Chapter 52 Playing in the Mud: My brother even let his wife from the big city...
Li Jianzhi and his son set up the basic framework of the vegetable garden, built a chicken coop, used a fence as a barrier, and a simple bamboo gate to make it easier for the chickens to go out. It was a completely handmade construction site.
For places where climbing plants like loofah are to be planted, a tripod is first erected using bamboo poles. Tomatoes and leafy greens are planted alternately with basil and mint, with bamboo strips inserted in advance to determine the planting location.
Qin Xiangxiang watched him plan the planting site from the side. On the one hand, she thought he was making a fuss over nothing; on the other hand, she was also looking forward to the vegetable garden at home in the future.
Many people's vegetable gardens are just haphazardly planted, with extremely poor management. They plant whatever they can, and if it doesn't grow, they just leave it. There's no planning involved at all.
In her dream, Qin Xiangxiang's vegetable garden wasn't doing very well, but later she wanted to plant flowers. When she planted the flowers, she found that a vegetable had grown next to one of them. The flowers weren't growing well, but the vegetable was inexplicably growing vigorously. Seeing that the vegetable was growing well, Qin Xiangxiang couldn't bear to pull it out, so she just let the flower grow there half-dead.
Bamboo is the cheapest building material. It's free; you can just cut some down and split it to make bamboo weaving, as well as bamboo chicken coops and fences. Bamboo grows rapidly, and the more you cut, the more there is, especially in early spring when bamboo shoots emerge.
There's an exaggerated saying that goes something like this: if you go to see bamboo shoots in the morning, they're still bamboo shoots, but by evening, they've already grown taller than a person.
There are also some rural stories that scare children. They say that whether you're defecating in the wild or in a latrine, you have to be careful if there are bamboo trees underneath, otherwise, while you're defecating, bamboo tips will shoot up and poke your butt.
While these are all exaggerations, bamboo is generally never planted next to a house. If bamboo is planted, a buffer zone should be built between the house and the house. This is because bamboo has a well-developed root system. If you find bamboo growing under the house, you should be careful that the house might collapse due to the bamboo. This is how some lazy people's houses have collapsed.
“If our vegetable garden doesn’t grow well, it’s because you, the regimental commander, are incompetent, and you, the common soldier, are incompetent at your job.” Qin Xiangxiang originally didn’t want to do it herself, but seeing the father and son building the fence, she couldn’t help but join in. However, before starting the work, she preemptively shifted the blame.
No matter what, it's not her fault as a little drama queen.
Li Jianzhi: "You're no good as political commissar; you're damaging morale."
Upon hearing his father criticize his mother, the chubby boy immediately perked up and mimicked his father's words: "Mom, you're no good! You're demoralizing!"
“Our little chubby is the main force, the only precious and reliable warrior. No one can do without you. From now on, we can entrust this land and the chickens to you with peace of mind.” Li Jianzhi patted his son on the shoulder, indicating that he was entrusting him with an important task.
The chubby boy nodded and said in a childish voice, "Commander, I guarantee to complete the mission."
Qin Xiangxiang: "..."
This gesture of drawing a pie in the sky reminded her of what Master Li had told her in the workshop. It turned out that all the pie-in-the-sky promises were the same, but she chose not to eat them, while the chubby boy ate them with great relish.
They're just kidding about their supposedly unique, reliable, and precious warrior.
The family of three quickly cleared the vegetable garden, turned the soil, buried fertilizer in advance, and transplanted the seedlings one after another. Some seedlings were cultivated by themselves, while others were obtained from other sisters-in-law's homes. Perilla, milkvetch, and the like were brought back from the wild—this is the normal growth pattern of a family's vegetable garden.
I don't care about planning at all. When I go out, I see a wild vegetable or fruit plant by the roadside. Hey, it's growing really well. I quickly transplant it to my vegetable garden.
These transplanted plants either failed to survive or grew exceptionally robustly with strong disease resistance, having already undergone selection in the wild. Before scientific breeding methods existed, this flexible selection process was employed.
The vegetable garden was starting to look decent, and the chicks were chirping in their coop. Every day, the bamboo door was opened to let them out for some fresh air. The chicks couldn't work in the vegetable garden until the seedlings had grown up.
The eight chicks at home are currently doing well. Qin Xiangxiang even bought them some feed: five pounds of cornmeal and five pounds of bran. Now, the eggshells of the eggs that have been eaten are kept, which can be used as fertilizer or fried, crushed, and given to the chicks to supplement their calcium intake.
"Little Fatty, from now on, the daily task of raising chickens at home will be yours. Remember to feed the chickens." Qin Xiangxiang wasn't worried about her son stealing chicken feed at this point. If he could even eat bran, fine, a son who can be raised on bran will save the family on food.
"Pfft—" Sister Gao, who had been eavesdropping on the conversation between the couple and their child for a long time, couldn't help but burst out laughing.
This is really unreliable. This couple doesn't seem like they're seriously growing vegetables. They've left the task of feeding the chickens to their four or five-year-old son. It's questionable whether there will be any vegetables in the garden or chickens in the coop in the future.
"Sister Gao, I'm waiting to see how your land and chickens are doing."
Sister Gao watched the spectacle with great interest. Not only Sister Gao, but the other family members in the courtyard were also curious whether Qin Xiangxiang, a family member from Shanghai, could manage the family's side business well.
If the land is abandoned and the chickens are gone, even though there's a mess of chicken feathers, at least they've had some fun, and the people have a good laugh.
After Sister Gao left, Qin Xiangxiang kicked the man's trouser leg and said, "Now look what's happened! You made such a big fuss, with a whole bunch of people coming to watch the show. What if we can't grow any vegetables? What if the chickens die?"
"It's not a big deal." As a former internet surfer, Li Jianzhi had followed many planting bloggers. The comments below were all over the place. It's normal to kill chickens and vegetables. Just use "blue-green modifiers" and "X-treasure revival techniques".
Qin Xiangxiang glared at him: "You come up with a solution?"
Li Jianzhi lowered his head and whispered in her ear, "The political commissar can ask the regimental commander to use the resurrection spell."
Qin Xiangxiang: ? ? ? ?
"Money Resurrection Technique".
Qin Xiangxiang opened her eyes wide and looked at him in disbelief.
Li Jianzhi suppressed a laugh: "If one dies, I'll just buy another one. In the end, I'll definitely make sure that three hens survive in our coop."
"If I can't grow loofah, I'll go to the market and buy a few loofahs to hang in our vegetable garden. Didn't you say that tomatoes only cost five cents a pound in the summer?" Ordinary hairy crabs that go to Yangcheng Lake for a bath are still Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs.
"A hen only costs a few cents. Don't worry too much about a few cents. We'll be happy if we succeed in raising it, and we'll be happy if we don't. It won't cost much."
"And incidentally, cultivate the child's abilities."
Qin thought about it carefully and realized that even if the crops didn't grow well, her family wouldn't suffer much loss. At worst, she could just go to the market to pick out some fresh vegetables and fruits and take a walk in her own vegetable garden, which would be the produce from her own garden.
Who cares what others think?
Adult chickens are hard to buy, but chicks are easy to find, costing only a few cents each. A family can always keep a few laying hens.
If something goes wrong, use the "Money Resurrection" spell!
"Then we'll do as the commander says. If there are any losses, we'll deduct Little Fatty's rations and use the Money Resurrection spell."
In this way, she suffered no loss at all.
"If Little Fatty eats one less fried dough stick, he can buy a pound of tomatoes; if Little Fatty eats two less small yellow croakers, he can buy a small hen; if Little Fatty eats one less meal of pork, it's enough to cover half a month's worth of groceries..."
Fatty: "??????"
"Li Jianzhi, I think you're quite smart." Qin Xiangxiang was starting to think more highly of her husband. In her dreams, she should have her husband cook, grow vegetables, and raise chickens.
Look how thoughtful they are.
Putting aside other issues of face, growing vegetables and raising chickens is an interesting thing, and Qin Xiangxiang is beginning to look forward to the output of their vegetable garden.
“As the political commissar of the regiment, I am also the discipline committee member. I will definitely supervise Xiaopang’s work. If he does not work well, I will directly deduct his rations.”
"Good job, we'll buy meat to celebrate."
The chubby boy was initially a little dissatisfied, but now he felt it was alright. As the only precious soldier in the family, he was the only one who could support the whole family.
After finishing the vegetable garden and chicken coop, Li Jianzhi went to build the bread kiln he had mentioned long ago. He built it on the open space by the roadside in his own vegetable garden. He built a raised layer on the ground with bricks, then built more bricks on top, and filled it with tiles and glass bottles as insulation. After sealing it with bricks, he filled the gaps with mud.
After the bottom insulation layer is completed, the upper kiln body is built. First, a fire pit shape is formed by piling sand and covering it with damp newspaper to make it easier to remove the fire pit later. After covering it with damp newspaper, layers of mud are applied around the outside.
Li Jianzhi took his son outside to dig up yellow clay, added water, and kneaded it into long strips. His son was in charge of kneading the clay, while he was responsible for plastering the kiln body.
Originally, Qin Xiangxiang didn't want to interfere with the father and son, and just stood aside to supervise. In the end, she didn't know why she squatted down to rub the mud.
"Mom, mud is so much fun."
Qin Xiangxiang looked at the chubby boy covered in mud. In the past, she would have definitely disliked the brat, but now she was kneading mud herself, and it was indeed very fun.
The clothes were all dirty, so the man washed them today, letting him take the child and scrub them slowly.
"What happens after you've covered everything with a layer of mud?" Qin Xiangxiang felt like she had made a giant steamed bun.
Li Jianzhi: "Continue with the insulation layer."
As before, empty glass bottles are used. Glass bottles are placed around the outer edge of the "steamed bun" shaped mud in front of you, and then all the glass bottles are sealed inside with mud. In this way, the heat generated by burning in the fire pit will be absorbed from all sides by the insulation layer, maintaining the heat for a long time.
After sealing the glass bottle, the outermost layer is covered with a layer of yellow mud mixed with straw. This yellow mud is tough and not easy to crack.
After the kiln body is made, let it dry for half a month until the mud solidifies. Then, remove the sand separated by newspaper from the hearth, and the bread kiln is successfully made.
Qin Xiangxiang: "I'll apply the outermost layer later!"
Little Fatty: "I want one too!"
"Okay, you all give it a try."
...
When Lai Yiu-wai arrived with his wife Lau Siu-wan, they happened to run into a family of three who were putting mud on the ground. They first carried their things upstairs to look for them, but no one was home after they knocked on the door. The neighbors said that the family had taken their child to the vegetable garden.
Lai Yiu-wai said incredulously, "Growing vegetables? My brother even has his wife from the big city grow vegetables?"
Why doesn't he just fly to the sky?
Are the vegetables grown here safe to eat?
Liu Xiaoyun, who had dressed up carefully, was also incredulous. She thought she would meet a well-dressed younger brother and sister-in-law sitting at home drinking coffee? Why was she in the vegetable garden instead?
When they went to the vegetable garden and saw a family of three having a great time playing in the mud, their jaws dropped to the floor.
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