Picking Up a General to Plow the Fields

Chapter 379: Wheedling

This was just a trivial matter, so naturally he wouldn’t refuse such a respectful and polite request from the grandson of his old friend.

After Cui Min Zhi left, Master Ding could not stop thinking about it and the more he thought about it, the more curious he became.
Eventually, the curiosity became an itchy he couldn’t bear.

He really wanted to see what kind of character this young miss from the Lian family was that the young master of the Cui family couldn’t forget her, even going so far in his efforts to please her.

After staying up all night, he couldn’t wait any longer and rushed over, pretending to be passing by.

In the end, he found that Miss Lian was really good! It was just a pity that her background was a bit low…

Master Ding couldn’t help but smile again.

Young people these days! They were truly becoming more and more incomprehensible to old men like himself.

Since he had promised his old friend’s grandson and Miss Lian was such an interesting person, he ordered his steward to pay more attention to her when he returned.

~

Not long after noon, Lian Ze and Ah Jian returned and handed the deed of the shop stamped with a bright red official seal to Lian Fang Zhou.

Although it was only a thin piece of paper, it showed that her first shop truly belonged to her.
It felt heavy in her hands.

When she had looked around yesterday, she had felt that the front and rear layout had been very reasonable and the property was already very neat and tidy.
They would only need to clean it up a bit, repainting and replacing window papers and curtains, and putting in some shelves before it would be ready.

Lian Fang Zhou decided to postpone this matter for a while and focus on her cotton first.

“Today, I looked at the Shitouping fields and feel that the cotton is ripe.
Tomorrow, let’s go out and harvest them.” Lian Fang Zhou said during dinner.

The cotton balls ripened in batches and as long as they were picked, there would be no interruptions.
When the branches and leaves were all green, they would mature one after another.

Ah Jian immediately agreed: “I will go with you tomorrow!” Realized that his words were a bit too straightforward, he added with a smile: “I will patrol the area.
Ah Ze, I will leave Sanchakou to you!”

Lian Ze smiled and nodded, not feeling that there was anything wrong with this.

Third Aunt huffed.
“Waiting, and waiting, and waiting! Finally it is mature! Pick back some to show me tomorrow, I want to see what’s so good about it!”

Lian Fang Qing and Lian Che also expressed curiosity.

For so long, they could only rely on Lian Fang Zhou and Ah Jian’s words alone— they were all a little worried!

Smiling, Lian Fang Zhou promised Third Aunt and her younger siblings while giving Ah Jian a meaningful look.
If he talked like that again, she really wouldn’t be able to bear it!”

And these people! Was it because the two of them gave the impression that they were gender ambiguous or was it just because they had long regarded Ah Jian as a family member, and had no defenses against him at all?

How could they be so relaxed that the young girl of their house would travel along with Ah Jian? Or had they never even considered the problem?

While Lian Fang Zhou was a little relieved, she was also deeply drepressed…

After breakfast the next day, Lian Fang Zhou and Ah Jian traveled to Shitouping along the small road.
When they reached the fields, Ah Jian took Wang Da and the others to patrol while Lian Fang Zhou went into the cotton fields with a bamboo basket.

At this time, there were still very few mature cotton balls and a bamboo basket carried over her elbow was enough to collect them while she walked the long distance.

The fields were very expansive, and she had to walk a lot to cover the entire area.
It was not an easy task to find the scattered white among the almost endless sea of green.

Luckily, Lian Fang Zhou was not rushed for time.

After half an hour of walking, barely one-third of the basket was filled with cotton.
When she pressed down hard, the volume shrank to less than even one-fifth.

Lian Fang Zhou couldn’t help but laugh.

In fact, the balls would not fall off once they matured but would hang onto the branch.
This kind of sporadic picking was completely unnecessary, they could just wait until everything matured before harvesting.

But Lian Fang Zhou didn’t want to wait anymore.
The sooner she picked some and gave it to Su Zi Ji to test his tools on, the better it would be for her.
She wanted to get as much of the first mature balls and take them back.

As Lian Fang Zhou continued to search, there was the sound of footsteps and rustling plants behind her.
A voice called out: “Fang Zhou.”

Lian Fang Zhou stopped, the corners of her lips hooking up as a feeling of sweetness slowly spread from the bottom of her heart like ripples in a pond.

It was Ah Jian.

“You’re pretty fast!” Lian Fang Zhou said, turning around to smile at him.

Ah Jian had been afraid of scaring her and had deliberately amplified the sound of his footsteps.
Seeing her turn around, he walked forward quickly.
Raising his eyebrows, he smiled: “There was nothing abnormal, so I rushed over.”

The cotton grown in this era was not like the short, easy to pick varieties grown in later generations.
The plants were nearly as tall as corn and people inside would not be visible from the outside.
In addition, although the terrain was mostly flat, there was still some slight hills.

The two of them, in the fields of green, were completely alone.

Only the early autumn wind blew by, taking away the heat and rustling the branches and leaves.

Suddenly, Lian Fang Zhou felt that her heart was beating a little fast.
She couldn’t get enough air and her face was hot.

Seeing her shy expression, Ah Jian’s face was flushed and pleasant, as if it had been dyed by a sunset.
The soft light was delicate and his heart was soft with love.

Thinking that she was always so tough and resolute in front of others and only showed her shy expression in front of him, his heart was even more full of joy.

“I will carry it!” Before she could answer, Ah Jian reached over and took her elbow basket with a chuckle.

However, he didn’t carry it but placed it gently on the ground.
Taking her hands gently in his, he said in a soft, low voice: “When those two boys see you, they can’t help but be enraptured.
I endured and endured, resisting saying anything to you.
Fang Zhou, what should I do if they talk about you in the days to come?”

His tone was so full of depression and distress, Lian Fang Zhou couldn’t help but laugh.
Turning her head to look at him, she smiled: “You could move to the compound and live there? This way will probably make the days pass faster!”

“I won’t go!” Ah Jian refused without even thinking about it.
“You told me personally that I should say, how can you change your mind?”

Lian Fang Zhou huffed, “That is different!”

Ah Jian nodded: “Indeed, that was then, and this is now!”

The two stopped talking for a moment and smiled at each other.

Gently, he pulled her forward into his arms and said softly: “If you have any problems in the future, you can leave them to me! Don’t exhaust yourself!”

Lian Fang Zhou’s heart felt sweet.
So this was what it was like to have someone to support you? It was a good feeling.

Chuckling, she whispered: “You have done a lot for me since you came to my house, I haven’t been able to be polite with you! It’s really weird and embarrassing to say…”

He hummed deliberately.
After thinking about it, he asked: “So you have thought of me as your own family a long time ago?”

TN: I am LOVING all these soft couple moments! I can’t wait until they get married!