the reason that he had originally given to Guan Su, and he had not spoken falsehood. There was not much extra land in Ali Xiang, because he had ordered the villagers of Ali Xiang to grow a variety of crops using most of the land. And a large part of the crops were planted a month and a half ago.

After making contact at the hexagonal pavilion, Guan Su and Shao Fei had already talked to An Zi Ran about this along the road.

Xu Wei Ye’s actions were intentional.

He knew that Guan Su was Fu Wu Tian’s subordinate, and he knew that they would not be willing to give up, so he had deliberately gotten the villagers to do this before Fu Wu Tian and An Zi Ran arrived. The purpose was to strike first and gain the upper hand*. In this way, even if An Zi Ran and Fu Wu Tian came, they could not order the villagers to dig up the crops in the fields.

[*T/N: strike first and gain the upper hand = Chinese idiom meaning it’s advantageous to make the first move]

Generally speaking, this was indeed the case, but on the way over, An Zi Ran looked at the crops planted in Ali Xiang and noted that the majority of them were rice.

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Ali Xiang also had soil that was suitable for rice cultivation, but not all of the soil was suitable. Due to the terrain, the area suitable for planting rice was very small. In comparison to Hong Province, the area suitable for rice cultivation in Ali Xiang should be one-twentieth of that of Hong Province.

Ali Xiang was located in arid and semi-arid areas. Irrigation depended entirely on the ground, regional river water, melted snow water from the mountains, and other such factors, so the main crops of Ali Xiang should be wheat and corn.

An Zi Ran had studied the topography and climate of Ali Xiang, so he knew this, but the results were very different from what he’d imagined. Ali Xiang has been dominated by rice for decades. It was no wonder that the villagers of Ali Xiang have not been able to become wealthy for decades. They used the wrong method, so it was difficult to be wealthy.

“Fu-wangye, Fu-wangfei, it’s not because I don’t want to, but there is really no extra land. You should have already seen it when you came here. The villagers have already planted the rice seedlings. If you want the villagers to dig up the rice seedlings then I have nothing to say.”

Xu Wei Ye had a regretful expression on his face, but his eyes were gloating. They dared to make him unhappy, so he would not let them be happy either. He was now really thankful that he had the foresight and took precautions in advance.

An Zi Ran said thoughtfully: “Mayor Xu, are you aware that they are many places in Ali Xiang that are not suitable for planting rice?”

“Oh? I’d like to hear the details.”

Xu Wei Ye did not take his words seriously. He has been the mayor for ten years, but he has never heard of this kind of argument. He thought that An Zi Ran was deliberately saying this.

“Rice likes mild and humid climates. It needs to be planted in a place with sufficient sunlight and suitable temperature. However, Ali Xiang is an arid and semi-arid zone. The water resources are not abundant, so it is not suitable for large-scale rice cultivation.”

Listening to An Zi Ran speak unhurriedly, Xu Wei Ye sneered in his heart.

He thought to himself, you’re just inventing crazy nonsense. I would like to see what kind of method you could cook up.

“What does Fu-wangfei think Ali Xiang is suitable for planting? It couldn’t be that weird crop you were planning to plant, could it?” Xu Wei Ye’s face revealed a sneer.

An Zi Ran gave him a deep look.

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“Cotton is just one of them. The climate in Ali Xiang is more suitable for the cultivation of drought-tolerant crops such as wheat and corn. If Mayor Xu does not believe it, we can find people to test it out.”

Xu Wei Ye put on a fake smile and said, “Fu-wangfei must be joking with me, right? The crops in the fields have already been planted. Even if I am willing, the villagers may not be willing.”

“How do you know if you don’t try it?”

Xu Wei Ye smiled hypocritically, “Since Fu-wangfei is confident, you can try it. If the villagers agree, I have nothing to say.”

An Zi Ran was waiting for him to say this sentence.

“Then, that’s settled.”

Xu Wei Ye had no regrets. He was confident that the villagers would never agree, because no one was willing to give up their rice bowl*. If there were no rice in the field, then there would be no harvest next year. What would they have to eat come next year? This kind of thing wasn’t something you could experiment with just because you said you wanted to try it. The crucial point was that they must have food to eat.

[*T/N: (figurative of speech) one cannot eat without a rice bowl]

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Chapter 120.2 – Bring to Heel

Xu Wei Ye did not expect An Zi Ran to be so direct and efficient in his speech. For a split second, he almost couldn’t answer.

“Wangfei must be teasing. It’s not that this one is not willing. The decorations you speak of are actually fake. They’re just nice to look at, that is all. As for Xu Manor, in fact it is just a fancy front. The construction materials used for the Xu Manor are all very ordinary. No matter how you say it, this one is still the mayor of Ali Xiang. We can’t let outsiders belittle us and say that we’re not more than so-so. Don’t you agree?”

An Zi Ran glanced at him with a curve on his lips that was like a smile but not a smile.

“Since they are fake, then even if they were to accidentally break, Mayor Xu should not feel distressed, don’t you agree?”

Xu Wei Ye’s eye twitched. “Of, of course.”

He naturally heard the threat in the other party’s words, but could he change tune and say that they were real? Of course not, otherwise that would be just like lifting a stone to hit his own foot.

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Xu Wei Ye was someone with a lot of face, so most of the decorations in his residence were real, just like the two three-feet tall vases at the entrance of the main hall, those were genuine goods that he specially bought, and he spent a lot of money on them. If they were really broken, he would definitely be distressed.

Thinking of this, Xu Wei Ye couldn’t help but be frightened. It seemed he had to find a time to get his servants to put away all these valuable things.

Just as Xu Wei Ye was thinking this, Shao Fei’s eyes lit up because of An Zi Ran’s words.

And he was worried about not having any opportunities to get back at Xu Wei Ye. Here was a chance for revenge, to get back at Xu Wei Ye for making them live in that run-down cottage for so long.

Because the food was simple, everyone ate very fast.

And Xu Wei Ye had thought that they would not be able to stomach this food. Instead, they wiped out everything, including those few steamed buns. There were no leftovers. There were even some soldiers who were not full, and got a dozen more steamed buns from Xu Wei Ye.

Xu Wei Ye thought that he could one up them, but now his face was turning blue.

After eating, they moved tacitly out of the front hall, preparing to go to the main hall. They moved in pairs, one to the left and one to the right. Right as they walked through the door to the main hall, one of the solders walked too quickly and accidentally bumped into Shao Fei.

Shao Fei twisted his body and accidentally bumped into a vase on the side. Right in front of Xu Wei Ye’s shocked eyes, the vase fell to the floor and shattered into pieces.

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But things were not over yet. Xu Wei Ye did not have time to be properly distressed over his broken vase, when the sound of a second identical vase shattered.

Xu Wei Ye trembled as he turned towards the direction of the noise and he saw Guan Su with his body askew to support one of the Xu Manor’s maids.

No matter how one looked at the scene, it looked like an accident.

But Xu Wei Ye knew that this was definitely not an accident.

However, Guan Su was obviously smarter than Shao Fei. The person he borrowed as an excuse was not another soldier, but one of the Xu Manor’s servants, and he calculated it just right.

“Mayor Xu, I am so sorry. I accidentally broke the counterfeit article in your house, you won’t mind right?” Shao Fei hurriedly walked in front of him with an expression of exaggerated guilt, but his eyes were definitely gloating.

Hearing the words counterfeit article shaved a few more layers off of Xu Wei Ye’s face.

Guan Su came over and said apologetically: “Mayor Xu, please don’t blame your servant. She didn’t hit it intentionally, but fortunately they were just fakes. It’s not a pity even if they broke, don’t you agree?”

Xu Wei Ye almost spewed out a mouthful of blood. The two men were intentional, but what made him angry were Guan Su’s words, who not only thrust a proverbial sword through his chest, but also pushed the fault off onto his servant. But he had to swallow that mouthful of blood.

“It, it doesn’t matter, they’re… they’re fake anyway.”

Xu Wei Ye gritted his teeth.

“If it doesn’t matter then that’s good.” Shao Fei patted his chest as if he were panicked and still in doubt. “Just now I was scared to death. No matter how you look at it, those two vases looked real. Or perhaps Mayor Xu has the foresight to know that this will happened and used two fake vases.”

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

Xu Wei Ye responded with a smile, but silently swallowed down the mouthful of blood. He vowed to get back at these people; otherwise he would not be named Xu.

Afterwards, Xu Wei Ye called several servants to clean up the fragments. The task was completed in short order. Finally, only the few of them were left in the main hall. Everyone made some small talk, and then An Zi Ran broached the main topic.

It rarely snowed in Ali Xiang, and when it did the snow would not last very long. It was winter now, but the entire process from sowing cottonseeds to their maturation took about two hundred and fifty days. If they expanded the planting range now, then it would be just in time to harvest them next autumn. If they missed this opportunity then there would be a lot of inconveniences.

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Chapter 120.1 – Bring to Heel

“This Xu Wei Ye, he was the head of the town for ten years, looks like he embezzled a lot.”

After they moved into the Xu Manor’s side wing, they saw a bunch of luxurious and high-grade rooms everywhere. Seeing this, Shao Fei’s hatred for Xu Wei Ye grew even more. Even the rooms in the side wing were decorated so beautifully. From this, it was evident how luxurious Xu Wei Ye’s place of residence was. And this guy went as far as making them live in a broken down cottage for several months. Sooner or later they will deal with him!

“Stop talking nonsense.”

Guan Su walked past him and patted the back of his head along the way. Everyone already knew this, so what was the point of saying it out loud?

Shao Fei was dissatisfied. “Stop patting me on the back of the head, okay? What are you going to do if I become stupid from it?”

Guan Su suddenly stopped.

Shao Fei almost couldn’t brake in time and walked right into his back. He took a small step back and then asked: “What’s the matter?”

Guan Su turned around. There was a smile full of bad intentions on his handsome face. “You will become stupid from being patted? Then let me see if you’re really stupid or not.” Then he pulled Shao Fei forward by the arm and mimed inspecting his head.

Shao Fei was dumbfounded for a moment before reacting. He quickly jerked his arm away.

Guan Su spoke as if he was taking things very seriously, “The inspection is done. You didn’t become stupid from being patted, you’re still just as stupid as you were before.”

“You you you…” Shao Fei’s face flushed red.

Guan Su laughed heartily.

From the next room over, An Zi Ran saw this scene and couldn’t help but smile.

“Guan Su seems to like to bully Shao Fei.”

Hearing this, Fu Wu Tian glanced over into the next room.

“Shao Fei has a one-tracked mind. His personality is straightforward, and his brain is indeed not very smart. Guan Su is too clever. When he sees honest people, he likes to tease them.”

“Could it be that Guan Su likes Shao Fei?”

An Zi Ran speculated. With him and Fu Wu Tian as a precedent, it wouldn’t surprise him if there were men in love around him, so he felt that Guan Su and Shao Fei’s mode of interaction was a bit like “I bully you because I like you.”

“This is not the first time that Guan Su has bullied Shao Fei. I haven’t seen any sparks from them before.”

Fu Wu Tian never paid much attention to his subordinates’ love lives.

There group was relatively large and the Xu Manor did not have so many vacancies, so they were split into two people per a room. Only Zhong Yue got a separate room to herself, because she was the only female among all of them.

An Zi Ran took into consideration the length of the journey and thought that the An family’s housemaids might not be able to adapt to the long trip, so he did not bring any maids with him this time. He only had Fu Wu Tian’s men around him.

Xu Wei Ye was intimidated by Fu Wu Tian, so he did not dare to neglect them.

After they got settled in, Xu Wei Ye sent someone to invite Fu Wu Tian and An Zi Ran to eat in the front hall. Guan Su, Shao Fei, and Zhong Yue also sat at the same table as them. The rest of the soldiers sat at other tables.

Although they have long mentally prepared themselves, when they saw it in the flesh, everyone could only think the same thing in their hearts—Xu Wei Ye was once again pretending to be Sun Tzu.

There were no extravagant dishes on the dinner table. There weren’t many non-vegetarian* dishes, only one plate. Moreover, it was just some minced pork meat stir-fried with vegetables. The rest of the dishes were either cabbage or salted vegetables. As for carbohydrates there were several steamed buns and a pot of congee. Although it was not comparable to an impoverished family’s meal, it was discordant with the luxurious Xu Manor.

[*T/N: 荤腥 hun xing: meat and fish]

No one would believe it if they heard about it.

The Xu Manor was built so opulently that it was made of glazed bricks and tiles. To say that Xu Wei Ye and his family ate this kind of food three meals a day was the same as saying Xu Wei Ye would never embezzle again. No one would believe it.

But to the present crowd, they have eaten much cruder and simpler foods. Back then, when they were fighting on the battlefield, how many times were the army provisions not delivered on time? The hungry soldiers had no choice but to eat tree bark and dig up tree roots. They have been through greater hardships than this.

“Aiya, wangye, wangfei, please be forgiving if the reception is not satisfactory.” Xu Wei Ye smiled pretentiously.

Although he was afraid of Fu Wu Tian, it did not mean that he would not try to regain control of the scene. He was a vengeful person. If he could get a bit of his face back in this kind of small setting, then he would be happy to do so. If Fu Wu Tian were to fuss over minor matters with him, then he could exploit this topic in his favor.

Xu Wei Ye thought that the one to speak up would be Fu Wu Tian. He never expected that the teenager sitting beside the man would be the one to open his mouth. A pair of cold eyes fell upon him. There was a bit of scrutiny in that gaze. It made Xu Wei Ye felt like he was being seen through.

“Mayor Xu’s manor house is so big. None of the decorations look like ordinary items. Since he is willing to pay for this, how can he invite guest to such a shabby dinner. Does Mayor Xu look down on us?”

An Zi Ran did not beat around the bush. He cut straight to the heart of the matter.

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