Chapter 116 I’ll beat him up next time I see him!
The oxen for plowing the fields and the plows for loosening the soil were rented at a high price. Every day's delay meant a day's loss of silver. In order to finish the work in the shortest time possible and save a little money, Xu Yu almost welded himself to death in the field. He could hardly find a way to put down his rolled-up trouser legs.
In the end, we got a rough idea. The old ox was breathing heavily with its nostrils wide open. It’s hard to say what would happen to the people if they continued to endure it, but the ox would definitely go crazy first.
Sang Zhixia came back after checking the fields and saw the old man holding the record book in his hands with a happy look in his eyes.
"It's better than we initially expected, and the rice seeds are growing faster."
Just over a month after sowing the seeds, the ice and snow outside the greenhouse were still unmelted, but green seedlings had already grown under the greenhouse, raising their lush green heads with vigor. In the warmth supplied by the kang, they scrambled to raise their heads, showing the vitality that in previous years could only be seen after the spring breeze thawed the ice.
The old man still remembered what Sang Zhixia had said, and he couldn't help laughing as he said, "Miss Xia said that when the seedlings grow to two palms long, they can be divided and transplanted. At the current rate, it will be almost done in half a month at most."
Xu Yu bent down and scooped up a handful of water from the paddy field to wash the dirt off his hands. He squinted his eyes at the thriving rice seedlings in front of him and said, "I heard from Zhizhi that transplanting the seedlings will be another hassle. I'll find time to chop some more firewood for later use."
"It's time to prepare in advance."
The old man said thoughtfully, "The reason why the seedlings in the shed are growing well is all thanks to the kang that is kept warm day and night. Otherwise, our farming would not have been able to start months ahead of the weather."
"Let's prepare first. If we don't have enough, we can just hire some help. The fire in the kang can't be extinguished until spring comes and the weather gets warmer."
The old man's whole mind is now on the seedlings in the field. In addition, he has some money available, so he speaks more generously than before.
He was about to say something, but on second thought he swallowed his words. Looking at Sang Zhixia, who was standing on the opposite ridge across the paddy field, he said loudly, "Xia girl, I asked the village chief about the wild rice you mentioned earlier and found out a little bit. He said that it grows better by the river at the east end of the village in previous years. Would you like to take some time to go and have a look?"
Everything has its own home and is raised by nature, and rice is no exception.
But rice is precious, and the seedlings need half water and half dryness to grow. It is often difficult to produce rice ears if they are grown naturally. They wither and turn yellow after they emerge for a while, and it is difficult for them to grow well.
The old man didn't know why Sang Zhixia was asking around about this.
However, when it comes to farming, the experience Sang Zhixia gained from miscellaneous books is obviously better than the sage books read by everyone in the Xu family. But anyone who can ask Sang Zhixia, even the old man who has the final say, never makes a dictatorial decision.
Sang Zhixia reached out and swished the muddy water in the paddy field, saying thoughtfully, "The ice and snow outside haven't melted yet. I'm afraid I won't be able to find the whereabouts even if I look for it. There's no rush."
"Let's wait until the seedlings in the field are divided and the appropriate mother plant is selected."
When she selected the first batch of rice seeds, she specially bought samples from different places. She just waited for the first batch of seedlings in the greenhouse to form ears, and observed the differences in the appearance and characteristics of the ears of different marked rice seeds, and then she could choose what she wanted from them.
Sang Zhixia roughly estimated the duration in her mind, then deftly grabbed the clothes Xu Yu had taken off and piled on the ridge, wiped the water off her hands, and said, "Three months."
"In three months at most, we'll be able to harvest the rice seedlings in our fields. By then, the wild rice outside will probably have sprouted as well. We can go then."
"But we can't stop buying rice seeds from other places. It would be best if we could buy some from different places. We'll try to have two batches a year, and plant a variety of different varieties in each batch."
The more categories that can be observed, the broader the data that can be obtained.
However, she was unable to purchase rice seeds from different regions and could only leave it to the more powerful old man and Xu Yu.
Neither Xu Yu nor the old man could understand why she insisted on buying so many rice seeds, but it was not a very difficult thing.
The old man has been in the court for his entire life and has countless disciples spread all over the place. It might be difficult for him to ask for other things, but it is not difficult to ask those who have received favors from the Xu family to secretly send some local rice seeds here.
He smiled and said, "Don't worry about that. I sent a letter to someone I trust a few days ago. If you wait a while, the things you want will be delivered soon."
"It's almost time for today. Your uncle has already gone home. Let's pack up and go home."
Xu Yu walked around the ridge of the field, grabbed the clothes that Sang Zhixia had wiped her hands on, and put them on very naturally. He took the basket from her hand and said, "Let's go home."
It was already late when they got home, but what they smelled at the door was not the aroma of food that wafted in on time as usual, but the sobbing of a little baby that he couldn't suppress.
It sounded like more than one person was crying.
Xu Yu raised his eyebrows and pushed the door open, and he found several little ones with red noses crying in the yard. Even Xu Jinxi, who was still three months away from turning two years old, was not missed.
The four little ones stood in a row neatly, facing each other were Xu Wenxiu and others who looked like they had a headache, while the old lady sat behind the doorstep with a sneer on her face.
The sneer at the corner of her lips had been brewing for who knows how long, and it completely broke out when she saw the old man come in. It was obvious that she was just taking advantage of the situation.
"I told you that if you let these little ones run wild, they'd get into trouble sooner or later, but you didn't believe any of them. Now you believe in evil, don't you?"
She jabbed her fingers at the four little ones in the air like crazy and said, "Look at this! What does this look like?"
"Boys and girls, big and small, just rushed over and rolled up their sleeves to fight with the other kids! They even beat up the kids' parents so badly that they had to come to their house! Is this even acceptable?! Where have they forgotten all the rules they learned?"
"Especially Yanran from the Third House! Jinxi is still young, but how old are you? A girl who is almost nine years old, in a family that planned earlier, she should have been engaged! And you actually brought your brothers and sisters to fight like a wild girl! Do you still have the appearance of a virgin? Do you still remember your identity?!"
"This is ridiculous! This is the good kid you guys have taught us!"
Ever since the old lady asked to take Xu Yanran and Xu Jinxi under her wing to educate them but was rejected, she looked at her three daughters-in-law with disdain and wanted to vent her long-accumulated anger at any opportunity, preferably by poking a hole in their foreheads with her fingers.
But as soon as she finished scolding him, Xu Mingyang said unconvincedly with red eyes: "Grandma, what did you say Sister Yanran about?"
"I was the one who started the fight! That brat from the Wang family deserves a beating!"
"I'm not just going to beat him up this time! I'll beat him up next time I see him!"
“That’s right!”
Three-year-old Xu Mingxu grabbed Xu Yanran's hand, hunched his neck and shouted in a show of strength: "Third brother is right, we will beat him up next time!"
"How dare you talk back?!"
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