Chapter Ninety-Three: Who Sends the Silken Letter from the Clouds?

“That is good. Then I can rest easy.”

With a smile, Liu Yitiao rose to his feet and took his leave of Li Dechen. “It is already noon, so I shall not linger here and disturb you. This afternoon I will trouble you, Elder Li, to come to my place and measure out the land each household is to receive, fixing it to their names. Tomorrow we shall formally begin breaking ground and reclaiming the fields.”

“Please be at ease, master,” Li Dechen said, leading Liu Wuhen by the reins as he escorted Liu Yitiao to the door. “After lunch, this old man will bring my tools to pay a visit to the master. Distributing the land will take only a single afternoon.”

Liu Yitiao took the donkey’s reins and swung himself up. Sitting astride Liu Wuhen, he cupped his hands toward Li Dechen and said, “Then we shall meet again this afternoon. I take my leave.” With that, he slapped the donkey’s rump, and they were gone in a cloud of dust.

“Go slowly, Master!” Li Dechen bowed after his retreating figure. Then, overflowing with delight, he returned home.

“Father!” By then Li Biao had already reached the main room, where he was drinking the tea Liu Yitiao had left behind. Seeing Li Dechen enter, he hurriedly set down the bowl and stood up, calling out timidly. It was clear that he was rather afraid of his father.

“Mm, good boy!” To Li Biao’s surprise, Li Dechen did not scold him as usual. Instead, he patted the boy on the head and said gently, “Biao’er, go tell your mother in the kitchen that your father is in a good mood today. Have her cook a pot of plain rice for lunch. Let us celebrate properly as a family.”

“Plain rice?” Li Biao’s eyes lit up. He had not eaten such rice in a long time. Licking his slightly dry lips, he ran toward the kitchen, shouting as he went, “Mother, Father says to cook plain rice! Father says to cook plain rice!”

“Heh heh...” Li Dechen stroked the thin, dry whiskers on his chin and laughed softly. This was only the beginning. Once the farming got onto the proper track, their household, with its two men, would have twenty-five cash coins of income each month. By then, let alone plain rice, they would even be able to buy ordinary vegetables.

All of this was thanks to the master.

Though Li Dechen was somewhat greedy for money, he was also a man who knew how to drink water and remember its source. Thus, his gratitude toward Liu Yitiao only deepened.

When he returned home and tied Liu Wuhen under the cattle shed, Liu Yitiao walked over to where Liu Laoshi stood.

At that moment, Liu Laoshi was holding one of the Liu family plows, turning it over and over to examine it, as though it were some rare and precious object.

“Father, these plowshares are pretty fine, aren’t they?” Liu Yitiao said, leaning in with a faint smile and speaking softly.

“Oh, you’re back.” At the sound, Liu Laoshi turned and glanced at Liu Yitiao, then pointed to the plow on the ground and asked, “These are the plows you had made at Yuan Fang’s place? Hm, the shape is rather strange, but if used for tilling, they should be more useful than a straight-beam plow.”

Pointing at the pivot plate of the Liu family plow, Liu Laoshi said, “This thing seems able to let the plow body turn freely, and these two small parts,” he added, pointing at the plow’s gauge and setting beam, “can actually adjust the support pole beneath the plow. Would that not allow one to control how deep the plowshare turns the soil? Truly marvelous. Mr. Yuan is a man of great talent indeed, to think up and make such a plow.”

Liu Yitiao smiled. No matter how one looked at it, Liu Laoshi was an experienced farmer with decades of tilling behind him. It was hardly surprising that he could see the ingenuity of the Liu family plow. He said to his father, “Father, the wonders of this plow are not limited to what you have just mentioned. There is much more to it, and only after you have personally tried plowing with it once will you be able to appreciate it fully.”

Then he went on, “Tomorrow is the day I begin reclaiming and breaking ground on those thirty-two qing of wasteland. If you are interested, Father, you might as well try it yourself. I think that after using it once, you will grow fond of this plow.”

“Tomorrow?” Liu Laoshi took his gaze from the Liu family plow and looked at Liu Yitiao in surprise. “Yitiao, isn’t the date a bit early? The second month has not even arrived yet. Who starts breaking ground this early?”

“It is not early, Father,” Liu Yitiao explained. “Those fields of mine are all long-neglected wasteland. The soil is hard and difficult to turn. Even if we reclaim them all, with this new kind of plow it will take at least half a month. By then spring will have warmed, flowers will bloom, and all things will revive, which is just in time for spring plowing and sowing. So beginning the work now is exactly right.”

“Hm, that makes sense,” Liu Laoshi agreed with a nod. “Since you are reclaiming wasteland, have you arranged those tenant farmers properly? You should know that tenant farmers are notorious for being slick and headstrong, and most are fellows who have run afoul of the laws of the court. You must pay them extra heed. And in the future, when it comes to matters of the fields, if you need your father, just speak up. I may not amount to much, but in farming I can still help you somewhat.”

“I know, Father,” Liu Yitiao replied.

There might indeed be some unruly sorts among those tenant farmers, but with enough food, even the most ferocious wolf, tiger, bear, or leopard could someday be tamed. Besides, most of the tenants under Liu Yitiao had been carefully selected by Wang Kui in the past. Even the prickliest heads had long since been ground smooth by him.

“As for helping, there is no need, Father. You still have more than a hundred mu of land to farm. How would you have any spare time to attend to anything else?” Liu Yitiao declined Liu Laoshi’s kind offer. It was enough that the old man had that thought. Moreover, when it came to farming, his father was not necessarily more skilled than he, Liu Yitiao.

In terms of theoretical knowledge of agriculture, Liu Yitiao could be called a master of farm studies in this age.

Liu Laoshi nodded and said nothing. Liu Yitiao spoke the truth. Once the busy season came, he would not even be able to manage his own land, so how could he help Liu Yitiao?

“Oh, right. Someone from your in-laws’ side came by just now,” Liu Laoshi suddenly remembered and said to Liu Yitiao, “A long robe and a letter—those were clearly the work of that girl Chu Chu. Your mother and I cannot read, but your mother praised that robe without end, and I thought it looked fine too. You should go have a look and try it on to see whether it fits.”

A letter? Clothes? A smile appeared in Liu Yitiao’s eyes, and a trace of tenderness filled his heart. Following Liu Laoshi into the main room, he saw on the table in the principal hall a cyan long robe and a bamboo tube containing a letter.

He set the robe aside and picked up the bamboo tube at once, opening the letter inside. On the paper was only a row of graceful small characters: a light robe, humbly offered to you, sir. I hope you will accept it with a smile. Zhang Chuchu, respectfully inscribed.

Though only a few short words, they were filled with boundless sweetness. This fiancée of his was truly a thoughtful woman.

A friendly recommendation: The Third Opportunity, book number 1002044

Synopsis: In the great historical tide of an unprecedented transformation across three thousand years, the third opportunity to change the destiny of China.