Chapter 0003 Contracting Barren Fields

After Li Xiaobao passed out, he felt as if he had entered the Five Elemental Space in a hazy state. This time was somewhat different than last night, as Li Xiaobao felt much clearer and could distinctly sense that the Five Elemental Space was within his own body.

Lying still and sensing the Five Elements Space within him, when he touched the golden Spiritual Energy, he felt his body brim with lethal power. And when he came into contact with Wood Element Spiritual Energy, he felt his body overflow with vitality.

This is the Five Elements.

Feeling the Five Elemental Space within him, Li Xiaobao suddenly understood. The Five Elements are Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth; Gold governs killing, Wood governs growth, Water moistens, Fire causes destruction, but he wasn't very clear about Earth.

"I've finally understood," Li Xiaobao suddenly exclaimed excitedly, then sat up.

Huh? Where is this?

Looking around at the familiar setting, Li Xiaobao was momentarily speechless. Wasn't he in the field just before? How had he suddenly ended up on his own bed?

"Xiaobao, Xiaobao, you're finally awake," seeing Li Xiaobao awake, Luo Guiying, who stood by the bed, gently wiped away her tears and called out a few times.

Li Xiaobao saw his father Li Detian had also come back, leaning on a crutch beside him, with a look of anxiousness on his face.

"Dad, Mom, what's wrong with you two?" Li Xiaobao asked, puzzled as he looked at his parents.

"You have the nerve to ask what's going on?" Li Detian said sternly to Li Xiaobao, though his face showed deep affection.

"Me? I'm fine. I just passed out, that's all." Li Xiaobao understood, it must have been that he'd passed out earlier and Zhou Cuihua had brought him back.

"Where's sister-in-law?" Li Xiaobao did not see Zhou Cuihua and was somewhat puzzled.

"You don't even realize what time it is now, your sister-in-law went to the field early in the morning." Upon hearing this, Li Xiaobao realized it was already afternoon, and he had been unconscious for an entire morning?

"No, I must go to the field and check," Li Xiaobao hurried out of bed to validate his hypothesis about the Five Elemental Space's Spiritual Energy.

"You're not allowed to go anywhere. Stay at home, and tomorrow I will take you to the city for a check-up." Now that Li Xiaobao was the Li family's only male heir, having fainted twice in succession, Li Detian didn't want Li Xiaobao to have any more mishaps.

"Ah, come on, Dad. I'm fine, I'm going." Li Xiaobao was clear about his own situation. He felt that he had only fainted due to overusing the Five Elemental Space Spiritual Energy, and his body wasn't really in any serious trouble.

"This child..." By the time Li Detian chased out of the house, Li Xiaobao's figure had long since disappeared.

When Li Xiaobao reached the riverside, he saw a crowd gathered around their farm, discussing non-stop, with Zhou Cuihua looking perplexed as well.

"Sister-in-law! What's wrong?" Li Xiaobao shouted to Zhou Cuihua from a distance, not wanting anything bad to happen to her.

"Xiaobao, you're here, look..." Zhou Cuihua said, pointing toward their family's rice field.

Looking at his own rice field, Li Xiaobao chuckled, not for anything else, but because the rice there was now thriving impressively.

At noon, the rice that had been withered suddenly perked up, each stalk looking healthier than the next, and they were clearly taller than the neighboring plants.

Normally, the rice in Li Xiaobao's family field flourished under Zhou Cuihua's meticulous farming. But due to this year's drought, Zhou Cuihua couldn't manage everything alone, and their crop slowly fell behind others'.

But now, the situation had reversed, and in just an afternoon's time.

Seeing Zhou Cuihua's face filled with confusion, Li Xiaobao chuckled and said, "Sister-in-law, what's so strange about that? You've always been very dedicated. It's not surprising that the rice is growing better, so there's no need for such a fuss."

Zhou Cuihua glared at him irritably. She didn't share his view, feeling certain that all of this had to do with Li Xiaobao.

After all, Li Xiaobao had fainted last night and Li Detian's leg, which had been disabled for many years, regained feeling. Today, Li Xiaobao fainted again, and the previously failing rice was bursting with vitality.

"I think it's your hard work, Cuihua. Xiaobao doesn't know anything about farming, so of course, he wouldn't know the reason," Third Elder Zhao sarcastically interjected, annoyed that even though he'd watered his rice plants all morning, they hadn't grown as well as the Li family's which hadn't been watered at all.

"Hehe, that's right. Sister-in-law, let's go home," Li Xiaobao didn't bother arguing with Third Elder Zhao, waving Zhou Cuihua over and started walking home with a swagger.

He had now fully confirmed his conjecture, knowing that his family's rice was thriving because of the influence of the Five Elements Spiritual Energy.

"Xiaobao, did you tell sister-in-law whether the rice is related to you?" Zhou Cuihua asked, following behind Li Xiaobao, still puzzled.

"Not at all, sister-in-law, this is all your hard work," Li Xiaobao quickened his pace, knowing that he had yet to fully grasp the Five Elements Spiritual Energy, he of course didn't dare speak carelessly.

Seeing Li Xiaobao deny it, Zhou Cuihua didn't pursue the matter further.

After dinner, Li Xiaobao brought up the idea of contracting the remaining empty fields in the village to Li Detian, immediately facing his opposition.

Li Detian's point of view was that even their own piece of land wasn't farmed well by Li Xiaobao, relying entirely on Zhou Cuihua, so how could he think about contracting other people's fields?

However, listening to Li Xiaobao, a spark appeared in Zhou Cuihua's eyes. She knew the day's events in the rice field definitely had something to do with Li Xiaobao; otherwise, he wouldn't have mentioned taking on the empty fields.

"Dad, please agree. If I contract the empty fields, I certainly won't lose out," Li Xiaobao looked at Li Detian helplessly, then turned towards Zhou Cuihua.

"No way!" The response to Li Xiaobao was still a cold two words.

"Dad, I think it's feasible for Xiaobao to take on the empty fields," Zhou Cuihua said to Li Detian.

"Dad, how about this, I'll pay for the contract for the empty fields myself, so you don't have to worry," Li Xiaobao knew that Li Detian's main opposition to contracting the empty fields was due to the lack of money at home, and now with Zhou Cuihua's support, he naturally wasn't worried.

"You'll pay yourself?" Li Detian's tone softened.

Finally, with Zhou Cuihua's mediation, Li Detian agreed to let Li Xiaobao use his own money to contract the remaining empty fields in the village.