69 Chapter 69
◎Spring ploughing◎
After the Waking of Insects, spring thunder suddenly sounds.
Suddenly I heard the rain and dew, it turned out to be the sign of the arrival of spring.
One night of east wind, the orioles fly, the grass grows, and all things come to life.
Amid the lush green mountains and fields, farmers are busy working with hoes, irrigating fields, and planting seedlings.
Years ago, Jiang Jingyun specially reclaimed several acres of wasteland as his experimental field.
Now, the whole family goes out to the fields to help him plant rice.
Among them, Jiang Xiaomei was the most active. She didn't mind the mud and dared to jump down with her trouser legs rolled up. She grunted and grabbed a handful of seedlings and started planting them. She was full of fighting spirit and vowed to finish planting an acre of land.
But after planting only ten or so rows, her movements gradually slowed down, and the arrangement of the seedlings was not as straight as before, but began to become crooked, like a drunkard.
"Little sister," Jiang Jingyun called to her from the field, "The seedlings need to be planted straight, otherwise they will fall over if the wind blows."
"Oh, OK." After replanting the crooked seedlings, Jiang Xiaomei straightened up and shouted, "Brother, farming is so tiring."
"Yes, farming is hard," Jiang Jingyun agreed, "but look, the people are all smiling."
Jiang Xiaomei turned her head and looked at the people busy in the fields. From the elderly to the little children, no one complained of being tired. They were all working hard just to plant a few more acres of land this year so that they could have a few more buckets of rice at home when the harvest came.
We should know that farming is hard, but we should be more happy to have full granaries.
Seeing the little sister standing blankly in the field with her face covered in mud, Jiang Jingyun thought she was tired and advised: "If you are tired, go and rest first."
"I'm not tired!" Jiang Xiaomei came back to her senses, bit her cheek, and made a bold statement, "I must finish planting this piece of land today!"
Jiang Jingyun chuckled and did not stop her. He just told her, "Come up and rest for a while if you are tired. Don't try to be stubborn."
"Yeah, I can do it!" Jiang Xiaomei clenched her fists, cheered herself up, and bent down to start a new round of farming.
Jiang Jingyun was pleased to see his younger sister regain her spirits and his third brother working hard.
When the Jiang family was poor and had to work in the fields to make ends meet, the two brothers were still young, and the heavy work was done by the two older brothers. When they grew up, the Jiang family had become wealthy and there was no need for them to do these things.
It would be good to let the brother and sister experience this now, so that they would not be born into a farming family but “do not know the hardships of farming and would think that the grain in the field grows by itself. [1]”
The spring breeze was blowing, the branches and leaves were swaying, Jiang Jingyun sat on the straw mat, looking at the spring farming scene unfolding before him, and listening to the occasional human voices. His tense nerves relaxed for a rare moment, and he leaned against the tree trunk, drowsy.
In a daze, he felt someone gently covering him with clothes. He leaned in and sniffed, and it was a familiar incense. Jiang Jingyun didn't even open his eyes, and asked lazily: "You finished planting that one acre of land so quickly?"
"Yeah." Seeing that Jiang Jingyun was not asleep, Xiao Muyan sat down next to him and moved his head to his shoulder. "It's been a long time since I planted rice seedlings. I'm a little unfamiliar with it. It took a long time."
Jiang Jingyun curled his lips, moved his neck, found the most comfortable position on Xiao Muyan's shoulder, and asked him what he thought: "After years of hard work, you are still a farmer when you return. How does it feel?"
"It's okay. It feels quite novel," Xiao Muyan said with a smile, "mainly because you are here, farming is fun."
"Slippery tongue," Jiang Jingyun hummed, his brows relaxed, "but I like to hear it, hehe."
Xiao Muyan gently scratched the tip of his nose, his eyes doting: "If you like to hear me, I will tell you more later. Go back to sleep for a while. I'll keep an eye on you here, don't worry."
"Okay, then call me if you need anything." The voice gradually weakened. I turned around and saw that the person next to me had fallen asleep.
Jiang Jingyun has been running around for days, doing everything himself, and working hard just to catch up with the spring plowing. Now that things have come to a temporary conclusion, he can finally relax and take a few days off.
Leaning on Xiao Muyan, Jiang Jingyun allowed himself to fall into a deep sleep peacefully.
I had a comfortable sleep.
When she woke up, most of the Jiang family's several acres of land had been planted with seedlings, except for Jiang Xiaomei's land, which had only one-third left. She didn't want others to interfere and insisted on doing it herself. Now Jiang Jingfeng was helping others pass the seedlings back and forth.
It is estimated that it will be completed in another half an hour.
Looking at the terraced fields that were like a water mirror, dotted with green bit by bit until they covered the entire hillside, Jiang Jingyun felt joy from the bottom of his heart. This was his first successful step in Fu County.
"Qingzhu." Jiang Jingyun called.
"Hey, I'm here." Qingzhu was also covered in mud. When he heard his master calling him, he hurried forward.
"In the next two days, go around and ask around in the surrounding villages to see where there are fish fry for sale, and buy some back."
"Okay, buy a few?" Qingzhu usually ran errands outside, and when he saw Jiang Jingyun giving the order, he agreed without hesitation.
After a few seconds, Qingzhu realized that the master asked him to buy fish fry. He scratched his head and asked, "What type of fish fry does the master want? How much do you want?"
"Hmm?" Jiang Jingyun was actually not very clear about this question. He said carefully, "First, let's get 10,000 fish, about one finger long, of which grass carp and crucian carp account for 70%, carp for 10%, and the remaining 20%... Ask the fish farmers what fish can be raised with these species."
After saying that, Jiang Jingyun thought for a moment and added, "It would be even better if we could hire someone who knows how to raise fish."
"Hey, then I'll pay attention to it." Qingzhu nodded, indicating that he had taken note of it.
"Brother, are you still going to raise fish?" Jiang Xiaomei finally finished planting the field and climbed up the ridge panting. She heard Jiang Jingyun instructing Qingzhu to buy fish fry. She asked curiously, "So are we going to find a piece of land to dig a fish pond?"
"Yeah," Jiang Jingyun teased her, "Then will you still help big brother dig?"
"Hiss." Hearing that she had to do heavy work again, Jiang Xiaomei took a breath of cold air. Her weak waist seemed to be crushed by life in the next second. But looking at her brother with a tired face, she gritted her teeth and said without hesitation, "Help!"
Jiang Jingyun's eyebrows curved when he heard this. He reached out and touched the little clay figurine in front of him, and said with a smile, "I was kidding you. There's no need to dig a fish pond."
Jiang Xiaomei tilted her head in confusion, "If we don't dig a fish pond, where can we raise the fish?"
"Guess what." Jiang Jingyun played a riddle with her.
"I don't want to guess, just tell me directly, okay~ Big brother is the best~" Jiang Xiaomei used her usual trick of acting coquettishly, blinking her big eyes, grabbing Jiang Jingyun's sleeve and shaking him non-stop.
"Hey, take your dirty little hands off me, my clothes are all covered in mud." Jiang Jingyun pulled back his sleeves, but there were already two bright muddy handprints on them. "I'll ask you to wash my clothes later when we get back."
"Wash if you want, but you have to tell me the answer first, otherwise I'll print mud on you." Jiang Xiaomei pouted and was about to pounce on him.
Jiang Jingyun was so scared that he quickly hid behind Xiao Muyan.
Jiang Xiaomei chased after him relentlessly, and the two of them circled around Xiao Muyan, unable to make out what was going on for a long time.
Jiang Jingfeng, who was standing aside, was looking at the rice fields, making some vague guesses. He had been helping to deal with government affairs recently and was more familiar with the situation in Fu County.
Although Jiang Jingyun had a brilliant idea to expand arable land by reclaiming mountains, not all hills can be reclaimed. Only those with low altitudes and small slopes are suitable. At the same time, factors such as soil and water sources need to be considered. Taking all factors into consideration, the area that can actually be increased is very limited.
He hesitated and asked, "Brother, do you want to raise fish in the rice fields?"
"Huh?" Jiang Jingyun stopped and looked at his third brother in surprise. "You guessed it so quickly. You're really smart!"
Otherwise, modern capitalists all like to recruit college students as interns. Fresh brains are useful!
Also good quality and low price!
"Will this... work?" Jiang Jingfeng was a little uncertain.
Although my eldest brother always has many strange and fantastic ideas, from childhood to adulthood, anything he proposes has never failed.
When he reclaimed land on the mountain before, many people privately laughed at him for his wild idea of having the ability to reclaim land.
But the fact is, he really can!
The terraced fields in front of us are the best evidence.
The idea of raising fish in rice fields is unheard of nowadays, but if it can be done, Jiang Jingfeng can't help but feel excited. He looked at Jiang Jingyun in admiration: "How much can this increase the harvest?"
"Uh, I don't know," Jiang Jingyun said honestly, "I just thought of it when I was sleeping, and I haven't tried it yet." Mainly because I suddenly wanted to eat fried fish, and then I remembered the rice-flavored fish sold in the market in my previous life, so I came up with the idea.
After thinking about it, he turned to Qingzhu and said, "When we get back, let's go to the market first, go to the butcher's shop to buy some lard, and then buy a basket of small fish. I want the ones that are two or three fingers wide. They taste best when fried."
Qingzhu nodded in agreement and suggested, "How about frying something else, like river shrimp or dumplings?"
"Okay." Jiang Jingyun nodded, very satisfied with Qingzhu's idea. "You have worked hard in farming today, buy more and we can all eat together."
"Hey, thank you, master." Qingzhu said with a smile.
ah?
What are you talking about?
We are discussing important issues concerning people's livelihood. Is now the time to have a bite to eat?
Jiang Jingfeng opened his mouth wide, his filter for his elder brother shattered to the ground, he looked at him in disbelief, "Brother, can you be more reliable?"
"Why am I unreliable?" Jiang Jingyun looked innocent and confident, "Isn't this just what I'm trying?"
"Besides, I don't know how to raise fish, so how do I know if it will work?"
…
It's well-founded and cannot be refuted.
Jiang Jingfeng felt helpless and turned to Qingzhu and instructed: "In addition to finding people who can raise fish, look for farmers who are good at farming." As soon as he finished speaking, he felt that something was wrong. It might be difficult for Qingzhu to do it alone.
After thinking about it, he added: "You try to look for it first, and I will talk to the old county magistrate. He is more familiar with the county and may find a suitable candidate."
After saying this, he didn't wait for everyone and walked down the mountain by himself.
"What's wrong with Third Brother?" Jiang Xiaomei looked at Jiang Jingfeng's bleak back and asked in confusion, "Why are you suddenly so listless?"
"I don't know. Maybe he's too tired from work and hungry." Jiang Jingyun said unscrupulously. It was rare that his third brother cared about farm work and volunteered to run errands and pass on messages. Naturally, he was happy to relax.
"I see," Jiang Xiaomei suddenly realized, and touched her empty stomach, "Brother, let's go back too, I'm hungry too."
"Let's go," Jiang Jingyun waved his hand, "Let's go home and ask Songhua to make us something delicious."
"I'm going to have an extra bowl of rice tonight!"
"No problem, sister, you've worked hard today, great job."
"Hey, really?"
"Yeah, big brother is proud of you. Please continue to help next time."
"Okay."
Seeing Jiang Jingyun deceiving his younger sister again, Xiao Muyan smiled and shook his head. He ordered the servants to carefully collect the farm tools and then chased after him.
If I don't stop him, if Jiang Jingyun is a human trafficker, with his eloquent tongue, I would have signed the indenture contract by now.
【Author’s words】
[1] From the poem “Farmer” by Yan Renyu of the Tang Dynasty: People at that time did not understand the hardships of farmers and thought that the grains in the fields grew on their own.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
