Spring Plowing Ends

Romain paused for a moment, surveying the increasingly stunned small merchants.

He frowned, "Did you understand?"

"Understood, understood!" everyone nodded busily, completely dazed by the windfall.

They had initially thought it was something bad, that they'd have to run errands for the lord.

But now, they weren't just running errands, they were practically running themselves ragged!

This was truly... so exciting!

Simply put, Romain had set a target of 100,000 catties of grain. If they could complete it, they would earn five gold coins.

And they didn't have to bear any risk.

There were only five of them in total, meaning they would each receive one gold coin on average.

Gods above!

One gold coin could buy two draft cattle!

Just by working hard for ten days, they could get two draft cattle!

Who wouldn't be tempted by this!

Even if the target was tough, they had to bite the bullet!

If they were only acquiring wheat, it might be difficult to manage.

After all, wheat was the highest-grade grain.

But if other grains, vegetables, and miscellaneous grains were included, then it would be no problem.

Therefore, the expressions of the five small merchants were somewhat ferocious, as if they were roaring, their eyes red.

They had to secure this target!

Romain turned to look at Mol, frowning and shouting, "Useless thing, get up!"

Mol shakily got to his feet.

When Romain had been speaking, he thought the young lord was going to settle accounts with him, and his heart had stopped.

Acquiring 100,000 catties of miscellaneous grains and cereals would cost about thirty to forty gold coins. For him, it wasn't a complete ruin, but more like a caesarean section.

It was naturally painful.

But compared to the pain of losing his head, Mol felt he could endure this pain of having flesh cut out.

Romain said, "You arrange this matter. The grain can include substandard products, but the quantity of substandard products cannot be too large, understand?"

"Understood, understood, understood!" Mol nodded repeatedly, his handkerchief completely soaked.

They were buying last year's old grain now, and there was a chance of rot, insect infestation, or moisture. This was a reminder for him to pay more attention and not get cheated.

Romain dismissed them.

As the Agricultural Officer, Mol had sold grain for so many years; he would definitely know more about this than Romain.

This 100,000 catties of grain was just a temporary measure, enough to last for one or two months. They would need to continue buying grain afterward.

But they couldn't keep bleeding the pig dry; they needed to find a stable source of income as soon as possible.

By now, his fortune was dwindling, and he was so poor he had to sell his rubies. If this continued, he would have to pawn his Armor-Piercing Greatbow.

Without grain, he wouldn't have the confidence to direct others to act according to his wishes.

Romain pondered for a moment, then continued to draw his cleaver, chopping vegetables and meat.

The speed of sowing and fertilizing was faster than Romain had anticipated.

On the morning of the third day, which was the 21st day since Romain arrived here.

These seven to eight hundred farmers had completed the tasks of sowing and fertilizing.

Looking at the vast, neat furrows, the dark soil exuded a strong aesthetic of flatness and neatness. The entire land seemed to be pregnant with immense vitality.

Almost all the farmers felt it was incredible.

Were these beautiful, fertile fields truly cultivated by their own hands?

Even if they had worked themselves to death in the past, they couldn't have completed the cultivation of these two thousand mu of land in just over ten days, let alone achieve this result.

Simply changing the previous labor model had resulted in such a significant increase in efficiency, which gave them a unique sense of shock.

Many farmers stole glances at the figure at the edge of the field.

That person had his hair down, his eyes were crimson, and he expressionlessly waved the cleaver in his hand, continuously cutting the onions and carrots on the cutting board into large pieces. Beside him, a frail girl was helping him put the cut vegetables into a pot, making a pot of vegetable soup mixed with white flour.

Even though two days had passed, they still felt it was awkward.

The lord was personally cooking for them. Every piece of meat they ate had been chopped by this noble lord, one knife stroke after another.

And Romain watched the prompts of "Cooking Experience +1" continuously displayed on the panel.

In this cold, ruthless chopping motion.

The only thing that brought him a sliver of warmth was the increase in experience points.

After all, he'd been chopping vegetables for two full days, his heart as cold as his blade.

From dawn till dusk, his arms were numb with soreness, and his blade had dulled. Even his attendant chef, Bob, watched with a pained heart.

Up to this point, his Cooking experience had only reached 30 points, still a long way from leveling up to rank 2.

Compared to other skills, the Cooking experience gain was already quite fast.

This was probably because the skill itself didn't require much technical skill, and his efficiency was high.

Innate Chef Saint Body!

However, the cooking experience he gained was still not enough for Romain to slap Green in the face.

This was because it was only basic culinary knowledge, not any truly superb cooking techniques.

Romain could only hope that once he reached rank 2, he could properly teach that Green, who looked down on his cooking, a lesson.

"My Lord."

A voice came from beside him. Romain turned to see a rather dark-skinned young man with his hands clasped at his abdomen, respectfully awaiting his reply.

Barro.

One of the first seven Apostles Romain had drawn.

However, Barro was only a one-star Apostle, with a mediocre 5E stat panel, only his Constitution being E+.

His skill wasn't combat-related either; Barro's skill was called [Diligence]. When he worked, he could increase work efficiency and reduce stamina consumption.

In Romain's opinion, this skill was useless.

Any more experienced farmer would possess this skill.

This meant Barro had little potential for development, and Romain hadn't sought him out.

It wasn't until that farmer riot, when he killed an old farmer named Matthew, that he learned Matthew was Barro's father.

He killed the man's father...

Romain felt no guilt or unease about this.

He righteously appointed Barro as the person in charge of these two thousand acres of land.

During the sowing process, this dark-skinned young man also played a commanding role.

Romain said, "What is it?"

After his father's death, Barro could only suppress his grief and fully immerse himself in the upcoming labor. Now that he finally had some free time.

He asked respectfully, "My Lord, has the cultivation of this common land concluded?"

Romain nodded. "Yes, the spring plowing for this year is over."

The young farmer clearly hadn't grasped his meaning. He said vaguely, "Then are we going to open up new land? The next few days are suitable for planting, and I feel we can still manage to plant a few hundred acres..."

Romain waited for him to finish before responding with certainty, "I said! The spring plowing for this year is over!"

Barro finally understood the meaning of his words.

He was surprised. In his view, the season for sowing hadn't passed yet, and they shouldn't stop.

He hoped to make it clear to Romain that as long as they repeated the previous methods of deep plowing, sowing, and fertilizing, they could plant more seeds. Even if the overall output was less than last year, no one should starve.

But Romain preemptively placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Shut up. I have more important things to do now. You are in charge of these two thousand acres. I will assign you 100 farmers to take care of this land. If the manpower is insufficient, I can temporarily allocate more labor for you—but I will not allow these people to be bound to this land long-term. Do not repeat your father's mistake!"

Farming could put food on the table, but it could only do that.