Fearsome Farmer - Chapter 3
Chapter 3: The Overseer and the Farmer
Translator: Atlas Studios
Editor: Atlas Studios
Before the sunset, under the escort of four militiamen, Li Siwen and nine other farmers returned to the territory from the wheat fields. The distance between the two places was only 500 to 600 meters. Even so, there was still a possibility of sudden unexpected danger.
Li Siwen had developed a deep tan under the sun. Sweat had crystallized into white crystals on the rough burlap material of his clothes and he smelt sourish and stinky. He looked no different from other farmers. But this afternoon he had succeeded in extracting a Vitality Point from the little green orb as planned and added it to his Stamina.
If he could get through that night, he would have an advantage tomorrow with 11 Stamina, regardless of how small that advantage was.
Dinner should be something special that day. Now and then, the cool evening breeze brought with it the aroma of meat that made the militiamen and farmers speed up subconsciously. The smell made Li Siwen’s stomach growl, and he wished he could rush back immediately.
At this moment, he even thought, for the sake of the broth and being appreciated by the Feudal Lord, he would try his best to work hard and prove his worth.
Reality, however, was a disappointment. When he saw an unfamiliar burly man sitting in front of the fire and chatting happily with the Feudal Lord, Li Siwen knew that the broth was not prepared for him. He had been happy for nothing, and all his worrying was in vain. The Feudal Lord neither paid attention to nor cared about the speed and quality of weeding, so there was naturally no acknowledgment or reward.
The farmers were a little disappointed, but they showed nothing on their expressionless faces. One by one, they received a bowl of salted wild vegetable soup and a piece of blackish dry ration from the fat cooking aunt. That marked the end of a hard and tedious day.
Li Siwen sat in front of the thatched cottage, drinking wild vegetable soup while trying his best to chew up the hard dry ration. Every bit of food was precious now.
The sun had set and a dark blue mist moved in from the big river. The sky was still relatively bright, like a mirror of light blue crystal. It was probably enough to satisfy the simplest longing of a wanderer from another world.
He did not ask for poetic scenes, all he wished for was just to have a pleasant dream.
As he entered the low thatched cottage, Li Siwen could not help but glance at the campfire tens of meters away. The broth bubbling on it was so, so fragrant.
So the Lord was recruiting an Elite unit or a Hero? He even cooked meat for him.
—
To a farmer of the lowest caste, changes in the territory had little to do with him.
He still had to start work at dawn. With no one overseeing him, he would work independently.
Such a situation was desirable for Li Siwen, because it meant he could do things in his own way.
Practice makes perfect.
For example, he could now make his hoe sharper by skillfully sharpening it on a stone.
Another example, his movement, strength, and angle of swinging the hoe had become more natural. This reduced the strain on his muscles, lowered the required amount of Stamina, and caused more damage to the weeds. En, it was now easier for him to completely exterminate the weeds.
His goal today was to accumulate a little more vitality in the little green orb before the sun set in the evening.
In the time just after sunrise, the rays burned when it shone on the body and the temperature rose rapidly. The weeds in the wheat fields were also rapidly spreading. The roots intertwined fiercely, guarding the land they occupied.
To these weeds, were the wheat seedlings terrible invaders, and the farmers murderous executioners?
Occasionally, such self-serving random thoughts flashed through his mind, and Li Siwen wielded the hoe more cruelly than usual.
Due to the various improvements, weeding that day proceeded more efficiently than the day before.
Similar to the previous day, at around 9 AM, and having also consumed 5 points of Stamina, the green points of light that Li Siwen harvested had already filled over one-third of the little green orb.
Therefore, he stopped, rested, ate, drank some water, and sharpened his hoe using a stone. He had to stop. Firstly, because the Feudal Lord was sleeping. Secondly, it was so he could most efficiently allocate his Stamina. Maintaining his Stamina in the green zone would enable him to recover it quickly.
Well, this was Li Siwen’s plan.
Stamina values from 6 to the highest value was the green zone. 3 to 5 was the yellow zone, 2 and below was the dangerous red zone.
This seemed very simple, but in fact it was not simple. For example, running 1,000 meters in one breath would be exhausting, but walking slowly would be extremely easy.
Stamina was the same.
After half an hour, Li Siwen’s Stamina quickly recovered to 9 points, close to full value. This was the benefit of the increase in Stamina value.
Next, Li Siwen slowed down a bit, because according to the Feudal Lord’s attitude during yesterday’s inspection. He felt that even if he fell behind a little temporarily, it would not be dangerous. This way, he could save some Stamina for the latter half of the day.
At about 10:30, the Feudal Lord came as expected. The strange burly man from the night before came with him. The two talked and laughed. They seemed to be in a good mood. Li Siwen quickly concluded that he might really be a Hero.
Weeding as normally as possible, Li Siwen strained his ears but heard nothing specific.
One thing he could be rest assured of was that his lag of over ten meters in distance did not attract the Feudal Lord’s attention.
Next, Li Siwen slowed down his weeding speed according to the plan. However, because he sharpened his hoe with stones every five or six minutes, coupled with the implementation of his strategy of cutting the weeds and removing the roots of each weed completely, the number of green light points he harvested did not decrease. A few days ago, three weeds had to be exterminated to get three green light points. Now, one was enough.
However, when he was taking a break at noon, the burly man whom he suspected was a Hero patrolled over carrying a wooden shield and a short axe. Li Siwen and the other farmers quickly stood up and greeted him.
“My name is Sun Tieshi. From today, I will be responsible for your daily protection and monitoring to make sure you do not skive. You, I’m talking about you!”
The burly man pointed at Li Siwen with an evil smile and stared at him like brass bells. “You learned to be lazy so soon, you can be considered a talented person. The Feudal Lord may be indifferent, but I won’t. I’m giving you one last chance. I’ll give you until the end of today to make up for your mistakes, understand?”
Li Siwen nodded fearfully.
Sun Tieshi smiled again, then turned and left. For him, this was just a scene. He didn’t really want to be an overseer, but he was willing to lay down his life for the patron who recognized his worth. He was responsible for managing the territory for the Feudal Lord, to make sure nothing was overlooked and ferret out the workers who were skiving.
When the Overseer Sun Tieshi left, Li Siwen sat down. Outwardly, he looked like a frightened quail, but secretly he was relieved because he could finally be sure of the way the progress of work was determined in this territory. It turned out that it was not that advanced. It just depended on visual inspection.
However, he still could not be careless.
