Chapter 178: Off to Make Money

Everyone in the village knew that the precious plots of land belonging to the Wen family had yielded a bountiful harvest, but no one knew exactly what had been grown. They could only watch from afar as bag after bag was hauled back home.

Some people tried to sneak over under the cover of night to dig around and see what on earth was growing in those fields, only to be frightened away by the strange devices in the hands of the Wang brothers.

Those devices would suddenly emit a blinding, piercing light that could reach a great distance and shine straight into people's eyes. Who wouldn't be terrified by that?

Fortunately, with many hands working together, they managed to finish harvesting all the potatoes and sweet potatoes in three or four days, piling them all up in the temporary storeroom of Wen Xiuyi's new house.

"So many." Old Man Wen hadn't realized it day by day, but once the harvest was fully gathered, he discovered there were truly an overwhelming amount. When they first planted them, it had only taken a few bags of seeds, but now they filled an entire room—several thousand catties of them.

After the initial shock wore off, Old Man Wen looked at Wen Xiuyi and asked, "Eldest, did you say that after the wheat is harvested, we can plant another crop?"

Wen Xiuyi nodded. "Yes, we can. I've studied the climate here. Once the wheat is harvested, planting another round of potatoes and sweet potatoes will definitely be no problem at all."

Looking at the massive piles of potatoes and sweet potatoes, Old Man Wen hardened his heart and stomped his foot. "We'll plant them! Save all of these as seeds, and plant them everywhere once the wheat is harvested. The new plots cleared on the barren mountains behind will be planted with them, too."

The corner of Wen Xiuyi's mouth twitched. "Dad, there's really no need to go quite that far."

"What do you know? We're planting these." Old Man Wen stubbornly insisted, then walked away with his hands clasped behind his back. He originally wanted to warn them not to let greed tempt them into eating the seeds, but then he thought better of it—with things piled up like a mountain, let them eat if they wanted to. Just how much could a few mouths possibly consume?

Wen Yao was planning to pick out a few to cook with that evening. Seeing Wen Xiuyi sighing away, she chuckled and said, "My grandpa is quite stubborn. Dad, why don't you just listen to him? Back in our original home, we couldn't plant much of these, and look at how we used to feed the excess to the pigs.

"But it's different now. People can't even get enough to eat. Look at how many people starve to death whenever a famine hits every year.

"And look at my grandpa—he's been beaming with joy ever since the harvest day, his eyes practically crinkled into a single line.

"Just grant the old man his wish and plant them. Who knows, maybe in the future you'll become a potato and sweet potato tycoon, solve the food shortage for the entire population, and even get appointed as some kind of official. Tsk tsk."

"Stop talking nonsense. What official or no official? This is no time to run your mouth about such things; people lose their heads for that." Wen Xiuyi quickly glared at his daughter.

Wen Yao shrugged, picked out the ones she needed, and got ready to leave.

"Green pepper and shredded potatoes for dinner?" Wen Yao raised an eyebrow at Wen Xiuyi.

Wen Xiuyi's eyes lit up instantly. "Your chili peppers have grown?"

"Uh-huh." Wen Yao nodded. "A few of them probably had genetic mutations; I saw they grew pretty large, so I plucked them. I'll make something tonight to satisfy your cravings, and let Grandpa and Grandma experience my secret weapon, too."

"Let's go, let's go. Dad will go help you prep."

Father and daughter left the storeroom chatting and laughing, making sure to lock the door behind them.

That evening, the members of the Wen family tasted a foodstuff that stimulated their taste buds in a way quite different from wild ginger for the very first time.

Wen Yao said these were called chili peppers.

Having the wild ginger as a baseline preparation for their palates, the chili peppers weren't all that difficult for everyone to accept; in fact, they thought it tasted much better than the wild ginger.

Only Datou kept eating while feeling a lingering sense of familiarity. This flavor—it felt like he had tasted it somewhere before.

He raised his head to look at his father, older brother, and older sister, but ultimately chose to swallow his doubts back down into his stomach in silence.

After dinner, Datou sat in Wen Xiuyi's lap reciting his lessons. Even though he was already going to school now, Datou still loved clinging to Wen Xiuyi.

And Wen Xiuyi was more than happy to hold his son whenever he had a free moment.

"Dad, tomorrow we won't be able to wait for Big Brother. Have Second Uncle come pick us up earlier, right after school lets out," Datou said.

Wen Xiuyi looked puzzled. After all, usually the three children would head straight to Jishi Hall after school to study with Shopkeeper Qiu for another hour before returning home together with Wen Jun.

"What's wrong? Is your godfather not home?"

Datou answered honestly, "Godfather has guests and told us not to go over these past few days. If he needs us, he'll send someone to pick me up."

Wen Xiuyi stroked his son's head and nodded. "Alright, fine. I'll tell your Second Uncle in a bit to pick you up earlier tomorrow."

Once Datou and San Xiwang went off to their rooms, Wen Yao sidled over and lowered her voice. "Could the origins of this Shopkeeper Qiu—and his guests—possibly be from the capital?"

Wen Xiuyi nodded. "Most likely."

Wen Yao rubbed her chin, looking thoughtful.

"What are you thinking about?" Wen Xiuyi asked.

Wen Yao looked left and right, and upon confirming there was no one else around, lowered her voice even further. "Dad, do you think we can find out more about that fellow surnamed Meng? There's only half a year left until the date in the original book's plot when they're supposed to come pick up Datou."

Had Wen Yao not brought it up, Wen Xiuyi would have completely forgotten about the matter. Life at home had been far too comfortable lately; he had almost forgotten the existence of such a former wife and that scoundrel Meng.

Wen Xiuyi slapped his forehead. "I almost forgot all about that."

Wen Yao raised an eyebrow, giving him a reassuring look, and made a soft "squeak squeak" noise like a mouse to signal Wen Jun.

Wen Jun walked over, gave her forehead a light flick, and turned to Wen Xiuyi. "Dad, what's up?"

"Jun, big trouble."

Wen Jun squatted down on the opposite side of Wen Xiuyi. The family of three squatted together on the steps by the doorway, arranged from shortest to tallest, looking like a cell phone signal icon with poor reception.

After listening to the two of them, Wen Jun's expression remained exceptionally calm.

"Two people came—a father and son. Master didn't mention who they are, but they're very polite. He just told me that if I happen to run into them, I should just do what I'm supposed to do without being overly rude or too stiff either. As for anything else, he didn't say.

"Oh, right, that young master calls Shopkeeper Qiu 'Teacher.' It seems he was a former student of Shopkeeper Qiu's. Master said they came all the way from the capital just to eat roast duck here."

After finishing the last sentence, Wen Jun glanced at Wen Yao.

"Eat roast duck? They ran all the way from the capital to our place just to eat roast duck? Oh my goodness, is our Yunwu Roast Duck really that famous now?" Wen Yao's eyes lit up as she rubbed her hands together. Suddenly, she found herself really looking forward to the day she would settle accounts with Sister Qiu!

"That's what was said," Wen Jun replied.

Wen Xiuyi poked Wen Yao. "Your drool is about to fall out, pull it back in." He then turned back to Wen Jun and instructed, "If you have time, ask your Master about that scoundrel Meng. Even if your Master asks, you don't need to hide it from him. No matter what, he's still an official of some standing nowadays, so we need to prepare ourselves in advance."

Anyway, Wen Xiuyi had already made up his mind: no matter who it was, no one was going to take away his good son Datou, not even his mother.

"Alright, I know," Wen Jun acknowledged.

Wen Yao stretched and let out a yawn. "Brother, I'll go with you tomorrow. I need to find Sister Qiu."

"What for?" Wen Xiuyi looked at her.

Wen Yao pointed toward the storeroom. "To make money."