After being jilted, the entire neighboring village was filled with deep regret.

Chapter 21 Su Tai's Crops Have a Bountiful Harvest
The sight of his fierce daughter made Master Ma's heart tremble. He then realized that he had acted too impulsively today, and immediately put on a kind and amiable face before slinking away.

"You old fogey who can't see things clearly!" Ma Yujie cursed, nodded to the people in the room, and left leisurely.

Su Changfu was dumbfounded.

Liu Tiechui chuckled to himself, "My wife has a fiery temper, and only she can keep my father-in-law in check. Don't worry, I will definitely report the disaster relief grain to the higher authorities, but I estimate it won't be much, so you should be prepared."

Su Changfu thanked him repeatedly.

Upon returning to Dongmen Village, he immediately gathered the villagers, his face grave. "This year, only Fufeng Township in our Moshi Town is doing relatively well. The county magistrate's intention is for every household in Fufeng Township to contribute more grain. Master Ma went to make trouble for the town officials over this matter, and judging from his attitude, the county government won't be able to collect much grain, and even less will be allocated to our village. In addition, both grain shops in the town belong to Master Ma, so he will definitely raise grain prices. Everyone needs to make plans as soon as possible."

This was not good news for the villagers, and they all left with worried faces.

Su Tai also learned of this immediately.

Han rushed into the house in a panic to check the grain bins, looking worried. "We don't have much grain left. Even if we eat frugally, we can only last for another two months at most."

Su Chunlin didn't say anything, but instead comforted Han Shi, "I haven't used up the one tael of silver I asked my elder brother for before, and I also earned some money from digging the well with Shen Yi. If all else fails, I'll use it all to buy grain."

Madam Han's expression changed drastically. "Honey, you can't be foolish. Winter is coming soon, and we need to keep some money on hand for emergencies."

Su Tai quickly stepped forward to stop him, "Father, Mother is right. It's getting cold, so we need to buy things to keep warm. If we get a headache or fever, we'll have to see a doctor. You can't spend all the money. If you're really worried about not having enough food, take me to Brother Shen. I've already talked to him. Brother Shen has a way to buy food at a low price."

"Girl, are you telling the truth?" Su Chunlin and Madam Han held Su Tai's hands tightly on either side.

Su Tai nodded repeatedly, "I promise."

The couple exchanged a glance. They might not trust Su Tai, but they absolutely trusted Shen Yi. Since there was a way to get food, Su Chunlin would not be foolish enough to spend all his money on it.

At the end of October, the disaster relief grain provided by the county government finally arrived. Each household received a small bag, which was enough to barely keep them from starving and would only last for a month, not even until the snow melted in the spring.

What's even more alarming is that it usually snows by this time of year, but now there's not a single snowflake in sight, and many people are still waiting to collect snow to melt and use for their daily lives!

Moreover, if it doesn't snow, next year will likely be even drier.

Su Changfu was so worried that his hair almost turned white, and Su Changxi couldn't sleep at night. He would often wander around the village in a tattered coat, visiting neighbors, just in case someone starved to death.

At this time, the half-acre of wheat that Su Tai planted in the Earth Time Space finally ripened.

Looking at this golden wheat field, she felt the joy of harvest for the first time. With a swing of her sickle, she got to work!
Half an acre of land wasn't much, but it was still quite strenuous for her to work on it all by herself. It took her two nights to finally finish harvesting the wheat. The Earth Dimension swallowed half of it, and she took the rest to the Time-Space Gate transfer station. After that, she rented a threshing machine from a vending machine and quickly threshed all the wheat. The wheat needed to be dried, but she didn't have the space, so she had to rent a grain dryer. After working for four or five days, she got 250 jin of wheat.

Looking at the grain, Su Tai breathed a sigh of relief, her face full of relaxed smiles.

The next step is to figure out how to get the grain out, and she also needs to repay the ten catties of wheat she owes Shen Yi.

Just as Su Tai was struggling to come up with a good excuse, Shen Yi, whom she had been longing for, arrived at her door with a bag of grain.

Su Chunlin was overjoyed to see him, and was even more moved when he saw the grain. "How can you be so honest, kid! Our family is not in dire need of food yet! Take the grain back with you."

Shen Yi shook his head. "Uncle, you don't need to be so polite with me. I live alone. Although the harvest in Shenjiazhuang wasn't good this year, we still have some. I can still provide this much grain."

Remembering Su Tai's words, Su Chunlin quickly pulled Shen Yi aside and whispered, "Xiao Tai said you have connections to buy grain much cheaper, is that true?"

Shen Yi was taken aback and subconsciously looked at Su Tai beside him. Su Tai winked at him.

Shen Yi paused, thinking of Su Tai's previous request to borrow grain from him, and hesitated before saying, "I can buy some, but not much."

Su Chunlin, with an air of understanding, lowered his voice even further, "The price of wheat outside has risen to fifty coins a pound. Uncle will give you five hundred coins. See how much grain you can buy for me?"

"Uncle, let me find out first and then I'll tell you, okay?" Shen Yi didn't dare to agree so easily.

Su Chunlin nodded repeatedly and didn't mention it again.

Su Tai took the opportunity to pull Shen Yi to the thatched shed outside the courtyard to whisper to him.

“Brother Shen, the grain I promised to return to you is all ready. My father asked you to help buy grain, so just agree. I will provide the grain.”

Shen Yi looked astonished. "Where did you get the food?"

“I planted it secretly, shh! It’s my secret, I haven’t told anyone, and you can’t let a third person know.” Su Tai winked at him hard.

Originally, she didn't plan to tell Shen Yi, but now she needed Shen Yi to cover for her, so she had to let him know some things. She wasn't worried if Shen Yi betrayed her, because no one could find the place where she grew the grain.

Shen Yi was shocked by Su Tai's abilities. After regaining his senses, he immediately agreed.

"What are you going to do?"

Su Tai glanced at her family in the house, gritted her teeth, and said, "I don't grow much grain, and the harvest is just average. I can only produce a maximum of 180 catties. You gave me the seeds, so I'll give you 30 catties. Is that enough?"

Shen Yi refused, "I don't need that much, just give me ten catties."

Su Tai shook her head seriously, "You helped me. Without those ten catties of wheat, we wouldn't have the food we have now. You must accept it. If it's not enough, just tell me."

Seeing her persistence, Shen Yi had no choice but to accept it.

Su Tai was pleased and continued, "You can have my father take me to Shen Family Village, and then we can give him the grain in a perfectly legitimate way."

Shen Yi was still a little confused. "It's not a bad thing, so why don't you let your parents know?"

Su Tai looked inscrutable and said, "You don't understand, this is my secret."

Shen Yi's heart skipped a beat for no reason. Su Tai told him this important thing without telling anyone else. Did that mean she really considered him family?
In order not to betray Su Tai's trust, Shen Yi decided not to investigate further and instead try his best to cover for her.

The two whispered to each other, thinking that the Han family couldn't see them, but little did they know that their every move was being watched by the Su family.

Han said happily to Su Chunlin in a low voice, "I was worried about this marriage before, but now it seems I was overthinking it. Look how well the two children match!"

Su Chunlin said proudly, "Why did I insist on going with Shen Yi to dig a well back then? Wasn't it to get to know my future son-in-law better? And it turns out I was right!"

Han chuckled and gave him a reproachful look, "He's just a bit of a rogue."

(End of this chapter)