Chapter 444 (1/2)

The Yi Family

The field in front of Ji Ju’s Golden Grain fields was not far away and had fences only as tall as a person. If one did not want to look inside, you would not be able to; but if you stood on your toes or on a rock, or just looked between the wooden blocks, you’d see through the gaps. In summary, the fences were built just to hit its minimum function.

While both farms were neighbours, most people don’t pay attention to this plot because it was small. The people here were judged by the size of their fields. A small plot of land meant they weren’t anyone important so no one bothered to look inside. Also, more importantly, the crops were subpar so anyone who looked inside would just shake their heads and get on with their lives.

After a while, no one remembered who this plot belonged to. You could see the end of the field standing at one corner, and its crops did not look healthy. These crops would not sell for a high price-- maybe they were alright for a family to eat without starving to death but they would not sell.

Ji Ju could no longer remember who this place belonged to, just that it was owned by the Yi family. However, the field was tiny and based on what he remembered, this place had switched hands several times. He also remembered there were two wells in this plot of land. One was dry, the other could barely water this field. These years had been drier so their crops did not do well. This was one of the reasons why owners were quick to pass this plot to someone else. He wondered which unfortunate person got this place now.

“Someone from the Yi family, tsk.” Ji Ju shook his head.

He did not say much but Shao Xuan understood.

To Ji Ju, the Yi family was not suited for agriculture. They could do readings and predictions at that street but they had no talent for agriculture. Plus mental disorders ran in their family. Some of them were physically weak. He had seen a Yi guy stare at the night sky once, all night. It had been cold so right after that, he fell sick and almost died. How could he withstand the cold with that physique? He was mad! Out of the aristocrats of the great six, the dumbest ones came from the Yi family!

That guy would sit for a while, his eyes glazed and unfocused then suddenly laugh to himself-- or cry hysterically. It was scary. When Ji Ju recalled this, he only shook his head with a sigh. He didn’t understand them.

However, they must have their reasons to maintain their position as one of the aristocratic families. They didn’t have muscles but they had the brains. Some of them could predict the weather, some could read your fate. Some had other mystical talents. If the Yi family targeted someone, they did not need to kill you with a knife. This was why they were a feared group of people.

“What, curious about the Yi family?” asked Ji Ju. Many tribesmen living far from the city were curious about them.

“A little. I think they’re quite mysterious.”

“Mysterious? They’re just faking it.” Ji Ju was indifferent.

However, Shao Xuan wasn’t curious because this place belonged to the Yi family. He was curious because of the situation of the farm.

This was the peak of the harvest season in most farms, including this one. While that plot was quite small, they had a good harvest too.

In the field, the slaves were carrying full sacks to an empty part of the field. There was a wooden table with a person clad in dark clothing. Although it was not flashy, one could tell he was an educated fellow, different from the busy slaves. He was young, didn’t look like a butler. He was now writing on some cloth.

The slaves reported to him as they carried the sacks then left for the warehouse.

He must be taking inventory.

This wasn’t much but Shao Xuan was curious about his other hand. On his other hand, his four fingers were lightly curved, the tip of his thumb moved and touched the inner part of the other four joints.

“Let’s go, see what they planted!”

Ji Ju was approaching and could see the crops in the field. He thought it was pathetic, for his standards. Today, he was in the mood to pay them a visit and give a few pointers.

The person was sighing as he calculated his numbers and recorded them. When he was notified, he dropped everything to greet the visitors.

“Yi Shi of Yi family at your service. Why are you here, sir?” Yi Shi bowed respectfully, then looked at Ji Ju in surprise.

“What, I can’t visit?”

“No no no, you’re welcomed to!” Yi Shi quickly got someone to bring a chair for Ji Ju.

“You don’t have to, I’m just here for a bit.” Ji Ju waved them off and then looked at the crops in the ground and felt his anger rising. “What the hell are you planting?! I can’t even bear to look at your crops!”

‘When has any crop been up to your standards?’ thought Yi Shi though he kept a respectful, humble face.

When Ji Ju started speaking, he couldn’t stop. The plants were too close together, some were too sparse, this part’s too dry, and this soil, IS THIS EVEN SOIL?! This is as hard as rock!

Yi Shi listened silently, his head hung low.

When Ji Ju finished, Yi Shi smiled bitterly, “It needs some improvements, yes.” However, he was not in charge of the crops. His dad was. He was just here to help with inventory today.

This plot of land wasn’t doing well not just because of the well-- the soil quality was bad too. They didn’t know what crop made the soil change and they hadn’t been able to fix this problem. They’d had two poor harvests in a row even with the Ji family’s advice. They were just not cut out of this. The harvest was barely enough to keep them alive.

This was awful!

Ji Ju grew even more furious seeing the young man give up like that. However, this person wasn’t from the Ji family so he didn’t say much. Thank goodness he wasn’t too, or he would have died from a heart attack.