From the family treasure tree to build an eternal family

Chapter 18 War
"What are you doing?"

Xu Fugui walked forward and saw that the man looked unfamiliar and was not from his village.

"Brother, is this your wheat? I can tell you're a good farmer. The wheat is growing really well."

The man flattered with a smile on his face.

Xu Fugui listened to the other party's false courtesy with a suspicious look, and did not answer. The other party's accent was very different from that of Tonggu County, and it was obvious that he was from another place.

"Brother, my master's family is a grain merchant. I just wanted to ask if you've already ordered your wheat. If not, you could consider ours."

The man explained his purpose.

Xu Fugui simply shook his head: "No, I'm keeping it for my family to eat."

The man kept pestering, "Brother, you must be joking. These thirty acres of wheat and dry rice are far from enough for our family to eat. We bought our crops at a high price this year. Seriously, it's 30% higher than last year."

"I said I won't sell it. There are seven people in my family plus a dog. Isn't it normal to eat more? You can leave now."

As he spoke, Xu Fugui waved his hands impatiently.

"Big brother..."

Seeing that the man was still trying to pester him, Xu Fugui simply ignored him and walked towards home, calling out to Xu Xiaoyun in the herb field: "Siyun, come home for dinner!"

"Here I come, Dad~~"

“Woof woof~!”

Dahei was very clever and could tell whether someone was a friend or foe based on their emotions. Seeing Xu Fugui's impatience, he barked at the man to drive him away.

The man had no choice but to walk away quickly.

It's really strange...

Xu Fugui was puzzled. This was the third time since half a month ago that grain merchants from other places had come to his door and wanted to buy grain.

Is it possible that food prices are going to rise?
You should know that unless there are natural disasters such as severe droughts or floods, food prices basically do not fluctuate.

Something must have happened if foreign grain traders were to buy grain at a price 30% higher than last year.

But he had not heard of any drought or flood.

Baihe Village is just a remote mountain village. The village is isolated from the outside world and it is difficult for them to know even if something big happens in the outside world.

----

Xu Fugui returned home to have dinner with his family and listened to Jiazhen talk about the big things happening outside.

"Sister Qian told me that the Qianyuan Immortal Dynasty and the Baiyue Immortal Dynasty have started a war."

"War? Why?"

Xu Fugui couldn't help but worry. "War" was an absolutely irresistible disaster for ordinary people, and it could easily lead to catastrophic disaster.

"It seems like they discovered some spiritual veins or spiritual mines. Anyway, it has something to do with immortals. I don't understand that."

Jiazhen listened to what Wang Qian said, but Wang Qian only had a vague understanding of it, let alone explaining it to her clearly.

"The affairs of the immortals have nothing to do with us. As long as we live a good life, that's more important than anything else."

Xu Xiaoxia has never seen the world, so she doesn't understand.

Xu Fugui didn't think so. He thought of the grain merchants who had come to buy grain recently and guessed that the war might have caused the rise in grain prices.

Apart from natural disasters, the most likely cause of rising food prices is war.

Another point is that Tonggu County where they are located is not far from the Baiyue Immortal Dynasty!
This "not far" refers to immortals.

Baihe Village where the Xu family lives belongs to Tonggu County, Tonggu County belongs to Yuanli County, and Yuanli County belongs to Zhennan Prefecture!

Zhennan Prefecture is the southernmost prefecture of the Qianyuan Immortal Dynasty. Further south is the Baiyue Immortal Dynasty.

As an imperial court controlled by immortals, the Qianyuan Immortal Dynasty has a very large territory.

Xu Fugui had never seen a map of the Qianyuan Immortal Dynasty's territory, nor even a map of Zhennan Prefecture. He only knew that the Qianyuan Immortal Dynasty had thirty-eight prefectures, and Zhennan Prefecture was one of them.

There are thirty-three counties in Zhennan Prefecture, and Yuanli County is one of them.

There are dozens of county towns in Yuanli County, and Tonggu County is one of them.

Xu Fugui thought about it and felt that this war might affect them, so he reminded everyone: "Let's be vigilant and store food in case of any accidents."

"Ah? Dad, the affairs of the Immortal Dynasty won't affect us, right?"

Xu Xiaogou didn't understand.

"Our Tonggu County and Yuanli Commandery are located in Zhennan Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of the Qianyuan Immortal Dynasty. Further south is the Baiyue Immortal Dynasty. It may seem thousands of miles away to us, but it is not to the immortals.

Ordinary people can’t stand the turmoil, and the war has the greatest impact on ordinary people like us…”

Xu Fugui patiently explained to the children.

A tiny grain of sand in the era becomes a mountain for ordinary people. Young people without enough experience find it difficult to understand this truth.

Ten days later.

The news about the war in the Xian Dynasty was spreading throughout the village, and occasionally unfamiliar faces passed by Baihe Village.

In the Xu family wheat field, Xu Fugui took Da Niu, San Gou and Siyun to harvest wheat.

"Everyone, work harder and try to finish harvesting the wheat today."

Xu Fugui held a sickle in his hand and plunged into the wheat field, cutting down the wheat piece by piece with a sharp knife.

The grain merchants came twice recently to collect grain, so Xu Fugui felt a sense of urgency. He took the children to harvest the wheat as soon as it was ripe.

"Brother, let's see who's faster?"

Xu Xiaogou wanted to compete with his elder brother. He didn't often do farm work, usually helping out during the busy farming season, but his physique, with the second level of Bear Tiger Posture, made him even stronger than Xu Xiaoniu.

"it is good."

As soon as Xu Xiaoniu finished speaking, he had already rushed into the wheat field in front of him.

"Brother, you are cheating. I haven't even said start yet..."

As Xu Xiaogou said this, he hurried to the adjacent wheat field and started competing with Xu Xiaoniu.

As for Xu Xiaoyun, he began to harvest the wheat slowly and methodically. He was young and lacked physical strength, so he was not the main worker.

Xu Fugui was undoubtedly the fastest. Having done farm work for twenty years, he seemed to have turned into a "harvesting machine", and large areas of wheat were harvested wherever he passed.

Next to him, Xu Xiaoniu was much faster than Xu Xiaogou.

After harvesting an acre of wheat field, Xu Xiaogou was dissatisfied: "Brother, let's continue. Your endurance is definitely not as good as mine."

The two continued to compete.

Xu Xiaoniu seemed tireless, and his physical strength amazed Xu Xiaogou.

In this way, before dark, the four people harvested more than 20 acres of wheat with sickles.

After that, it will take several days of work to thresh the wheat, dry it in the sun, and grind it into flour.

"Daniu, after we finish our work at home these past two days, let's go harvest the wheat on those ten acres of land you rented."

Xu Fugui did not forget the land that Xu Xiaoniu rented for farming.

"Dad, I can do it alone."

It would take him two more days at most.

"Let's do it together. The sooner we collect it, the more peace of mind we'll have. There are a lot of new faces in the village these past few days, and I'm worried something might happen."

Xu Fugui noticed those strangers. Some people in the village said they were refugees who had fled here due to famine.

"Ok."

A few days later, Xu Fugui brought Xu Xiaogou to help Xu Xiaoniu harvest more than ten acres of wheat.

None of the harvested wheat was sold; it was all stored at home.

In the past, Xu Fugui would sell off all the money he had left for his own use.

But this time, Xu Fugui was worried that the war would last too long, so he left all the food behind.

More and more strangers appeared in Baihe Village, verifying Xu Fugui's guess.

----

in the afternoon.

The weather was hot, and Xu Xiaoniu was working in the pear orchard with his upper body naked.

In another half month, these eighteen acres of pears will be ripe, and he will feel much more relaxed after the harvest.

Not far away, a woman with disheveled hair, wearing thick linen clothes and carrying a bundle was looking at Xu Xiaoniu.

"So strong."

She looked at Xu Xiaoniu's strong and well-proportioned body and guessed that he came from a wealthy family.

If they are poor farmers or tenants, they are often skinny and will not look like this.

Her current name is "Su Jinshu". She is the daughter of a wealthy businessman who fled from Lanting County, Yunbian County and was separated from her family. She is a lady from a wealthy family who has fallen on hard times.

She smoothed her messy hair, revealing her delicate, oval face, which was the size of a palm. She wiped off the dirt on her face, revealing her fair and tender skin.

"This little brother, little brother~"

She held her throat and her voice was sweet.

(End of this chapter)