Pan Yun and Xue Shao exchanged a glance and could not help smiling. In perfect unspoken accord, they cupped their hands in salute, pretending not to know each other.
Xi Jin stood to one side, his eyes rolling as he silently kept his mouth shut.
Chun Wang ran out to report Pan Yun's origins.
The old man was very hospitable. He quickly accepted that there was another guest in the household and squatted nearby, using the vegetable-washing water to wash his hands and feet.
Xue Shao and Xi Jin's hands and feet were also covered in mud, so the old man called the two of them over to wash up.
Only then did Pan Yun learn that Xue Shao and the others had arrived that afternoon. They had talked with the old man's family by the fields, then casually taken off their shoes and gone down into the paddies to help harvest rice. Once they got busy, they had worked until now.
That was why the old man liked Xue Shao so much.
A scholar who respected the elderly, knew how to harvest rice, and did not mind filth or hard work—the old man looked at Xue Shao as though stars were nearly sparkling in his eyes.
Pan Yun sat to one side with her chin propped on her hand, listening to them talk. Before long, she had figured out their situation.
Xue Shao had most likely come for the land survey.
Thinking of the conversation she had overheard from the group she had followed, so their opponent was Xue Shao~~
The old man's son and daughter-in-law, carrying loads of rice on shoulder poles, lagged behind and returned half a quarter-hour later than they had.
The last of the daylight had vanished completely. Chun Lian brought out a torch and