The next day, Bao Ni took several children, loaded the vegetable seedlings she had cultivated onto a tricycle, and also took the vegetable seeds she had asked the brigade leader's wife.
"Oh my, Bonnie, the seedlings you grew yourself are so strong and healthy."
The old lady on the first floor saw the vegetable seedlings in Bao Ni and the others' hands and praised them sincerely.
Back in her hometown, her family had a small plot of land where they grew vegetables every year. If they couldn't eat them all, they'd dry them. Now that she lives in an apartment building, there's no place to grow vegetables anymore—it's such a pity.
"She's quite good-looking; a lot of effort must have been put into her."
Bonnie's words were true; she had put a lot of effort into it. The soil for the seedlings was transported back from Dayang Village, and she even added some chicken manure fertilizer.
Where are you going to fall?
“There’s an old courtyard and a piece of land at home that I’ve cleared out.”
Bonnie's words were half true and half false. Her family's courtyard house was an old one, so she wasn't exactly lying.
After listening to his mother's words, Sanqi realized once again that adults lie far more often than children.
Bao Ni and Gu Ye never expected that they would give their son such a perception.
Bonnie had already ridden her tricycle there, while Liu Jiu and the others took the bus.
When they arrived at the courtyard house, Liu Jiu and the others had already opened the gate, and even Ms. Zhai had arrived.
"Teacher Zhai, look how well my vegetable seedlings are growing!"
Once Bonnie and the others got to know each other, they became less polite and more casual in their conversations.
"It's not bad, it looks quite appealing."
Ms. Zhai came from a wealthy family and had studied abroad. Later, her family suffered a misfortune, leaving her all alone, but she never experienced hardship.
"Right? I carried this soil all the way from the village; it's incredibly fertile."
Let's go inside. I've already prepared the land; we can just plant it directly in the ground.
We need to plant another batch, so they mature at different times, to avoid any gaps in the growing season.
Bonnie never expected that she, a post-2000s generation, would become a vegetable-growing expert here, when she didn't even recognize chives or anything like that before.
It's said that every Chinese person has a certain number of "vegetable-growth cells" in their body, which can be activated at any time.
Ms. Zhai was visiting this place for the first time and was quite moved to learn that it belonged to Xu Ning.
They went straight to the vegetable garden in the middle, which was quite large; no wonder Bonnie had planted so many seedlings.
Xuan Yi and Liu Jiu were responsible for fetching water from next door. Bao Ni had already filled the pond in the neighbor's yard with water for half a month.
Bao Ni dug the holes, Sanqi was in charge of planting the seedlings, and Teacher Zhai had never done this before, so she watched first and learned from the experience.
Bonnie grows a wide variety of seedlings, including eggplant, green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, and many other common vegetables found in northern China.
After Liu Jiu and Xuan Yi brought the water over, Xuan Yi was in charge of pouring water into the pit, while Liu Jiu was in charge of adding soil. The group worked together well and got the job done quite quickly.
Teacher Zhai felt she couldn't handle this task, so she wandered off to the small shed at the very edge.
Bonnie nailed the wooden frame herself. It was three meters long, one and a half meters wide, and less than one meter high. It was a simple prototype of a greenhouse.
The plastic sheeting available now isn't that big or that thick, so Bonnie could only make a small one, which she planted with vegetables.
Even through the plastic sheet, you can see a layer of lush green vegetables inside; they're not tall, only a few days old.
Bonnie came over and opened one end of the plastic sheet, explaining that the plant needed to breathe and be exposed to air to grow faster.
Will this work?
When Teacher Zhai saw the lush greenery inside, he felt much better. After all, the grass outside was just starting to sprout, and the trees were just beginning to bud.
"It's alright, let it air out for a bit, then cover it up again. It won't do to keep it scorching hot if it doesn't get any ventilation."
These are some side dishes: lettuce, spinach, cilantro, scallions, and pickled mustard greens…”
Bonnie explained to Teacher Zhai that they had only been unearthed for a few days and looked similar, but the differences could be seen upon closer inspection.
Lettuce leaves are round, cilantro leaves are pointed when they first sprout, spinach is a darker color, and scallions are thin...
The best-growing plants are shallots and garlic, which are already over a foot tall.
After ventilating the house, Bonnie went back to planting vegetables.
Teacher Zhai really likes this little vegetable shed; it looks so vibrant.
Bonnie and her child planted all the vegetable seedlings and seeds.
"Teacher Zhai, let me take you to see the pond next door. I plan to release fish fry and plant lotus roots in a few days."
Bonnie led the way, and the group went to the neighboring yard.
The water in the pond was very clear, and it shimmered in the wind.
"Is this also your yard?"
Ms. Zhai realized that the two courtyards should belong to the same family, and that the other side used to be a garden.
“This belongs to my eldest brother’s family. It was left by my mother-in-law as part of her dowry.”
Bonnie told the truth: Ms. Zhai was clearly an expert and knew more about courtyard houses than she did.
"Your mother-in-law is also a capable person, leaving a considerable fortune for her descendants. Indeed, the Xu family was once so glorious."
The Zhai family and the Xu family are not on the same level; she has heard many stories about the Xu family.
"Things are fine now. People are safe and sound, which is more important than anything else."
Bonnie knew that her generation had paid a heavy price to enjoy their current peaceful life.
"That's true, nothing is more important than living well. Don't worry, I'll get you some lotus roots later, and find some good varieties."
Ms. Zhai thought it would be nice to be able to come back to Lotus again in the future.
"That's great! I was worried about where to get lotus roots. You can come anytime, and the same goes for vegetables. Pick whatever you want; they're homegrown, so they taste even better."
Bonnie isn't stingy; she's generous to everyone, let alone Teacher Zhai.
They'd planted what needed to be planted, and the work for the day was almost done. Bonnie and the others decided to treat themselves to hot pot, something they hadn't done in a long time.
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