Chapter 179 178. Things are accomplished with secrecy
As the number of tomatoes increased, there was no longer enough space in the backyard, so Zhou Yi bought a piece of dry land.
There are about three acres of land. Two acres are planted with sweet and sour tomatoes and one acre is planted with sour tomatoes. The land is a bit tilted and thin, so it needs topdressing to grow good tomatoes.
Zhou Yi farms with his father Lei Dashan. Although he is very experienced in cooking and working, he is just average at growing vegetables.
Lei Dashan has been farming for many years and is very good at growing crops. He used to be one of the best rice growers in the village, and he also grows eggplants and potatoes well. He can tell what fertilizer to apply and whether to prune the branches and leaves just by looking at the leaves and roots.
Tomatoes are in the nightshade family.
In Lei Dashan's opinion, tomatoes are similar to eggplants and peppers. If he works harder and keeps a closer eye on them, and tries more and more, he will eventually understand the nature of tomatoes clearly.
Summer has both rain and heat at the same time, with high temperatures and heavy rainfall.
This tomato grows fast and has lush branches and leaves, but it is also easy to be killed by the sun or waterlogging. It needs to be watered and drained in time. If it rains right after fertilizing, it is necessary to fertilize again, otherwise the tomatoes will not get enough nutrition and the fruits will not grow well.
"...These tomatoes are precious. They need to be raised like rice seedlings before planting. The roots must not be damaged. Finally, water them thoroughly a day or two beforehand so that the soil can fall easily when you pull them out, without damaging the roots."
Lei Dashan pulled out the small tomato seedlings, shook off the soil, and put them in the basket, while saying to Zhou Yi,
"It's not a good idea to transplant these seedlings if they're too young. They won't be able to take root in the soil and will die easily. Now they have five leaves, which is enough. They're strong and easy to discipline. Once they're transplanted, they'll take root and bear fruit."
"I understand, Dad."
Zhou Yi wrote it down in his notebook.
He cut the paper into palm-sized pieces, punched holes in it, and strung it together with a rope to make it a loose-leaf notebook. He then sharpened the charcoal pencil to make it easier to write.
"As the saying goes, a young boy will eat his father out of poverty. Once these tomato seedlings are moved over, they'll need to be fertilized several times before they grow well. Otherwise, they won't bear good fruit if they're hungry."
Lei Dashan shared his thoughts.
No matter what kind of crop it is, it must be fed enough and grow well so that it can bloom and bear many fruits. You can't keep all the flowers and fruits. If there are too many flowers, the fruits will be small. You have to pick some of them to allow it to bear large fruits.
This way it looks good, tastes good and sells well.
Like the pumpkins he planted before, if the pumpkin vines grew well, he would leave more pumpkins and produce seven or eight large pumpkins. If the growth was not good, he would only leave four or five on a vine. The pumpkins grown in this way would be big and sweet.
When you go to the market to buy pumpkins, people usually don’t buy the whole thing because one is too many to finish and it will go bad easily in hot weather. So people only buy one piece or a circle.
"Some people want to taste before they buy. You should cut a small piece for them to taste. If they find it sweet, they will buy it. Next time they want pumpkin, they might come back to you. If they don't like it, they will go to the next stall."
Lei Dashan wiped the sweat from his face. It was still morning but the sun was already hot, and he broke out in a sweat after working in the field for a short while.
He looked at the seedling field and saw that all the seedlings had been pulled out, so he picked up the burden. Seeing Zhou Yi coming over to carry it, he waved his hand and said, "No need, these seedlings are not heavy, Dad can carry it."
The tomato seedlings in the basket are indeed not heavy.
Because it is already the end of October, and this type of tomato takes 50-60 days from germination to fruiting, which means it cannot be harvested until late December. It is already the last batch of the year, so the amount planted is not large.
Zhou Yi just wanted to try whether these tomatoes could successfully survive the winter in Sanlihe Village. The winter here is not too cold. In some years, there is not even snow, only a thin layer of frost.
If these tomatoes can survive the winter and the yield is just a little lower, then they will have a stable supply of tomatoes in the winter, and both home-cooked meals and Sichuan restaurants can continue to sell tomato-related dishes.
Especially the tomato pot.
In the winter, it is so happy to gather with family and friends to eat a pot of steaming tomato hot pot, which is sour, sweet and appetizing.
Moreover, many vegetables are easily frozen to death in winter, and only cabbage and white radish can be grown. They become sweeter and more delicious after being hit by frost. If tomatoes are also okay, then their family can cook more dishes in winter.
——The most important thing is that my family can eat well, it doesn’t matter whether I can make money or not.
After Zhou Yi and Lei Dashan planted the last batch of tomato seedlings, they headed home. On the way, they met other villagers and chatted with them for a while.
The villagers were very curious about this new thing in the Lei family. They were all wondering if it could be used to cook and make money like peppers. If so, wouldn’t they also need to grow it like peppers?
However, growing peppers has already taken up most of their dry land, and the remaining bit is for their own consumption. There is not enough land to grow this new thing.
——But there are still many wastelands in and around the village. Can’t we cultivate them if we reclaim them?
The villagers have different thoughts, but generally they are positive. They all hope that the Lei family can find more ways to make money so that they can also have a taste of the broth.
"Brother Li's husband! The eldest brother of the Lei family!"
Gui Fulang always speaks his mind and even dares to curse people in front of others. When he saw Zhou Yi and Lei Dashan, he immediately burst into laughter and even stopped them and stuffed a basket into their hands.
"These taro I grew myself are not worth much. Take them home and eat them! If they are delicious, I will give you some more!"
The Lei family has been doing better in the past two years and doesn't care too much about the past. Gui Fulang is also willing to improve their relationship and often greets them with a smile, and doesn't get annoyed even when they are ignored. So now the relationship between the two families is neither good nor bad.
Sometimes when they met on the road, Gui Fulang would give Liu Yeer two eggplants, and Liu Yeer would give him a bunch of vegetables in return, and they would also chat and laugh.
At this time, Gui Fulang had already stuffed the taro towards him, so Lei Dashan had no choice but to accept it. He nodded and said, "Okay, next time you need anything from my vegetable garden, you can just pick some and don't have to come to my house to ask."
If the villagers have good relationships with each other, they will go to another family and tell them if they need something, then go to their vegetable garden to pick a few garlic cloves or a bunch of green vegetables, and return them next time.
Gui Fulang's dry land is very close to Lei's, so it's convenient to pick something along the way. It's a case of borrowing and returning, so it won't be difficult to borrow again.
Sometimes when there are weddings or funerals in the village, and there are not enough tables, chairs, bowls and chopsticks at home, we have to borrow them from other families and return them after the banquet. Vegetables, eggs and even chickens and ducks are also bought from the villagers, and they are usually given a friendly price.
It’s a few cents cheaper than the market price.
"Okay, brother!"
Gui Fulang smiled warmly, then pretended to be casual and said, "See how busy you are every day, where are you going? If you're going to the fields or something, my husband is idle and has nothing to do, so it's perfect for him to do it!"
"No big deal."
Lei Dashan waved his hand. "It's just a little work. Zhou Yi and I can handle it. It's almost the busy farming season. Just take care of the millet in your own fields."
"Oh, it's still early."
Gui Fulang waved his hand and smiled, not beating around the bush. "I went over there yesterday to dig wild vegetables, and saw some growing in my eldest brother's field... They're vegetables, right? They have emerald green leaves, thick stems, and bright red fruits."
"At first glance I thought it was a chili pepper, but when I looked closely, it wasn't. It's round and round. I'm a country boy who hasn't seen much of the world and can't recognize many good things. I wonder what that thing is at Brother Lei's house?"
"Oh, that one."
Lei Dashan said unconcernedly, "My brother-in-law bought it casually from outside. It's not worth much and it's very sour. It doesn't taste very good."
In Lei Dashan's opinion, this thing is indeed very ordinary. It is not as sweet as pumpkin, not as sour as ox horn and plum, and not as good as plum. It is okay for cooking.
Lei Li and Zhou Yi didn't tell him that they spent fifty taels of silver to buy the four tomatoes. Lei Dashan thought they were just common crops in Xiling Prefecture. Since they were common, they were naturally not worth much money.
"Isn't it tasty?"
Gui Fulang smiled and glanced at Zhou Yi. Seeing that Zhou Yi said a few words to Lei Dashan and then left, he also smiled and said goodbye to him. Then he said to Lei Dashan,
"Look at what you said, Brother Lei. No one in our village has this thing, but your family grows it. Your brother Li is such a discerning person. He would always find a great son-in-law. That red fruit must be a good thing!"
"I just don't know... can you give me some to eat so I can see the world?"
"That won't do."
Lei Dashan shook his head. "If I bought this, you would have said I designated it, but it's my brother-in-law's thing, so I have to ask him first."
"If you don't have anything else to say, I'll leave first. I have to go home for dinner."
"Okay, okay, take care, Brother Lei."
Gui Fulang smiled and nodded repeatedly. Seeing Lei Dashan walking away, he curled his lips. It's okay if he doesn't tell the truth, but who would believe him if he said it's worthless? It's not delicious? The dried chili peppers are not delicious either.
No one in the Lei family revealed what that thing was, and the village chief's family, who were on good terms with the Lei family, also avoided talking about it. The villagers wanted to know but couldn't ask. Wouldn't it be asking for trouble if you asked them how they made money?
I dare not steal it to eat.
What if it’s as spicy as chili peppers and can kill you?
Moreover, there are many people in the village during the day and there are patrols at night. If you are caught stealing something, especially something from the Lei family, it will be no small matter.
You will be criticized by the whole village.
The Lei family naturally knew that everyone in the village was thinking about tomatoes, but this was one of the future trademarks of their business. It would not be a good thing to publicize it before it was successful.
As the old saying goes, secrecy leads to success, while leaks lead to failure. If someone leaks this to their rivals and causes trouble, wouldn't they be in big trouble?
"Besides, the village is already in the chili pepper business. If we let them start the tomato business as well, it would be too risky to put all their eggs in one basket."
Lei Li shook his head and said, "They only have so much land and so many people. It's already hard enough for them to take care of the rice fields, peppers, and the family at the same time. If they add the tomatoes, they definitely won't be able to handle it all."
"It would be fine if only the tomatoes went bad. If they messed up the peppers and the tomatoes went bad, I'm afraid we wouldn't even be able to keep the Sichuan restaurant going."
"Greed is insatiable. We initially helped them earn money from tomatoes, but now we don't let them continue to earn money. We give the tomatoes to others. They might even become enemies and want to take revenge on us."
"really."
Zhou Yi nodded and said, "I'm planning to start my own tomato business. I'll rent that piece of wasteland at the end of the village and hire a few long-term workers."
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