Chapter 156 Bad bamboo may not necessarily produce bad bamboo shoots

night.

A light drizzle fell.

The children at home haven't been sleeping well, but perhaps because there's hope, they've been waking up exceptionally early in the morning.

Cheng Wanwan yawned, sat up, gathered her long hair, and walked towards the yard. Standing at the gate, she could see the river not far away. After two rains, the river was no longer dry. There was a shallow layer of water at the bottom. Some ducks had been driven into the river early in the morning and were splashing happily in the water.

She looked at the harvested rice paddies, which were also covered with a shallow layer of water. The ducks at home were used to going to their own fields and were now wandering around. Leading the way were five large white geese. The white geese were born a little later, but they ate insects every day, were well-nourished, grew very quickly, and were also larger in size. They became the leaders of the fifty ducklings.

Wu Huiniang was busy in the kitchen, with Zhao Dashan helping her. When she had nothing to do, she went to check on the fields.

It's been about ten days since the last batch of rice was harvested, and according to theoretical data, the axillary buds should have emerged.

She slowly walked over, and as she got closer, she saw the green at the base of the yellow rice stalks. The green was spreading little by little, the rice stalks were turning green again, and some tiny axillary buds were sprouting. Originally, one rice stalk had differentiated into three or four green stems. After these axillary buds grew up, they would produce ears of rice and grow into rice...

Joy spread through Cheng Wanwan's heart.

She made the right bet. Raising rice is indeed not a technical job. As long as you leave enough rice stubble and have enough water, the axillary buds will sprout quickly.

At this time, topdressing is necessary. If the fertilizer is sufficient, the yield of ratooning rice will not be too low.

This great news must be told to the village head.

Just then, Li Zheng walked over from the other side of the field, and Cheng Wanwan quickly waved.

The village headman said with a smile, "Auntie Dashan, I was just looking for you. After I told everyone yesterday, about ten people signed up. They'll come over after breakfast to help make adobe bricks..."

"We'll talk about making adobe bricks later." Cheng Wanwan squatted down. "Uncle Village Head, look, the rice stubble has sprouted..."

The village head glanced at it and said nonchalantly, "You don't know, last year, after the autumn harvest, everyone was supposed to plow the fields, but that lazy bastard Zhang refused to. All the rice stubble in Zhang's field sprouted and grew taller than this..."

“Uncle Village Head, this is different,” Cheng Wanwan explained. “The green shoots growing from his rice stubble can only be considered weeds, while we left the key nodes. The axillary buds that sprout from these nodes can produce ears of rice and grow into grains.”

"What did you say?" Uncle Village Head squatted down beside him. "You said this... this can grow rice? How is that possible? It's absolutely impossible!"

He had been a farmer for forty years and knew everything about the fields. He had never seen rice grow back after it was harvested; it was simply absurd.

"Nonsense" was a new word he learned from Tie Zhu, and it was very useful.

Cheng Wanwan said, "Uncle Village Head, we've known each other for so long, when have I ever lied to you?"

After thinking for a while, the village head wanted to say that since Da Shan's mother married into Dahe Village, she had lied to him about many things, especially the matter of dividing the family property last year, which caused chaos in the Zhao family... However, in the past two months, Da Shan's mother had never lied, and she was a woman of her word. Even the county magistrate listened to Da Shan's mother's words, so he decided to choose to believe her.

"Grandma, when you told the villagers to leave rice stubble, did you already know that rice would grow?"

Cheng Wanwan shook her head: "The main purpose is to use the rice stubble to burn the insect eggs. The rice is just a bonus. Uncle Village Head, if you are willing to trust me this once, let the villagers take advantage of this time to apply fertilizer."

The village head took a deep breath and said, "Shouldn't this matter also be reported to the county magistrate?"

Cheng Wanwan nodded: "I just don't know if the magistrate will believe it."

"Believe it or not, I have to go." The village head stood up, and when he looked up, he saw Zhao Da leading the ox to the field. He shouted, "Zhao Da, what are you doing?"

Zhao Da looked up innocently: "Since I have nothing better to do, I'll plow the land. The rice stubble can fertilize the fields..."

"You're usually so diligent, but now you're so confused." The village head scolded angrily, "Didn't I tell you to leave the rice stubble to kill the insect eggs? You turned the rice stubble underground, and when it burned, it would be all smoke. Who are you trying to kill? Alright, drive the cows out, and don't plow the fields. If you get hurt, don't blame me for not warning you!"

The village head spoke sternly, and Zhao Da, being a junior, dared not refute him, so he could only reluctantly lead the ox away.

The village head became increasingly anxious. Since there were people farming in their village, there must be some diligent people in other villages who had already started tilling the fields. This matter had to be done as soon as possible.

He thought the ox cart was too slow and wobbly, so he decided to walk to the town.

The village head left in a hurry.

When Cheng Wanwan returned home, breakfast was already prepared. After eating, she assigned tasks to the children.

Zhao Ergou went to town early in the morning, saying he was inviting the townspeople to try the braised meat for free. Afu went to Hekou Town to find the Zhu family and finalize the supply arrangements. Neither of them has returned yet.

"Zhao'er, you and Young Master Shen go to the ancestral hall to study. You don't need to worry about the chores at home."

"Dashan, stay home. Tiezhu's father will bring some people over later. You will be responsible for counting the number of people."

"Sidan, register the people who are coming here, what farm tools they brought, and how many days they plan to work. Remember everything clearly."

"Sanniu, go to the place on the other side of the mountain where we're carrying soil and help dig..."

After she gave her instructions, Zhao Anjiang came in with a dozen men.

Most of them were patrolmen, reliable men, strong and honest.

Everyone brought their shoulder poles, winnowing baskets, and other tools to work with. They lined up to register with Ergou. There were seventeen of them in total. Some carried the soil, some worked in pairs to make adobe bricks, and some carried the bricks to the village grounds to spread them out and dry.

Cheng Wanwan observed and felt that there were still too few people. There were nearly 100,000 adobe bricks, and with 20 people, it would take about 20 to 30 days just to make the bricks.

She told Zhao Dashan to stop what he was doing and go and recruit about twenty more people. That way, they could finish making the adobe bricks in ten days, and then spend another ten days building the house. In less than a month, they would have a new house to live in.

Zhao Dashan went out to recruit people.

Cheng Wanwan was brewing tea for everyone in the courtyard.

At this time, a head popped in from the doorway: "Auntie, can I help make the adobe bricks? I'm strong and can work very efficiently."

She turned her head and saw that it was Zhang Dagang, the son of Zhang Wulai. He had joined the patrol team a while ago and was assigned to the same group as Zhao Sanniu. Sanniu said that Zhang Dagang performed quite well. Not only did he work on duty alone, he also often brought a group of younger brothers to work with him. Those younger brothers were free labor and never asked for anything.

Initially, Cheng Wanwan disliked the boy for stealing Si Dan's rabbit, and since he was Zhang Wulai's own son, she felt some resistance towards him.

But bad bamboo may not be unable to produce good bamboo shoots.

The child wants to make progress, she can't just not give him a chance.

Zhang Dagang said a little embarrassedly: "Aunt Zhao, my brother will come and help us. It's only 20 cents a day for the two of us. Is that okay?"

A child appeared behind him. It was his younger brother Zhang Daqiang, who was ten years old and could barely work.

Cheng Wanwan said calmly, "Today is a trial day, 20 wen a day. If you two do well, tomorrow you will get 30 wen a day like everyone else."

Zhang Dagang was pleasantly surprised: "Thank you, Aunt Zhao!"

He pulled Zhang Daqiang to join the team making adobe bricks. Although he was not as strong as an adult, his movements were very agile. Zhang Daqiang helped chop rice stalks with very skilled movements.

They were busy like this until the afternoon.

At this moment, a horse-drawn carriage appeared on the mountain road in Dahe Village.