Chapter 244: 233: Returning to My Mother's Home (Part 2)
Zhou Huaian followed behind the mother and daughter. Looking at Yang Chunyan who was holding her mother-in-law's hand tightly, he felt jealous. My wife has never walked with me like this before!
The three of them walked for more than half an hour and finally arrived at a creek. There were people grazing cattle on the grass by the river and a little boy walking naked towards the ditch. When he saw someone coming, he hurriedly sat in the water.
After crossing the stone bridge and walking a few dozen meters, you will reach the corn field at the foot of the mountain. There are only less than two acres left of the seven or eight acres of corn field.
Yang's mother pointed at the fruit trees on the hillside and said, "Your eldest brother hired more than a dozen people and worked for two months to plant the seedlings. The fruit tree seedlings cost a lot of money. The grafted white peach and pear seedlings bear fruit quickly. Cherries and loquats will have to wait a few years before they can be harvested."
Yang Chunyan looked at the 20 to 30 mu of land on the slope and thought for a while, "I can ask my brother to collect some common herbal seeds and spread them under the forest. Some of them can also prevent and control pests!"
After hearing this, Yang's mother smiled and said, "That's a good idea. Are you planning to plant fruit trees and herbs as well?"
Yang Chunyan: "We plan to plant trees such as Chinaberry, Magnolia officinalis, and Cassia bark, and the rest will be used to grow medicinal herbs."
Mother Yang glanced at her and said, "You forgot. When you heard from Doctor Wang that he wanted to grow herbs, you went up the mountain to dig some seedlings to plant in the backyard vegetable garden. But it seems that they are not easy to grow."
As they were talking, the three of them arrived at the corn field where the corn had not yet been harvested, and saw Brother Yang cutting corn stalks.
Mrs. Yang came out of the corn field wearing a straw hat. After greeting Zhou Huaian, she looked at Yang Chunyan and said happily, "Your brother said he would take time to send you some watermelons and cantaloupes!"
Yang Chunyan looked at her young and pretty sister-in-law with a smile, "I knew the watermelons and cantaloupes at home were ripe in the next two days, so I hurried back."
"The first harvest this year was pretty good. We sent it to the town to sell twice, but the price wasn't very good. Wang Zhen called your eldest brother and said he had contacted the vendors in the city and asked us to send a few hundred kilograms."
"The price in the city is much better. We sent all our early-maturing corn to the city this year and sold the tender corn at 10 cents per pound."
Mrs. Yang smiled and said, "Your land is lower. By the time our early-maturing corn comes out, the late-maturing corn below you will be almost ripe."
Mother Yang looked at her daughter-in-law and Yang Chunyan in a reproachful manner, "You two, aunt and sister-in-law, always have endless things to talk about when you get together."
"Okay, let's stop talking. I'll go pick two melons for Chunyan and my brother-in-law." Mrs. Yang said as she walked towards the melon field in front of Yang Chunyan.
Yang Chunyan said to Zhou Huaian, "I will go pick cantaloupes with my sister-in-law, and you go help my brother cut corn stalks."
"Yes!" Zhou Huaian took the knife and left.
Yang Chunyan and Mrs. Yang arrived at the melon field and saw a melon shed next to it. "Do we have to keep watch at night?"
"Well! There are fewer people growing watermelons in town this year. A large watermelon can be sold for more than one yuan. People with bad intentions have already been targeting it."
"Our early-maturing corn was stolen twice."
"Those who slack off before signing on to the contractors are even more shameless. The white peaches from the Liu family in the team were stolen in one night."
The Yang family grows white-skinned melons. Among the emerald green leaves, you can see oval, white and shiny small melons.
Mrs. Yang picked a ripe cantaloupe and handed it to Yang Chunyan, "Smell it, the fragrance is so pleasant."
Yang Chunyan took in a fresh melon fragrance, like a cool breeze in summer, which made people feel happy. "Yeah! I feel refreshed."
Mrs. Yang said proudly: "You can just slap it and it will split open. Just chew it directly."
After hearing this, Yang Chunyan slapped it and started to eat it. "It's delicious, sweet and fragrant!"
It’s not the kind of sickly sweet taste that comes from absorbing saccharin, but the pure sweetness of melons and fruits.
She took several bites in succession, filling her mouth with the crispy and sweet flesh. Only after she had finished the melon in her hand did she lick the corner of her mouth contentedly, savoring the unforgettable sweetness.
Mrs. Yang came out holding a few cantaloupes and looked at her with a smile, "I know you will like it."
"Mm! So delicious!" Yang Chunyan took two and smiled, "I'll plant some next year too!"
Mrs. Yang smiled and nodded, "I'll grow seedlings for you when the time comes."
"Yes!" The aunt and sister-in-law arrived at the corn field, called Zhou Huaian and the other two, and sat on the corn stalks to start eating.
Zhou Huaian applauded repeatedly, "This is just right for eating on a day like this."
Yang Chunyan burped, "It's delicious! I ate one by the melon field."
Brother Yang smiled and said, "If you like them, pick some more to take back tomorrow."
Yang Chunyan nodded heavily, "Yes! I'm not polite."
After they finished eating, they started working again.
The mother and daughter entered the corn field. Mother Yang said to Yang Chunyan with satisfaction: "I think Huai'an is much more stable this time compared to when he came during the Dragon Boat Festival."
Mrs. Yang also smiled and nodded, "You work much more efficiently now, not like before when you were sneaky and sly."
Yang Chunyan laughed after hearing this. "Yeah! He has changed since the last accident. He goes up the mountain with me to look for herbs every day. He pushes a chicken bus to deliver herbs to Ning'an before dawn every day. He also found a business collecting eels and selling vegetables."
Mother Yang said with relief: "I told you that Huai'an is not a bad person by nature. It's just that there are too many people working at home, so they spoiled him and made him lazy. Look, he's sensible now."
Mrs. Yang was also very happy. "The Zhou family is as harmonious as ours. With Huai'an's change, Yan'er will live a comfortable life in the future."
The three of them were chatting while working, and Brother Yang was also asking Zhou Huaian about growing herbs.
Zhou Huaian told him about their plan. Brother Yang thought it was feasible and planned to collect some herbal seeds and spread them in the orchard to increase his income.
"Huaian, this year I planted two acres of watermelons and one acre of cantaloupe. I went to town twice to sell them. The watermelons were 10 cents and 10 cents per pound."
Brother Yang paused for a moment and said, "I estimate that one acre of land can yield 1,400 to 1,600 kilograms of watermelon, and one acre of land can be sold for more than 100 yuan."
Zhou Huaian thinks it is much better than growing corn. "I don't have sandy land at home, otherwise I could grow two acres."
Brother Yang thought for a moment and said, "I think Chunyan's idea is very good. We should sow some herbs that bring quick returns first, so that we have time and money to plant herbs that bring slow returns but have high economic benefits."
"When you go to collect herbs, you should also observe the growing environment of each herb. I think after you plant the Magnolia officinalis and cinnamon trees, you can spread some Tripterygium wilfordii, Epimedium brevicornum, and Paris polyphylla in the forest. These herbs like to grow in the shade of the forest."
"Also, there is no need to move all the rocks and trees in the mountains. You can transplant some herbs such as olive, bone-breaking holly, and selaginella that like to grow on rocks and trees."
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com