Chapter 41: Reclamation of Rice Fields
She had completely forgotten that there was a road around the mountain leading to the top.
Speaking of the ring road around the mountain, Zhao Yeqing talked to Mu Xi about the infected person at that time.
"I don't know if there are any of his colleagues on the ring road. If there are, there will be another body there."
When Mu Xi heard that Zhao Yeqing had killed an infected person by himself, he felt a tight breath in his chest. He couldn't tell whether he was relieved or sad.
"I'll go check it out some other day."
Fortunately, the stumps of the trees that Zhao Yeqing cut down were not very big, so digging them was not particularly difficult.
She was responsible for loosening the soil near the roots of the tree. It took a lot of strength to lift up the entire root, but she was not very good at it, and neither was the hoe.
She found two steel bars left over from previous construction, inserted one end under the tree stump, and pressed down with the other end. She almost sat on it, and the stump was only raised a little bit.
After Mu Xi finished sawing the tree stump, he pushed Zhao Yeqing away and said, "Go and draw the boundary of the field ridge."
Rice fields are sunken so that they can store water. The soil around them needs to be raised to form ridges, and it is best to tamp them down to prevent them from collapsing when people walk on them after it rains.
After drawing the scope, Zhao Yeqing started digging from the edge and piled the excavated soil on the edge to make ridges. The scope she drew was a square, and after digging in circles, she pried out all the tree stumps on Mu Xi's side.
“So soon?”
"There are still tree roots underground. Let's see if we can dig them all out when we dig the ground." Mu Xi pulled the hem of his clothes and wiped the sweat off his face.
Zhao Yeqing saw from the corner of his eye that there seemed to be several bulges on his abdomen.
It seems like more than six pieces...
No wonder it's so fast.
Zhao Yeqing clicked his tongue twice and secretly cursed at the guy for being a show-off.
The tree stump brought out a lot of soil, leaving behind three pits. Zhao Yeqing walked over to take a look and saw a lot of small earthworms in the pits.
Although she is not afraid of earthworms, everything that is densely packed together will give her goose bumps.
The only things she had seen in pictures online that didn’t make her feel uncomfortable were the gold bars in the bank.
Densely packed and pleasing to the eye.
It is difficult to cultivate rice fields. They don’t have plows or harrows and can only use basic tools.
A plow harrow is a combination tool with a plow in front and a harrow in the back. The front is used for plowing and the back is used for leveling.
According to the normal procedure of plowing a field, you must first use a plow to deeply turn the soil. The front of the plow is like the arrowhead of an arrow, which can penetrate deeply into the soil. They don't have it, so they can only use a hoe to dig deeper. This takes a longer time, but it can be done.
Then she used a rake to level the ground. She could use the spike rake she had bought before, the one used for weeding, to break up the hard clods of soil and then level them.
It is not deep enough to just dig the ground with a hoe. You need to lift it up high and then lower it to dig deeper. Repeat this five or six times in one place before it is considered dug well.
After digging for five minutes, Zhao Yeqing looked up and saw that he had not dug even half a square meter.
At the rate she was going, it would probably take her thirty hours to finish digging in the ground. If she took a break in the middle, it would probably take her even a week to finish digging in such a small area.
Thinking of this, the look she gave Mu Xi became a little more friendly.
As soon as Mu Xi looked up, he saw Zhao Yeqing's eyes and found it a little funny. "What are you doing? Go back to look after your rabbit when you are tired."
"Okay!" Zhao Yeqing was not polite at all. She evaluated herself and decided that with her physical strength, even if she stayed there until dark today, she would not be able to dig a few meters. She would be so tired that she would not be able to lift her arms tomorrow and would not be able to do anything.
It would be better to go home to cook, feed the chickens, geese and rabbits, and wait for Mu Xi to come home and take a shower before helping with the laundry.
Living in the mountains, it gets dark late in the summer. On the south side, after four or five in the afternoon, although it is still bright, the sun has already been blocked behind the mountain.
Zhao Yeqing spread the prepared water and fertilizer into the vegetable garden and sprayed Qingkulike on the leaves.
There was finally some wind in the mountains now. Zhao Yeqing lifted the tent cloth to let the wind blow over the plants.
Crops like peppers and tomatoes do not need bees to pollinate after flowering. They can self-pollinate. All they need is wind to blow the stamens and the pollen will be blown up to complete the pollination.
Yesterday’s rabbit had been eaten, so today Zhao Yeqing planned to make the three dishes that Mu Xi had ordered for dinner.
She walked into the vegetable garden. The sweet potato vines were now growing very lush. After the heavy rain, other vegetables were a little sluggish, but sweet potatoes were the exception.
She found the most luxuriant one and gently dug up the soil next to it. If there was no sweet potato underneath, she could fill it with soil to avoid damaging it and allow it to continue growing.
Zhao Yeqing dug up the soil along the sweet potato vines and saw a few red potato tips sticking out. She reached in and felt them with her fingers. They were about two finger widths in size.
It’s not impossible.
Although it's a bit of a pity, they will definitely produce some good potatoes when they grow up, but the workload today is too heavy, and Zhao Yeqing wants to reward the farmer brother who works hard in the fields.
A small portion of sweet potato shreds requires about four or five small sweet potatoes. The one she touched seemed to have more than four or five. After digging out the required number, she filled the soil back.
Steam the rice first when you get home.
The white ginseng mushrooms picked the day before yesterday are still in the basket. The taste of this kind of mushroom is very special and very chewy, like eating some kind of jerky.
The white ginseng mushroom looks like a large one, but it is actually a collection of small mushrooms gathered together. You need to pick them off one by one and wash them.
Beat four eggs, put the washed white ginseng mushrooms in the egg liquid and add salt.
Normally, stir-fried fish is made with sour radish. Since there is no sour radish at home, Zhao Yeqing plans to stir-fry it with sour cabbage stalks, which will also be crispy.
The previously dried small fish need to be rubbed with oil again so that they can be crispy inside and out.
First, stir-fry the scallions, peppers, garlic and chili in the hot oil, then add the small fish. The kitchen was instantly filled with fragrance. Zhao Yeqing sniffed and was unexpectedly choked by the chili.
When the fish turns golden brown, you can put the chopped sauerkraut stalks in. The sauerkraut itself has a salty taste, so add a little sugar to enhance the flavor and you can serve it.
When the rice was steamed, Zhao Yeqing shouted outside that it was almost time to eat.
After getting a response, I put the egg liquid with white ginseng mushrooms into the pot. When the eggs are cooked, the white ginseng mushrooms inside will also be cooked.
From the kitchen window she saw Mu Xi had returned and was standing by the sink washing things, so she started frying the sweet potatoes in the pan.
The sweet potato cubes are peeled in advance and coated with starch. After being fried in a pan, a crispy shell will form on the outer skin.
The fried sweet potatoes cannot be kept for a long time, the syrup must be boiled out immediately. If the sweet potatoes are cold, they will not be able to be shredded when put into the syrup.
Put white sugar into the pot, add water and boil until it melts. Bubbles will begin to emerge from the sugar water in the pot. Zhao Yeqing stands by the pot and stirs it constantly with a spoon until the bubbles disappear and the syrup gradually turns amber.
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