After more than a month, the pumpkin seedlings were grown and it was time to sow the pumpkins.

The Lunar New Year was just before this, but due to the lack of harvest in the autumn, the New Year atmosphere in Xinjin County was no longer as strong as before.

Fortunately, there is the Daqing Mountain, so the people of Xinjin County can barely survive.

During the New Year, Wangjia Village was bustling with activity. While many brigade canteens had run out of food and closed down, Wangjia Village's canteen thrived.

Before the Chinese New Year, Jiaojiao released two fat wild boars from the space in order to let the people of Wangjia Village have a prosperous year.

Dabai led the villagers up the mountain and hunted two wild boars, solving the Wangjia Village's meat problem. They took out the large yellow-soil potatoes stored in the cellar, added vermicelli noodles, and stewed two large pots.

There were also two large pots of fish caught from the pond on the mountain, mixed with wood ear mushrooms and radishes.

There was no rice, so each family steamed buns, flower rolls, sugar triangles, small bean buns, etc. and brought them to the canteen.

The entire Wangjia Village gathered together and had a great time.

After dinner, Old Lady Feng provided dried peaches and candied peanuts, and the brigade allocated funds to buy candy and melon seeds. In the courtyard of the brigade cafeteria, a bonfire was lit, and sweet potatoes, chestnuts, and fish were roasted, with laughter and joy filling the air.

Even many years later, when the people of Wangjia Village recalled the past, this New Year was still talked about again and again.

Shortly after the Lunar New Year, the river thawed and the temperature rose rapidly. As agreed, Technician Li delivered over a hundred pumpkin seedlings to Wangjia Village.

"We agreed to give you priority. You can grow these pumpkin seedlings yourself, give them to others, or exchange them for something else."

Technician Li's meaning was perfectly clear. The captain naturally thanked him and accepted the favor.

The pumpkin seedlings were distributed door to door, allowing people to grow them themselves, give them away as gifts, or exchange them for other things.

Wangjia Village had already saved some seeds, and some time ago the team leader took all the seeds to ask Old Lady Feng to help grow seedlings. When the two pumpkin seedlings were compared, the villagers of Wangjia Village unanimously chose the seedlings grown by Old Lady Feng.

The reason was simple: the pumpkin seedlings grown by Old Lady Feng were large, with thick stems, and looked very easy to care for. As for the extra ones, they were also easy to deal with. Every family had relatives and friends from other villages, so giving them away was a good way to earn a favor. Or, some families were so poor that they would trade pumpkin seedlings for something else. By now, everyone in Xinjin County knew about the pumpkins on Daqing Mountain, each weighing hundreds of pounds, so these pumpkin seedlings were naturally very popular.

Zhoujia Village also benefited from this. Mengzi also knew that the Feng family was special. As early as when the big pumpkin came out, he reminded Zhou Xianyong to go to the Feng family and exchange some pumpkin seeds with Old Lady Feng.

Don't ask him how he knew there were pumpkin seeds at Old Lady Feng's house. The answer is that he often stopped by Old Lady Feng's house when he went up or down the mountain. He would either bring them some firewood or pick up some delicious wild fruits and give Jiaojiao a handful.

When Mrs. Feng's own pumpkins bore fruit, she gave him a few pieces of pumpkin and asked him to steam them for the little ones at home.

He still remembered that half of the pumpkin took up the entire chopping board in the kitchen.

Zhou Xianyong, in the name of the brigade, went to Feng Lao-lao to exchange pumpkin seedlings and gave her a small pot of rapeseed oil. At this time, the villagers of Zhoujia Village also happily planted pumpkin seedlings along their fences.

Yanjia Village, Xiaoya’s grandmother’s home.

Since the pumpkins were planted, Mrs. Yan has been coming out three times a day, morning, noon, and evening, to check on her precious pumpkin seedlings.

The pumpkin seedlings in their family are different from those in other families. They were specially given to them by Old Lady Feng!

Last year, they followed the Feng family's lead and planted sweet potatoes, potatoes, pumpkins, and other crops, harvesting a good harvest. With Xiaoya's family providing occasional financial support, their life was one of the best in Yanjia Village.

During the Chinese New Year, she specially asked her eldest daughter-in-law who was good at sewing to make tiger-head shoes and a tiger-head hat for Jiaojiao. The little girl looked very cute in them.

Old Mrs. Feng was so happy that she packed a bag of dried peaches and a bag of snacks for them on the spot, and asked them to come back later to get the pumpkin seedlings.

After the fifteenth day of the lunar month, the temperature began to rise day by day. Old Lady Feng asked Xiaoya's mother to bring them a few pumpkin seedlings with soil and a bag of fertilizer.

Old Mrs. Yan and her family carefully planted the pumpkin seedlings.

Their family also planted pumpkins last year, but unlike before when they just buried the seeds in the soil casually, this time they took the trouble to dig deep the soil around the fence and sprinkled some of the fertilizer given by Old Lady Feng on the ground before planting the pumpkin seedlings.

These pumpkin seedlings are now the apple of Mrs. Yan’s eye and she has to check on them several times a day.

At first glance, Old Lady Yan noticed something unusual. The pumpkin seedlings were already strong and sturdy, and they grew quickly after being planted. Within a few days, they began to climb vines.

Old Mrs. Yan is happy every day. After looking at her own pumpkin seedlings and then at other people's, she feels an unspeakable joy in her heart!

Unlike Old Lady Yan's secret happiness, other families are happy openly.

Farmers have all grown pumpkins at some point. This time, the pumpkins have been growing beautifully since they were planted. They appear to be bearing fruit earlier than normal pumpkin seedlings.

Compared with the happy farmers, Technician Li has been very worried recently.

During the Chinese New Year, Mrs. Li Da and Mrs. Li Er were looking for trouble every day as if they were competing with each other.

Mrs. Li somehow found out that Technician Li had paid the tuition for his younger siblings, so she started crying, making a fuss, and even trying to commit suicide at home, insisting that Technician Li had hidden his salary.

After Technician Li showed them his payroll slip, she started accusing him of embezzling money and secretly reselling seeds during work. Otherwise, how could he have money to pay for his younger siblings' tuition?

This was a serious crime, and Technician Li was so angry that he ignored the New Year and rode his bike back to his dormitory in the county town.

On New Year's Eve, he was all alone and the cafeteria was closed.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!