Taking advantage of the empty courtyard, Xia Chen snuck into Nan’er’s room. He entered and saw Dong’er hurriedly stuffing something into his arms, his back turned.

“Don’t hide it. It’s me,” Xia Chen said, closing the door and lowering his voice.

“You scared me to death! I thought Dad found out,” Dong’er breathed a sigh of relief. He took out the half-steamed bun he had hidden. Xia Chen couldn’t help grinning at the sight.

Meanwhile, Nan’er seemed unfazed. He lay on the bed, still holding the steamed bun, and continued gobbling it down—crumbs flying. When he choked, he lifted his neck and cried out for water.

“Troublemaker,” Dong’er grumbled but still got up to pour water for his younger brother.

Nan’er gulped down the water. Xia Chen leaned over and asked softly, “Does it still hurt?”

This unlucky child had also been tricked by Xia Chen. Because Xia Chen had started showing a desire to go to school, Nan’er’s fierce resistance had focused the adults’ anger solely on him.

Xia Jinzi, notorious for his bad temper, was about to lash out. But Qiao Niang, ever the voice of reason, stopped her husband and gave Nan’er a chance to explain why he didn’t want to study.

Nan’er said he was afraid of the teacher beating him and found studying too hard.

Qiao Niang didn’t intervene further. Xia Jinzi roared, “Afraid of the teacher beating you? Let’s see if you’re afraid of your father beating you!”

He then gave Nan’er a beating and forbade him from eating dinner.

Xia Chen knew the family wouldn’t really starve the child. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have made steamed buns for dinner, which made it convenient for him or Dong’er to sneak some to Nan’er.

“It still hurts a bit. If I had some candied fruit, it wouldn’t hurt at all,” Nan’er smiled, trying to get benefits from his little uncle without any resentment. 

Xia Chen didn’t have candied fruit, but he had dried strawberries. He had spent ten wen to have Xia Tongban dry half his harvest, storing the rest in the warehouse. Xia Chen brought a dozen or so with him.

He took out the paper package of dried strawberries from his pouch and gave it to Nan’er. The small fruits had shrunk considerably after drying, but their shape was still unfamiliar to the two native boys.

“It smells good,” Nan’er sniffed, put one in his mouth, and was immediately won over by the sweet and sour taste. He narrowed his eyes in delight and reached for another.

“Give me one to try,” Dong’er said, his mouth watering. His little uncle always had good things, like that strange celestial water, and the handful of unknown nuts (roasted corn kernels, almost getting chased out by Xia Tongban for starting that fire in the space). Those nuts were crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, fragrant and sweet.

He knew that these things were not favoritism from the elders in the family toward his little uncle. He’d heard his mother tell his father that the old Taoist in the mountains said little uncle was a person with great blessings, so he must have met an old immortal.

Nan’er reluctantly shared one with his brother. After trying it and tasting the sweetness, Dong’er wanted more. This time Nan’er refused. Dong’er angrily said, “Stingy! To think I even stole steamed buns for you.”

“But I got beaten for repeating what you said before,” Nan’er countered, sounding pitiful.

Xia Chen held back a laugh. The situation was different now, little nephew. Your brother had already studied for half a year at that time. Even the teacher felt that sending him to school was a waste of time and money and that he really had no talent. You, on the other hand, want to back out before even starting to learn. If your father doesn’t beat you, who else would he beat?

But he couldn’t say this to Nan’er. Xia Chen was confident that he must be the chosen one, a future top scholar. However, he couldn’t guarantee that Nan’er wouldn’t end up like his brother, unable to learn no matter what. He didn’t want to make promises now to trick the child into going to school, only to break them later if the child couldn’t succeed.

In any case, the elders would not let Nan’er off just because he was unwilling to study. Xia Chen saw that his father already had a plan. He just needed to wait until it was time to go to school together. He would try his best to look after his little nephew.

The brothers shared the dried strawberries Xia Chen brought. Nan’er, being the injured one, ate a few more. Xia Chen waited for them to finish eating before collecting the strawberry wrapping paper and making sure they rinsed their mouths before leaving.

The next day, Xia Chen lazily got out of bed as usual. He sat in the yard eating breakfast while basking in the sun.

Mother Xia brought over a small package wrapped in a large leaf and placed it in front of Xia Chen. “The little Taoist sent it over this morning, saying it’s for you.”

Xia Chen opened it curiously. Inside were some wild fruits and a few white, tender root-like things. He recognized these as snacks that village children liked, and they were usually very hard to find.

“When did he come?” Xia Chen put a tender stem into his mouth. The village children called this thing “sweet root.” It released a slightly sweet juice when bitten, but not much, just enough to taste.

“He came before 7 am. Our family’s courtyard gate was closed. He stood at the gate, not daring to knock, and wanted to leave the things at the door. Fortunately, Old Yu saw him when he opened the door.”

“So early?” It would take at least half an hour to come down from the mountain at 7 am.

Mother Xia sighed, “I heard that this child also has a bitter life. His mother remarried, and he has an older brother in his twenties from her previous marriage. After his father died, his brother and sister-in-law were unwilling to raise him and wanted to sell him…”

Mother Xia paused and changed the subject, “He’s a good child. When you play with him, don’t bully him.”

Xia Chen puffed out his cheeks, “Mom, do I seem like that kind of person?”

After thinking for a bit, he said, “His clothes are very thin. Can I give him my old jacket from last year? I can’t wear it anymore.”

In other villagers’ homes, it was good enough for children to have one jacket to wear. Often, it was passed down from older siblings to younger ones. By the time the youngest received it, the patches on it were numerous, and the cotton padding had blackened and hardened, no longer offering warmth.

The few children in the Xia family were not far apart in age. Xia Chen was also favored because Nan’er had worn quite a few of his older brother’s old clothes, while Xia Chen rarely wore old clothes. At that time, he was foolish and sat dully every day, not wearing out his clothes at all. The jackets he had worn were still 80-90% new.

Mother Xia originally planned to take them apart and remake them or take them to her parents’ home. Her parents’ family had many children, and there would always be little ones to take them. But since Xia Chen said he wanted to give them to Xu Helai, she didn’t object either.

“When are you going up the mountain? I’ll go with you,” Xia Chen said. The overgrown mountain path was unfamiliar; he’d only walked it once.

Mother Xia said, “He’ll come down the mountain again tomorrow. You can give it to him directly. Can Yuanbao get up?”

Xia Chen was surprised, “What does he do getting up so early every day?”

“Some sort of morning training,” Mother Xia shook her head. “They don’t even let him eat breakfast. He runs down sweaty on these cold days. If I hadn’t stopped him, he’d have gulped down cold water. It’s a good thing you didn’t become a Taoist back then.”

Yeah, fortunately he didn’t go. Xia Chen shrank his neck. His family knew he wouldn’t have endured that training regimen. No wonder the old Taoist refused to accept him.

Xia Chen felt a surge of pity for the little Taoist. 

After breakfast, Xia Chen went to check on Nan’er but found both brothers gone. Dong’er often wandered off to play, but it was unusual for Nan’er, still sore from last night’s punishment, to have the energy.

“Mom, where’s Nan’er?”

“He went to the fields.”

“What?”

“Your father said that since he wants to farm, he shouldn’t be idle. So he took both brothers to the fields to work early this morning.”

My dad is formidable! Xia Chen was truly convinced. His father’s move would definitely make life difficult for Nan’er. Only after tasting hardship would he understand that no matter how hard studying was, it wasn’t as hard as farming.

Silently mourning for his pitiful little nephew for three seconds, and incidentally sympathizing with his older nephew who was dragged along thanks to his younger brother, Xia Chen happily went to the backyard to fiddle with his private plot.

He skillfully dug holes and sowed seeds suitable for the season, following the farming book’s instructions. After watering them, his consciousness sank into the space, and sure enough, he saw the experience bar rise a bit.

The higher the level, the slower the upgrade. It was a pity that since receiving two gift packs last time, Xia Chen had only completed one achievement, earning five gems. He no longer had opportunities to earn big rewards, and his daily income only increased by a few dozen copper coins.

“Sigh, when will we enter the age of automation?” Xia Chen looked at the long experience bar and sighed deeply.

Relying on repetitive planting every day was too slow if he wanted to level up quickly. It would be best to have quests with lots of experience. Unfortunately, the daily quests gave small rewards, and the first main quest—planting 100 different crops—was still far from completion.

Random quests were lucrative, but Xia Chen was stuck. The seeds he’d optimized in the space maxed out at a yield of about 350 kg per mu, far from the quest’s 400 kg requirement.

After some thought, he ran to the front yard to find his mother. “Mom, I’m going to check on Nan’er and Dong’er and bring them some water.”

It was currently rice planting season. He would observe the farmers and perhaps make new discoveries.

Carrying a small basket with a bowl inside that his sister-in-law found for him, Xia Chen accompanied Qiao Niang, who carried a basket with a water jug filled with water. Mother Xia wasn’t at ease letting Xia Chen go out alone.

When they reached the field, the two children almost cried at the sight of their mother. Xia Jinzi glared at them with fierce eyes, forcing back their tears.

Xia Chen poured his father a bowl of water. Father Xia drank it all in one go. Seeing Xia Chen watching the farmers work with interest, he laughed. “Yuanbao, it’s better to study hard. Look, farming is truly hard work. Dad can’t bear to see you suffer like this.”

Dong’er and Nan’er looked at their father glumly. Xia Jinzi roared, “What are you looking at?! If you’re willing to study, your old man wouldn’t make you go to the fields either.”

Xia Chen laughed for a while before addressing the real issue. “Dad, where are our rice fields? I want to see how rice is planted.”

Father Xia burst out laughing. “Silly Yuanbao, this is the rice field.”

Xia Chen was momentarily stunned. He watched farmers sowing seeds like he planted vegetables and struggled to process it.

Even though he had never farmed before, he still had the necessary common sense. Shouldn’t rice planting require transplanting seedlings? Where are the seedlings?

“Why aren’t they transplanting seedlings?” Xia Chen muttered.

“Seedlings? What seedlings?” said Father Xia.

Xia Chen shook his head and pointed to the fields. “Just planting like this is enough? No need to do anything else?”

“Of course not. You need to water, weed, and remove pests. It’s troublesome and laborious. If the Heavenly Lord isn’t generous, a year’s harvest can all be wasted,” Father Xia said, hoping to thoroughly discourage his youngest son from wanting to farm.

So you don’t transplant seedlings at all? Xia Chen suddenly became excited. He might have a chance to complete his random quest!

🌻🌻🌻

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