Chapter 323 - 227: Busy Reaping the Harvest
Chapter 323: Chapter 227: Busy Reaping the Harvest
He had never met someone as formidable as Li Xiang, so he was keen on befriending him. Every time Li Xiang streamed, he would show up to shower him with gifts. Eventually, his "sincerity" moved Li Xiang, and he was granted an opportunity.
Not long ago, he had condensed his first Spiritual Power Vortex. Looking at Li Xiang now, he no longer felt like a frog in a well gazing at the bright moon, but rather... a speck of dust staring up at the vast sky. ’It’s a feeling of being on a completely different plane of existence.’
Li Xiang had reached Minor Spirit Body Achievement, and the occasional wisp of spiritual presence he let slip left Xu Xuan deeply shaken.
As for Li Xiang, associating with Xu Xuan was merely an experiment, one that could succeed or fail. But Xu Xuan had turned out to be a decent person. As expected of someone from a prominent family, he was very particular, and he had been especially helpful in liquidating the jadeite.
Li Xiang had no foundation, no business connections or channels, and wasn’t skilled at commerce. The most he could do was sell goods through live streams; for everything else, he was basically a hands-off boss.
The Xu Family had been the leaders of the Southwest Underground City in his past life. With Li Xiang building his base in Li Family Village, only a little over two hundred kilometers from the Southwest Underground City, he was laying the groundwork in advance. His principle was to unite all possible allies so they could watch over and help one another, jointly resisting the hardships of the Apocalypse.
After all, relationships are a two-way street. There needs to be mutual give-and-take for them to count when it truly matters.
It was like borrowing money. If you suddenly called someone you hadn’t spoken to in ages to ask for a loan, who would lend you anything?
On his own, Li Xiang could shelter 100,000 people at most. Even with Luo Feifei’s help, that number would only double to 200,000. If he added Jiang Cai’Er to the mix, he was confident he could protect 300,000.
But what about China’s 1.4 billion people? No matter how capable he was, he couldn’t look after everyone.
Therefore, forming alliances with other factions became the top priority.
Li Xiang planned to travel to the Jiangsu and Zhejiang region when the opportunity arose to meet the leader of the Underground City there. He knew them in his past life, but in this one, they might not even give him the time of day.
In any case, the Apocalypse was still a long way off, so there was no rush.
Most importantly, this was just a trial run. If it didn’t work out, he could go it alone. Three hundred thousand people was still three hundred thousand people. If he could protect them, humanity could continue to thrive.
These 300,000 "embers" were his foundation. For everyone else, he could only do his best and leave the rest to fate.
To save more people and make life easier for humanity in the future, he was willing to swallow his pride and befriend some of the future leading families. This bit of "humbling" himself was nothing.
However, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. The most important thing was to focus on the task at hand.
This year, the heavy snow was coming early, and the grain harvest was going to be reduced.
In previous years, most of the late-season rice was harvested in mid-October, with some even harvested in late October or early November. Only a small portion was harvested in early October. But no matter how early, it was never like this year. It was only October 2nd, and everyone had already mobilized for a frantic emergency harvest.
Much of the rice wasn’t fully mature, but if they didn’t harvest it now, it would be impossible once the heavy snows arrived.
Once the snows came and the extreme cold set in, the rice stalks would stop growing and freeze to death. The unripe grains would never mature.
And after harvesting, it still needed several days to dry. The sky was overcast every day with no sunlight, but thankfully, the winds were strong. Perhaps it could be air-dried.
Because of the early harvest, not only would the yield be reduced, but the overall quality of the rice would also be affected, making harvesting and processing more difficult.
For instance, some of the unripe rice wouldn’t have sufficient sugar and starch content. Even after drying, it would break into many small pieces during processing. It wouldn’t taste good and would lack nutrients, fit only to be ground into rice cakes or used as pig feed.
WHOOSH~ WHOOSH~
The biting north wind felt like knives, whipping around in demonic gusts. Li Xiang’s family only had two mu of late-season rice, but as a Tier Seven Transcendent, he finished the work in a single day. He not only cut it all down but also threshed it by hand and spread it out to dry on the concrete pad in his backyard.
Then, he went to help other families. As the village chief, it was his responsibility to look after the villagers, especially the old, weak, sick, and disabled.
The wind outside was so strong that frail people, like Third Granny, couldn’t even leave their homes. It felt like they could be blown away the moment they stepped outside.
Jiang Cai’Er was frustrated. She wanted to go help in the fields, but of course, Jiang Jianguo and his wife wouldn’t allow it, telling her to stay home and focus on her studies.
She went to find Li Xiang, but he also told her to listen to her parents and stay home to study. At most, she could help with the cooking.
"Brother Xiang, do you think I’m a burden?" Jiang Cai’Er asked, dejected.
Li Xiang chuckled. "You’re a researcher. In the future, you’ll be in charge of academics, technology, and preserving knowledge. It would be a waste to have you do manual labor."
’A Wisdom Goddess isn’t meant for rough work.’
"But I really want to help you," Jiang Cai’Er said, pouting.
Li Xiang patted her cheek and said, "Helping me doesn’t necessarily mean doing this kind of work. The best way to help is by using your own unique talents."
"Okay, then." Jiang Cai’Er could only go home, resigned.
「Two days later.」 Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, and Lei Xiaohui arrived with their respective groups of young women, while Lei Jiaming led a team of security guards. They had all "returned to the fold" to await Li Xiang’s command.
They had all more or less finished the work at their own homes, and their families had urged them to come back to work.
Their families had all said something along the lines of, ’You get paid even when you’re not working? Do you really think such a good deal exists? Even if it does, it’s only because Li Xiang is generous, but we can’t be clueless. Even if there’s no work, you should go find some.’
Although each family phrased it differently, that was the general gist.
The pay and benefits were just too good. If they got fired, or if Li Xiang’s business went under, everyone would suffer the loss.
Neither the employees nor their families wanted to lose such a great job.
So, one after another, they all reported for duty.
"It’s good that you’re here. Let’s work together. First, we’ll finish harvesting the rice paddies in Li Family Village, and then we’ll go help the other villages, one by one," Li Xiang said.
Everyone roared in approval.
They were getting a monthly salary, so what did it matter what work they did? Besides, doing this with Li Xiang felt more meaningful.
At Li Xiang’s call, his fifty-plus followers rallied behind him. They were all young men and women, and they swept through the farmlands with fiery energy. In the increasingly aging countryside, they were a breath of fresh air.
They helped the people in all the surrounding villages with the emergency harvest, free of charge. They didn’t even ask for meals; it was purely to help.
And it wasn’t limited to late-season rice. They also helped with corn, sweet potatoes, soybeans, and peanuts.
Anything that could be harvested, they helped bring in right away. Once the super blizzard froze everything over, the crops would likely just rot in the fields.
This emergency harvest team had five Extraordinary Beings: Li Xiang, Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, Lei Xiaohui, and Lei Jiaming. The other security guards were also highly skilled, and the young women were quick and nimble. Being from the countryside, they were all adept at farm work. Their efficiency was astounding—even faster than machines—and so they swept through the surrounding villages like a spring breeze.
Due to the mountainous terrain, some of the fields were small and scattered, and there were even terraced paddies. Most of these terraces were only 1.5 to 3 meters wide, with some less than 1.5 meters. It was difficult for machinery to get in or up to them, and even if they could, there was no room to operate. Manual labor was the only way.
In short: what machines could do, they could do better. What machines couldn’t do, they could do anyway.
Li Xiang was "good buddies" with the other village secretaries. The secretaries held regular meetings or dinners in town, and although Li Xiang was always busy and couldn’t attend every time, he had gone three or four times since taking office. With the social skills honed over two lifetimes, he naturally got along extremely well with them.
Word of this quickly spread. A few of the village secretaries wrote letters of commendation and submitted them to the town government, and from there, the news somehow made its way to the county.
Then, reporters from the county television station arrived at the fields, shouldering an array of cameras and lenses, to film the emergency harvest team and conduct interviews.
They didn’t just interview Li Xiang; they also interviewed other members of the harvest team, as well as the villagers who had received their help.