"Brother Rui, it's a watermelon! Auntie planted watermelons for Zhouzhou!"
"Brother Rui, come quick! Come see if it's ripe! Zhouzhou wants to eat watermelon!"
Then came the crisp "bang bang" sound of little hands slapping the watermelon.
Is this cooked? Is it edible?
They were all teenagers, and when they heard this, they became interested. Cheng Rui followed Huizhou into the watermelon patch, while Cheng An and Qin Jing watched over the younger ones, telling them to stay by the edge of the vegetable garden to prevent them from trampling the seedlings.
For a moment, I was a bit flustered.
Professor Wei inside the room also looked surprised.
"The watermelon really grew big? And even bore fruit?"
The seedlings have formed, but they're planted near the edge, so I don't see them when I'm harvesting vegetables. I haven't even checked on them for several days now.
"It's knotted, but it wasn't ripe when I checked a few days ago."
Now that things had come to this point, no one could sit still any longer, and they all got up and moved to the courtyard.
"That kid really has sharp eyes. So many adults didn't notice, but he did!"
Simple with a hint of doting,
"He's been close to me since we were little. When we were over there, he knew my garden better than I did. He knew exactly what he wanted to eat and what I wanted to plant, without any hesitation."
"These watermelons, and those sweet potato stalks by the wall, were planted for them. And those dark ground cherries, they're the ones they wanted to eat, so I kept them all."
The "they" he was referring to were naturally Hui Zhou and the Cheng Rui and Cheng An brothers. After all, when they were farming, Jian Dan didn't even know the younger generation of the Qin family, so the old lady naturally wouldn't hold it against them.
"You really spoil them."
"Hehe! Kids, back then I only had a few kids around me. They just ate a little something, it didn't interfere with anything, so they ate! We grew all this stuff ourselves, how much could they eat? We could afford it!"
The old lady understood. It wasn't favoritism; it was just that there were only three at the time, and now it naturally included all her own family members, big and small.
Regardless of the value of the item, the thought behind it is truly commendable.
Cheng Rui and his brother had lived with Jian Dan for so long, being enslaved by her to do chores. They were extremely familiar with the work in the vegetable garden, and knowing that Jian Dan was generous with these things, they didn't hold back either.
Soon, they picked two watermelons, harvested them, and handed them to the old man who had come over.
"Grandpa Qin, please try this. The watermelons my sister grows are so sweet."
"Haha, okay, okay, let's try it."
"Xiao Rui, pick a few more. That row over there is cantaloupe. See if you can find any good ones."
The sugarcane should be ready by now, I hadn't even thought about it. If you're going to eat it, keep an eye on the younger ones, make sure they don't cut their hands or mouths. Kids shouldn't use knives!"
"Okay, sis. The three of us are here to keep an eye on things, so don't worry about it."
"Mom, look at me, I'm not even old yet, and I'm already being disliked."
The old lady was overjoyed.
The watermelons were transplanted after being cultivated as seedlings, and they grew quite well. However, I don't know if it was due to the soil or something else, but the same seeds seemed to have mutated. The watermelons that grew were different from those in Liujiatun. Although they were not very big, they had thin skins, bright red flesh, and were juicy and sweet.
In this weather, even if it's not chilled, the burst of sweetness and refreshing taste in your mouth makes you feel much better.
After finishing the watermelon, Professor Wei watched a group of children gathered around eating sweet potato stalks, and he felt a pang of emotion.
"Hey Jian, how do you grow these things? How come everything you plant grows so well?"
He gave a simple, dry laugh.
"Maybe it's because I'm lazy. Once I've planted them, I don't care about them anymore. I only water the furrows when I remember, and I water them thoroughly each time. Then I don't care about them for many days. Maybe I'm just tough, so the things I grow are tough too?"
After the autumn harvest, several professors began to review the shortcomings of this year and the areas that could be improved, and then planned the next year's program. Overall, this year's harvest was not very good, but it did bring people a glimmer of hope. The entire camp and family compound were filled with joy. Even though they were told that they had to continue clearing land, few people complained.
The autumn harvest comes early, and so does the vegetable garden. After watching them finish the autumn harvest, Jian Dan immediately started working on her own little vegetable garden.
Vegetables have a short growth cycle. The current situation is that these seedlings are actually in the peak blooming season, and they could still grow quite a bit. It's a pity to pick them now, but the temperature is about to drop and the ground will freeze, forcing us to harvest them in the fall.
The difference between Liujiatun and Liujiatun is simple: besides the fact that these vegetables had to be harvested, another obvious difference is that the autumn vegetables could not be planted.
After all, you have to harvest the first crop in the garden before you can make room to plant autumn vegetables. Now that the first crop is already finished, there's no way to think about a second crop. Of course, with this climate, there's nothing you can do about it.
So Jian Dan has already started worrying about how to pickle sauerkraut.
Actually, the other family members were very happy, especially the newcomers. In their impression, vegetables couldn't be grown here. Of course, other people's vegetables were also just average, but being able to harvest some was much better than they had expected.
The entire residential compound was bustling with activity.
Jian Dan's vegetable garden was quite large, and she spent a whole day tidying it up. Then it was the weekend, and Cheng Rui and Cheng An came over without saying a word, followed by Qin Ming and Qin Guan leading a few kids. The old lady was also tidying up, with two guards, and Qin Jing stayed to help.
The women chatted as they worked.
"Sister, do we need to dry all these vegetables?"
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