The Farm Girl’s Charismatic Fortune
Chapter 211 - 207 The Particularly Troublesome Xuanbao

Chapter 211: Chapter 207 The Particularly Troublesome Xuanbao

The fields, brimming with hope, bustled with everyone’s hard work.

As the sun gradually tilted westward, no one felt weary, and the laughter and chatter persisted.

Some were cutting the rice stalks; others were threshing; some carried the grain to the official road to be transported back to the village’s drying grounds; others bound the straw from threshed stalks for easy drying, a method that involved just restraining the area right below the rice heads. Once bound and propped open with a flick of the wrist, these bound sheaves stood like graceful young maidens in the harvested fields, basking in the sunlight.

Apart from facilitating drying, these tidy bundles made it easy to carry back to the village and then stack into cylindrical hayricks, convenient for gradually taking home as firewood.

Moreover, these hayricks could be piled outside without fear of rain, which would only wet the top layer, so there was no need to worry if there wasn’t enough room in the woodshed at home.

When needed, one could simply drag some back to the kitchen at home for use, very handy for starting fires.

So, each autumn after the harvest, the fields would be dotted with these "scarecrows."

In the autumn, the wind was strong, and after a few days of drying, the straw could usually be gathered and piled up, but not after the summer harvest. It was the same this time, as the summer harvest required immediate tilling of the fields in preparation for the next planting, and so it was now.

After this acre of fields was harvested, the straw had to be carried back to the village to be dried, and then the land had to be tilled, fertilized, and prepared for the next round of planting.

Ruo Xuan couldn’t sit still; though she had lived for a century, she was still a child at heart. When she tired of swinging the sickle, she would run off to bind straw with the children. After a while, and some play with the village kids, Ruo Xuan would find it uninteresting and jet off to thresh grain.

At this time, without threshing machines, threshing was done by forcefully smacking the rice heads against the edge of wooden barrels to knock the grains out.

Surrounding the barrel, a bamboo or straw mat would be set up to prevent the grain from flying everywhere, avoiding waste.

This task was incredibly grueling, not suitable for children, usually the men’s work.

But everyone doted on Ruo Xuan, letting her do as she pleased. They protected her and sometimes even abetted her mischief.

A small child, Ruo Xuan was shorter than the barrel. Speaking of strength, how could she reach high enough to thresh?

She wanted to say, "Brother Xuanyuan, hold me," but then realized that even the all-capable Divine Lord Xuanyuan was barely as tall as the barrel.

Immediately, she extended her arms toward a villager who was threshing, "Uncle Dashu, can you hold Xuanbao to thresh?"

Following behind her, having protected her for the better part of the day and been deemed too short, Xuanyuan Que: "..."

"Haha, sure!" Feng Shusen scooped up Ruo Xuan in his arms.

Then, Xuanyuan Que watched as Ruo Xuan commanded her Uncle Dashu, holding her, to pick up a small bundle of rice and toss it into the barrel.

Lacking strength, she hardly knocked off any grains with that toss.

Next, Ruo Xuan exerted all her might, giving the rice heads a fierce fling!

The result was that she flung herself out, headfirst into the barrel!

Glancing briefly at the Demon Lord, Xuanyuan Que: "..."

Feng Shusen didn’t expect Ruo Xuan to put in so much effort, and after threshing half the day, his hands had gone soft. Ruo Xuan, being rather chubby, was quite heavy, so he failed to hold on to her securely.

He tried to correct it, to no avail, but he really did try!

Ruo Xuan kicked her two short legs in the air.

Feng Shusen hurried to grab those little legs and yanked Ruo Xuan out of the grain-filled barrel like pulling up a radish.

He asked anxiously, "Xuanbao, are you alright? Does it hurt? Sorry, Uncle Dashu didn’t hold you tightly enough."

Her hair was covered in straw and rice grains, and she had ended up with a mouthful of grains. After spitting out the grains, she exhaled, "I’m fine, falling into the grain doesn’t hurt."

It didn’t hurt, but it was a bit itchy. Sniffle, Uncle Dashu was so big and strong, how could he not hold onto a flower steadily?

He must have been too ethereal, all show and no substance.

Relieved, Feng Shusen said, "Xuanbao, stop threshing, go tie up the rice straw! The village brothers and sisters are all there, playing hide and seek."

"Alright!" agreed Ruo Xuan with a smile. Uncle Dashu was too unreliable; he couldn’t even hold onto her, and for the sake of her own safety, Ruo Xuan decided not to play with him anymore!

Then she extended her arms to Xuanyuan Que, "Brother Xuanyuan, hold me."

Feng Shusen wanted to say that little master Xuanyuan was too small to carry her.

Then he saw Xuanyuan Que easily pick up Ruo Xuan and walk away!

Back in Xuanyuan Que’s arms, Ruo Xuan felt safe at last, "Brother Xuanyuan holds me steady; Uncle Dashu is just too weak!"

Feng Shusen: "..."

As Xuanyuan Que carried her away, Ruo Xuan added, "Brother Xuanyuan, my face is so itchy, can you help me wipe it off?"

Xuanyuan Que had no choice but to put her down, then took out a handkerchief to help her clean her face and remove the bits of straw and grains from her hair.

Ruo Xuan watched as the Demon Lord’s Little White Dog chased a black dog and was somewhat puzzled, "Did that dog offend the Demon Lord? He’s been chasing that big black dog for quite a while!"

Xuanyuan Que said indifferently, "No, it didn’t."

"Then why is the Demon Lord chasing that black dog?"

"He wants to have puppies."

Ruo Xuan: "..."

Demon Lord’s Little White Dog: "..."

He’s not!

He doesn’t want to!

Stop talking nonsense!

His piglets haven’t even been born yet!

The Demon Lord, frightened, barked frantically at Xuanyuan Que for a while, then that big black dog, not understanding why the Demon Lord stopped playing with it, took the initiative to run over to the Demon Lord to play.

The Demon Lord’s Little White Dog, scared, hurriedly ran off.

Seeing this, the big black dog excitedly chased after it and pounced, knocking over the small body of the Demon Lord’s Little White Dog.

Demon Lord’s Little White Dog: "..."

Oh my God!

May a thunderbolt strike it dead!

At dusk, the sunlight was gentle, and so was the wind.

Granny Lei, seeing it was getting late, said to everyone, "Alright, let’s stop here for today, everybody eat first, and after the meal, I’ll need everyone’s help to thresh the rice that’s been harvested."

Threshing was always done in turns by different people.

But threshing was more labor-intensive and exhausting than reaping, so it was also much slower.

The reaped rice had already piled up into small hills, waiting to be threshed.

The Ruo Family had hired someone from the village who often helped cook communal meals to help with the cooking and deliver it to the fields.

Plain white rice, stir-fried mushrooms with slices of meat, sauerkraut with pork, braised tofu, and egg spinach soup — the meals were quite lavish, even better than what one would get working for a landlord.

Smelling the delicious food, everyone ran over.

Ruo Xuan, hearing it was time to eat, quickly dropped her sickle. After being busy and playing all day, she was tired and didn’t want to walk, so she said to the little person beside her:

"Brother Xuanyuan, carry me."

Xuanyuan Que turned around expressionlessly and squatted down slightly.

Ruo Xuan immediately climbed on happily.

Actually, Xuanyuan Que was tired too.

By the end of the day, he had used up all his spiritual power, particularly drained mentally, not physically, but mentally exhausted!

This flower really knew how to wear someone out!

To protect her, to tend to her, he had exhausted all his spiritual power today.

Watching the two of them harvest the rice, it took half a day just to clear a little patch of land, and he felt a bit helpless.

He could have easily used a spell to harvest all the rice in the fields without consuming much spiritual power. Why did he exhaust all his spiritual power just to clear such a small piece of land?

However, seeing the other kids with their faces dirtied, hands stained, and their clothes all filthy, only Ruo Xuan’s little face remained white and clean, smooth and tidy, with not a single hair out of place, one could tell how well someone had taken care of her.