Chapter 99 Dividing Seeds
"Uncle Lu, is your family telling the truth?" Liu Erzhu asked Old Man Lu anxiously.
"If that's true, then I'll overturn all the watermelons and plant medicinal herbs. They've been soaked in water for the past few days and they've all cracked and rotted, but they're much better now!"
"Your watermelon patch is ruined. If you don't plant medicinal herbs, is it too late to plant something else?"
Even if my daughter doesn't accept it, will the dried medicinal herbs just go to waste?
Old Man Lu asked two questions in a row, and although he didn't say he was dead, he dispelled Liu Erzhu's concerns.
Watermelons are a high-nutrient-consuming crop, which can degrade soil quality.
He lost money planting watermelons this year, and since he still has an acre of farmland, he might as well up the old vines and cut them down as soon as possible to minimize the damage to the land.
During this lull, plant all the medicinal herbs; we'll try to earn as much as possible.
"Then I'll plant them! Qingqing, save some seeds for me."
"I'll plant some too!" Lin Zhuang shouted, following closely behind.
Upon hearing that Liu Erzhu and Lin Zhuang were asking for seeds, the others looked anxious.
They started asking for seeds without thinking it through.
"No rush, let's think about it carefully tonight, and then go to the fields tomorrow to confirm before picking up the seeds," Lu Qingqing said.
“If you decide to plant them, I will sign a contract with you, specifying that I will be responsible for harvesting the medicinal herbs planted on that plot of land once they mature. I will not deliberately lower the price; I will buy them at the same price that medicinal herb merchants charge based on the quality and variety.”
Once the contract is mentioned, things become formal.
Many people decided to plant it on the spot.
A smart person would realize that this is a mutually beneficial arrangement.
Lu Qingqing borrowed land to grow medicinal herbs, giving villagers an extra source of income and security.
However, there are always some "wise men" who think this is a matter of benefiting others at the expense of themselves.
For example, Dog Egg's Dad, Wooden Dad, and others.
He muttered to himself that Lu Qingqing was using the whole village to make money, and only a fool would fall for it.
Lin Zhuang ran back and told Lin Ye about it.
In fact, he was reluctant to do anything that would harm the crops.
Growing medicinal herbs is the same as growing wild grasses on the mountain.
He usually keeps the land spotless, not even a single blade of grass can be seen.
If we plant medicinal herbs, the crops will wither and die.
He agreed to plant it entirely because he wanted to repay Lu Qingqing for saving his life.
So whatever Lu Qingqing said, he immediately expressed his support.
After Lin Ye went to work at Wanjia Embroidery Workshop, she gained more experience.
"Brother, you should just follow the Lu family."
"You're upset because you feel that food is our lifeline, and you can't bear to abandon food and plant weeds instead."
But the situation is different now. The food supply may be lost, and if it rains a few more times, the crops will definitely be ruined.
Growing medicinal herbs can at least earn some money, and money can be used to buy food.
"Yes, little sister, you're right."
Lin Zhuang understood this principle, but he felt bad seeing weeds planted on crops that hadn't even spoiled yet.
After Lin Ye told him all this, he felt much better.
Lin Ye added, "Brother, don't worry. Today, the young master of the Wan family took a liking to my embroidery and gave me a raise of two hundred coins. Even if our land doesn't yield any grain, we won't starve."
"Really? Xiao Ye, you're amazing!"
Lin Zhuang was overjoyed, but then he thought about her marriage.
"Xiao Ye, have you found someone you like? What do you think of Li San? He also works as a shop assistant at Wan Jia Shop, and his family owns land. Now his mother doesn't interfere in things anymore, and his older brother is trying to find him a wife!"
"Brother, don't worry about me, just find me a sister-in-law first."
Lin Ye lowered his head and went into the house.
"Hey, Xiao Ye..."
As Lin Ye entered the room, a tear fell from her eye.
She ran into Cui Cui, who was buying hair accessories in town today. Cui Cui told her that her mother was currently discussing marriage with the Lu family, and that Lu Yun was also interested in her. They should be engaged soon.
No wonder Sister-in-law Lu looked so embarrassed when I went to the Lu family yesterday.
They said that Lu Erge hadn't figured things out yet, and that he didn't want to get married too early.
She had initially thought her sister-in-law meant for her to wait, but now she realized it was probably a subtle way of telling her that Lu Erge (Second Brother Lu) hadn't taken a liking to her.
I should go there less often in the future, so as not to bother people.
At this moment, at the Lu family residence.
Feng Xiaowan, lying in bed, was also worried.
“Yesterday I mentioned my second brother’s situation to Lin Ye, and I could tell that the girl was quite upset.”
Her smile vanished instantly; she lowered her head, said only a few words, and left.
“Sigh, when I mentioned it to my second brother, he got angry and said he didn’t want to get married.”
My younger sister also said to leave him alone and let things take their course; when the time is right, he'll naturally understand.
But good girls don't wait for anyone; by the time he realizes it himself, it's too late..."
Feng Xiaowan just thought Lin Ye was good, and was afraid that if Lin Ye got engaged, Lu Yun would be left out.
For Lin Ye's sake, she even rejected the marriage proposal from her aunt on her maternal side.
Now look what's happened, things have turned out like this.
She was indeed no matchmaker.
"Then just ignore him. He's different from us."
That kid has seen the world and broadened his horizons by going out with his little sister.
"Having seen the world, does that mean you can't appreciate the good girls in the village?"
Feng Xiaowan was puzzled and dissatisfied: "So when you go to the city in the future, will you also think that I am not respectable?"
"How did this involve me?"
"It's often said in plays that many men abandon their wives who have shared their hardships once they become successful."
Lu Feng was helpless.
Feng Xiaowan wasn't like this before; she was as docile as a lamb, never arguing with anything he said.
Is this... a tantrum or a spoiled act?
Actually... it's pretty good.
Lu Feng isn't good at saying nice things, but he's recently learned to be more affectionate.
He suddenly kissed Feng Xiaowan, and she forgot everything else.
Then he realized how to respond to what he had just said.
"You're the one who should be successful! My shop's seasonings are still counting on you to make them!"
It seems so!
She's no longer a helpless, naive wife.
Feng Xiaowan commanded in a spoiled manner, "My back hurts from carrying Xibao today, could you rub it for me?"
Lu Feng then rubbed his lower back.
Feng Xiaowan was overjoyed.
She finally understood what her younger sister was saying.
Husbands and wives should not treat each other as "master and servant".
It takes a back-and-forth exchange.
Feng Ge treats her even better now and dotes on her more.
...
The next day, people gathered in the fields early in the morning.
After a night of deliberation, many people have decided to plant medicinal herbs.
Lu Qingqing counted that out of the hundred households in Liuyun Village, more than forty households needed to cultivate land, totaling more than eighty mu.
Some of these lands are owned, while others are leased.
Some grow corn, while others grow soybeans and millet.
The seeds Lu Qingqing collected were all medicinal herbs that matured in June, such as epimedium and coptis.
Plant them now, and you can harvest another crop.
But with only twenty-odd kilograms of seeds and eighty-odd mu of land, it was far from enough, so she could only divide it equally among each family.
The rest were left to the villagers to dig up seedlings from the mountains and transplant them into the fields.
Aconitum carmichaelii is harvested in autumn when it withers, and its rhizome is used in medicine.
The fruit of the Tianmingjing is harvested in autumn and used in medicine.
Iris tectorum is harvested in autumn when the fruit is ripe, and the seeds inside are removed and used in medicine.
There are so many medicinal herbs that can be transplanted!
They are everywhere on the mountains.
but!
Of course, there are more expensive ones and cheaper ones.
Everyone wants to go for the more valuable ones first.
If you sow seeds again in the fall, you won't need to search all over the mountains and fields the following year. You can just sow them in the ground, and that will bring in another source of income.
The villagers listened to Lu Qingqing talk about the medicinal herbs, their eyes sparkling, as if they were already thinking about what would happen next year.
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