Ch 72: The First Batch Of Potatoes Yielded 150,000 Catties, And You Say This Is Too Little?

“Nothing…”

Zhou Wan’er’s pretty face flushed, and she turned her head away.

While saying it was nothing, her expression betrayed her.

Sun Jian narrowed his eyes and asked insinuatingly, “Why have you been so distraught since you saw that old geezer today?”

“I…”

Zhou Wan’er hesitated.

“Younger Sister, Husband is right, you’ve been acting strange all day,” Gu Zijian echoed Sun Jian’s words, having also noticed the anomaly.

It seemed Zhou Wan’er had been lost in thought several times today…

“Younger Sister Wan’er, do you know that Sir?”

Chu Qingcheng was more observant than Gu Zijian. She had noticed Zhou Wan’er’s frequent lapses in thought, but she had kept it to herself, wanting to see if Sun Jian had noticed. If not, she planned to tell Sun Jian privately after they got home.

“I…”

Zhou Wan’er once again couldn’t speak, instead giving Sun Jian a complex look.

Seeing Zhou Wan’er’s hesitation and difficulty speaking, Chu Qingcheng smoothed things over.

“Younger Sister Wan’er, are you shocked by the martial arts our Husband suddenly displayed today?”

“Ah… yes… yes!”

Zhou Wan’er was startled at first, then quickly seized the opportunity, nodding repeatedly.

“Hmph…”

Sun Jian inhaled sharply. He naturally didn’t believe this flimsy excuse, but he didn’t continue to press her.

But one thing was undeniable: Zhou Wan’er’s unusual behavior was related to that old man!

……

Time passed quickly, and soon they arrived at Sun Family Village.

When the villagers on patrol saw that it was Sun Jian and his party, they quickly informed the villagers of Sun Jian’s return.

This caused many villagers to rush to the village entrance as soon as the four carriages entered.

Seeing the dense crowd, all carrying torches, the four bodyguards thought they had encountered bandits and were so scared they almost wet their pants.

Only after learning that these were all villagers from their own village did they breathe a sigh of relief.

The villagers led by Old Cao, Old Jiang, Erdog, and Gousheng were overjoyed to see Sun Jian return safely and successfully rescue the Three Wives from the Prefecture City jail.

They looked at Sun Jian with newfound respect.

For so many days, the village had been filled with anxiety, fearing that something might happen to Sun Jian.

Sun Jian was currently the village’s pillar of support, its core.

The villagers all knew that if anything happened to Sun Jian, the good days of Sun Family Village would be over.

Sun Jian greeted the villagers one by one. Those who had previously mocked him now looked at Sun Jian as if they were looking at the Heavenly Emperor, acting like servants, constantly bowing and offering help.

With everyone’s help, Sun Jian’s purchased goods were successfully unloaded into his courtyard.

After chatting with everyone for a while, Sun Jian dismissed the villagers, saying it was getting late, leaving only the Village Head, Old Jiang, Old Cao, and Erdog.

From Old Jiang, he learned that County Magistrate Wang and Governor Yao, fearing for the safety of the wives and that Sun Jian might be trapped, had rushed to Prefecture City and Kyoto overnight, and there was still no news.

Although the news was old, it had been many days, but it still moved Sun Jian.

Judging from the current time, Governor Yao and County Magistrate Wang should already know that he had returned to the village safely, after all, that old man had found him through Governor Yao’s message yesterday.

“Old Jiang, how did the things I arranged in Prefecture City go?”

Hearing Sun Jian’s question, Old Cao, Old Jiang, and the other two showed happy smiles.

Old Jiang was the first to report, “Everything you arranged has been completed.”

“As of yesterday, the first batch of potatoes has been successfully harvested. From nine acres of hillside and eight acres of gully land, we produced a total of 150,000 jin of potatoes.”

“150,000 jin!! Sun Jian! We used 1000 sacks to carry them!”

Old Jiang became more and more excited, almost jumping up on the spot.

He had never seen so much grain in his life.

All thanks to Sun Jian!

“Only 150,000 jin?”

Sun Jian shook his head disapprovingly.

In Sun Jian’s opinion, seventeen acres of land should have yielded about 180,000 jin of potatoes.

“Is… is that too much or too little?”

“Definitely too little!”

Seeing Sun Jian frown and shake his head, Village Head Sun Liangzhi, Old Cao, Erdog, and Old Jiang all looked sideways.

That’s too little?

An output of nearly 10,000 jin of grain per acre.

This is something that no one has been able to achieve in the history of several dynasties.

Yesterday, several villagers even fainted from excitement due to the abundant harvest, yet in Sun Jian’s mouth, it was too little.

Ignoring their surprised expressions, Sun Jian continued, “This must be because someone secretly hid some, or the potato sprouts were damaged.”

“But it doesn’t matter, the output is mostly fine.”

“Hehe.”

Seeing Sun Jian say that most of it was fine, the four breathed a sigh of relief.

Old Jiang continued, “Sun Jian, you don’t know, everyone was overjoyed yesterday, grinning from ear to ear all day! If it weren’t for your safety, the Village Head would have had people celebrate with alcohol last night. Now everyone is practically praising you as a god. You’re truly an extraordinary person, Sun Jian.”

“Yes! Winter is coming, food is scarce, with this potato harvest, the villagers no longer have to beg for food!”

Old Cao also happily added.

Village Head Sun Liangzhi also chimed in, “Sun Jian, you don’t know, yesterday many elders in the village said they wanted to erect a monument at the village entrance to record your great achievements.”

“No, no, no!”

Sun Jian quickly raised his hand to stop him.

These old men in the village, only now remembering to erect a monument for him?

What were they doing when he was begging years ago?

Hearing Sun Jian’s refusal, the Village Head didn’t get angry, instead showing a grandfatherly smile.

Sun Jian was their village’s treasure, whatever he said was final.

“Old Jiang, what about the other things?”

Sun Jian ignored Sun Liangzhi and turned to ask Old Jiang about the rest of the plan.

Old Jiang nodded heavily, “All done.”

“Seeing the high potato yield, the villagers are now willing to use their land to grow potatoes, with a monthly output split 60/40. You get 60%, they get 40%, you don’t need to worry about planting, I’ll handle the distribution and collection every month.”

“As for those without land, as you requested, they’ve all been organized into land reclamation teams. There are currently five teams, ten people per team, a total of fifty people, working to reclaim the surrounding land at night.”

“As for patrols, those with land patrol their own, those without land or unable to work can patrol the hillsides and gullies.”

“Mm, good.”

Hearing Old Jiang’s report, Sun Jian nodded with satisfaction.

Everything was proceeding according to his plan, which felt quite good.