Volume 1: My Territory, I'm in Charge Chapter 71: Didn't Expect

  Xiao Mei was still wearing the same clothes as when she arrived, with a small package on her back and tear stains on her face. However, the people in the courtyard couldn't help but be dazzled by her beauty. She was no longer the gentle and elegant middle-aged woman from before, but rather like a freshly bloomed jasmine flower - pure, fragrant, and captivating. Even Lu Xun felt his heart skip a beat.

  "You all go back, let Meng Shifu and the others withdraw too!" Zhao Che sighed and said, secretly wondering about Xiao Mei, you should have washed away the messy things on your face earlier, your master brother is definitely trapped.

  "Yes!" Xi Jie pulled out a few pig brothers with straight eyes and left first, but no one dared to walk far, they all surrounded far away, whatever happened, they could rush in at the first time.

  "Little brother, thank you for worrying about my affairs!" Xiao Mei clasped her hands together in a gesture of gratitude and continued: "In the past month since I entered the manor, although every day is spent tending to flowers and raising ducks, doing some rough chores, it has been the happiest days since I entered the night door. Here, there is no danger or evil from the jianghu, no intrigue or infighting within the household, nor any bloody intentions. I truly hope that such days will never end, and that I can spend the rest of my life here with Shifu!"

  "Sister, do you really like this kind of day? Why have you never mentioned it to me before?" Lu Xueyao said in surprise.

  "Heh, after you recovered from your injuries, every day you've been thinking about how to rebuild the Night Gate, find out who the traitor is, and take revenge. When have you ever looked at me with a straight eye?" Xiao Mei said with a miserable smile, gazing at Lu Xun with a hint of resentment.

  "Sister, I'm not...I am..." Lu Xiao Yao was left speechless by Xiao Mei's words and for a moment didn't know how to respond.

  "Senior brother, thank you for taking care of me all these years and tolerating my willfulness. The Night Gate no longer exists now, and I don't want to continue living a life where we take money to kill people and lick the blood off our blades. Why can't you calm down and live a peaceful and serene life?" Xiao Mei finally spoke out the words she had been holding back for many days. "From today on, let's go our separate ways. I'll stay here with little brother to raise ducks and grow flowers, while you go rebuild the Night Gate and achieve your ideals. Little brother, return the documents to him!" She said as she stuffed the package into his chest.

  Lu Xiao Yao was holding onto his package, looking a bit foolish, staring blankly at Xiao Mei, unsure why things had turned out this way. "Lu, slap your chest and think about how Sister Mei has wronged you," Zhao Chen said, pointing at Lu Xiao Yao. "She got hurt for you, hid with you to escape, let her own sect be robbed, and still stayed by your side without complaint, even if it meant ruining her reputation. Have you gone crazy? Can't you think clearly why this is happening?"

  "Second Master, you've also made me suffer. If you wanted to get close to me, just say so. Why did you bring so many people here? I thought you were going to take me to the government office. Now it's turned out like this, what do you plan to do?" Lu Xiaoyao also had a belly full of bitter water and pulled Zhao Che along as he spoke.

  "You're so indifferent to Mei Jie, I'm afraid that once I mention it, you'll run away with your tail between your legs! Mei Jie will kill me!" Zhao Che also had his own difficulties, and he hadn't expected the two sides to start fighting as soon as they met.

  "How did you know I didn't want to? Shīmèi is good to me, do you think I really can't see that? I just feel...I don't know how to bring it up." Lǚ Xiāoyóu pulled Zhào Chì aside and whispered, stroking his whiskers with a hint of embarrassment.

  "So you have feelings for Mei Jie?" Zhao asked.

  "Indeed, who can be without emotions?!" Lu Xiangyao nodded and said with emotion, "Second Master, I, Lu Xiangyao, am now a stray dog of a ruined family, with no other desires. I only wish to ask Second Master to take us in, giving my sister and me a place to settle down for the rest of our lives!"

  "Good grief, you two have feelings for each other, but I'm just a big fool!" Zhao Yan looked at Lu You and said with a sigh, feeling like crying but having no tears to shed. He secretly vowed that he would never get involved in matchmaking again in this lifetime.

  "Thanks little brother!" Xiao Mei hastily took the package from Lu You's arms and said with a blush.

  "Sister Mei, little brother almost ruined things for you, I'm really sorry. You must keep this document safe, if he dares to treat you badly, take this and report him to the authorities!" Zhao Chu pulled out the document that Lu Xiangyang had just signed and handed it to Xiao Mei, then let out a long sigh and walked out of the courtyard with a look of melancholy.

  "Let me take a look at what I've written?" Xiao Mei unfolded it and slightly furrowed her brow, reading softly: "Upon entering the Xiao family through marriage, I, who have been wandering carefree since childhood, having lost both parents at a young age, now twenty-four years old, having never married before, hereby agree to marry into the Xiao family. The daughter of the Xiao family shall be my wife, and we shall become husband and wife as adults, with me taking her place as son. I accept six thousand two hundred thirty-three taels and eight coins in gifts. From now on, once I enter the Xiao family, I will forever be a part of it, and once I marry into the family, I will forever be a member of the Xiao household. I shall take over the management of the estate, respond to official duties, change my name and surname, and no longer return to my ancestral home in life or death. I shall obey the teachings of my parents-in-law, care for them, get along with my wife, and if I do not comply, I will be punished according to the law..."

  "This is a marriage contract, did I just sign this earlier?" Lu Xiangyao said.

  "It's true, and there's even the great name of Shifu behind it, with his handprint on it!" Xiao Mei said with a smile, waving the document in front of Lu Xiaoyao.

  "Even with all the precautions, I still fell for this little scoundrel's trick. Sister, return my documents!" Lu Xiaoyao said, looking at the person covered in black lines.

  "Hmph, that's not going to work. What if you change your mind one day and I'll take this contract to the government office to report you? It's my reliance for the rest of my life!" Xiao Mei suppressed a smile, folded up the contract and put it in her bosom, secretly grateful to Zhao Che, this younger brother really didn't disappoint, giving herself such a big gift.

  This time it's Lü Bu's turn to be so angry that he's speechless, the document in his sister's hand is now a shackle on him, and he can no longer go back on his word. In his heart, he curses Zhao Yun for being born without an anus, and when he grows up, he'll be chased by ten or eight female demons and ugly monsters...

  Zhao Zhanbai had been busy all morning, and just as he returned to the front hall with his dejected-looking guards, before they could even finish two cups of tea, Zheng Lu also came back with a hangdog expression. "Zheng Lu, what's wrong? Is it because the reaper is too good, and everyone's fighting over it, making things difficult for you?" Zhao Zhanbai asked, looking at Zheng Lu.

  "Second Master, don't mention it, our harvester is not something any household dares to use!" Today was the day for harvesting, Zheng Lu had been preparing early in the morning according to Wang Ye's arrangement, bringing new equipment and ready to show off his skills, but the result was greatly disappointing.

  "Is this the kind of thing you didn't explain to the tenants? Did you overcharge them?" Zhao Ye asked in surprise, this world has really changed, good things are not being used.

  "Second Master, I've done it according to your instructions, but none of the tenants have ever seen this harvesting machine before and don't know how effective it is. They're all afraid that if it fails, not only will the grain be wasted, but their families will also go hungry!" Zheng Lu said with a sorrowful face.

  "Ah!" Zhao Chuang understood, everyone was still skeptical about new things, and they were particular about hearing is false and seeing is true. No wonder, who would joke about the results of their hard work for half a year? He thought to himself, "Zheng Lu, how much does wheat cost per stone this year? How many stones of wheat can we harvest from this mu of land?"

  "Master Er Ye, wheat is now about six hundred coins per stone, and one mu of land can yield one and a half to two stones!" Zheng Lu replied.

  "Take a hundred taels of silver and go to the countryside immediately, choose two households, and tell them that the government has bought their wheat!" Zhao said.

  "Second Master, what's going on?" Zheng Lu asked in surprise.

  "Alas!" Zhao sighed, he should have thrown this big manager into the distant future to gain some experience. Nowadays, even a supermarket promoter knows that you have to let customers try before they buy, and when selling your own products, if you don't give them some benefits, how can they be willing to buy from you? He could only patiently explain the reason to Zheng Lu once again.

  Zhao Mo spoke for half a day and still felt uneasy, as this not only concerned his own fortune-making plan but also the trust of the villagers in him. Only by handling things well would they unconditionally trust him next time. After some consideration, he personally led people to the land head, had Zheng Lou choose an unharvested wheat field, negotiated a price, and selected ten relatively skilled machine operators from the training sessions. They lined up in a row and entered the field.

  At this time, a family with cattle could cultivate 50 mu of land. Of course, the Song Dynasty's mu was smaller than today's market mu. A skilled and strong laborer could harvest two to three mu per day. From cutting to harvesting, it would take at least half a month. Therefore, every time during this period, the whole family had to be mobilized, busy from dawn till dusk without rest. Seeing Wang Ye directing several people driving horses pulling a strange-shaped box into the field, they couldn't help but come and watch the excitement.

  Under the gaze of the crowd, the reaper began its first field work. The horse easily pulled the machine forward, leaving behind a neat small path paved with wheat ears. Some farmers couldn't help but walk up to take a closer look. The cut stubble was only about two inches high, and the cutting width was around three feet. All that needed to be done by humans was to bundle up the fallen wheat and carry it away.

  In the blink of an eye, the harvester had already knocked down a large area of wheat. An experienced person calculated that at this speed, it would only take half a time unit to harvest three mu of land. If two machines worked together at the same time, one family's wheat field could be completely harvested in just half a day. This result was beyond everyone's expectations.

  The clever farmer had already started calculating, and every time the household labor was scarce, they would hire a few wheat harvesters to help with the harvest. At current prices, each good hand would have to be paid at least 110 yuan per day, plus three meals a day. Calculating this way, one mu of land would cost at least 40 yuan.

  Just now the landlord said, using a machine to harvest only thirty cents an acre, using a machine to harvest will definitely save some money, although not much, but every bit counts. Moreover, this season's weather is unpredictable, if it encounters a storm, the wheat will be knocked down and the loss will be great. It's better to get it home early and feel at ease. When he looked at the idle harvesting machines under the tree shade, he quietly left the crowd and walked in that direction, wanting to rent one before everyone else thought of it.

  "I really don't know how the prince's brain is structured, I didn't expect him to completely turn around the passive situation earlier with just a small trick, and now I'm sighing in admiration!" Zheng Luo said as he watched the lively scene of people competing for the harvesting machine.