After sitting down and chatting with Chen Zaohua, Li Xiangdong felt like he had found a treasure.
It turns out that Chen Zaohua not only knows how to cultivate clivia, but the area around her and her ex-husband's hometown, Qianjiang County's Forty-Eight Bays, is also famous for its five-needle pine bonsai.
Japanese white pine, native to Japan, has always been a precious tree species in landscaping due to its dense and beautiful needles and its gnarled and vigorous trunk.
Sishibawan Village is located on the eastern foothills of Siming Mountain and the northwest of Xuedou Mountain. The entire village is built against the mountain, backed by a ten-mile cliff, and situated between Qianzhangyan and Xufuyan. The village is located in a hilly area with an altitude of over 500 meters, with acidic red soil and a humid climate with frequent cloud cover, which is very suitable for the growth of five-needle pine.
"Xiao Lei's great-grandfather made five-needle pine bonsai, but the whole village of Forty-Eight Bays is in the flower and tree business."
As Chen Zaohua spoke, a glint of light flashed in her eyes.
The years she spent with her ex-husband Fu Quanjun in Sishibawan Village were the only bright years of her life so far.
“I heard from the whole army that in 1920, Fu Furu, the ancestor of the Fu family, introduced Japanese five-needle pine and successfully grafted it with local black pine scions. From then on, the entire village of Sishibawan started to do flower and tree business.”
Li Xiangdong asked curiously, "Then why have you come to Huichuan County again?"
With skills in bonsai making and grafting precious flowers and trees, why did you become a construction worker?
Chen Zaohua wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes. "The events of that time are hard to explain. In short, the authorities didn't allow us to make bonsai, and nobody was buying bonsai. We couldn't make a living, so we came out to beg for food."
Li Xiangdong knew that Chen Zaohua wasn't telling the truth, but he had no interest in investigating her secrets. Knowing that she could grow clivia and was related to five-needle pine was enough for him.
Li Xiangdong said sincerely, "Sister Zaohua, I have a favor to ask, I wonder if you could help me."
Chen Zaohua smiled shyly, "I owe you so many favors, and I don't know how to repay them. If there's anything I can do to help, just say so!"
"Sister Zaohua, you know I bought a lot of clivia from Changchun, but I don't know how to grow them. I'd like to hire you to work at my flower and tree nursery. Would you be willing?"
Li Xiangdong tapped his right index finger rapidly and rhythmically on the table. He usually did this when his mind was working at lightning speed.
"The salary is fifty a month, including meals and accommodation. A year-end bonus will be given depending on the situation. Your job is to take good care of the flowers, how about that?"
Chen Zaohua was a little taken aback, "Fifty yuan a month?"
"Yes, fifty yuan."
This wage level is definitely not low, and it even approaches the middle to high level of local workers.
Chen Zaohua waved her hands repeatedly, "No need, no need! Why do you need to give me so much money? It's just growing flowers, right? I'll take care of them for you. There's no need to pay me a salary! No salary, really no need!"
Li Xiangdong chuckled, "We're not just raising this batch of clivias; there are also five-needle pines to come, and even more flower and seedlings to come. So, we have to pay wages. You're the third employee of our flower and tree base. If the base grows bigger and stronger in the future, you'll even have shares!"
That's right, Li Xiangdong has changed his mind about making a quick buck and now he wants to build a flower and tree base!
Chen Zaohua didn't know what shares were, but after hearing Li Xiangdong say that, she inexplicably felt that the future was bright, hopeful, and full of vitality.
"Okay!"
Chen Zaohua no longer declined and readily agreed.
When are we going to see the clivia?
Li Xiangdong didn't expect Chen Zaohua to be such an impatient person, but the clivia is in very bad condition right now, so it's better to do it sooner rather than later!
"Go now. Pack your things and take Xiao Leizi with you. Oh, and Sister Zaohua, you can stay with my older sister when you get there."
Although his house was large, he was a grown man, and it wouldn't look good to take in a mother and child. His eldest sister, Li Lan, had a spare room, which would be perfect for Chen Zaohua and her child.
Grandma Jiang was bored at home these days, so she decided to go out and see what was going on with them.
Just then, Doctor Gu arrived and immediately said he wanted to go to Lijiapo to check on the cultivation of Chinese medicinal herbs. So, the group of several people rode in a oxcart driven by a flood and returned to Li Xiangdong's house.
————
Guo Haiguang and Li Jinshan squatted in the room where the clivia was kept, facing each other in silence, their faces full of sorrow.
"Old Guo, what are we going to do? Xiang Dong has spent so much money, and it looks like we're about to lose it all."
"Hey, we raised them exactly as the instructions on the water said!"
"Could it be that your grandson misread the word?"
Li Jinshan raised an eyebrow, recalling a possibility.
I heard that Yu Xi is a terrible student and is often punished by the teacher to stand in the corner. I wonder if this kind of academic failure doesn't even know the words in the book and just reads them off!
Guo Haiguang was still somewhat reluctant to admit it, "My grandson is a very good student, he often gets 100 points on tests, how could he possibly misread it?"
"Hey! I was just kidding. I once heard Yangyang say that your Yuxi got a 10 on a test, and he added a 0 to the end with a red pen. You were so happy and gave him a dollar as a reward!"
Guo Haiguang immediately exploded, "When did this happen?! Why are you only telling me now?"
Li Jinshan then realized he had let something slip and quickly restrained his furious old partner, saying with a smile, "Perhaps I remembered wrong. It wasn't Yu Xi, ah, right! It wasn't Yu Xi, it was someone else..."
The two old men were completely unaware that they had gone off-topic. Just as they were arguing, Li Xiangdong returned with Chen Zaohua and her group.
Looking at the room full of clivia plants and the roaring firecracker stove inside, Chen Zaohua immediately got into the zone.
"The stove in the room is burning too brightly, and the temperature is too high. The clivia thinks it's summer, so it goes dormant. Hmm, you see, these clivia have stopped growing and don't need water or fertilizer at all."
He ran his fingers through the soil and said, "You've applied too much fertilizer and water. Clivia should be watered only when the soil is dry to the touch; otherwise, the roots will easily rot."
Looking around, I realized, "The room is too crowded. The clivia by the window is getting too much sun, while the clivia in other places don't get any light. It's impossible for them to bloom like this."
Hearing Chen Zaohua speak so eloquently, Li Jinshan immediately asked with delight, "Girl, you know how to grow clivia?"
Chen Zaohua nodded, "Grandpa, my maternal grandfather worked at the state-run nursery. I wouldn't say I know how to raise them, but I've seen my maternal grandfather raise them."
Guo Haiguang was overjoyed; these clivia plants could be saved!
"Oh dear, girl, don't be modest. This is a skill passed down through your family, a skill inherited from your ancestors!"
Then, beaming with energy, she called out to Li Jinshan, "Old buddy, didn't you hear what the girl said? You can't put clivia plants by the window, hurry up and move them down..."
"Yes, the furnace also needs to be extinguished. A temperature difference between day and night is necessary to extract the flower buds..."
"..."
The two of them talked as they worked nimbly, their old faces glowing, as if the wrinkles on their foreheads had disappeared.
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