Chapter 2577 - 2551: Spring Rain

Returning to Pu Village, Zhou Wulang and the others from another field had already come back. They also got caught in the rain, but they were luckier. The rain started just as they were heading home after finishing planting, so at this moment, they were already bathing and changing clothes.

As soon as Manbao and the others returned, water was immediately added to the kitchen to continue boiling, and before long, a pot of hot water was ready.

Bai Shan had the servants find a set of Mr. Zhuang’s clothes for Wei Zhi and had someone assist him in bathing.

Bai Shan and Manbao also returned to their rooms, and half an hour later, everyone was holding a bowl of noodles, squatting under the corridor, eating while watching the increasingly dense rain.

The rain was fine but dense, just the kind of spring rain people loved most. Wei Zhi was very pleased, nodding and saying, "Not bad. If it rains all night, the seedlings in the fields and the newly sown seeds should all sprout."

Manbao and Bai Shan also nodded.

The rain kept falling into the latter half of the night. In a daze, Manbao heard the sound of rain outside becoming fainter, but it seemed as if the wind was blowing in through the window. She felt colder and involuntarily moved closer to Bai Shan, found a warm and comfortable position, and fell deeply asleep again.

However, Bai Shan was woken up by her movement. He drowsily opened his eyes to glance at her, saw her curling up next to his waist, and simply turned over to pull her into his arms. After they both found a comfortable position, they continued to sleep.

After working hard for several days, it was rare to have a rainy day to sleep in. The two of them just yielded to the feeling and slept until someone came to knock on the door, then they opened their eyes.

Yet they were still reluctant to get up. Bai Shan pulled the quilt over Manbao, then turned to look outside, raising his voice to ask, "What’s the matter?"

Xi Bing outside called, "Sir, Lord Wei has had breakfast, and the master wants you to accompany the guest now."

Bai Shan just tucked himself back into the quilt and said, "Let Lixue and the others go. There are books in the study. While Lord Wei is here, they should take the opportunity to ask him some questions."

Xi Bing replied, "...The young masters haven’t gotten up either."

Bai Shan replied without a care, "Then wake them up. With such a fine spring morning, how can they laze in bed? They are scholars, after all."

After dismissing Xi Bing, Bai Shan went back to holding Manbao and continued to sleep.

Meanwhile, Wei Zhi and Old Zhou, along with Zhou Dalang, went to check on the fields in Pu Village. The fields owned by their families were not particularly far from Pu Village, so observing the development here could give them a general idea of their situation.

At this time, the sky was still overcast. Although it wasn’t raining anymore, it always seemed as though it might start again at any moment.

Through the night, the spring grass seemed to have been magically pulled up by an invisible hand, shooting up quite a bit.

Meanwhile, the beans that were planted earlier and had shown no sign of growth had now sprouted green shoots, some even breaking through the soil, revealing little green buds.

The seedlings in the fields had already turned green and looked quite vigorous, evidently having taken root firmly.

Wei Zhi was delighted as he walked along, noticing that the majority of the fields had been planted. He couldn’t help but ask, "Are these all Lord Zhou’s leased fields?"

Old Zhou replied proudly, "Yes."

Wei Zhi nodded and said, "The leased fields in Pu Village are well-managed."

He felt that Zhou Man had encountered good tenants and a well-managed Chief. Considering he had come all this way, he decided to visit the village itself.

So, Wei Zhi went into the village with Old Zhou and Zhou Dalang.

However, villagers rarely slept in. After the rain last night, they all got up early today. The men went out with hoes to check the water in the fields. Some fields hadn’t been planted due to drought, and one had to wisely choose which fields to water first, right?

So, as soon as they woke up today, they went out. They hadn’t even had breakfast yet. They first drained some water from the overly waterlogged fields, then dug trenches in the dry fields to let water flow in, as they were going to plow the fields and transplant seedlings soon.

Secondly, they checked whether the seedlings in the fields had been washed away. If they had been washed away, they would have to replant them quickly.

So, Wei Zhi and the others arrived early, but most of the young and strong villagers had already gone out to the fields. The women at home were also busy, pulling seedlings from the seedbeds, preparing to transplant them, taking advantage of the rain.

Only children remained in the village.

They were driving their family’s chickens to the fields to look for insects and picking tender pig grass. Seeing Old Zhou and Zhou Dalang, they immediately dropped what they were carrying and ran over to circle around them, eagerly offering, "Sir, sir, what do you need? I’ll get it for you."

"Shoo, shoo," Old Zhou waved them away, "I didn’t bring any candy today."

Though the children were slightly disappointed, they still said, "That’s okay, we can still help even without candy."

Old Zhou then asked them, "Where are your parents?"

The children all answered at once.

Wei Zhi stood by, watching them with a smile. Not far away, two children were fighting over an earthworm, wrestling in the mud.

Perhaps their clothes had gotten too dirty to explain at home, so they started crying loudly, accusing each other, "It’s all your fault, I’m telling my grandma to spank you."

"I’m telling my brother to hit you."

Wei Zhi quickly stepped forward, pulling the two children up, and asked, "Why are you fighting over an earthworm?"

"For the chickens to eat."

Wei Zhi glanced at the chickens pecking around nearby, unconcerned with the earthworm tossed in front of them. However, these chickens looked a bit strange; some had their tail feathers clipped short, others had their rumps shorn, and some even had clipped wing feathers...

Wei Zhi couldn’t help but ask, "Why do these chickens have bald patches?"

One child immediately pointed at a chicken with a bald rump, "That’s mine."

The other children also quickly claimed their own chickens.

Wei Zhi himself had tenants and both long-term and short-term workers, but it was rare to see almost every household in Pu Village raising chickens.

Because raising chickens is not that simple. It requires initial investment, and during the raising process, they can easily die or go missing...

There are many dangers for chickens: eagles in the sky, foxes in the mountains, big rats at home, and even people on the ground. You never know when they might wander off and never return, so raising chickens involves risk.

It requires someone to keep a constant watch.

He couldn’t help but ask one of the older-looking children, "Does everyone in your village raise chickens?"

"Yes, every family does."

"Is the village this prosperous?"

The child pointed at Old Zhou, "The chicks are given by the master, free of charge."

Old Zhou said a bit embarrassedly, "It’s just what we should do, it’s nothing..."

Fearing that Wei Zhi would ask further, he seemed to remember Manbao saying that if the landlord made the tenants work too much, the official folks would consider him unkind and uncharitable, and he certainly didn’t want Manbao to have such an image.

However, who was Wei Zhi?

Basically, the information he wanted to know couldn’t be stopped by Old Zhou or Zhou Dalang. He sat on a large rock, chatting with a group of at most eight or nine-year-old children, not only getting a general understanding of the village’s situation but even learning about parents arguing and fighting at night.