Chapter 809 - Chapter 809: Hands-Off Manager
Chapter 809: Hands-Off Manager
Editor: Henyee Translations
The Zhou Village.
With the villagers from the four villages working tirelessly through the night to apply the medicine to their wheat fields, they eagerly checked the growth of the wheat early the next morning, before dawn had even broken. To everyone’s amazement, the wheat had not only regained its green color but had also grown significantly taller overnight.
Village Chief Zhou marveled, “Miss Qingzhi’s medicine is truly a miracle elixir. Look at how effective it is.”
Zhou Qingzhong added, “Indeed, I’ve never seen such miraculous medicine. It took only a few hours to show results.”
“I will never doubt a word Miss Qingzhi says again. I completely trust her,” another villager proclaimed.
“Me too. Miss Qingzhi advised us to plant more wheat and glutinous rice. Next year, I plan to dedicate half of my land to glutinous rice and the other half to rice.”
“And let’s not forget about taro, mung beans, and red beans. For the mountain behind our village, I’ve decided to lease it for planting apples…”
Village Chief Zhou suggested, “Given that Miss Qingzhi has saved us from a huge loss, why don’t we bring her some gifts to express our gratitude?”
“I agree. I’ll go fetch something right away.”
“Me too. I’ll bring something as well…”
The villagers were exhilarated, each returning home to fetch their gifts before heading to Chu Village together.
The situation was similar in Sun Village and Xu Village.
As for Chu Village, gifts had already been delivered to Chu Qingzhi’s home.
Chu Xuede handed Chu Qingzhi a basket of carefully made glutinous rice cakes, “Qingzhi, these are our token of gratitude. Please don’t find them too humble.”
Chu Lianghong brought several pounds of lotus root, knowing how much Chu Qingzhi enjoyed eating them. “Qingzhi, I don’t have anything valuable, but you can keep these for a dish to change things up.”
“Qingzhi, you must have spent quite a bit on the medicine. It shouldn’t be given for free, right?”
“Please accept these, Qingzhi. They may not be expensive, but they’re from our hearts.”
The villagers urged Chu Qingzhi to accept their gifts.
Chu Qingzhi looked helplessly at everyone’s baskets, wondering where to store so many items. Her home’s storage was already filled with various gifts.
“Listen, everyone. I appreciate your gifts and I’m not dismissing them. However, I can’t possibly consume all of this, and I don’t have space to store it. If it spoils, it would be wasted. It’s better if you take them back,” she tried to reason.
Chu Xuede countered, “Qingzhi, doesn’t your family have an ice cellar? Freeze them and eat slowly.”
It seemed they had solutions for everything.
After much persuasion, Chu Qingzhi reluctantly agreed to accept the gifts.
She whispered to Chu Xuhua, “Big brother, can we still fit more in your house?”
Chu Xuhua nodded, “Yes.”
She never imagined running out of space to store gifts!
“Then, thank you all. Please place the items in my brother’s house. Take your baskets back; we really have no more room,” Chu Qingzhi conceded.
Chu Xuhua led the villagers to make room for the new gifts.
Just as Chu Qingzhi was catching her breath, villagers from the other three villages approached, each village already overwhelming, and now three more, Chu Qingzhi felt the entire village was crowded.
The village chiefs from the three villages hurried forward, seeing that Chu Village’s residents had already delivered their gifts.
Xu Village Chief said, “Miss Qingzhi, we’re all here to express our gratitude. The wheat has been completely saved, which is akin to saving our lives. Merely saying thank you isn’t enough, so we’ve brought gifts to show our gratitude. Please, don’t dismiss them.”
Having accepted gifts from Chu Village, it would be rude not to accept from the others. Chu Qingzhi had no choice but to accept them, and soon Chu Xuhua’s house was also filled to the brim.
After delivering their gifts, the villagers returned home.
The Chu family headed to Chu Xuhua’s house, skipping breakfast to sort through the gifts.
Items like leaf-wrapped cakes, green dumplings, and buns that needed to be consumed immediately were set aside to be heated and eaten. Other items that could be stored, like slaughtered chickens and ducks, were placed in the ice cellar, which was specifically built for storing meat and perishables.
The ice cellar was already full after today’s additions, leading Chu Qingzhi to muse about the trouble of receiving too many gifts.
Chu Qingzhi carried steamed buns to the courtyard entrance, attracting the hidden monkeys. They eagerly approached, surrounding the area.
Only buns were served for breakfast, with no fruit due to the cold weather, which wasn’t suitable for the monkeys yet to eat.
Chu Qingzhi handed a bun to the lead monkey, “Eat up, and then we have work to do.”
After distributing two buns to each monkey, they sat down and waited for the lead monkey to start eating before they began devouring their own.
Chu Qingzhi then fetched a bucket of warm water, “Drink when you’re thirsty.”
The wolf cubs, enticed by the monkeys’ feast, came over to beg for food, spoiled by Chu Qingzhi’s frequent indulgences, their chubby forms barely recognizable as wolves.
Xu Songnian, Xu Wenlin, and Tian Xiaoqiu arrived, with Xu Songnian declaring, “Fifth Cousin, I’m here to help feed them.”
The wolf cubs were primarily cared for by Xu Songnian, with Xu Wenlin and Tian Xiaoqiu assisting, as managing them alone was a challenge.
“Go ahead,” Chu Qingzhi encouraged.
Xu Songnian and Xu Wenlin ran home to prepare food for the wolf cubs, leaving Tian Xiaoqiu behind. She approached Chu Qingzhi hesitantly, “Fifth Cousin…”
She fiddled nervously with her clothes, unable to meet Chu Qingzhi’s eyes, and asked timidly, “Did you look at the test papers we did?”
“I did. What about them?” Chu Qingzhi inquired.
Tian Xiaoqiu was anxious, “What did you think, Fifth Cousin?”
Recalling the difficult test, Chu Qingzhi reassured, “You did well, but there’s room for improvement.”
Tian Xiaoqiu, worried about disappointing Chu Qingzhi with her score, felt relieved by her encouragement, “I’ll do better next time.”
“I believe in you,” Chu Qingzhi smiled.
Empowered by her cousin’s faith, Tian Xiaoqiu vowed, “I won’t let you down, Fifth Cousin!”
With the monkeys fed, Chu Qingzhi led them back to the wheat fields to continue watering with the prepared solution.
Despite the villagers’ offers to help, Chu Qingzhi declined, confident that with the monkeys’ assistance, they could finish watering their fields today.
Under Chu Qingzhi’s direction, the monkeys worked orderly, resembling skilled laborers.
Chu Qingzhi played the role of a hands-off manager, only needing to ensure the medicinal water was prepared correctly.