Busy Planting

"What are you all doing?" Li Mingzhong shouted angrily, his face ashen as he looked at the crowd, an inexplicable fire of anger rising in his heart.

Today was the most glorious day of his life in over a decade. Having passed the Student examination and returned home in glory, not only did the teachers and classmates in the school look at him with new eyes, but the villagers also flocked to congratulate him. Even his usually proud granduncle personally came to his house as a guest to welcome him home. Truly, ten years of burying oneself in study go unnoticed, but a single success makes one known throughout the world. He was naturally proud and elated.

But someone had to start a fight on his joyous day, making a laughingstock of him in front of the villagers. Where was his face? How could he endure it?

Just now, he was in the Cave Dwelling talking to his granduncle when his sister-in-law came in to say that Liu Yuanzhou and Liu Chuang had arrived. He was actually quite pleased, thinking that Liu Yuanzhou had come to bow his head in apology.

Considering the grudges between his granduncle and Liu Yuanzhou, he didn't immediately go out to meet them. But before long, someone came in to say that Liu Yuanzhou and Li Xiaoming were fighting. He was shocked and quickly ran out to see what was happening.

"Brother Zhong, we'll go back to work first." Li Xiaoming and the others left a sentence and hurried away.

Li Mingzhong suppressed his displeasure and walked up to Liu Yuanzhou, forcing a smile on his face, and said, "Second Child, you're here too. I won't invite you in today, but another day, our four brothers will drink together, and it's on me."

"Okay." Liu Yuanzhou nodded. He had originally come to resolve the grudges, but who would have thought that he would end up in a fight for no reason, achieving the opposite effect.

"I brought two fish as a gift for you, don't dislike them." Liu Yuanzhou smiled and shook the fish in his hand.

"How could I?" Li Mingzhong took the fish and said casually, "Oh, right, last December, I saw Er Ni Jie in Yan Province City."

Liu Yuanzhou's heart skipped a beat, and he almost blurted out a question about Er Ni's situation, but in the end, he held back and said faintly, "Is that so? That's good."

"Then I'll go back to the Cave Dwelling first." Seeing Liu Yuanzhou's nonchalant attitude, Li Mingzhong felt a sense of doubt and a hint of disappointment. He had actually wanted to see Liu Yuanzhou lose his composure.

"Second Child Brother is gone." Liu Chuang saw Liu Yuanzhou staring blankly and called out softly.

"Oh, let's go." Liu Yuanzhou came back to his senses, turned and left.

"Wait for me." Liu Chuang quickly caught up. "Tell me, how did you become so powerful?" he asked excitedly.

"Powerful? It's just that Xiaoming and the others are weak." Liu Yuanzhou didn't feel like explaining in detail and made up a random excuse.

"You're lying, obviously..."

"Oh, that's because I've mastered the martial arts that Third Master taught us, so I've become powerful."

"Do you think I'm stupid?"

In the end, Liu Chuang didn't get the answer he wanted and left dejectedly.

Liu Yuanzhou, however, became troubled by Li Mingzhong's mention of Er Ni.

After February, it was soon March 12th. Liu Jiali in the city finally brought a letter from Third Master, saying that Liu Yuanzhou's job had been confirmed and that Liu Yuanzhou should report to the Yan Province branch in mid-June. Liu Yuanzhou received the news, and his heart finally settled down.

Entering March, the weather gradually warmed up, and the ice and snow began to melt. One day, with a "boom" of thunder, the first spring rain began to fall drizzlingly.

After the Qingming Festival, the families in the village began to plow the fields and plant crops.

On this day, Liu Yuanzhou and his father and elder brother were working in the fields. Liu Da held the plow to turn the soil, and Liu Yuanzhou and his brother followed behind to break up the soil and level the ground. As noon approached, the three sat on the ridge of the field to rest. Liu Da lit a pot of dry tobacco and smoked it.

"Liu Da, lend me a light." Li Mancang, who was also plowing in the field next door, walked over and said. Liu Da lit his cigarette for him, and he took the opportunity to sit on the ridge as well. "Da Wa, want to take a few puffs? You're married now, you can smoke." He smiled and handed the tobacco pot to Liu Yuanbo.

"I don't smoke." Liu Yuanbo waved his hand and continued to pick at the mud on his feet.

"Hehe, good stuff, what a pity." He shook his head and took a satisfying puff himself.

"Mancang, why hasn't the Dragon King Temple in our village been repaired yet? The money was collected years ago." Liu Da suddenly asked.

"Who knows? This is a big deal, why aren't those Clan Elders in a hurry at all?" Li Mancang said dissatisfiedly. The Clan Elders in the village mainly manage the sacrificial affairs of the village. There are five of them, selected from respected elders in the village.

"No, I have to go ask them about it tonight." Li Mancang patted his big feet and got up to go to his own field.

"Mancang, call me when you go," Liu Da shouted loudly to Li Mancang.

"Dad, when did you start caring about the village's affairs?" Liu Yuanzhou said with a smile.

"What public or private affairs, the Dragon King Temple is a huge matter. Look how the weather has been good these past few years, all thanks to the Dragon King. Children don't understand, don't talk nonsense," Liu Da said sternly.

Liu Yuanzhou stuck out his tongue and stopped teasing his father.

"Dad, I'll go to my father-in-law's house tomorrow to get the fruit tree seedlings. My father-in-law sent word that it's time to plant the trees," Liu Yuanbo said suddenly.

Liu Yuanzhou clapped his hands in approval.

Liu Da frowned and said after a long while, "Go ahead, Second Child, go with him to get them." He still wasn't confident about planting fruit trees, but since he had already agreed, he couldn't go back on his word.

The three of them rested enough and got up to continue plowing the field.

"Dad, Da Wa and Er Wa, come over for dinner!" A voice came from afar. Liu Yuanzhou straightened up and looked over, it was his eldest sister-in-law bringing food.

The three of them put down their work and walked to the edge of the field. Li Shi was dividing the food, a large bowl of porridge for each person, two corn buns, and only one large bowl of vegetables for the three of them to share.

The three of them sat down on the spot and started eating.

Liu Yuanzhou asked his eldest sister-in-law, Li Shi, "Sister-in-law, have you eaten?"

Li Shi hummed and just lowered her head, fiddling with the dirt on the ground.

Liu Yuanzhou looked at his father, then at his eldest brother, and saw that they were both eating with their heads down, not saying a word. He couldn't help but mutter in his heart, "What's wrong with my sister-in-law? She looks unhappy. Who angered her?" He stopped talking and ate his meal in large bites.

After eating, Li Shi packed up the bowls and chopsticks, didn't say a word, and turned around and left. Liu Yuanbo's face immediately turned ugly, he sighed, and chased after his wife.

"Dad, what's wrong with them?" Liu Yuanzhou couldn't help but ask.

"Ah, it's none of your business, hurry up and get back to work," Liu Da sighed and went to continue plowing the field.

"What's wrong with everyone?" Liu Yuanzhou muttered, quickly following his father's footsteps.

When Liu Yuanzhou returned home for dinner in the evening, he found the atmosphere at home a bit strange, lacking the usual laughter and cheerfulness.

After dinner, he pulled his brother aside and quietly asked, "Brother, did you and sister-in-law have a fight?"

"It's nothing, don't ask," Liu Yuanbo said with a somewhat awkward expression, and then fled back to his own cave dwelling.

Liu Yuanzhou scratched his head and decided not to get involved in this matter. He left the courtyard and headed towards the river beach.

When he arrived at the open space on the river beach where he often practiced martial arts, Liu Yuanzhou stretched his body and began to practice his skills. Because Third Master had returned, Liu Yuanzhou's practice location had been changed to the river beach and the top of the mountain behind the village for this period of time.

After finishing his practice, on the way home, Liu Yuanzhou thought to himself, "Now I can stand in the stance for fifteen segments. The further I go, the slower the improvement becomes." He sighed, "There are still three months before I go to the city. It seems impossible to break through twenty-five segments and comprehend Whole Strength to become a Martial Master before going to the city."

On second thought, he felt that he was being greedy. He was now dozens of times better than before entering Samadhi, so what was there to be dissatisfied with? He secretly warned himself, "Be steady, don't be too greedy."

The next day, Liu Yuanbo took his younger brother Liu Yuanzhou to his father-in-law's house to get the fruit tree seedlings. Because it had been arranged in advance, when Liu Yuanbo and his brother arrived, his father-in-law and eldest brother-in-law had already packed the seedlings into baskets, a total of four baskets with about a hundred seedlings. Now they were just waiting for them to come and transport them back.

After the two of them finished lunch, they didn't rest. Each of them carried two baskets of seedlings and prepared to return home. Liu Yuanbo's eldest brother-in-law gave the two of them another explanation of the precautions for planting trees before letting them set off.

"Second Child, your strength is growing, almost catching up with me. Carrying such a heavy load and keeping up with my pace, not bad," the two of them finally arrived home before dark. Putting down the carrying poles, Liu Yuanbo looked at his younger brother with a surprised expression.

"That's nothing, you haven't seen my real skills yet," Liu Yuanzhou said, pretending to pant.

"Praising you a couple of times and you're already flying high." Liu Yuanbo took a sip of water and added, "But you've been eating quite a lot lately, kid."

"Eating a lot naturally means more strength. Alright, I'm going back to my cave dwelling to rest for a while, you can take care of the saplings yourself." As Liu Yuanzhou spoke, he walked towards the cave dwelling where he lived.

"Second Child Bro," Zhang He ran into the courtyard, panting. He walked up to Liu Yuanzhou and whispered, "Second Child Bro, something bad happened, Hu Wa got beaten up by Fatty Wang again."