Chapter 853 - 856: Have You Decided?

Chapter 853: Chapter 856: Have You Decided?

Jin Qianqian hadn’t found the right opportunity to tell him about this matter over the past few days. However, seeing the boys brimming with enthusiasm, she simply assigned them a task: clear a plot of land.

This was also the other reason she had brought Gu Wenheng here today. The matter was a bit too significant, and she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to keep it under wraps.

"It really is..." Gu Wenheng didn’t know how to describe it. "Why not find a piece of land in the village? Aren’t you afraid these seeds will just go down the drain?"

Surrounded by mountains on all sides, who knew how much of the corn would actually be left by the time it ripened?

"The fields in the village have already been fully planted," Jin Qianqian replied. "Besides, doesn’t planting them on this wasteland better demonstrate their cultivation value?"

"You make a fair point." What else could Gu Wenheng say? The seedlings were already planted; it wasn’t like he could dig them all up now.

"Don’t worry. Can’t you see what those boys are busy with?" Jin Qianqian pointed ahead. Gu Letian was leading the group in driving wooden stakes into the ground, preparing to fence off the plot.

"Besides, if word of this gets out, it will just look like the kids in the family were messing around on their own. The credit will go perfectly to them." Jin Qianqian laid out her plan. The two of them were already attracting too much attention; dispersing some of the spotlight was their best option. Furthermore, the one leading this endeavor was that boy, Gu Ben Can. With a little maneuvering when the time came, their family would still be the ones truly reaping the benefits.

Gu Wenheng’s mind was already spinning with ways to maximize the benefits of this situation. He had absolutely no objections to Jin Qianqian’s choice. If he were the one making the decision, he believed he would have done the exact same thing.

"Those boys are getting off easy. Didn’t you explain it to them in detail?"

Jin Qianqian shook her head. "I don’t even know if these will survive yet, so I just asked them to do me a small favor. I didn’t expect the boys to be so earnest. In just two days, they cleared out a three-acre plot for me.

"If the seeds hadn’t only yielded this many seedlings, they probably would have reclaimed even more land."

Gu Wenheng continued walking forward, leaning close to Jin Qianqian’s ear to whisper, "Are these all seeds from Lu City?"

Jin Qianqian met his gaze with unwavering eyes. "Naturally."

She wasn’t stupid. The seeds in her spatial dimension were all premium, selectively bred varieties. She hadn’t dared to take out a single one, afraid that she would need too many excuses to explain them later.

Gu Wenheng nodded and walked over, crouching beside the first ridge of the field. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the seedlings were not as thick and sturdy as the illustrations in the books; instead, they looked rather frail.

"It’s probably an issue with the seeds," Jin Qianqian said, sounding somewhat uncertain herself. "Or maybe it’s just because they were recently planted. They should be fine once we add some top dressing."

Gu Wenheng remained speechless.

With so many of them approaching, it was hard for Gu Benluo and the others not to notice. Gradually, everyone stopped their work and gathered around.

"Do you know what these are?" Gu Wenheng asked, pointing at the newly planted seedlings.

The crowd shook their heads in unison.

"You’re all just following your Seventh Aunt and fooling around," Gu Wenheng said. "Aren’t you afraid your efforts will be for nothing?"

Gu Letian glanced back and realized that, without him noticing, his younger cousins had all taken a step backward. Left with no choice, he braced himself and answered, "Seventh Uncle, even if these seedlings don’t grow, we can till the soil again and plant other crops. This land won’t go to waste."

Seeing this, Gu Wenheng found it somewhat amusing. He wasn’t a tiger on the mountain; why were these boys so terrified of him?

"Since they’re already planted, take good care of them. Who knows, they might just bring you a massive surprise," Gu Wenheng said with a double meaning.

Hiding among the crowd, Gu Ben Can couldn’t hold back anymore after hearing this. He jumped out and asked, "Dad, why did you come here today?"

"What? Are you still trying to keep secrets from your dad?" Gu Wenheng said in an exasperated tone. "Do you think your mom is as unreliable as you, trying to hide everything from me? Just focus on working with your older cousin and don’t slack off."

Gu Ben Can wasn’t having it. "Dad, look at my hands! They’ve already developed calluses. This is proof that I haven’t been slacking off."

Gu Wenheng gave a rare nod of praise. "Not bad. A few days ago they were just blisters, and now they’ve callused over. In that case, you should put your back into it even more when it’s time to work."

Hearing this rare compliment, Gu Ben Can raised his eyebrows in delight. However, he quickly realized that his earlier question still hadn’t been answered.

Gu Wenheng saw right through his thoughts with a single glance. "Just do your job properly. If you don’t understand the farm work, ask your older cousin.

"Later, I’ll have someone stand guard here. Make sure you all pay close attention to this place as well."

They were already planted, so what else could be done? They could only guard them carefully.

On the way back, Gu Wenheng was in no mood to admire the roadside scenery. Instead, he fell into deep thought. This matter could not be handled carelessly; he had to figure out how to reap the maximum benefit. Furthermore, the newly cleared land on the mountain needed to be registered at the county government as soon as possible. No matter what, he couldn’t leave any room for others to gossip or find fault.

As they descended the mountain, Jin Qianqian finally breathed a sigh of relief. Having kept this matter bottled up for so long, she had finally found the perfect moment to pass the buck. No, she corrected herself—it was more like finding someone to share the burden.

"Do you blame me for acting on my own?" Jin Qianqian asked after they returned home and she saw Gu Wenheng leisurely sitting there, sipping tea.

"If I were in your shoes, I would have made the same choice." Gu Wenheng didn’t think there was anything to blame her for. Years ago, they had already instructed people to keep an eye out for overseas food crop seeds.

They could have easily provided many seeds directly from the spatial dimension, but they had never done so. The main issue was that such actions wouldn’t hold up to scrutiny, and they simply couldn’t afford to take that risk. Now that they had legitimately acquired seeds from overseas, allowing them to rot and go to waste would be truly ungrateful for their blessings.

"Are you going to report this to the higher-ups?" Jin Qianqian quickly followed up. "Right now, it’s still unclear whether these seeds will yield a harvest. If we rashly report it, I doubt anyone will believe us.

"Why don’t we wait a little longer and let the facts speak for themselves when the time comes?"

Gu Wenheng had the exact same thought. However, this matter couldn’t be carried out in complete silence; they could start by leaking a few rumors.

"The land on the mountain also needs to be filed at the county government and processed as reclaimed wasteland.

"I’ll have Housekeeper Xu make a trip later to register the land under my name."

"Why don’t we register it under the kids’ names instead?" Jin Qianqian suggested. "After all, they’re the ones who managed to clear it all out..."

"I’ll have to think about that..." Gu Wenheng said.

"Forgive my selfishness as a mother," Jin Qianqian pleaded. "Cancan has no interest in pursuing an official career in the future, so I want to give him something to protect his life."

Gu Wenheng instantly understood her reasoning. At first, he had only intended to attribute the credit to the boys collectively. Now that his wife had made a specific choice, he had to reconsider.

"You must realize that these seeds haven’t been improved. The harvest might not be the same as it is in modern times," Gu Wenheng said, looking at her intently. "Have you thought this through?"

If the harvest turned out to be mediocre, the crops would, at best, be considered a novelty. Not only might they fail to earn any credit, but they could also end up being mocked for grandstanding.