Chapter 169: Back

On the day of their return, Wen Xiuyi instructed the driver to hire several horse-drawn carriages from the prefectural transport agency. They then headed to that remote small courtyard, loaded all the compound fertilizer onto the carriages, and set off for home.

The driver who had brought them there could not fathom it for the life of him. They had all arrived together, and the courtyard had only just been rented—when on earth had anyone managed to move all those goods inside?

Still, he knew very well what to ask and what not to ask. His only job was to safely drive the carriage and bring Wen Yao and Wen Xiuyi back to Gutong Village. Once that was done, his mission would be complete, and he could return to report to the shopkeeper.

Back in Gutong Village, Old Man Wen and Madam Luo, under the organization of the village chief, had gathered all the villagers together and passed on the yield-increasing methods that Wen Xiuyi had taught them.

Aside from the Wen family members and the few households working alongside them, everyone else remained skeptical. After all, the seedlings had already grown quite large; wouldn't it be a terrible waste to pull them up now? Even though those crooked, stunted plants did not look promising, they could at least bear a little harvest.

If they pulled them up, there would truly be nothing left.

Besides, rumors had it that the eldest son of the Wen family had gone off to find fertilizer, but whether he could actually find any was still anyone's guess.

"Anyway, we’ve told you everything we should. Whether you do it or not is entirely up to you. My eldest son has already gone to help everyone find suitable fertilizer. If he comes back and you're too late to apply it, don't blame us for not warning you." Seeing the skeptical attitude of the crowd, Madam Luo dropped these words, called out to Old Man Wen, and walked away.

The villagers remained half-doubting, yet a few bolder households still went to their fields that very night, pulling up the tiny, stunted seedlings just as Old Man Wen had instructed.

Others chose to adopt a wait-and-see attitude, figuring it would still be early enough to pull them up later if needed.

However, as days passed, neither Wen Xiuyi nor Wen Yao returned. Not only the villagers, but even Madam Luo and Old Man Wen began to lose their composure and grow anxious.

It was not until the fifth day after the two had left home that someone spotted carriages approaching the village from afar. Standing on tiptoe in eager anticipation, they finally made out who was standing on the carriage and waving at them.

"They're back! They're back! The scholar Wen is back!" The person who spotted them immediately cheered throughout the village, drawing everyone out of their homes.

People ran about spreading the news, rushing to the fields to call back everyone who was working.

Surrounded by a crowd of villagers, Old Man Wen and Madam Luo walked at the very front of the procession, even leaving the village chief a few steps behind.

Wen Xiuyi’s carriage also came to a halt at the entrance of the village.

"Father, Mother, we are back." Wen Xiuyi jumped down from the carriage and stepped forward to bow to his parents. Wen Yao followed right behind, hopping down with a bounce that startled Madam Luo: "Slow down."

Wen Yao giggled, stood beside the old matriarch, and scanned the crowd. It seemed that at least half the village had turned out.

"Did you find the goods?" Old Man Wen asked with concern. This was what mattered to him the most. Although they had stated the ugly truth beforehand—that whether they could find it depended purely on fate—Old Man Wen still hoped Wen Xiuyi could solve the village's predicament. When people needed to fill their stomachs, who would ever want to starve?

Wen Xiuyi nodded and pointed to the carriages behind him: "We found it, Father, it's all right here."

Old Man Wen almost wept tears of joy. Seeing that bags of fertilizer were piled high on the carriages, his heart finally settled.

Upon hearing that it had been found, the villagers swarmed forward eagerly, wanting to take a look.

Madam Luo took one look at this momentum and knew that wouldn't do. What if someone took advantage of the chaos to quietly steal a bag?

"All of you, stand right there! No one is allowed to move!" Madam Luo roared. Wen Xiuzhi, Wen Xiuqing, and the two Lu brothers immediately stepped in front of the carriages, shielding the goods behind them.

The crowd stopped in their tracks. Hearing Madam Luo let out a cold snort, she commanded, "Eldest, have someone move the goods back home first."

Wen Xiuyi was momentarily stunned before snapping back to reality.

"Ah, right. Second and Third, lead them along."

Only then did Wen Xiuzhi and Wen Xiuqing gesture for the drivers to follow them. With Madam Luo standing guard, no one dared to brazenly meddle at that moment, so they could only watch helplessly as the carriages departed.

"Grandma Wen, are we not even allowed to take a look?" someone asked, prompting immediate agreement from the people nearby.

Supported by Wen Yao, Madam Luo stood as straight as a ramrod, speaking with calm detachment: "Of course you can look, but even so, this fertilizer was found by my eldest son. As for how it will be distributed or sold later, we still need to figure out the rules. Just wait patiently."

Someone gasped in disbelief: "You're going to charge us money?"

Those words managed to amuse Madam Luo.

"If I don't charge you money, will the grain in your fields be shared with my family? What a joke. My son paid good money to buy this fertilizer; you expect us to just give it away for free? You certainly know how to dream."

The crowd was left speechless.

Someone muttered under their breath, "If I'd known it cost money, I wouldn't have bothered joining in."

Madam Luo sneered, "We said right from the start that it was entirely voluntary. Alright, Eldest, Yao-yao, let's go home."

Passing by the village chief, she cast a glance at him and said coolly with her chin raised, "Village chief, you come along too."

The village chief: "..." For the sake of the fertilizer, he could only obediently follow along, while hurriedly comforting the anxious villagers nearby and promising he would find a way.

People chattered endlessly, offering all sorts of opinions. Some said the Wen family had struck it rich and now looked down on the villagers; others argued that since the family had bought it with their own money, charging a bit was only natural—they couldn't possibly be expected to take a loss. Yet another group felt that since the Wen family intended to do a good deed, they should just go all the way, and charging money ruined the point.

In short, opinions varied wildly, though it did not affect the Wen family members in the slightest as they went about their business.

When Madam Luo and the others returned, Wen Xiuzhi had already led the men in unloading all the bags into the empty front-facing room at Wen Xiuyi's house.

Wen Xiuyi paid the drivers their wages, and the carriage drivers departed.

The family stood inside the storeroom, staring at the piles of bags with curiosity written all over their faces.

Wen Xiuyi opened one of the bags and scooped out a handful of the compound fertilizer.

"What's that smell?" Everyone instinctively covered their noses and mouths, finding the odor utterly pungent.

Once they grew accustomed to it, Old Man Wen stepped forward, grabbed a handful, and looked at Wen Xiuyi: "Eldest, is this really fertilizer?"

Could these clods of dirt actually work?

Wen Xiuyi nodded: "Father, the usage for one mu of land is fifty catties. Just scatter it evenly across the fields. I just hope we have enough."

Old Man Wen looked at the huge stack piled up in the storeroom. A rough estimate put it at around two or three thousand catties, which should be plenty.

"Where on earth did you get this?" Old Man Wen asked. He truly had never seen such fertilizer before in his life. Just this tiny amount—fifty catties per mu—was enough?

Wen Xiuyi brushed it off vaguely: "I just went out and found it. Ages ago, I remember reading about it in some book, and it said this stuff works."

Old Man Wen glanced at him and pressed no further.

"Eldest, how much does this cost per catty?" Madam Luo asked.

Both Wen Xiuyi and Wen Yao breathed sighs of relief. Fortunately, the family did not continue questioning them, otherwise, they truly wouldn't have known how to reply.

It seemed that the plot from the original book could still come in handy sometimes.