The next morning, they started planting corn. Since there were few oxen in the village, the strong men pulled the plows. The rest of the work involved spreading fertilizer, which was all composted collectively.

The women planted the seeds, and the children followed behind, wading through the soil to cover them.

Zhang Hongmei was assigned to work behind Wang Hongxi's wife. The land was a bit dry, and it was all big clods of earth. "Auntie, this can't be covered up, it's all big clods of earth."

"There's no other way but to make do with this. The soil is dry. It would be great if it rained."

Wang Hongxi stopped planting after about ten acres of land had been planted that morning. Several people gathered at Liu Changhe's house.

“Second wife, this corn can’t be planted, and it won’t grow.” Wang Hongxi squatted on the ground, looking worried.

"Then let's plant sorghum this afternoon. Did we plant ten acres of corn this morning?"

"Yes, it's because the land is so dry that even a plow can't be pulled, so planting is slow."

“Planting sorghum is fine, but I’m afraid we won’t be able to pay the grain tax,” Liu Maocai said, also worried.

"We'll see when the time comes. It would be good enough if the crops could grow in this weather." Liu Changhe has never been afraid of anything.

"What if the technical staff come down to inspect?"

"Let's plant them first. When the technicians came last year, the seedlings had already grown to a foot tall. They can't expect us to turn over and replant this year, can they? It's just that things aren't going well for Maocai."

"What am I afraid of? If it doesn't work out, I'll just quit. It's better than not having any food to eat."

"Then it's settled. We'll plant sorghum this afternoon. If anyone causes trouble, just send someone to me." The old lady made the decision with an air of authority.

Zhang Hongmei was thinking about taking out seeds from her spatial storage to plant sorghum that afternoon.

Undecided, she finally gritted her teeth and took the plunge. "Auntie, my family has some hybrid sorghum seeds that my parents brought over before. I'll go home and get them for my great-grandmother and your uncle to see."

"Go ahead, I'll help you with that in a bit."

Zhang Hongmei took off running back, but it was just for show. She carried a handful of sorghum seeds to Liu Changhe's house.

"Grandma, do you think these sorghum seeds will grow?" Zhang Hongmei handed the seeds in her hand to the old lady.

"Where is this from?" the old lady asked excitedly, holding the sorghum seeds.

"My parents brought this back."

How many?

"There's a big bag of them."

“Hongmei, go find your third uncle and ask him to go to your house and fetch all the sorghum seeds so we can plant them right away.”

"Are you looking for my third uncle or Uncle Wang?"

The old lady squinted, a thought suddenly striking her: How did this girl turn out like this? Could it really be hereditary?

"Then go find Wang Hongxi. Go ahead, don't delay things."

Zhang Hongmei found Wang Hongxi and handed him the sorghum seeds in her hand. "Uncle, look, these are the sorghum my parents brought back before. They said they're hybrid sorghum, drought-resistant, with short stalks, and high yield. I only remembered them today. Shall we plant them?"

“Come on, I’ll go with you to get it, and we’ll plant it right away.” Wang Hongxi rubbed the sorghum in her hands, thinking that if this was true, then there was hope. As the production team leader, she was only responsible for the harvest in the field, and Liu Maocai would take care of what to plant.

This bag of sorghum weighs over 100 jin (50 kg), and I estimate it can be planted on over 100 mu (6.7 hectares) of land.

It took four days to finish planting, but Liu Maocai was in a bad mood. He had to go to a meeting in the township tomorrow, and he didn't know how he would be criticized.

The melon seedlings she had cultivated were ready to be planted. Zhang Hongmei spent a day planting them all in her private plot and gave some to Li Cuihua as well. Li Cuihua also helped Er Ya with the work.

I've been working in the fields for the past few days, and my face looks really dark, but I still can't resist the temptation to go up the mountain. I've decided to go up the mountain again tomorrow.

In the space, I specifically looked up what ginseng leaves look like, hoping I might be able to find some. I also looked at what Ganoderma lucidum looks like; I knew about it but had never seen it before.

Er Ya was conflicted when she learned that Zhang Hongmei was going up the mountain again. Her mother had told her to keep an eye on Zhang Hongmei and not let her go, but Zhang Hongmei insisted on going. It was really difficult for her.

"Sister Er Ya, what's troubling you? I really will avoid danger this time."

"Is it something you can just dodge?"

"To be honest, I'm just planting sweet potato vines in the mountains. Why don't you come with me?"

"Okay, let's do it together."

Zhang Hongmei thought to herself, "You just want to go, why don't you just say so?"

Er Ya arrived at five o'clock the next morning, and Zhang Hongmei brought goat milk buns. They brought their own water. Both of their baskets were filled with sweet potato vines; Zhang Hongmei had scouted the location before, near the bottom of the mountain, where there weren't many animal tracks. It shouldn't be dangerous.

The two girls set off, carrying baskets on their backs and pickaxes on their shoulders.

That plot of land in the mountains is too far from a water source, so we don't irrigate it. We just let nature take its course; if it grows, great; if not, we just plant some sweet potato vines. Besides, even if it does grow, there's always the risk of damage from animals. That's why it's said to be a gift from heaven.

It took them almost two hours to get there. Grass sprouted on the ground, which looked quite damp.

"Sister Erya, let's skip the ridges and just dig holes and plant them directly. It's dangerous if we leave it for too long."

“Okay, otherwise it would take us four or five days to finish. If we do it faster, we can try to finish planting today.”

The two took a sip of water and then got back to work. They didn't sit down to rest until they had planted a whole basket of sweet potato vines, and then they ate lunch.

Each person received three steamed buns. Zhang Hongmei ate two, rested for a while, and then continued working.

“Hongmei, what if there’s a drought this year? Our teacher said that some places had droughts last year. We’re okay here, but I’m afraid that we’ll have a drought this year too, and then we won’t even have enough to eat.”

"I don't know either, but just in case."

The two ended their conversation and continued their hard work. They finally finished around 4 PM. Zhang Hongmei felt like she couldn't even lift her arms. She sat on the ground with a wry smile, saying, "Sister Er Ya, I'm exhausted. I just want to lie down on the ground."

"Get up quickly, we need to hurry home, it will be dark by the time we get home, or we'll get scolded again."

"You didn't tell my third aunt, did you?"

"No, if we told them, neither of us would be able to get out. Let's get up and go." Liu Erya pulled Zhang Hongmei up, stacked the two baskets together and carried them on her back, while also slung her two buckets over her shoulders.

The two went their separate ways after arriving in the village. Zhang Hongmei was really tired today, so she fed the sheep and then went into her spatial dimension.

After taking a bath in the spiritual spring water, I watered all the melon vines in the yard. I had to, otherwise all the planting would have been for nothing.

I'll grow some pumpkin, winter melon, and squash seedlings in the space, and also plant them in the mountains; it's better than nothing.

I'm too lazy to even eat, I'm just going to sleep. I'll deal with it when I wake up.

The next day, Zhang Hongmei went to fetch water with great enthusiasm, thinking that if there was a severe drought, the well would probably dry up, and then what would she do for drinking water?

I hurried to Liu Changhe's house to ask, and went straight into the courtyard to the old lady's room.

"Grandma, if there's a real drought, won't the wells dry up?"