Red Sleeves Offer Fragrance, a Beauty at His Side

That morning.

In a small courtyard in Guihua Lane, a sudden "thunk, thunk, thunk" rang out.

Stepping into the courtyard, one could see a young man in coarse clothes, his right hand raised with a wooden mallet. A strangely shaped piece of wood was wedged between his knees, along with a large, triangular iron plate.

The piece of wood had an unusual angle, one that fit perfectly against the iron plate. What's more, the two surfaces that met had several grooves and matching protrusions. After a flurry of hammering, the young man had joined the oddly shaped piece of wood tightly to the iron plate.

Only after finishing did he lift the connected pieces before his eyes and examine them carefully.

"Not bad, not bad. I've finally put the plowshare together. Thank goodness they followed the specifications in the drawings when they made these parts. Otherwise, I'd have had to spend a while modifying them."

That's right. Once the iron plate and the wood were fitted together, they really did look like the share of a plow.

The sun had just risen, and the light was perfect.

The gentle spring sunshine fell on the young man, making him look extraordinary.

They say a man looks his best when he's focused.

Jing Zhi had never understood that saying, but in that moment, she couldn't agree with it more.

She sat beside the stone table in the courtyard, chin propped on her hand, her gaze fixed on the young man working away. Just then, she suddenly felt that her own Lu Mingyuan looked like a god descended from heaven, as if he didn't belong in the mortal world.

She didn't know how anyone else might have seen him, but she, Jing Zhi, had certainly been spellbound.

That's right: the two people in the courtyard were Jing Zhi and Lu Mingyuan.

Just yesterday, Jing Zhi and Lu Mingyuan had held their engagement ceremony and received the blessings of both families, along with their relatives and friends.

From then on, they truly counted as a family.

They would support each other, give to each other, and keep one another company for the rest of their lives.

Of course, since they weren't officially married yet, living together or spending the night under one roof was out of the question.

Jing Zhi's mother-in-law had made a point of warning them about that yesterday, telling them they absolutely mustn't do anything improper before the wedding.

When he heard that, Lu Mingyuan had looked completely dumbfounded.

Was he, Lu Mingyuan, that kind of man? He was a noble and pure man, a man free of vulgar interests. How could he do anything improper?

And how could his mother-in-law think so poorly of him?

So, while Jing Zhi stood there trying to stifle her laughter, Lu Mingyuan thumped his chest and solemnly agreed to his mother-in-law's "reasonable" request.

What could he do? It was the first request his mother-in-law had made since their engagement. He couldn't very well refuse, could he?

Truthfully, he was more than willing.

Of course, that was if you ignored the tears in his eyes.

Sigh, what could he do? He could only swallow his grievances.

What hurt Lu Mingyuan even more was that his A-Zhi hadn't taken his side this time. She'd just stood there, secretly laughing to herself.

Sigh, times had changed. Even A-Zhi, who had always supported him, had changed.

Thinking of that made Lu Mingyuan feel even more miserable.

By their estimates, they wouldn't be getting married for quite a while—probably several more years. What was it like to be able to look but not touch all that time?

Over the next few years, Lu Mingyuan would find out firsthand.

Back to the point.

It was now the day after their engagement.

Early that morning, Lu Mingyuan had gone to the blacksmith's and carpenter's shops to pick up the parts he'd ordered a few days ago. Now he was busy working on his new divine ability.

As for Jing Zhi, for some reason, she'd stopped keeping the accounts at the restaurant and insisted on coming along with him.

Lu Mingyuan had no choice but to give in.

Besides, a man and a woman working together made the labor feel lighter!

And really, having a beauty at his side to keep him company was a dream come true for many.

In fact, it had been a dream of Lu Mingyuan's in both his lives. He hadn't managed to achieve it in his previous life, so now that he finally had the chance, he wasn't about to pretend to decline or put on airs.

Lu Mingyuan was an honest man. He did what made him happy. No one could force him to do what didn't.

Back in the courtyard.

After a flurry of activity, Lu Mingyuan finally stopped working some time later. At last, he'd managed to assemble the pile of parts he'd brought home into a finished product.

And a proper one, at that.

When Jing Zhi saw that he was done, she hurried over. But when she saw what he was holding, her eyes filled with confusion.

"Mingyuan, is that a plow? How do you use it? I've never seen anything like it."

The plow in Lu Mingyuan's hands looked like a wooden handle attached to a long, slender elm shaft, with a plowshare fixed to the other end.

Jing Zhi recognized the plowshare. But was this really a plow?

Honestly, if Lu Mingyuan hadn't told her about it beforehand, and if the other end of the elm shaft weren't attached to a plowshare, Jing Zhi would never have believed this simple tool was a plow.

And how was it supposed to work?

It didn't seem to have anywhere to attach an ox.

Could it be that handle?

No, that wouldn't work either. Even setting aside whether they could tie it on, that slender wooden shaft would probably snap after an ox gave it a couple of tugs.

So what was it?

In answer to Jing Zhi's question, Lu Mingyuan made no attempt to hide the truth. "It's definitely a plow. A hand-pulled plow. You pull it by hand."

That's right, this was essentially the sort of hand-pulled plow commonly seen in rural areas in his previous life. The one Lu Mingyuan had made was a simplified version. It had no wheels, and even the plow beam was made of wood, so it was bound to be flimsy.

Still, it should work well enough in the short term. Besides, Lu Mingyuan had only made it to test it out. He didn't intend to actually plow a field with it.

After explaining it to Jing Zhi, he dragged the hand-pulled plow over to the vegetable patch in his courtyard and gave it a try, while she watched in amazement.

Once the iron plowshare sank into the ground, it really did turn over the soil in the vegetable patch.

A glint instantly flashed in Jing Zhi's eyes.

"It really can plow! Mingyuan, you're amazing."

Jing Zhi had assumed that a plow made mostly of wood wouldn't work. She hadn't expected it to plow at all, let alone dig so deep. It went down more than ten centimeters—surely that was enough.

Seeing the young woman's adoring gaze, Lu Mingyuan's heart leapt. He lifted his chin and winked at Jing Zhi, basking in the sunshine like a proud peacock.

"Of course! There's nothing in this world that I, Lu Mingyuan, can't do. A-Zhi, let me tell you, you've struck gold with me. You'd better treat me well from now on, or I might just run off."

Jing Zhi glanced at Lu Mingyuan's smug expression but didn't tease him. She kept smiling, as if she agreed with everything he'd said.

Suddenly, a question occurred to her. "Mingyuan, you must have invented this hand-pulled plow, right? I've never seen one before."

"Uh..."

At that question, Lu Mingyuan's proud expression faded. He paused to think for a moment before answering:

"Actually, I didn't invent the hand-pulled plow. They existed in ancient times. I've just modified one to make it easier and less strenuous to use."

"They existed in ancient times? Then why have I never seen one?"

Jing Zhi had never heard of hand-pulled plows existing in ancient times. She'd never seen one either, so she'd assumed Lu Mingyuan had invented it.

She hadn't expected such a mix-up.

"Hand-pulled plows really did exist in ancient times. Before people used animal power, they plowed by hand. Back then, plows were either pulled by hand or strapped around a person's waist. So it was only natural that hand-pulled plows existed."

"Oh!"

Jing Zhi nodded, only half understanding. She thought to herself, That makes sense. People had to plow the fields somehow. If they didn't pull the plows by hand, what else could they do?

A moment later, something didn't seem right to her. "Wait, that can't be right. Why have I never heard of hand-pulled plows, let alone seen one? They're not even in any books."

"Actually, I've never seen one either."

Lu Mingyuan's answer caught Jing Zhi by surprise. She stared at him in amazement. "You've never seen one? Then how can you be sure they existed in ancient times? And how did you make this one? It couldn't have just appeared out of nowhere, could it?"

"Uh, I deduced all this from what I read in books.

"Hand-pulled plows definitely existed, but what did they look like? I don't know.

"The books only say that people used human power before they started plowing with animals, but they don't include any drawings or detailed descriptions of the hand-pulled plow's construction. So I have no idea what the ancient ones looked like.

"This one is based on existing plows and what I read in books. I came up with the design through deduction, then modified it."

After he said that, Lu Mingyuan added something silently to himself: Actually, I copied this hand-pulled plow from one I knew in my previous life.

Of course, he couldn't say that aloud. He could only keep it to himself; he didn't want to invite trouble.

"You deduced it and even modified it yourself? Without any drawings, images, or even a description of its structure? Then this hand-pulled plow is basically your invention after all. Mingyuan, you're amazing."

Hearing Lu Mingyuan say that the hand-pulled plow's existence and design were only his deductions made Jing Zhi happy all over again. She looked at him with even greater admiration.

At that moment, Lu Mingyuan felt an impulse: I won't listen, I won't listen. My Mingyuan is the best!

Honestly, the feeling was pretty great.

No wonder so many people liked basking in the admiration of others. It really felt wonderful—wonderful.

All at once, Lu Mingyuan shook his head and banished the feeling completely.

Luckily, the one admiring him was the person closest to him, his fiancée. Otherwise, he might have floated all the way up to the heavens.

And without anyone to pull him back down, wouldn't he take a terrible fall?

At that thought, Lu Mingyuan felt a little more alert. He'd have to be careful from now on, or someone might use him as a weapon.

As it says in Zou Ji Admonishes the King of Qi to Accept Remonstrance: "My wife thinks I'm beautiful because she favors me; my concubine thinks I'm beautiful because she fears me; my guest thinks I'm beautiful because he has a favor to ask of me."

The ancients had warned against this long ago. Lu Mingyuan couldn't make the same mistake.

Except for the person closest to him, if anyone else tried to curry favor with him or flatter him, he should take it as a case of "no one visits without a reason; a flattering tongue may hide a thief."

After all, there was such a thing as flattery that destroyed its target.