Chapter 5: Who is the lazy one, after all?

It wasn’t that no one saw them on the road, but with the old lady present, no one dared to open their mouths, fearing the old lady might come up and slap them.

However, once they had walked far away, people would still start gossiping.

Of course, Mei Xue and the others couldn't hear these words, and what they couldn't hear, they didn't know.

Finally arriving at their own fields, the old lady was tired from walking and sat down on a large rock under a tree to rest.

"Rest a bit, Xiao Xue. You've walked such a long way, you must be tired." Sitting down, the old lady picked up the water bottle she carried with her and took a sip.

Mei Xue didn't feel tired, but she wasn't in a rush either, so she sat down beside her grandmother. "Grandma, our seedlings are growing really well." They were lush and green, which was truly heartening.

But who would have thought.

"What do you mean 'well'? Look at the ones across the way; our seedlings aren't thriving." Everyone knew that it had been two months since the planting, and while the rice seedlings in other people's fields had already begun to sprout ears, theirs were still just plain and simple, with no sign of ears at all.

This was a severe lack of fertilizer.

There was less than two months left until the autumn harvest, and the old lady was anxious.

However, she had planted a month later than everyone else, so calculating the time, the harvest would be around the end of August.

After August came the rainy season; if they didn't finish in time, they really wouldn't have enough grain to get through the winter.

Fertilizer?

Mei Xue wasn't worried about that at all, because the water from her space was the best plant fertilizer in the world.

However, the old lady was also teasing Xiao Xue.

Seeing her look anxious, the old lady laughed unkindly. "Haha, Xiao Xue, look how scared you are. Grandma has been farming for a lifetime; do you think I'd be afraid of having no harvest?"

Seeing her grandmother being so playful, what could Mei Xue do?

Just indulge her.

"Right, Grandma is amazing."

After resting, the old lady didn't stand on ceremony with Xiao Xue. It would indeed take her at least a day or two to finish working these four fields by herself.

She was old now, and her hands and feet were slower; she wasn't what she used to be.

"See this? These things growing taller than the seedlings are weeds. We have quite a few in our field, so we have to go down and pull them all out." The old lady began to teach Xiao Xue how to work.

Xiao Xue could tell at a glance that the things looked like wheat, but they weren't wheat. She didn't know what they were. "Okay, Grandma."

Having received her task, Mei Xue immediately started.

She began from the bottom field and worked her way up, so she wouldn't have to make her grandmother run up and down.

Mainly, she was afraid that since it was her first time, she wouldn't be as fast as her grandmother, and she didn't want to tire her out.

Watching Xiao Xue’s retreating back, the old lady was very satisfied. The girl was a bit delicate, but she was good at working without being pretentious.

Mei Xue looked at the field; it was indeed as the old lady said, the field wasn't fertile. But it didn't matter. There was still some water in the field, so as Mei Xue pulled the weeds, she dripped space water into the field.

Because there was water in the field, she didn't need to drip it at the base of every single seedling. As long as she dripped the space water into the field, the water would nourish the rice seedlings itself.

Walking from one field to the next, Mei Xue bent down, straightened up, and tossed—the three movements were done in one fluid motion.

Her movements were fast and efficient, not wasting a second.

Soon, she had cleared the weeds from one field and moved on to the next.

She didn't know if it was her imagination, but she felt like the seedlings were saying thank you to her. *Heehee*, she went to the next field with a smile on her face.

In two hours, Mei Xue had finished three of the four fields, and the old lady had cleared the largest field at the very top.

Mei Xue still needed to spread the space water, so she went down into the field again, looking for good food in the mud.

Seeing her actions, the old lady was startled. "Xiao Xue, come up quickly! You can't dig up the soil; you'll kill the rice."

That movement was all too familiar—she was clearly digging for swamp eels.

There were many of these things in the fields, but it wasn't the time to dig for them yet.

The old lady was anxious.

Mei Xue was just putting on a show. She didn't need to dig; once the space water came out, these things ran to her side on their own.

She had already gotten quite a few in the lower fields, but she had released the small ones and kept all the big ones, stringing them together with grass.

"Grandma, I'm not digging up the field. These eels just came out on their own." Afraid her grandmother would worry, Mei Xue poured a large amount of space water in one spot and stopped walking through the field.

The old lady didn't believe her, but when she walked over to Mei Xue and saw the eels by her feet, she was shocked.

"Heavens, what is going on?"

It was the first time the old lady had seen such a scene.

Mei Xue looked innocent. "I don't know either. Maybe my skin is too fragrant; they all gathered around my legs."

Seeing her still acting up, the old lady knew she hadn't been scared. "You, hurry up and catch them. We'll have meat to eat tonight."

*Heehee*, Mei Xue was so happy.

After spreading the space water, Mei Xue and her grandmother took the large eels to the edge of the field.

"Grandma, I have quite a few over there too. Let's go, we need to take them back quickly." She was afraid they would die on the string.

The old lady was startled. Thinking of the scene just now, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. How many was "quite a few"?

When she saw the strings of eels on the ground, the old lady took a deep breath. "We're going to town tomorrow."

With so many, how could the family finish them?

Mei Xue didn't understand. "Why?" she asked, looking confused.

"To sell them! With so many, can you finish them? Aren't you afraid of getting sick of them?" The villagers could eat these from time to time, so they weren't particularly fond of them.

Of course, if you didn't have money, you didn't have the luxury of being picky.

But these things could fetch a good price. With this many, they could trade them for a barrel of oil.

"Oh, sell them all?" Mei Xue felt a tinge of reluctance.

She wanted to eat them; these were purely natural, not mutated at all, and the meat smelled delicious.

"Yes, sell them all. I'm not saving any for you, just to tease you." The old lady said it seriously, but the words were so funny.

"Grandma, you're teasing me again." How could she not tell?

Just like her master, very playful.

"Alright, put them in the bucket. Don't let anyone see. If everyone comes to our field to dig for eels, will we have anything to eat this year?" The old lady was a cautious person.

"Mm, I'll listen to Grandma." Mei Xue smiled.

She added some water to the bucket, along with a bit of space water, to ensure they would stay alive until tomorrow.

They finished work earlier than usual today, and the grandmother and granddaughter walked home, chatting and laughing.

On the way back, they ran into some villagers, but out of respect for Grandma He, everyone offered Mei Xue some pleasantries, and they were all quite friendly.

It was as if the gossip from the past two days didn't exist, but Mei Xue didn't pay much attention to these people; she kept a smile on her face.

She was satisfied with the eels in her hand.

"Auntie, you can enjoy your life now. Xiao Xue is so capable; she can even help you with the farm work." Sister-in-law Yong was Grandma He's direct niece-in-law, but she was the biggest gossip.

Usually, Grandma He disliked her the most; when she first married into the family, she had even fought with Grandma He.