Chapter 112 The Blessed Hand
Xu Hexiao kept his word. He never asked Lin Qi to go with him in the subsequent transactions. However, Lin Qi would wait for Xu Hexiao to return safely every night before going to bed. Xu Hexiao's cycling speed also became faster and faster. A round trip took six hours before, but later it took five hours, and then four hours.
Xu Hexiao's process of increasing his speed was not so smooth. There were several accidents along the way. Once, his bike broke down on the road, and he had to carry it back all the way; once, he rode too fast and fell into a field, and both he and his bike were dirty; once, he was discovered by a patrol and was chased all the way, and he was injured.
Every time Xu Hexiao got into an accident, Lin Qi was worried, but she never mentioned going with him. Lin Qi didn't mention it, and Xu Hexiao didn't mention it either. But on weekdays, Lin Qi began to teach Xu Hexiao some life-threatening skills, taught him how to listen to sounds to identify positions, taught him how to deal with some injuries... and taught him how to save his life.
Xu Hexiao studied very seriously, and later on, everything went more and more smoothly every night, with very few accidents.
The three-day rest was over quickly.
In previous years, the Anliang Brigade had been tilling the soil for the entire February, and many people collapsed from exhaustion. This year, three people collapsed from exhaustion in just five days. The team leader went to the health center several times to apply for some brown sugar, but after several trips, he only brought back three kilograms of brown sugar.
Three pounds of brown sugar is only enough to last for five days.
The captain was so worried about this that his hair turned white.
At this time, Lin Qi came to the captain holding a jar and said, "I have a jar of jujube honey here, you can use it."
Everyone in Anliang Brigade knows about jujubes, but jujube honey is extremely rare. The reasons are simple: first, the number of jujubes is limited. Only a few are picked each time, and people cannot eat enough of the fruits directly, let alone make them into jujube honey; second, few people know how to make jujube honey; third, when jujubes are ripe, it is the busy farming season, and even if someone knows how to make it, they cannot squeeze out the time.
The captain knew about jujube honey and had eaten it, but it was a long time ago. In his memory, jujube honey was very sweet, like honey, but he didn't remember much else.
Looking at the jar in Lin Qi's arms, which was about the size of a bucket, the captain suppressed his excitement and asked, "Is this jar full?"
This is something similar to honey. Add a few spoonfuls of it to water and the water will become very sweet. It can definitely be used as brown sugar.
Lin Qi hummed, "Full. It should be enough to last the whole February."
"Hehe." The captain laughed foolishly, "Enough, enough!"
On that day, those who were working the fields with hoes in Anliang Brigade drank Lin Qi's jujube honey. The amount per person was limited to three bowls a day: one bowl in the morning, one bowl at noon, and one bowl in the afternoon.
When the team members got a bowl of light yellow water with a fruity and sweet taste, they began to wonder: This is different from the color of the brown sugar water they drank a few days ago.
Today's syrup tastes sweeter.
Tempted by the rich aroma, the team members took a bite without even asking what it was.
“This water is so sweet!”
"It's sweet and fragrant, and tastes better than brown sugar water."
"Captain, what is this?"
"This is the syrup made from jujube honey. The jujube honey was contributed by Lin Qi, and there are as much as thirty or forty kilograms of it." The captain was in a good mood, and all the depression he had felt in the past few days was swept away.
"Zhijujube honey? Is this related to the jujubes in our mountains?"
"Zodiaceae honey is made from jujubes. Do you think there is any connection?"
"The jujube can be made into such sweet jujube honey. I will try it next year."
"That's not right. My grandma also made jujube honey, but the jujube honey she made wasn't as fragrant or sweet as this."
"The jujube honey made by ordinary people is not as sweet as this." The captain affirmed the team members' words, "Isn't it Lin Qi who made this jujube honey?"
The team members were silent.
Well, anything involving Lin Qi cannot be explained by common sense.
"Xu Hexiao, come here and drink some jujube honey water." The team leader called out to Xu Hexiao who was still working hard on the field.
"Captain, he is one of the five black categories, is he worthy of drinking sugar water?"
"He is now tall and strong, and doesn't look like he needs sugar water at all."
"Calm down for a moment and think about who contributed this jujube honey."
As soon as these words came out, those who opposed immediately shut up.
With three bowls of jujube honey water a day and the team leader's reasonable shifts, no one collapsed from exhaustion or hypoglycemia in the next twenty days.
In early March, we start breeding rice.
Lin Qi didn’t know what breeding was, so several experienced members of the team taught her.
"The seeds are carefully selected by our team members. The first step is to soak them in water for a few hours, then put them in a sack and put them in a cool place. Leave them there for one to two nights. After the seeds sprout, they are spread on the ground..."
The team members did things based on their experience and judgment. Many steps were not explained clearly, and there was no specific measurement. Lin Qi was confused and wanted to ask for more clarification, but found that these team members could not answer at all.
In the end, only the team members had to do it. Lin Qi was only responsible for the last step - sowing the seeds in the seedling field.
"Will this work?" The team members were deeply skeptical. Lin Qi was only responsible for the last step which did not require much technical skills. Was there any difference between this and raising seedlings on their own?
Another team member thought about it and said, "Just think of Lin Qi's hands as being blessed. The seeds that have passed through her hands are blessed by her and will grow especially well."
Other team members: “…”
Why does it sound unreliable?
All the members of the Anliang Brigade knew that Lin Qi participated in this breeding. After the seeds were sown, someone would pass by the breeding paddy fields every day.
On the third day, dense green seedlings began to emerge in the paddy fields.
"The seedlings sprouted in a very neat pattern this time!" one team member exclaimed.
The other team members nodded in agreement.
Ten days later, the seedlings had grown to the length of a human finger, and at this time, everyone was more and more certain that the seedlings had grown very neatly. In other words, the survival rate of the seeds sown this time was very high.
"We don't have to worry about not having enough rice seedlings this year."
"Don't say it too soon. If you don't take good care of the seedlings, they will get sick. Many seedlings die from diseases every year."
"That's true, let's wait and see."
Meanwhile, it’s time to plant the corn.
Anliang Brigade has many mountains, and corn, peanuts and soybeans are all planted. Corn is especially high in yield and has the largest planting area. Peanuts and soybeans are next, and peanuts can be used to extract oil. Soybeans can be used to extract oil and can also be eaten directly. Finally, sweet potatoes, taro and potatoes are the last. These three also have high yields, but it is not feasible to eat them as staple foods for a long time. People's mouths and stomachs can't stand it.
In late April, it is time to start farming.
The seedlings this year are growing better than any other year. The roots are green and strong, and they are crowded together, but it does not affect their own development. It is really novel.
"Lin Qi was only responsible for sowing the seeds, so why is the result so different from previous years?"
"I already said it was a blessed hand."
"When you meet Lin Qi, don't explain anything, just watch."
"I finally know why the captain couldn't get the secret of Lin Qi's vegetable growing. The reason is that there is no secret at all. She just needs to sow the seeds and the vegetables will grow by themselves."
Lin Qi doesn't know how to plant rice seedlings, and she doesn't want to learn. It's too tiring to bend over all day.
Lin Qi, who didn't want to work, took the initiative to find the team leader and said, "Our team members have been working too hard recently. I'm going to the mountains to get some prey to add some food to everyone."
Spring planting is not as rushed as autumn harvest. The brigade’s canteen was not open and the team members all ate at home.
However, not opening a canteen does not mean that it cannot be opened.
When the captain heard Lin Qi's words, his eyes lit up, "Okay, I'll give you 20 work points a day."
So that evening, the team leader informed the team members that the canteen would open for lunch the next day.
"Captain, why do you suddenly want to come to the cafeteria to eat?" a team member asked curiously.
"Lin Qi said that we will go to the mountains to get some meat tomorrow to add to everyone's meal." said the captain.
As soon as these words were spoken, the members of the Anliang Brigade smiled happily.
There will be meat tomorrow!
The next morning, Lin Qi went into the mountains. She planned to clear the rats in the planting area first. Half a year later, the number of rats in the planting area increased again.
She wanted to raise bamboo rats, but she didn't plan to raise mice.
At ten o'clock in the morning, Lin Qi brought two large baskets of mountain rats to the canteen, and then went back to the mountains.
Brother Tan was coming to pick up some vegetables and fruits tonight, so she had to prepare in advance. Lin Qi spent two hours producing ten large baskets of vegetables and ten large baskets of honeydew melons. She piled these twenty large baskets outside the entrance of the cave, and caught fifty bamboo rats to send with them in the evening.
This was Lin Qi’s first time selling bamboo rats, and she had no idea about the market price of bamboo rats.
Lin Qi had lunch in the cave and took a nap. She woke up at two in the afternoon and carried a basket to the pond.
Half a year later, her pond was filled with fish, big and small. Lin Qi planned to take the fish as a reward these days, and as for other prey, she could just catch a few in the planting area.
At four o'clock, she appeared at the canteen door carrying two baskets of fish.
She didn't give all the fish to the canteen, but kept one for herself. She planned to cook a fish with pickled cabbage in the evening. She pickled the pickled cabbage herself and consulted the chef of the canteen for this. Tonight was the time to test the results.
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