SPMT : Chapter 37: Second Brother’s Shock

Once Xiao Jingting got busy, there was no end to it. He worked until evening before stopping. “Second Brother, sorry! When I get busy, I forget about you.”

Xiao Jinfeng smiled at Xiao Jingting and said, “It’s fine. If Father and Mother-father were still here, they’d be very happy to know you’re so diligent.”

Xiao Jingting smiled bashfully.

“When you were using spiritual techniques on the fields earlier, many people were watching you,” Xiao Jinfeng said.

Xiao Jingting asked somewhat surprised, “Were they?”

“Yes! Many were young men and women. It looked like they fancy you. Third Brother, you’re now the ideal partner in many people’s hearts,” Xiao Jinfeng said.

Xiao Jingting shook his head and said, “Second Brother, you love to tease me.”

“I’m not teasing at all,” Xiao Jinfeng said.

“I’m a man with a wife and children. Now I only want to earn money to support my family. I don’t dare think about other things,” Xiao Jingting said calmly.

Hearing Xiao Jingting’s words, Xiao Jinfeng immediately felt relieved.

“Second Brother, do you have something you want to tell me? I can see you’ve been wanting to speak but holding back,” Xiao Jingting said somewhat puzzled.

Xiao Jinfeng hesitated, then said frankly, “Sun Miaomiao is going to marry Xiao Muhong.”

Xiao Jingting was stunned. Thinking of Sun Miaomiao, he couldn’t help but blush. The original could be called Sun Miaomiao’s devoted fan—seeing her on the street, he’d stick to her, even fight people over her and get beaten black and blue. He’d send gifts with all his might, and when they were returned, he’d be perfectly content.

Remembering the original’s turtle-like behavior, Xiao Jingting felt embarrassed.

Although those things were done by the original, now that Xiao Jingting had merged with the original, he always felt like he himself had done those ridiculous things.

“Really? Sun Miaomiao is marrying Xiao Muhong? That bastard Xiao Muhong will have his hands full—she’s a very fierce woman,” Xiao Jingting said, shaking his head. He really couldn’t understand the original’s taste. From the memories, the original had even been whipped by this Miss Sun. Did the original have masochistic tendencies?

Xiao Jinfeng said somewhat strangely, “You don’t mind?” Xiao Jinfeng still remembered how Xiao Jingting had waited on Sun Miaomiao hand and foot, looking like a model of devotion, so attentive it made Xiao Jinfeng want to beat him.

“Why should I mind? Sun Miaomiao isn’t my wife,” Xiao Jingting said coolly. The original really had thick skin! Miss Sun clearly didn’t take the original seriously, yet he didn’t care at all. What an idiot—no wonder those people looked down on the original.

“Good that you don’t mind.”

“Forced melons aren’t sweet. But it’s strange that Miss Sun, with her eyes set so high, would fancy Xiao Muhong,” Xiao Jingting said.

“Not strange at all! After Father and Mother-father’s incident, it’s Uncle’s family running things. Xiao Muhong is Uncle’s eldest son…”

Xiao Jingting raised his eyebrows. Right, the Xiao family had changed direction, making Xiao Muhong the crown prince. But the other branches weren’t to be trifled with either—Xiao Muhong’s position was quite unstable!

“By the way, Uncle’s wife gave you this farmland,” Xiao Jinfeng asked with furrowed brows.

Xiao Jingting nodded and said, “Yes!”

“I saw that you only have a dozen or so mu of farmland, but several mu are premium fields,” Xiao Jinfeng said with deeply furrowed brows.

“That’s right. My abilities are limited, so I can only grow ordinary plants now. These premium fields are somewhat wasted in my hands,” Xiao Jingting said with some regret.

“I heard this land was left fallow before?” Xiao Jinfeng continued asking.

Xiao Jingting nodded and smiled sheepishly, “Yes!”

“Do you know that this area of Tuqiu Village falls under the jurisdiction of the Yongcheng Marquis Manor? Four months ago, the manor issued a regulation: if one mu of premium field is left idle for one month, a fine of one hundred taels must be paid. You have five mu of premium fields total. How many months have you left them idle?” Xiao Jinfeng said.

Xiao Jingting’s eyes widened. What the hell! Five mu of premium fields total, and he’d left them idle for about two months. It seemed they were already idle before the original came here.

“Second Brother, why is the fine so high?” Xiao Jingting asked puzzledly.

“Premium field resources are limited. Afraid that some landlords would occupy farmland without doing anything, the manor issued this decree. Although premium fields should be used to grow fifth or sixth-level spiritual plants to make the best use of them, growing some third-level spiritual plants on them doesn’t require much care and generally grows well. It’s too wasteful to let such good fields lie barren,” Xiao Jinfeng explained.

“Second Brother, where did you learn this news? No one in the village told me about it!” Xiao Jingting said.

“Generally, people wouldn’t leave premium fields fallow, so not many people know about this decree. In fact, with the emperor far away, some remote villages might not be inspected even if they lie fallow. But if I’m not mistaken, your fields will definitely be inspected,” Xiao Jinfeng said.

Xiao Jingting was completely dumbfounded. He had originally found it strange why the Xiao family would give so many premium fields to Xiao Jingting. So they were waiting for him here! Right, maybe it didn’t matter if some people left fields fallow, but if he did, someone would definitely inspect them. His uncle and aunt really had schemed everything—Xiao Jingting couldn’t convince himself this was a coincidence.

“I pawned the farmland for a period before,” Xiao Jingting said.

“The manor calculates fallow time from when the land deed is transferred to your name. The pawn shop’s active pawn period is included,” Xiao Jinfeng said.

Xiao Jingting: “…” Calculated that way, it would be two or three months—meaning he’d have to pay at least one thousand taels of silver.

“Second Brother, do you know when the manor will come to inspect?” Xiao Jingting asked.

“In October,” Xiao Jinfeng said.

Xiao Jingting breathed a sigh of relief. Good, there was still time.

“If I don’t have the silver then, what will happen?” Xiao Jingting asked.

“Prison,” Xiao Jinfeng said.

Xiao Jingting took a deep breath, thinking: How ruthless.

“Second Brother, let’s go back first. We can talk about the farmland later. There’s still time anyway—I can just earn more silver. I think Mu’an and Mu Shuyu should be back by now and waiting for us to eat,” Xiao Jingting said.

With many debts, one more wouldn’t hurt. After being shocked by what Xiao Jinfeng told him, Xiao Jingting quickly became optimistic again.

Xiao Jinfeng nodded and said, “Alright.”

“Second Brother, Mu’an sold five jars of wine and all those grapes today. I think we should have enough money to buy your antidote,” Xiao Jingting said.

Hearing Xiao Jingting’s words, warmth rose in Xiao Jinfeng’s heart.

Xiao Jingting turned to look at Xiao Jinfeng’s expression and said, “Second Brother, why are you looking at me like that?”

“Second Brother just didn’t expect you’d do all this for me,” Xiao Jinfeng said.

Xiao Jingting smiled peacefully and said, “Second Brother, we’re brothers! If I were poisoned, Second Brother would definitely help me too, right?”

Xiao Jinfeng nodded and said, “Yes!” Although he and Xiao Jingting weren’t close, if Xiao Jingting were really in trouble, he couldn’t just stand by and watch.

“Second Brother, you and Mu Shuyu are in a relationship, right?” Xiao Jingting asked.

Xiao Jinfeng was stunned and his face reddened slightly.

Xiao Jingting raised his eyebrows, thinking: There’s something there. “Second Brother, Mu Shuyu treats you very well! In that situation, he never abandoned you. Don’t let him down.”

“I know. By the way, your wine is well-brewed! Selling it for a hundred taels of silver is actually quite cheap. I’ve drunk wine worth one hundred and twenty taels, and it didn’t taste as pure as yours,” Xiao Jinfeng said with gleaming eyes, looking like he was savoring the memory.

Xiao Jingting smiled helplessly and said, “This is a small place after all. If it’s too expensive, it won’t sell. Besides, my wine has no reputation—it takes time for people to accept it.” And he urgently needed money, so he could only sell quickly.

“Your spiritual wine is very beneficial for third and fourth-level Qi Practitioners. It’s especially useful for third-level Qi Practitioners,” Xiao Jinfeng said.

What Xiao Jinfeng implied was that although the spiritual wine benefited fourth-level Qi Practitioners, its usefulness was already limited.

Xiao Jingting smiled. Spiritual spring wasn’t omnipotent. Before, he used spiritual spring to grow excellent grapes, but when growing higher-level spiritual plants, the effect wasn’t as significant.

After entering the fourth layer of Qi Practice, Xiao Jingting also discovered that the spiritual spring’s speed in restoring spiritual energy was greatly reduced. If the spiritual spring’s quality couldn’t be improved, then when his strength increased further, the spiritual spring would become quite useless. If there was no way to upgrade the spiritual spring, it would become worthless.

“Selling that wine like this is really a pity,” Xiao Jinfeng said regretfully.

Seeing Xiao Jinfeng’s reluctant expression, Xiao Jingting said, “The wine we sold was all from the first batch. The second batch should be ready in a few days. The second batch is more mellow. If Second Brother likes it, we can keep more.”

Xiao Jinfeng smiled awkwardly and said, “Your second brother doesn’t have any other hobbies—I just love the drink.”

Looking at Xiao Jinfeng, Xiao Jingting asked, “Second Brother, drinking causes trouble. You haven’t done anything when drunk, have you?”

A troubled expression appeared on Xiao Jinfeng’s face.

Looking at Xiao Jinfeng, Xiao Jingting said somewhat shocked, “Second Brother, you haven’t really done something, have you?”

Xiao Jinfeng said with some difficulty, “No.”

Seeing Xiao Jinfeng’s expression, suspicion flashed through Xiao Jingting’s mind, but this was Xiao Jinfeng’s private matter, so he didn’t press further.

When Xiao Jingting returned home, Xu Mu’an had already set out the bowls and chopsticks.

Xu Mu’an took out the bank notes and said, “This is the money from selling wine and grapes—eight hundred taels total.”

Xiao Jingting stroked his chin and said, “I have over a hundred taels on hand. We’re still short a bit!”

“I have some savings too, about two hundred taels,” Mu Shuyu quickly said.

Xiao Jingting smiled and said, “How could we take your silver!”

Xiao Jinfeng took out a storage pouch and said, “I have three hundred taels on hand. When I left the Xiao family, I was driven out with nothing—all my other assets stayed with the Xiao family.” As Xiao Jinfeng spoke, hatred flashed in his eyes.

Looking at Xiao Jinfeng, Xiao Jingting said, “Second Brother, don’t be angry. Consider it spending money to avoid disaster.”

“The town is too small. We asked around everywhere but there’s nowhere selling them. But Qingcheng should have them,” Xu Mu’an said.

Xiao Jingting took the bank notes and handed them to Xiao Jinfeng, saying, “Second Brother, why don’t you and Young Master Mu make the trip?”

Xiao Jinfeng took the bank notes and nodded, “Alright.”