Chapter 16 This land cannot be cultivated!
The next day, early in the morning, the sun shone brightly, and it was another sunny day.
The yellow earth in the open space of the military camp was cracked from the sun, and waves of heat, accompanied by the chirping of cicadas, rushed towards us.
A red banner proclaiming "Military Families' Production and Labor Month" hung on the clothesline, and dozens of military families had already arrived at the newly planned vegetable garden, hoes in hand.
Shen Zhixia pulled the brim of her straw hat down even further. She was wearing a loose blue cloth shirt and holding the wooden handle of a hoe in her hand.
Each person was assigned a plot of land, which was the area she was responsible for.
Just then, Li Xiuying came up behind her and whispered, "Sister Chen, you're from the city, so you're different from us who've done manual labor. You've never hoeed the ground before, so let me help you."
Her voice wasn't very loud, but since no one else was talking, it became quite noticeable, and many people looked over.
Li Xiuying was right. Shen Zhixia looked like someone who had never done any work. She stood there with her fair and delicate skin, her whole body glowing white. She was completely different from other rural women. How could someone like her have done any work? After all, she was a young lady from the city, and she was very delicate.
Zhang Weihong, wiping the hoe until her arm was smoking, wiped the sweat from her face and said loudly, "Xiao Shen is just like us. Although she has never farmed before, she has studied farming and has a wealth of theoretical knowledge."
Li Xiuying was illiterate and didn't understand these things. She just stood there blankly and asked, "Does farming require theoretical knowledge?"
She's a farmer; all she knows is to go straight to the fields and work. What theoretical knowledge is needed for this kind of land?
Shen Zhixia glanced at Li Xiuying and said indifferently, "Xiuying, I see that you have been allocated quite a lot of land. If I can't finish it, my husband will help me. You should go and work on your land first."
Her rejection was so obvious that Li Xiuying, who was already embarrassed, felt as if her inner thoughts had been seen through when she saw her expression.
Her face flushed, and she had no choice but to leave quickly. Then she went to her plot of land and started working.
She was indeed quite efficient at her work, her hoeing technique was very standard. The moment the hoe struck, the soil was turned over, revealing a moist, dark brown hue, and the grass roots gleamed bluish-white in the morning light. She knew this plot of land all too well; she was the one who tilled all the land in the house, and she was in no way inferior to the men in terms of work ethic.
Shen Zhixia glanced at her and frowned. Li Xiuying had already come to see her once yesterday, and she had refused her help then. But today, Li Xiuying actually came again.
She didn't think Li Xiuying genuinely wanted her help; Li Xiuying's behavior was clearly intentional, designed to embarrass her.
Could it be that Li Xiuying thought she didn't know how to hoe the ground, so she wanted to mock her in this way? If she did this, it certainly wasn't just her idea; it might have been instructed by the Li family to do so.
This was intended to highlight Li Xiuying's diligence by showing that she was incapable of doing housework.
Li Xiuying can show herself off to her heart's content, but if she wants to use herself, Shen Zhixia won't give her any face.
Although she thought this in her heart, Shen Zhixia just held the hoe and did nothing.
Just then, a burst of harsh laughter erupted behind her. Old Mrs. Li walked over, leaning on a jujube wood cane. Her cloudy eyes swept over her slender wrist: "Oh, are you trying to make the ground into a flower?"
Her tone was full of sarcasm: "A rich girl from the city can't even hold a hoe properly. Look at our Xiuying, how hard she works."
She usually treated Li Xiuying badly, but at this moment she suddenly praised Li Xiuying. Li Xiuying knew that the old lady was trying to save face for her, so she became even more efficient in her actions.
Others couldn't help but look over as well.
Li Xiuying felt the gazes falling on her, her face glowing. She swung her hoe, each strike carrying the fierce strength unique to farmers. As the soil flew, she quickly cleared a half-ridge of deep furrow.
She wiped the sweat from her brow, twirled the hoe in her palm in a beautiful arc, her movements fluid and graceful, leaving everyone speechless.
"Look at Xiuying." Old Mrs. Li straightened up, leaning on her cane, and deliberately raised her voice, "That's what you call the posture for getting things done!"
The other military dependents couldn't help but nod in approval after seeing this. Although Old Mrs. Li was not a good person, Li Xiuying was excellent at her work.
Looking at Shen Zhixia, who stood motionless in place, Old Mrs. Li felt even more disdainful.
Shen Zhixia ignored Old Mrs. Li and suddenly squatted down, inserting her fingertips into the scalding hot soil.
White earthworm eggs were hidden in the hardened soil, and the surface was covered with a fine layer of salt frost.
This is severely salinized land.
Just as Li Xiuying finished hoeing the ground and was about to start planting seeds, Shen Zhixia said, "Wait, this land cannot be planted directly."
Li Xiuying didn't speak, but her eyes flashed with dissatisfaction.
"Why?" Old Mrs. Li slammed her cane heavily on the ground, kicking up a cloud of yellow dust. "I think you're just jealous that Xiuying knows how to farm, so you're not allowing her to continue farming. Even if you're Commander Huo's wife, you can't bully people like this."
Zhang Weihong shouted, "What's your rush? Xiao Shen has her reasons for not letting us farm. Let her finish what she has to say."
"What reason could she possibly have? Xiuying has been farming with her parents since she could walk. How could she not know how to do the work?" Old Mrs. Li sneered repeatedly, "I think some people are all talk and no action. They've never even touched a hoe, yet they've learned to boss people around!"
Shen Zhixia did not argue. She took out a towel to wipe her sweat and wrapped up a few clods of soil: "Look, everyone, this soil is as hard as a brick. You can see salt grains when you grab a handful."
She broke open a clod of soil, the cross-section of which was eerily white. "If you plant vegetables directly in it, the seedlings will burn in less than three days."
As she spoke, she pointed to a corner in the distance piled with weeds, "We need to dig a ditch to drain the water first, and then use wood ash to neutralize the alkalinity."
"Wood ash?" came a puzzled whisper from the crowd.
Zhang Weihong quickly instructed the cooks, "I remember you have some wood ash over there, hurry up and bring some over."
A short while later, a soldier from the cookhouse returned carrying a half-sack of wood ash, the ashes falling softly onto his shoulder.
Shen Zhixia said, "The ash from thoroughly burned wood is alkaline. Spreading it on the ground can neutralize acidic soil and also repel insects."
She squatted on the ground and used a twig to draw a simple diagram of a drainage ditch. "Dig three deep vertical ditches, and then open shallow horizontal ditches to connect them, so that the accumulated water can drain away."
Li Xiuying stood to the side, completely unable to understand what Shen Zhixia was saying. Her mind was buzzing, but she looked down on Shen Zhixia.
Grandma Li shared the same thought as Li Xiuying. She scoffed, "I don't understand what you're saying at all! Farming is farming. Why are you doing all this fancy stuff instead of farming properly?"
Someone shouted, "Commander Huo is here!"
A group of people walked over without even changing out of their military uniforms. Besides Huo Chenzhou, who was in the lead, there were also Deputy Regiment Commander Zhou, Political Officer Li, Company Commander Wang, and others.
Shen Zhixia didn't notice their presence. Her movements as she picked up the hoe were a little clumsy, but each stroke landed precisely on the marked point, creating perfectly straight furrows.
She explained it very professionally: "The ridge should face south so that the sunlight is even."
With some ash on her face, she added, "Before sowing, you can mix in some wood ash to prevent wild animals from eating the seeds."
Grandma Li also sensed something was wrong. Shen Zhixia didn't seem to be acting recklessly, but she still wouldn't admit it: "What nonsense are you talking about? I've never heard of any of these things you're saying. Why should we listen to you?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com