An Jing and Xiao Changyi’s rice in the paddy field was truly flourishing; not only were there numerous grains on each ear, but they were also full and heavy, visibly more so than other villagers’ rice.
The people of Jiuping Village were filled with envy when they saw this, and as they lowered their heads to observe their own hurriedly harvested rice that clearly would not yield as much as the previous year’s, their envy deepened.
It could be said that only An Jing and Xiao Changyi’s rice in that one plot of paddy had seen an increase in yield, while the rice in other fields had decreased.
An Jing had no time to concern herself with others’ envy, as she was busy harvesting the rice. Due to the constant bending over, her back ached, but she persisted in her labor.
The paddy was wet, and her husband, having to carry the water-soaked rice back home, was far more exhausted than she was.
It took An Jing a day and a half to finish harvesting the rice from one acre, whereas Xiao Changyi, once he had brought the rice from the field, used a threshing machine in the courtyard. The threshing machine was indeed much faster than a traditional thresher. Along with An Jing occasionally handing rice over to Xiao Changyi, he didn’t even need to climb down from the machine to pick up the rice and return to threshing, resulting in the rice being processed in less than half a day.
Passersby who witnessed Xiao Changyi and An Jing using the threshing machine in their courtyard were astonished. Seeing that the couple had finished processing an acre’s worth of rice in less than half a day, many wished they could have such a machine for themselves to finish as quickly.
An Jing and Xiao Changyi had harvested over six dan of rice from that one acre, whereas normally one could only expect to reap three to four dan from an acre. Their acre had truly seen a substantial increase in production.
An Jing had already agreed with Xiao Changyi that they would also raise ricefield eels in the late paddy.
"Husband, let’s have Youbao come tomorrow to buy the fish," An Jing suggested. She had anticipated that it would take three days to complete the harvest, but they managed to finish in just two days, and there was still daylight left.
Xiao Changyi said, "Then I’ll go tell him now, to come over tomorrow morning."
"Mm, okay." An Jing was feeling a bit tired after these past two days, so she didn’t plan to accompany Xiao Changyi to the town to find Wang Youbao. Instead, she intended to stay at home and prepare dinner.
Xiao Changyi alone rushed to town with his own ox cart. As soon as he informed Wang Youbao to come by the next day to purchase fish, he headed back.
It was already getting dark, and he needed to hurry home to prevent his wife from worrying.
When the ox cart passed by Mrs. Hongxia’s home, under the faint moonlight, Xiao Changyi saw Mrs. Hongxia and Old Hunter Liu’s brother, Liu Yingen, in the back, pulling and tugging at each other. He immediately frowned slightly.
Presumably, Mrs. Hongxia and Liu Yingen had heard the sound of the ox cart; one quickly shut the back door to go inside, and the other swiftly returned home. Both seemed quite flustered.
Xiao Changyi’s cold pupils briefly contracted, as if he had thought of something, but he quickly redirected his gaze and continued to drive the ox cart back to his thatched cottage.
"Husband, is that you?" Hearing the approach of the ox cart, An Jing ran out, stood at the entrance of the courtyard, and called out in a voice tinged with joy, "Is it you?"
A warmth rose from the bottom of his heart. Xiao Changyi’s lips curled into a smile, and his usual sharp gaze softened as he called back loudly, "Yes, it’s me."
Only when he reached the entrance of the thatched cottage did Xiao Changyi descend from the ox cart. An Jing immediately approached and said with a smile, "You’re back earlier than I expected."
"I hurried back to see you." His face was expressionless, but his words were incredibly earnest.