In the blink of an eye, two more days passed. All of the double-barrelled guns at Shuangshuang’s house were complete, and the harvest from the three acres was threshed at the village’s threshing ground.

The first thing after finishing was to call Mr. Mu from the Old Mu Family to come weigh it together.

Half of the total harvest would belong to the Old Mu Family.

The work at the Old Mu Family was still in the harvesting phase.

Fortunately, it hadn’t rained recently; otherwise, the ripe harvest in their fields would have gone rotten.

Mr. Mu, holding his dry tobacco pipe, walked towards the threshing ground.

On the way, he encountered several villagers, who asked about Mu Dade.

"Uncle Mu, Da De has become a scholar now. Why does your family still need to farm?" The young lad from the Wu Family at the village entrance looked puzzled.

Mr. Mu was about to respond when an older man from the village interrupted:

"You just don’t know! It’s called self-sufficiency. Isn’t Wang San’s family well-off too? Yet he’s always stayed in the village."

"Wang San was disdained by his family for being too ugly, which is why he wasn’t allowed to go to the town. It hardly has to do with self-sufficiency," said the Wu Family lad, casting a suspicious glance at Mr. Mu.

"Uncle Mu, could it be that Brother Dade didn’t let you go have a good life, so you’re stuck with these few acres of land?"

Mr. Mu shook his head quickly. "No... nothing like that. Our eldest will go to the Capital after the New Year to take the exams, and he asked me to join him."

The crowd just laughed quietly without saying anything.

Once something is spoken, no matter how it’s explained, it turns into something wrong.

Mr. Mu forced a smile, exchanged a few pleasantries, and arrived at the threshing ground.

By then, Shuangshuang was already packing.

The grain was packed in burlap sacks, waiting to be weighed, after which the Old Mu Family would take the rice back for processing.

Bag after bag of rice was packed, and Mr. Mu had already reached the area occupied by Mu Shuangshuang and Lu Yuanfeng at the threshing ground.

"Shuang, when did you all start working?" Mr. Mu asked.

The sun had just risen, yet the third branch had done so much work.

Mr. Mu felt somewhat embarrassed looking at it.

"We started before dawn; these rice grains were milled last night. Since you’re here, let’s start weighing them."

At the threshing ground, sack after sack of rice was stacked together, and Lu Yuanfeng called Da Hu and Brother Da Niu to help carry it for weighing.

It didn’t take long to sort out all the rice from the three acres.

The Old Mu Family’s rice was all placed in the corner of the threshing ground.

Mr. Mu felt a wave of emotion in his heart. With this half of the rice, the Old Mu Family’s three acres of fertile field completely belonged to Lu Yuanfeng now.

That was the wealth Mr. Mu had accumulated in his youth, now given away for free. Mr. Mu couldn’t help but ask, "Fengzi, will you ever sell those acres to someone else?"

Mu Shuangshuang, listening nearby, knew Mr. Mu was regretting it.

Of course, it was originally a good second-grade field, but Fu Wu had degraded it to third-grade land, Mr. Mu was naturally dissatisfied.

"Mr. Mu, no matter what, Fengzi’s land will not be sold to others. Fengzi had no land before, and now he’s finally saved some wealth; he should strive to keep it rather than lose it."

Lu Yuanfeng shook his head firmly.

Back when he sold the land, Lu Yuanfeng had considered that Mr. Mu might want to buy it back.

The argument was something he had long discussed with Shuangshuang.

Mr. Mu felt a surge of disappointment.

He said, "If that’s the case, I’ll go back and call someone to transport the rice, Shuang... you’ve worked hard, your third branch."

Mr. Mu’s last words left Mu Shuangshuang puzzled.

The old man had been changing too quickly lately.

Yesterday her mother mentioned that the old man greeted her when he saw her on the road.

In the past, Mr. Mu wouldn’t bother with such things unless his daughter-in-law called him.

"Grandpa, same to you!"

Lately, Mr. Mu seemed to have trouble sleeping, with heavy dark circles under his eyes, and most noticeably, Mu Shuangshuang observed that his energetic walk wasn’t the same as before.

"Grandpa, is the rice at home all harvested? Uncle Fu mentioned the cold wave was coming soon; if not harvested, it could reduce the yield," Mu Shuangshuang asked with concern, looking at his staggered steps.

"Ah?" Mr. Mu was taken aback, seemingly not fully alert.

"We still have seven or eight acres unharvested. The threshing ground here is occupied by villagers, and we haven’t found a place; the rice is piled in our yard," Mr. Mu said, making Mu Shuangshuang feel if you don’t seek trouble, you won’t find trouble.

She felt like the Old Mu Family was about to collapse.

Couldn’t they even organize the basic farming tasks like drying the rice?

"Shuang, you always have good ideas, lend Grandpa your ideas again, just consider it as Grandpa begging you once more?"

Mr. Mu was anxious; previously, he had mentioned to wait for villagers to make room before finding a place to sun the rice and then mill it later.

Given the current situation, waiting wasn’t feasible!

The old man was indeed pitiful, over fifty years of age, yet worrying about everything.

"Grandpa, it’s not supposed to be like this. You are an experienced farmer; you should know better what needs doing and when," Mu Shuangshuang replied.

"Yes, I was muddled, but now that it’s reached this point, solving it is crucial. Shuang, what do you think..."

Mu Shuangshuang rolled her eyes internally; she thought the old man had changed, was good to the third branch.

Turns out he still wanted her help.

Logically, these mundane matters had nothing to do with the third branch.

Helping would show her kindness; not helping was her freedom, and no one had the right to criticize her.

But seeing Mr. Mu, she indeed felt pity.

And it might grow worse in the future.

After thinking, Mu Shuangshuang said, "Grandpa, quickly negotiate with villagers who’ve almost finished milling their rice to let you use some space at the threshing ground.

Hire villagers who’ve completed their farm work for twelve copper coins a day to help. Or let the family do it; if my Second Uncle and Uncle No. Five don’t want to, see who in the family does."

This time, Mu Shuangshuang didn’t hold back. She remembered her Fourth Uncle had no work recently at home, and Cousin Da Lang as well—they were both industrious people.

Seven or eight acres would take two or three days to finish.

One person could earn about thirty copper coins.

Having money is always good.

Listening to Mu Shuangshuang’s words, Mr. Mu felt immediately troubled.

The family had no silver to hire workers; their savings were spent on the eldest’s education.

Mu Shuangshuang also considered this issue; she said, "Grandpa, I heard Sister Dan Dan say the day before yesterday that Big Uncle has quite some money at hand."