Chapter 25

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"Who’s so great about the Shan Yin Liu family?" Chen complained, "Each one of them is arrogant, always plotting and scheming. In my opinion..."

The Shan Yin Liu family and the Shan Yang Gong Sun family are separated only by the Long Ji Mountain, which is rich in resources and minerals. Therefore, the two families often have conflicts, and their relationship is far from harmonious.

"Enough! You old woman, how can you speak so irresponsibly about the marriage alliance between the Wang and Liu families?" Gong Sun Mo could no longer sit still and hastily stood up to shout, "Gong Sun Qiang, take your mother back to rest. I still have some things to discuss with Shou Zhe."

Gong Sun Qiang quickly helped the old woman, who was still muttering, to leave, and Gong Sun Hui also said, "Zhe'er, you stay and chat with your grandfather. I’ll go talk to Mother for a while."

Gong Sun Hui had already achieved her goal of facilitating the meeting today. It would be inappropriate for her to participate in the conversation between Gong Sun Mo and Wang Shou Zhe, so she took Wang Luo Jing’s small hand and left together.

After everyone left, Wang Shou Zhe bowed to Gong Sun Mo and said, "Shou Zhe greets his grandfather."

"Zhe'er, no need for formalities. Come, try the spirit tea I planted myself," Gong Sun Mo was well-prepared for Wang Shou Zhe’s arrival and immediately ordered the serving of spirit tea and spirit fruits.

Spirit tea and spirit fruits are luxuries in the Xuan Wu family, which can only be grown in spirit fields, a crucial strategic resource for each family. Gong Sun Mo only planted a few acres of spirit tea and spirit fruits, specifically for entertaining distinguished guests.

As for the Ping An Wang family, they currently only have enough spirit fields to grow White Jade Spirit Rice, which is not enough for the family’s consumption, let alone for growing spirit tea and spirit fruits, which have lower economic benefits.

"Thank you, Grandfather." With the spirit tea and spirit fruits to enjoy, Wang Shou Zhe naturally did not refuse and immediately sat down to partake.

In the jade-carved teacup, the tea was a rich red, with a fragrant aroma that was refreshing to the senses. Taking a sip, a slight bitterness filled his mouth, but the next moment, a cool sensation rushed to his head, making Wang Shou Zhe feel refreshed and clear-minded, dispelling any lingering gloom.

"Good tea." Wang Shou Zhe couldn’t help but praise, "This spirit tea is rich and fragrant, with a long-lasting aftertaste. It helps to calm the mind and clear away distractions."

"Haha, I didn’t expect Zhe'er to be a tea connoisseur." Gong Sun Mo felt gratified, thinking that his efforts were not in vain. He proudly introduced, "This tea is called Shan Yang Xiao Ling Zhong. I discovered this wild spirit tea variety in the depths of Long Ji Mountain when I was young. After decades of careful cultivation, it now yields about one pound annually, and even the two elders in the family enjoy it. How about this, I’ll give you one ounce every year."

When he mentioned giving one ounce, Gong Sun Mo’s lips twitched slightly, clearly feeling a bit reluctant. It’s no wonder, as growing spirit tea is not like White Jade Spirit Rice, nor is it like ordinary tea on Earth that can be densely planted.

Often, only a few spirit tea plants can be cultivated in one acre of spirit field, and meticulous cultivation and maintenance are essential. The processes of picking, kneading, and fermenting are also extremely meticulous.

Therefore, even one ounce of spirit tea is very expensive.

"Thank you, Grandfather. I wouldn’t dare refuse." Wang Shou Zhe knew that Gong Sun Mo was intentionally supporting him and naturally did not decline.

In the current Wang family, only Wang Shou Zhe was worth Gong Sun Mo’s investment, just as Gong Sun Mo had initially married his daughter to Wang Ding Yue as a second wife. If one day Wang Shou Zhe could advance to the Ling Tai realm, he would certainly remember this familial bond.

More importantly, Gong Sun Mo and his wife dote on Gong Sun Hui. As Wang Shou Zhe is Gong Sun Hui’s legitimate son, he can be considered her future support in the Wang family. Therefore, for his daughter’s sake, Gong Sun Mo would try to squeeze out some resources to support his grandson, Wang Shou Zhe.

Of course, this is all based on Wang Shou Zhe’s good potential and the harmonious relationship between Gong Sun Hui and her son.

If Wang Shou Zhe were a conceited and ungrateful person, Gong Sun Mo would naturally ignore him. If the Wang family were to completely decline, he could always bring his daughter and granddaughter back to the Gong Sun family.

After some small talk, they finally got to the main topic.

After drinking a cup of tea, Gong Sun Mo’s expression gradually became serious: "Zhe'er, after receiving the letter you sent this morning, I had some doubts. After personally inspecting the farm and consulting with experienced farmers in the clan, I finally confirmed that, as you said, there is indeed a possibility of a honeybug infestation, which could reduce the harvest by more than 60% compared to last year. Zhe'er, on behalf of the Gong Sun family..."

"Grandfather, there’s no need for such formalities," Wang Shou Zhe interrupted, "Even if I hadn’t issued a warning, with the rapid spread of honeybugs over the past two days, all the families would have become alert, either today or tomorrow."

The initial signs of aphids are not obvious, and every year, the harvest is somewhat affected by aphids. Therefore, when aphids first appear, farmers tend to take it in stride. However, once they spread, the aphid eggs buried in the soil will emerge in a short time, catching people off guard.

"That’s not true," Gong Sun Mo shook his head, "Our Shan Yang Gong Sun family has 16,000 acres of good land. This season’s winter wheat harvest, at 15 large copper coins per acre, would be 240,000 large copper coins, or 2,400 gold coins. Now, at the early stage of the honeybug outbreak, even a 20% reduction in yield would save 400 to 500 gold coins. Moreover, I followed your advice and sent clan members and guards into the mountains to capture lacewings and nine-star bugs early."

Lacewings and nine-star bugs, even as bug kings, are still ordinary creatures, not even first-stage spirit insects. Normally, no one pays much attention to them. In the deep mountains of Shan Yang, at least some can still be found.

While they were talking, a guard came to report that the first batch of captured lacewings and nine-star bugs had been brought back.

"Since that’s the case, we shouldn’t delay. Please send a trusted guard to accompany us," Wang Shou Zhe stood up, "Disaster relief is like fighting a fire; we can’t afford to waste any time."

Soon, the maidservant brought back Gong Sun Hui and Wang Luo Jing, and they rode horses together to the largest farm of the Gong Sun family, which had 7,000 acres of good land.

This clearly showed that the current strength of the Shan Yang Gong Sun family far exceeded that of the Ping An Wang family.

All the tenant farmers were working frantically, using traditional wood ash solution mixed with double the amount of insecticide. This method was quite effective, and if they had enough insecticide, they might be able to control the outbreak.

Unfortunately, the Gong Sun family had only a small stock of insecticide, which was insufficient to control the situation.

"Fourth Brother~" Wang Luo Jing, after spending over an hour, had tamed three lacewing bug kings and one nine-star bug king, looking very exhausted, "Because of the rush, these bug kings can only be simply tamed, barely enough to command them to act. The guards can release the wild lacewings and nine-star bugs."

"Luo Jing, you’ve worked hard." Wang Shou Zhe, feeling a bit sorry for her, patted her head and took out a spirit fruit from his pocket, "Have this to refresh yourself. We can’t afford to delay the disaster relief."

"Fourth Brother, don’t worry." Wang Luo Jing nodded obediently, and after eating the spirit fruit, her energy was restored, "As long as we can control the bug kings, the lacewings and nine-star bugs won’t run around. But we can’t make them gather the smaller bugs and bring them back."

Subsequently, Wang Luo Jing, following the example,勉强指挥着虫王和虫子进入了那数千亩的麦田。一番折腾下来，天色已经黑了。

此时，公孙墨亲自到场，还带来了厨娘和不少灵食，现场烹饪晚餐，并在庄园内收拾出一间房，族长与少族长，以及一位名叫公孙钟的族人和他的妻子王琉玉作陪。

王琉玉是王氏族人，此时她应该有四十岁了，但保养得当，看起来只有三十出头的样子，从她的穿着打扮来看，日子过得不错。

“守哲见过三姑姑，三姑父。”王守哲先拱手行礼。

“这个，这个，守哲多礼了。”公孙钟长得比较粗黑，据说在公孙家族的矿山里主持工作，直系族人中地位不低，只是性格较为朴实木讷，不善交际。

王琉玉也连连还礼，显得对王守哲非常敬重。虽然她的辈分比王守哲高一辈，但王守哲是嫡系，王氏族长。

倒是王珞静一下子扑到了王琉玉怀里，甜甜地叫着：“姑姑。”

相比血缘关系，王琉玉正是四老太爷王宵志的次女，也是王珞静的亲姑姑，关系自然亲密。

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（Note: The last part of the translation was cut off due to the original text being incomplete. If you have the full text, please provide it for a complete translation.）