Chapter 100: Not Only Making Promises to His Wife, But Also to His Mother

“Have they already plowed some of the land?”

Lin Heng thought for a moment and asked.

“Yes, eight acres of wheat fields. Big Brother and Dad have already plowed five acres. They have just one acre left to finish.

The remaining two acres belong to us, so of course, we have to do it ourselves,” Xiulan nodded and said.

“It’s getting late now. We need to hurry and prepare the land. The late-season corn must be planted; otherwise, it will be too late,” Xiulan added.

“Alright, you and Caiyun take our daughter and go help. I’ll head to Hongfeng Mountain first,” Lin Heng nodded and said.

“That works.” Xiulan roughly guessed what Lin Heng was planning, but she didn’t stop him.

“Come on, Xiongba!”

Lin Heng called out, grabbed his slingshot, carried his basket on his back, and set off first.

“Woof! Woof!”

Xiongba happily followed Lin Heng, running along.

Lin Heng strolled leisurely, while Xiongba ran in bursts, sometimes leaping into the grass to pounce, catching a grasshopper one moment and a lizard the next.

“Woof! Woof!”

Before long, Xiongba trotted up to Lin Heng with a lizard in his mouth, as if presenting a treasure.

“Get lost. Either catch a rabbit for me or eat it yourself,” Lin Heng rubbed the dog’s head.

“Woof!”

Since Lin Heng didn’t want it, Xiongba crunched the lizard down in two bites, the sound crisp and clear.

Not far ahead, Lin Heng saw a man and a woman—Jin Yan and her brother, Jin Shui.

He paused, wondering what the two of them were doing on Hongfeng Mountain.

Then he heard bells jingling and noticed seven or eight cows below the path. So, they were here to graze cattle. After all, Jin Yan’s family made their fortune by selling cows.

“Woof! Woof!!”

Before Lin Heng could speak, a large white dog suddenly charged out from behind Jin Yan and Jin Shui, rushing straight at Xiongba, seemingly trying to teach him a lesson.

Xiongba didn’t move and stayed by Lin Heng’s side. He looked up at Lin Heng, as if waiting for his command.

“Jin Shui, call your dog back,” Lin Heng said.

Jin Shui chuckled, “It’s fine. My dog knows its limits. Let them play a bit.”

Lin Heng was speechless but didn’t want Xiongba to fight.

“Let’s go.”

After giving Xiongba a command, Lin Heng walked forward.

“Woof!”

Unexpectedly, the big white dog lunged at him instead.

“Woof! Woof!!”

Xiongba saw this and couldn’t stand it. Someone trying to bite his master? Even a dog needed to know its place!

With a loud bark, he pounced, and the two dogs instantly started tussling in the grass.

After only a few exchanges, the big white dog was pinned down, whimpering for mercy. Xiongba had its throat in his jaws.

“Lin Heng, quickly call your dog off! Be careful not to let it hurt Da Bai,” Jin Shui said anxiously, afraid his dog would get injured.

Lin Heng chuckled, “Don’t worry. Xiongba knows his limits.”

“Alright, come back.”

Lin Heng called out, and Xiongba immediately released the big white dog’s neck and trotted back, looking at Lin Heng expectantly.

Lin Heng rubbed his head and said, “I’ll catch you a bird to eat later.”

“Da Bai, go fetch this.”

At that moment, Jin Yan, who had been silent, threw a wooden stick and commanded the big white dog.

The stick flew far away, and Da Bai eagerly ran to retrieve it.

“Lin Heng, do you think my dog has potential as a hunting dog?” Jin Yan asked, her lips curving with a hint of pride as she held the stick.

“Yes, of course,” Lin Heng replied with a smile and walked on.

Jin Yan, feeling pleased, threw the stick again for Da Bai to fetch.

Xiongba watched, unimpressed. He let out a “Woof! Woof!”

As Jin Yan and Jin Shui turned to look, Xiongba suddenly lifted his front paws, pushed off with his hind legs, and performed a perfect 360-degree backflip in the air before landing smoothly.

Jin Yan: “???”

Jin Shui: “Holy crap!!”

Xiongba glanced at them smugly, barked proudly, wagged his tail, and strutted off with his head held high.

His eyes seemed to say, Fetching a stick? That’s nothing. I can do backflips.

“You’ve really turned into a spirit, huh?” Lin Heng looked at Xiongba, who now even knew how to show off.

“Awoo!!”

Xiongba lifted his head, rubbing against Lin Heng’s hand, asking for pats.

“Let’s go.”

Lin Heng was quite satisfied with Xiongba—smart and obedient.

Before long, the man and dog arrived at Hongfeng Mountain’s wheat field.

Lin Heng examined the area. These two acres of wheat fields were at the very bottom of Hongfeng Mountain.

Below was the village road’s end, and to the west, there was only a narrow, fifty-centimeter-wide path.

Beyond that was someone else’s land, stretching all the way to the edge of Shiban River.

“This could be turned into a fish pond,” Lin Heng mused.

The land was a slope, but not too steep—just about a fifteen-degree incline.

It was around fifteen meters wide and eighty meters long.

If he dug out the soil and filled in the lower area, leveling it wouldn’t be hard.

Conveniently, a creek lay just to the west, right next to the land, making water access easy.

“Dividing it into two or four fish ponds would be ideal, but the cost is too high. Right now, there’s not enough money,” Lin Heng muttered to himself.

Even without using concrete, just digging the pond would take ten strong men about twenty to thirty days.

Technically, they could plant corn this year and dig the pond next year before starting shrimp farming. But after thinking it over, Lin Heng decided it was best to dig the pond as soon as possible.

It would be better to condition the water first so that whether he raised shrimp or fish next year, everything would be ready.

First, improve the water quality. Next year, whether raising shrimp or fish, it will be much more convenient.

In this era, chemical fertilizers have not yet been widely used in rural areas. Even with high-quality corn seeds developed by the state, the yield per mu can hardly reach 400 jin. Moreover, the land here is barren, so two mu of land would only produce about 700 jin of corn.

At eight cents per jin, 700 jin of corn would only bring in fifty to sixty yuan.

“I’ve decided. I’ll start digging this year. No matter what crops I plant, even raising carp for a year could earn me a few thousand yuan.”

Having made up his mind, Lin Heng immediately went back home. He needed to discuss this with his wife.

“Woof!”

Xiongba barked, his dog eyes fixed on a green-bearded field rat in the distance, clearly signaling that he wanted to eat it.

“You rascal, can’t you catch a rabbit by yourself?” Lin Heng was speechless.

“Woof woof~~”

Xiongba barked discontentedly, sprawled on the ground in protest, as if to say, “Even when I catch a rabbit, all I get is its innards!”

Lin Heng wanted to kick him but decided against it—after all, Xiongba was his loyal dog. Instead, he picked up his slingshot and snapped off a pellet. The green-bearded field rat, busy nibbling on grains, was instantly out of luck.

“Awooo~~”

Xiongba flipped up onto his feet and trotted over happily, picking up the rat and wagging his tail as he brought it back to Lin Heng.

“Come on, I’ll cook it for you tonight.” Lin Heng patted the dog’s head.

Xiongba opened his mouth happily, ears perked up, and playfully nibbled at Lin Heng’s hand.

Lin Heng didn’t mind the licking—it actually felt quite comfortable. From time to time, he would tease Xiongba’s mouth or throw a stick for him to fetch.

Just as they reached the village entrance, Lin Hai suddenly came running from afar and hugged Lin Heng tightly. Overjoyed, he exclaimed, “Cousin, your kindness to me is like being reborn by my parents! From now on, whatever you ask me to do, I’ll do it. I’ll listen to everything you say.”

Lin Heng pushed him away and laughed, “Don’t celebrate too soon, kid. You’re still far from successfully winning her over.”

Lin Hai grinned with a knowing look. “Cousin, you’re absolutely right! Tian Yan is way better than Jin Yan. She’s not only beautiful but also cultured and knowledgeable. Even the way she gets mad when she loses at chess is super cute!”

This kid was completely smitten with Tian Yan.

“Cousin, just like you said, your method really worked! Now, Tian Yan looks for me every day to practice chess, so I get to see her daily.

I’ve even been reading Romance of the Three Kingdoms late into the night these past few days—it’s fascinating! Soon, I’ll be able to discuss it with her. You’re truly the best! So… should I confess my feelings to her next?”

Lin Hai grabbed Lin Heng’s hand, shaking it excitedly, his words tumbling out incoherently.

Lin Heng flicked his hand away and punched him. “If you keep acting so sappy, I swear I’ll set my dog on you.”

“And another thing—you’re rushing it. A confession is like a victory trumpet, not the start of the battle. Do you get it? If you confess too soon and she rejects you, you might never get to see her again. Then how the hell will you keep chasing her?”

Lin Heng landed another punch on him.

“Oh, I get it now! I’ll hold back.”

Lin Hai nodded firmly, then asked eagerly, “Cousin, so should I just keep things the way they are? When is the right time to confess? I really want her to be my wife.”

“Don’t be impatient. Artistic girls like her enjoy romance. If you act too eager, you’ll fail for sure. Wait until your relationship is stable—then you can take her sightseeing or go with her to buy school supplies for her students. Maintain this for a year or so, and then you can ‘disappear’ for a while.”

Lin Heng patted Lin Hai’s shoulder.

“Huh? Disappear?” Lin Hai was confused.

“Of course. You need to go make money and work towards success. Without money, how will you marry her?”

Lin Heng glanced at him and continued, “You can start raising cattle or chickens—just find a business and work hard.

When you start seeing Tian Yan less, she’ll actively come looking for you. She’ll ask why you’re not seeking her out anymore.

That’s when you say, ‘I want to become rich so I can be worthy of the woman I love.’ She’ll be so touched, your success will be almost guaranteed.”

This kind of tactic worked well in this era. After all, women of this time were very different from those in the internet age.

In the 21st-century digital era, if you were poor but hardworking, she’d sensibly leave you, not wanting to be a burden.

But in this era, if you were poor but hardworking, she’d be willing to struggle alongside you and grow together.

Honestly, Lin Heng’s advice was just average. In his past life, the guy who tricked Tian Yan was much worse—once things were progressing, he invited her out, got her drunk, and made sure the deed was done.

Girls in this era valued chastity highly. If they were taken advantage of, they were very likely to stick with that person.

Especially when both sides already had mutual feelings—if an “accident” happened, it was almost guaranteed to result in marriage.

But that kind of behavior was scummy, and Lin Heng had no intention of suggesting such a thing to Lin Hai.

“Cousin, you’re absolutely right. I really need to work hard so Tian Yan doesn’t have to suffer with me.” Lin Hai nodded seriously, thinking Lin Heng’s advice was brilliant—no wonder he managed to win over Sister-in-law Xiulan.

“Alright, come over to my house and grab some books. I have a copy of Records of the Grand Historian for you to read, and some romance novels you might find useful.”

Lin Heng patted Lin Hai’s shoulder and led him home.

“By the way, cousin, people in the village are talking about how you bought Sanghuang mushrooms at a high price even though they’re dropping in value. My parents also mentioned it—they think you were too reckless.”

On the way, Lin Hai brought up another topic.

“Well, I have my reasons. It’s normal that they don’t understand. It’s not something I can explain clearly in just a few words.”

Lin Heng shook his head.

“Cousin, if you ever need help, just say the word. As long as I can, I won’t refuse.” Lin Hai patted his chest.

“I’ll call on you when the time comes.” Lin Heng smiled.

After returning home, Lin Heng found the book and gave it to Lin Hai. He didn’t keep him around to play since he still had to go talk to Xiulan.

When Lin Heng arrived at the field, his father and eldest brother had almost finished plowing the land, with less than an acre left.

His eldest nephew, Lin Wei, was playing near the field with a group of younger brothers and Xiaoxia. Xiulan and the others were in the bamboo grove picking bamboo shoots, while the family’s little lamb was grazing at the edge of the grove.

“Second Uncle, my slingshot skills have improved again recently. Can you teach me some more?”

Seeing Lin Heng, Lin Wei immediately latched onto him.

“You have exams coming up soon, right? If you do well on your final exams, I’ll take you deep into the mountains to hunt and teach you properly then,” Lin Heng said as he patted Lin Wei’s round head.

It was already July 9th on the solar calendar, so their exams should be next week, followed by the summer break.

“Second Uncle, are you serious?” Lin Wei’s eyes widened.

“Of course. If your parents don’t let you go, I’ll talk to them myself,” Lin Heng said with a smile.

“Okay! Then how high do I need to score for it to count as doing well?” Lin Wei asked. He was afraid Lin Heng would set the bar too high for him to reach.

“What do you usually score?” Lin Heng asked, looking at him.

“Chinese is in the fifties, math in the sixties, and moral studies in the forties,” Lin Wei replied.

“If you pass moral studies and score over seventy in Chinese and math, I’ll take you into the mountains,” Lin Heng said with a smile, holding out his pinky for a promise.

He didn’t set the bar too high, as that would only discourage his nephew.

“Alright! Pinky swear, a hundred years without breaking it!” Lin Wei eagerly hooked pinkies with him, feeling highly motivated and thinking he had a real shot at it.

“Take good care of your sister,” Lin Heng reminded him before heading toward the bamboo grove.

“Don’t worry, Second Uncle! I won’t let anything happen to my sister!”

To win his Second Uncle’s favor, Lin Wei was extremely attentive to Xiaoxia.

“Lin Heng, want to try plowing for a bit?”

Not far away, Lin Yue called out with a smile. When they were kids, he and Lin Heng used to fight over who got to plow the fields. Driving the ox to plow was both fun and rewarding.

“I’ll come over in a bit. I need to talk to Xiulan first,” Lin Heng replied with a grin. He was actually itching to try it—he hadn’t driven an ox to plow in years.

In the bamboo grove, Mother Lin, Liu Juan, and Xiulan were busy picking bamboo shoots. The golden bamboo was sprouting new shoots this season, plump and beautiful.

The three women glanced at Lin Heng but continued chatting.

“Xiulan, I wanted to discuss something with you,” Lin Heng said as he walked over and started helping pick bamboo shoots.

“What is it?” Xiulan looked up at him.

Lin Heng told her his idea: “I want to turn those two acres of wheat fields into a pond for raising fish and shrimp instead of planting corn.

“Growing one season of corn doesn’t bring in much money anyway. I’d make more just by hunting for a month. Plus, raising fish and shrimp in a two-acre pond could easily earn one or two thousand a year.”

Xiulan wasn’t surprised by this. Lin Heng had mentioned such ideas before.

“You’ve never heard the saying, ‘No matter how much wealth you have, anything with fur doesn’t count’? Have you calculated how much grain it takes to raise fish and shrimp? And if they die, do you know how much you’d lose?”

Before Xiulan could respond, Mother Lin spoke up. She had long realized that Lin Heng couldn’t sit still. If he wasn’t out running around, he was busy stirring things up at home.

“Yeah, raising fish and shrimp requires skill. If you’ve never done it before, you’re bound to lose money at the start. I heard there’s a family in town that lost so much they could barely afford food,” Liu Juan added. She felt that Lin Heng was getting ahead of himself—just because he made some money from hunting, he now wanted to try everything. At this rate, even his hunting profits wouldn’t be enough to cover his expenses.

They had just harvested a thousand pounds of sanghuang mushrooms, and who knew if they would even sell well? Now he was talking about building a fish pond. She couldn’t understand why Xiulan wasn’t stopping him. Had both of them gone mad?

“I’ve considered all that. I’ve also done my research on raising fish. I plan to use live water—directly channeling stream water into the pond, letting it circulate before flowing out again. That way, the fish won’t die,” Lin Heng explained.

“You’re going to start digging now?” Xiulan asked. “Hiring people to dig a fish pond isn’t cheap, and you just harvested the sanghuang mushrooms.”

“I’ll start in early August. For now, I plan to call Dad and the others to go hunting in the mountains again,” Lin Heng said, looking at his wife.

“Alright, go ahead and dig. As long as Xiaoxia and I have food to eat, I’ll support you in whatever you want to do,” Xiulan said, spreading her hands. She had long seen through it—her husband’s desire to make money was a raging fire that couldn’t be extinguished.

Since they had already harvested the sanghuang mushrooms, digging a fish pond wasn’t a big deal. She might as well go along with it and help raise the fish. Fortunately, she had lived in Lushui County before and knew a bit about fish farming, so she wasn’t completely clueless.

Lin Heng was delighted by his wife’s support. He patted his chest and promised, “Don’t worry! Not only will I make sure you and Xiaoxia have food, but you’ll be eating gourmet delicacies!”

“My dear daughter-in-law, can’t you see how grand this dream of his is?” Mother Lin shook her head, at a loss for words.

“Mom, this isn’t just an empty dream. Soon, you’ll be eating delicacies and living in a big house,” Lin Heng declared.

“Great, it’s not enough that you’re feeding your wife dreams—now you’re feeding them to me too,” Mother Lin scoffed, then sighed. “Actually, building a fish pond isn’t a bad idea. At least it’s more reliable than harvesting sanghuang mushrooms. Why didn’t you just go straight to digging the pond?”

She had already realized that Lin Heng wouldn’t stop until he had finished his plans. But at least this was better than him constantly talking about making money while wasting time outside.

“How can hunting alone make enough money? Don’t worry—I’ve calculated everything. The price of sanghuang mushrooms is definitely going to rise in the next couple of months,” Lin Heng said with a confident smile.

“Let’s hope your calculations are right,” Mother Lin said, shaking her head. She didn’t understand any of this, but she was just worried that her son’s hard-earned money would be lost.

Liu Juan stayed silent. She thought that Xiulan and Lin Heng were truly a pair—both had a wild streak in them.

After chatting with his wife and mother for a while, Lin Heng went off to find his father.

(End of Chapter)