After over two months of severe drought, Huagui County was greeted by a torrential downpour, which the farmers joyfully welcomed as a life-giving rain. Following the rainfall, the autumn planting commenced in the fields.

In Huagui County, the crop of the season was generally winter wheat. However, Wang Xiaoqiang decided to plant Jade Bamboo Yam, covering forty acres, which sparked considerable local excitement. Over the past few days, not only had the villagers of Sanmiao Village been discussing this, but the surrounding villages were almost all abuzz with the news:

"Wang Xiaoqiang must be going mad. Planting forty acres of Jade Bamboo Yam—he's really daring to dream!"

"He's clearly asking for trouble. Just because he had a good corn harvest last season doesn't mean he can whimsically plant yams. The higher you climb, the harder you fall..."

Wang Xiaoqiang was completely unconcerned with what others said. Indeed, planting forty acres of Jade Bamboo Yams might seem risky to others, but for him, it involved no risk at all.

There are multiple ways to plant Jade Bamboo Yam, but the best and most convenient method is the zero residue method. The first step was selecting the seeds. Wang Xiaoqiang had purchased them from the county town, and they were delivered the next day.

The seed potatoes he chose were brightly colored, with plump buds, robust tubers, sparse nodules, few roots, no pests or diseases, non-rotten, unfrozen, and of excellent quality.

Since it was the zero residue method, the pre-germination step was skipped.

Once the seeds arrived home, the next step was planting. Before planting, Wang Xiaoqiang used Wood Element Spiritual Qi to "soak" the zero residue seeds, much like how others might soak seeds in a potion.

Wang Xiaoqiang believed that Wood Essence Vitality aids in the growth, and Wood Element Spiritual Qi would have a supportive effect on the germination of the yam zero residue seeds.

Jade Bamboo Yam yields a crop every two years, and then it takes three more years before the second crop can be planted, making it a five-year cycle. If it really were every five years, its profitability wouldn't compare with regular crops. This was the main reason why most people dared not cultivate Jade Bamboo Yam.

Wang Xiaoqiang didn't want his efforts to be fruitless. Having access to the Five Elements Spirit Spring, he intended to make good use of it. After treating the seeds with Wood Element Spiritual Qi, he began planting.

Planting zero residue seeds of yams had to be done manually. Planting forty acres was a massive task. To complete the planting within two or three days, hiring help was essential, especially since the task was too arduous for Wang Xiaoqiang to manage alone. There were plenty of idle hands in the village who could be hired for a fair sum.

That day, Wang Xiaoqiang went around the village, asking each household, offering a generous wage of eighty yuan per day per person, which nearly matched the earnings of construction crews, and he did not discriminate based on gender—as long as one wasn't lazy, they could work.

During the autumn season, wheat planting was typically done with seeding machines, which was very convenient and left people with spare time afterward. Since they were idle anyway and there was money to be made, who wouldn't agree? So, after making his rounds, Wang Xiaoqiang had 38 people agree to help.

He set no limit on the number of people; the more there were, the quicker the work would go, and finishing the planting sooner was beneficial for sprouting. Among these 38 were Xia Sanwa and his family.

Since returning from the county town that day, Xia Sanwa had quit gambling, hadn't touched mahjong since, focused on farming and a bit of business on the side, aiming to repay his debts to the Guo Family quickly. In his spare time, he advised his daughter, Little Fang, to take the initiative in expressing her love for Wang Xiaoqiang.

Every time he mentioned this, Xia Guifang would blush and couldn't raise her head. Seeing that Xiaoqiang was hiring, Xia Sanwa agreed without a second thought and urged his whole family to participate, even promising to work without pay.

Forty acres and thirty-eight workers, along with Wang Xiaoqiang and Liu Juyi, made forty people—the equivalent of one person per acre. This greatly reduced the time required for planting, taking at most two days to complete.

Liu Juyi volunteered to help with the planting, and Wang Xiaoqiang couldn't stop her. Xiaoqiang, the landlord, also joined the planting crew. He didn't use his wealth as an excuse to be lazy; on the contrary, he felt that physical work was beneficial for his health. The saying goes, "A horse must be ridden; strength must be exercised"—and he lived by that adage.

Moreover, being in the fields, people worked while sharing jokes and laughter; the men and women of the village spoke crudely without restraint, and married men and young wives always enjoyed sharing lewd jokes, making a noisy and amusing scene.

When Xia Guifang, the beauty of the village, appeared in the fields, she immediately attracted everyone's attention.

Originally, Widow Liu, who still retained the charm of her youth, was the men's focal point, but as soon as Xia Guifang arrived, Widow Liu instantly faded into the background and lost their interest.

This irritated Widow Liu, and in her annoyed mood, she purposefully teased Xia Guifang, "Oh, Little Fang, working hard for your family-in-law, are you?"

Xia Guifang immediately blushed with shyness, but then Xia Sanwa, who had just arrived, shamelessly replied, "That's right, working for the family-in-law, what about it, jealous?"

Widow Liu did not expect Xia Sanwa to be so thick-skinned, and she scoffed at him, saying, "Cut, Xia Sanwa, excited over nothing, why can't I see any signs of it?"

"Cut, Widow Liu, do you want to see?" Xia Sanwa arrogantly instructed his daughter, "Little Fang, go, go over to Wang Xiaoqiang, hold his hand, let her see…"

Xia Guifang's cheeky face immediately flushed, and she bashfully said, "Dad, what nonsense are you spouting, you can throw away your face, but I can't!"

Xia Sanwa dismissively said, "Cut, what's the big deal? You're just inexperienced. City folks kiss on the streets, some even go to work naked…"

At this point, Xia Sanwa provocatively lifted his chin towards Widow Liu, "Right, Widow Liu, you know more about this than I do…"

"Spit it out, don't change the subject," Widow Liu scoffed at Xia Sanwa, "If you dare, let Little Fang go hold Wang Xiaoqiang's hand…"

"Yeah, let Little Fang go and hold Wang Xiaoqiang's hand, otherwise, no one's really going to believe this," Mrs. Da Niu chimed in encouragingly as she walked over.

"Little Fang, go on, boldly walk over and hold Wang Xiaoqiang's hand, don't be so petty," Xia Sanwa urged again. And he tempted her, "Don't you want to buy a set of cosmetics? Just do as your dad says, and I'll give you the money when we get home."

Xia Guifang glanced involuntarily at Wang Xiaoqiang, who was standing not far away. Ever since her father expressed his intention to betroth her to Wang Xiaoqiang, she had been thinking about it every night. She was a conservative and traditional girl. Although she had gone to junior high, her thoughts were not as open as the city girls'. She was quite satisfied with Wang Xiaoqiang.

They were classmates and knew each other well. Moreover, Wang Xiaoqiang was earnest, practical, and capable, but more importantly, he had overturned the Guo family, resolving the crisis she had faced and for which she was immensely grateful. If her father had arranged this match openly through a matchmaker, she would have considered it a beautiful match.

Unfortunately, her father had not sought a matchmaker; instead, he urged her to proactively show her love to Wang Xiaoqiang, which made it difficult for her to put her pride aside!

Especially in a situation like this, in front of so many people, her father actually asked her to hold Wang Xiaoqiang's hand, something she just couldn't bring herself to do.

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