Chapter 52: The Golden Blossom Fairy Fox

If you’re going to put on an act, you’d better make it convincing. Otherwise, if the harvest is reported honestly, the villagers will surely go hungry again in the second half of the year. No one in the village is foolish enough to want an empty belly; their lips are sealed tight.

So, when the collection team came to inspect, all they saw were fields already plowed over, and nothing more. Hearing Old Chen, leading the group with a mournful face, lamenting that the villagers barely had enough food, the inspectors knew well enough that times were tough these past years. They offered a few words of comfort and left.

As for Old Chen’s suggestion that, since other villages hadn’t met their quotas, perhaps some extra grain could be allocated to their own, the collection team feigned deafness. What a joke—there was already a shortfall in the overall quota. If everyone handed in their share, how could anyone expect to bring some back? Impossible!

Old Chen and his companions sent the inspectors out of the village, faces full of worry. Once the officials were gone, they turned around, beaming.

“Grand-aunt is still the best.”

“That’s right. If it weren’t for grand-aunt, we’d probably have to hand over more.”

Old Chen nodded in agreement. “Exactly. Thanks to grand-aunt’s foresight.”

“That’s why she’s grand-aunt!” The speaker’s face shone with admiration.

The others were no exception.

Everyone was exhausted from harvesting the fields and wouldn’t normally rush to plow so quickly. But when Bai Xi asked about the harvest and casually mentioned it, Old Chen couldn’t sit still and immediately urged everyone to get to work and plow the fields over.

“Village chief, we just finished the harvest a couple of days ago. Can’t we let everyone rest for a bit?”

“Yeah, everyone’s worn out. Let’s dry the rice for a couple of days first.”

Old Chen, hearing this, put his hands on his hips and scolded, “Tired? What’s there to be tired about? If it weren’t for grand-aunt, do you think you’d be able to keep the grain you’ve got?”

The villagers looked puzzled.

“What’s wrong?”

“Are they collecting grain again?”

“Didn’t we already hand it in? How are we supposed to live like this...”

“All right, stop whining. I haven’t even finished speaking. Why are you making such a fuss?” Old Chen rolled his eyes. “No wonder grand-aunt calls you blockheads.”

Actually, that remark was meant for him, but it didn’t stop Old Chen from using it for the others.

“Don’t you realize the people from the commune aren’t so easily fooled? If we don’t plow the fields, when they come and look, won’t they be able to guess our real harvest?”

At those words, the villagers immediately understood.

Of course—the collection team from the commune wasn’t new to this. They’d prefer everyone handed over every last grain, leaving just enough so no one starved to death. It wasn’t unheard of for them to check the leftover rice stalks in the fields and estimate the harvest. Who wants to go hungry?

Without Old Chen needing to say more, everyone hurried home, grabbed their tools, shouldered their plows, led out the cattle, and took turns plowing the fields twice over. Not a single rice stalk remained; even the sweet potato vines from the mountain plots were buried in the earth.

When the collection team asked why the fields were being plowed so urgently, Old Chen first complained about hard times as usual, then explained that they were preparing to compost early, hoping to enrich the fields for a better harvest next year.

It was the truth, though normally, no one would rush to compost right after reaping. But Niuluo Village had done nothing wrong by doing so.

So, even if the collection team suspected something was amiss, there was no evidence to be found, and they had to let it go.

Other villages dragged their feet—partly because their harvests were poor, partly because they delayed during the frantic collection, missing the best time to dry their rice. Even after drying, they lost some grain.

When the collection team found out, they scolded the village chiefs and other leaders for not doing their jobs properly, but since the damage was done, all they could do was warn them to be more diligent in the future.

Of course, scolding aside, the task of handing over grain still had to be met with effort.

Just a few days after the grain collection ended, Old Chen and a few villagers went to the market in town and happened to meet people from Xiaxin Village. They joined up, walking together, chatting and sharing news along the way.

Although last time they nearly fought over water, later the village chief from Xiaxin Village sent someone to apologize. Besides, in the end, they hadn’t actually taken any water. Since apologies had been made, Niuluo Village chose not to hold a grudge.

Hearing that Niuluo Village had finished drying their rice, the people from Xiaxin Village were envious. Their looks made Old Chen and his companions feel secretly proud, though they kept it from their faces.

With weather like that, if it hadn’t been for grand-aunt’s instructions, none of us would have dared, let alone you. But we were lucky—grand-aunt was with us.

Their respect and admiration for Bai Xi grew even deeper.

That day, Bai Xi was eating roasted rabbit leg.

Old Li had hunted a wild rabbit and brought half of it to Bai Xi, who then had Chen Zhaodi roast it for her.

As she ate the rabbit leg, Bai Xi shot a glance at Little Black and muttered, “You said you’d grow up soon and bring me lots of meat, but how long has it been already!”

If it weren’t for her being grand-aunt and occasionally being gifted treats, she’d have starved waiting for Little Black to provide meat.

Little Black, drawn by the smell of roasted rabbit, drooled, and at his master’s words, hung his head in shame and slunk outside the door.

“Grand-aunt, grand-aunt...” The stairs of the treehouse rattled as someone hurried up.

Soon, the caller appeared at the door, panting.

“Grand-aunt.” Chen Rui leaned against the door, gulped in air, and only after catching her breath did she say anxiously, “Aunt Li has started her labor.”

Bai Xi blinked, the rabbit leg still near her mouth. “What?”

Chen Rui hesitated, seeing Bai Xi’s puzzled look, and remembered that if she hadn’t heard the adults say it, she wouldn’t know what it meant herself—let alone grand-aunt, who was only five years old.

So, Chen Rui quickly explained, “Grand-aunt, Aunt Li is about to have her baby.”

“Oh.” Bai Xi answered, and continued gnawing on her rabbit leg.

Her hands were small, and the rabbit leg was fairly large, so she had to use both hands to eat it. Though careful, some oil still smeared her face.

At that moment, Little Black glanced again outside the treehouse, that feeling returning.

Bai Xi didn’t notice Little Black’s odd behavior. Seeing Chen Rui staring blankly at her, she said, “If labor’s started, then she’ll have her baby.”

She wasn’t stopping anyone from giving birth. Besides, she’d never had a child herself; before descending to this realm, she was a maiden fox spirit, so what was the point of telling her about it?

“Oh, oh.” Chen Rui replied, still confused.

She didn’t really understand either—Aunt Li had just asked her to inform grand-aunt, so she came running to do so.

Remembering Aunt Li’s words, Chen Rui added, “Grand-aunt, Aunt Li said she wanted to report to you.”

Bai Xi waved her hand, rabbit leg spinning in the air. “Alright, I know. You can go.”

Hearing this, Chen Rui quickly agreed and turned to run down the stairs.

(Four thousand characters delivered, sweethearts. Good night. By the way, tomorrow there’ll be an extra update. Cough cough, Bai Xi’s asking for your attention!)