Chapter 262: I’ll Go First
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Xiaoxiao said, “Our family has already caught Lord Shen’s eye. We can’t take all the other benefits. There are so many families in Fortune Village, so we have to give others a chance, right?”
“Besides,” she said mysteriously, “what if some lord asks us to open a back door for him and give him more seeds? Should we agree or not? How are we going to explain it to Lord Shen if we agree? If we don’t agree and offend them, we might end up getting ourselves in trouble.”
Ning Anhui widened his eyes at his eldest brother, who just came back from the academy. “Is that so? What Sister said seems to make sense?”
Ning Ansheng couldn’t be bothered with him. He was curious about something. “Teacher said that he is giving Zhao Yan extra lessons. Why hasn’t Zhao Yan come back after so long? Could it be that he’s preparing to take the exams this year?”
Xiaoxiao did not reply and only asked, “Then do you want to try, Brother?”
Ning Ansheng shook his head. “I know my limits. I haven’t even understood what I’m doing in school. Why should I take it?” Since his younger siblings had no intention of getting involved in this mess, he returned to the study room to continue revising his studies. At the same time, he dragged Ning Anhui away.
Xiaoxiao heard the two of them chatting as they walked. “What is 8×9?”
Ning Anhui’s face was bitter. “72.”
Ning Ansheng continued to ask, “6×9?”
Ning Anhui replied, “54?”
“What’s 9×9?”
Ning Anhui’s mind went blank. “Ah, do I have an uncle©?”
Xiaoxiao burst out laughing and then started to worry about Little Big Brother. Where were they now? The longer he was away, the more worried Xiaoxiao became. She knew how difficult it was to bring Han Qing to lodge a complaint. Although Little Big Brother repeatedly emphasized that as a prince, he was not in so much danger, Xiaoxiao still felt that he was just comforting her.
Unfortunately, she had no strong martial arts and no family power, so she could not help him.
She did not wallow in self-pity. If she could not help, she would try not to become a burden to him.
It was hard to guarantee that Yan Lu was not among the officials in Fortune Village this time. It was better for her family to not stand out.
In order to prevent Yan Lu from tampering with Little Big Brother’s house, County Magistrate Shen had posted a large number of guards around his house in the name of looking after the farmland recently. Even if she went to patrol the fields, there would definitely be people accompanying her. Xiaoxiao knew that Little Big Brother must be deliberately protecting her, and…
[Baby, do you think that secret guard has always stayed by my side?]
The space expressed affirmation: [Master, my ingredient identification won’t be wrong. These few days, as long as there’s a cover, he will stay within seven meters of you.]
Xiaoxiao went to look at the Space Mall again. [What are the total points?]
The space took a look and was elated. [Master, it’s really not easy to earn money from 16 shops at the same time. The operating points income has already exceeded 10,000 today! The current total points are 11,560.]
Just yesterday, Xiaoxiao announced that the franchise shop could start selling simple milk tea. Although there were fewer varieties, this thing was rare everywhere. Coupled with the fact that it was the first day of business, everyone started a promotion under Xiaoxiao’s authorization, and business was quite brisk.
She looked at the things on the page and instructed the space: [I’m sorry, Baby. After 100,000 points this time, I want to change something. I won’t level up yet]
Although the space felt regretful, it was very obedient: [Alright, Master. I’m not in a hurry. With so many shops around, I’m just waiting a few more days.]
As they were talking, Xiaoxiao saw County Magistrate Shen rushing to her house with a terrible look on his face.
Xiaoxiao went over and asked in confusion.
County Magistrate Shen looked serious. “I have something to tell you.”
Xiaoxiao was still quite calm. “Has the news of me saving someone been exposed?”
County Magistrate Shen shook his head. “Someone said that you are the daughter of a bandit.”
Xiaoxiao:… What?
County Magistrate Shen said solemnly, “We were observing the harvest just now. She came out of nowhere and told someone that she had a big secret to report.”
Xiaoxiao blinked. “Who did she get?”
Why did she get to the point so quickly? County Magistrate Shen found it boring. “Chen Yong.”
The two of them had just finished arguing and were ignoring each other while thinking about how to quarrel next time. Suddenly, Little Aunt Ning appeared in front of Chen Yong.
Xiaoxiao chuckled. “Then she’s really good at choosing people.”
County Magistrate Shen was confused. “Why aren’t you in a panic?”
Xiaoxiao shrugged. “If something really happened, you wouldn’t have come to look for me alone. Then there would definitely be bailiffs with you and other officials to keep an eye on you. They can’t wait to take advantage of your mistake to exchange for more rice seeds. How can they let go of such a good opportunity?”
It was not fun for children to be too smart. Back then, it was so easy for him to tease Tianci. He could scare him to tears with just a few words!
Xiaoxiao also raised her question. “Aren’t you worried that I’m really the daughter of a bandit, Lord Shen?”
County Magistrate Shen waved his hand. “It’s not a big deal. You didn’t do any evil and didn’t harm anyone. You even sent this high-yielding rice seed to me. Is it that important who gave birth to you?”
Xiaoxiao cupped her hands. “Lord Shen is magnanimous. I’ll go back and ask Father and Mother about this. How’s my Little Aunt now?”
County Magistrate Shen raised his eyebrows. “Don’t worry. She has been taken care of properly. At least, she won’t show up for the time being. By the way, she gave me a piece of evidence that can prove your real identity.”
After saying that, he took out a pawn ticket. It recorded that many years ago, Old Sir Ning gave a jade pendant to the pawnshop at a price of 500 acres. The appearance of the jade pendant was imprinted at the end, but it was too old to be seen clearly.
Little Aunt Ning said that after Xiaoxiao was carried back, there were people in official uniforms who went door to door to search for the injured. That person looked fierce and said that he wanted to capture the bandits.
County Magistrate Shen coughed. “Go back and ask. If it’s true, why don’t you find a place to hide for a while and show up when the Third Prince comes back? Then you can take down Yan Lu and you will be rewarded according to your contributions. Your background will be nothing.”
Xiaoxiao thanked County Magistrate Shen and bowed respectfully.
Fortunately, everyone’s attention was on the rice, so no one noticed Little Aunt Ning’s hurried arrival and departure. The rice in the Ning Family was all golden and full. Soon, a tall pile of rice was piled up on the ground.
There were professionals waiting to dehusk and weigh them. All the processes were carried out in front of everyone. There was no possibility of fraud.
There were a total of two piles of rice in front of everyone. The first pile had already been removed and they began to weigh it. However, the official in charge of measuring stared at the abacus for a long time, but he could not shout out the results.
An official from Lin County was impatient. He pushed his measuring officer over, but he was also stunned.
Then, the two of them looked at each other under everyone’s urging. After confirming that their eyes were not playing tricks on them, they said in unison, “The harvest of the Ning Family’s rice acre is a total of 431.5 kg.”
Although they were already mentally prepared, everyone still gasped in unison. Then, they hurriedly urged them to weigh the next acre of land. The results were out very quickly. This time, the measuring officer was experienced. He announced loudly in an excited voice, “The harvest of this Ning Family’s rice field is a total of 443 kg! The two acre fields harvest a total of 874.5 kg of rice!”
