Taken aback by the girl's harsh demeanor, Mr. Trent froze for a moment. However, a thought seemed to cross his mind, causing him to let out a weary sigh. He lowered his voice, adopting a conciliatory tone: "Now, Gigi, the lad means well. He just wants to lend Asher a hand, that's all."
Standing beside them, Ewan beamed with a radiant smile. His fair complexion glowed, and his chestnut hair seemed to instantly endear him to the older generation present. His smile was sugary sweet as he introduced himself: "My name is Ewan."
He then turned his attention to the hostile girl, his expression earnest: "Miss, I know I might look a bit frail, but please don't worry. If I put my back into it, I'm sure I can till the land just fine."
As the words left his mouth, Ewan recalled the various melodramatic novels he had skimmed in the past. Channeling those tropes, he jutted his lower lip out in a slight pout, his voice taking on a pitiful, aggrieved edge: "I know I'm a newcomer, but I truly just want to make a good life here. Please don't hate me, okay?"
Ewan's face was undeniably adorable. His almond-shaped eyes shimmered with unshed tears, making him look like a victim of cruel bullying. It was a sight that tugged violently at the heartstrings of the elderly onlookers. One of the neighborhood matrons, seeing the commotion, stepped forward. Upon seeing Ewan's distress, she immediately jumped to his defense: "Oh, give it a rest, Gigi. The boy is just trying to put in some honest work. Why do you always have to pick a fight?"
"That's right, Gigi. My goodness, or is it that you can't stand seeing someone prettier than yourself? Are you jealous?" Another voice, equally sharp and dripping with sarcasm, cut through the air: "He looks like a pampered young master, yet he's sensible enough to go out and find work. Unlike some people who rely on their looks to loaf around all day, dreaming of marrying into wealth while refusing to lift a finger."
Gigi couldn't tolerate the mockery. She exploded, her voice rising several octaves in anger: "Simon! What the hell did you just say?"
"I was just speaking generally. If the shoe fits, feel free to wear it." The newcomer, Simon, was a young man with a sturdy, resilient build. He ignored Gigi and walked straight over to Ewan, giving his arm a friendly tug: "Hey there. I'm Simon. What's your name?"
Although Ewan felt a bit shy, he smiled back politely. "I'm Ewan."
"Listen, Ewan, just ignore her." Simon advised nonchalantly: "She's completely out of her mind."
Naturally, Simon's comment sent Gigi into another fit of rage. However, before she could unleash a fresh banshee scream, the surrounding matrons clapped their hands over her mouth and dragged her away. The crowd dispersed as quickly as it had formed, leaving only the owners of the neighboring plots.
"My place is near Asher's. My brother goes hunting with him all the time, so don't worry about me." Simon reassured him. He then looked down at the patch of earth beneath their feet and clicked his tongue: "You're really planning to till this? It's not the right season. If you plant out of sync with everyone else, the crops will just get eaten up by pests."
Ewan nodded: "I know. I just wanted to loosen the soil a bit to aerate it. I figured I'd plant some miscellaneous vegetables just so the land doesn't go to waste, then start properly with everyone else when the new season hits."
Simon nodded in understanding, but then added: "Why don't you wait for Asher to get back and ask him to do the heavy lifting? I don't mean to underestimate you, but this soil has been dry for too long. Omegas like us simply don't have the physical strength to break this ground."
Oh, so he's an Omega too. Ewan twitched his nose slightly, trying to catch a scent, but detected no trace of pheromones. Simon must have been using blockers or suppressing his scent entirely.
"Besides..." Simon hesitated: "You need to water this plot first. If you don't, it'll be rock hard. You won't be able to turn the soil."
Ewan nodded and murmured a quiet thank you. He scanned the area, expecting to see some machinery or an automated irrigation system, but found nothing. He stood there, perplexed for a moment, before tentatively asking: "So... how exactly do we water it?"
"Well, we scoop it from over there..." Simon pointed to a river about ten meters away from the field: "We carry it up here and pour it on."
He looked around and, noticing Ewan hadn't brought any tools, clicked his tongue again: "You didn't bring a watering can, did you?"
When Ewan nodded sheepishly, Simon sighed: "Alright, hang on. I'll run back to my patch and grab some cans. I'll help you."
Just as Simon turned to leave, Ewan grabbed his arm, asking in a panic, "Wait... you mean we have to carry every single drop up here by hand?"
"That's right. If we hustle, we should be done by evening. These two plots aren't that big."
Not big? To Ewan, they looked absolutely massive! The prospect of manually hauling water to saturate both fields made him despair. He mentally noted that he was likely going to die an early death in this primitive world.
While Ewan was busy lamenting his fate, Simon leaned in close and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper: "You remember that girl from earlier? Gigi? She lives near the edge of the village. Her family is huge, and they've been eyeing Asher's two plots of land for ages. If they aren't cultivated this year, she's definitely going to find a way to petition the village to reallocate them to her family."
Simon paused to stretch his back before continuing: "But then you showed up and joined the village. So, even if Asher gives up farming, at least one of these plots would be allocated to you. Her family would only get one instead of both."
"When she saw you inspecting the field, she assumed you had already claimed ownership. That's why she went ballistic. Imagine thinking something is already in your pocket, only to be forced to spit it back out."
Ewan felt a sudden dawn of realization. So it wasn't a secret crush on Asher Ryder, but purely about the real estate. However, a question nagged at him: "But how can she be so certain that if Asher's land is reclaimed, it would be given to her family?"
"You're new, so you don't know..." Simon dropped his voice to a hush: "Her mother is a formidable person. Her tongue is... well, let's just say if the Village Chief didn't assign the land to them, they'd raise enough hell to tear his house down. And if anyone else dared to accept this land, she'd drag her whole brood to that person's doorstep and wail until it sounded like a funeral procession."
That sounded exactly like those illogical, shameless antagonists in slice-of-life novels who cared nothing for their reputation as long as they secured a profit, Ewan thought.