“Let’s get started,” Lin Chaosheng nodded. “We need to prepare the materials for the greenhouse first.”
"What do you mean? None of us have ever ridden one before." The group looked at each other blankly.
Lin Chaosheng vaguely remembered seeing a TV program about watermelon greenhouses, thanks to his memories from his previous life.
"What did they say back then?" Lin Chaosheng tried hard to recall.
Finally, he remembered all the building materials for the watermelon greenhouse from that documentary.
Just as Lin Chaosheng was about to talk about those materials, he suddenly realized that it was 1961 now, and with such advanced technology in the future, the materials used would naturally be different from those used now.
So he thought hard and finally came up with a similar substitute.
"In that case, we need to prepare a lot of bamboo poles first, and then we need to prepare more reed mats and oil paper," Lin Chaosheng instructed.
These things are very common, and everyone confidently took on the task as soon as they heard it.
"Brother, will what you're saying be of any use?" Lin Shansheng asked doubtfully.
Although they had never known what a watermelon greenhouse actually looked like, the materials Lin Chaosheng described seemed too ordinary, which made them somewhat suspicious.
"Don't worry, it will definitely be useful. We can't waste any more time, let's hurry up and find the materials," Lin Chaosheng urged.
Only then did everyone temporarily put aside their doubts and search everywhere for materials to build the greenhouse.
Lin Shansheng and Lin Shanhai planned to go up the mountain to cut some bamboo to make bamboo poles, but Lin Chaosheng rejected the idea.
Lin Chaosheng figured that since they had money now, they might as well buy some on the black market. If they waited until the two of them cut down the bamboo and then trimmed the bamboo poles, both the bamboo and the watermelon seedlings would die.
So Lin Shansheng and Lin Shanhai went to a black market in the county and bought a large number of bamboo poles.
Suning was racking his brains. Although his supply and marketing cooperative had a lot of oil paper, it wasn't enough to cover the watermelon greenhouse.
So he sought help from Lin Chaosheng. Lin Chaosheng was at his wit's end, so he took the materials home and asked Zhao Shufang and the others to help him make oil paper.
"I'm so sorry, Chaosheng, we really don't have enough oil paper, but we do have enough kraft paper and mulberry paper," Su Ning said apologetically.
Lin Chaosheng quickly shook his head, "What are you saying? You've already helped me so much!"
Su Ning still felt bad, so she and Zhao Shufang and the others started brushing the oil paper together.
As for the reed mat, it could only be made by the whole family working together.
When Lin Shansheng and Lin Shanhai returned home with a large cartload of bamboo poles, they found the whole family diligently weaving mats and applying oil paper.
They quickly put their things down and started helping each other.
"What exactly are you guys up to? Why are you making it so mysterious?" Zhao Shufang couldn't help but ask curiously.
Lin Chaosheng thought that since they were all family, there was no point in hiding anything, so he explained, "Mom, we are planning to build a large greenhouse for watermelons, which will be used specifically for growing watermelons in the future."
"What? A watermelon greenhouse?" Liang Fu's jaw almost dropped in astonishment.
Feeling that the price wasn't very high and the product wasn't reliable, Liang Mei hurriedly asked, "Can you really grow watermelons?"
"Don't worry," Lin Shansheng said, looking at the incredulous faces of Zhao Shufang and the others. "I went to check on them today. My older brother has already planted watermelon seedlings, and there's a huge patch of them. If you don't believe me, just ask Brother Su Ning."
Su Ning nodded hurriedly, "Yes, I can testify that I was really startled when I went to the fields today."
This piqued the curiosity of Liang Fu and the others, and they all begged Lin Chaosheng to show them the watermelon seedlings.
"Of course I'll take you to see it, but our most important task right now is to get this watermelon greenhouse ready, otherwise the watermelon seedlings will freeze to death," Lin Chaosheng quickly assured him.
Sure enough, many hands make light work, and the group managed to finish preparing all the materials for building the watermelon greenhouse before nightfall.
"Look how busy I am, I don't even have time to make dinner," Zhao Shufang said with annoyance, looking at the setting sun.
"It's alright, Mom. How about you make us some potato pancakes and wontons? I didn't get enough of them last time." Lin Shansheng licked his lips, recalling the delicious breakfast from that morning.
"Then let me help you, Mom." Liang Mei quickly pulled Zhao Shufang's hand and led her into the kitchen.
“Alright, then let’s show them what we can do today.” Zhao Shufang rolled up her sleeves and prepared to mince the meat.
Before long, the two brought out bowls of steaming wontons and a large plate of potato pancakes that were bigger than the individual plates.
"I can't take it anymore! Nobody can take it from me, I want to be the first to eat it!" Lin Shansheng pounced on the pork wontons like a hungry wolf.
After dinner, Liang Mei lay in bed chatting with Lin Chaosheng, still feeling uneasy. "Chaosheng, is what you two do really okay?"
Lin Chaosheng hugged Liang Mei and gently patted her shoulder, "Don't worry, I'll let you eat your fill of watermelon!"
Liang Mei chuckled to herself and soon drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, before dawn, Lin Shansheng was already bursting with energy, urging Lin Chaosheng to hurry up and help him build the watermelon greenhouse.
"No rush, no rush, can't you let me sleep a little longer?" Lin Chaosheng complained.
Lin Shansheng's mind is now filled with watermelons. Last night he even dreamed that he was lying on a pile of watermelons, with one in his left hand and one in his right, and a glass of watermelon juice in front of him.
"No, no, what if someone sees us later?" Lin Shansheng didn't dare to say what he was thinking aloud; he didn't want to get beaten up first thing in the morning.
Lin Chaosheng thought to himself that it was a good idea to finish this matter as soon as possible to avoid future troubles.
Not long after breakfast, the two of them took a carload of materials and went to the watermelon field to start building the greenhouse.
Unexpectedly, Master Su Ning was already waiting for them there.
"Chaosheng, let's start now." Su Ning was very excited.
"Okay, let's first stick the bamboo poles into the ground, bend them into an arch shape, and space each one about one meter apart," Lin Chaosheng instructed.
Upon hearing this, Lin Shansheng and Su Ning each took one end of a bamboo pole and stood opposite each other, forcefully pushing the bamboo poles into the ground.
Lin Chaosheng was driving wooden stakes into the ground and then tightly tying the bamboo poles that had just been inserted into the ground to the stakes with hemp rope.
After repeating this process more than ten times, the three of them finally managed to build the basic structure of the watermelon greenhouse.
"My god, it's so hot today, I feel like I'm about to faint." Lin Shansheng grabbed a bottle of water from the side and gulped it down, then took off his shirt to wipe his sweat.
Suning couldn't take it anymore and took a big gulp of water. "It feels like it's over 30 degrees Celsius today."
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