Chapter 2390: 1867: Narrowly Missing Out on Good Fortune (3)

So she made a quick decision: "My daughter plans to have a second child, and it’s exhausting to work on the beans day and night. Luckily her husband can help, so the couple can just take care of the piece of sloping land at the village entrance.""We’ll also put up a fence around it when the time comes."

"I’ve already arranged with Master Xiaosun that once the rain stops and the soil dries, he’ll come to help me with that piece of land."

Talking about this, she couldn’t help but feel proud: "Last year, the piece of land at Shitou Slope was taken care of by Master Xiaosun, right? It was so neat and meticulous. I’ve seen the great work he does, and the whole village has noticed. Next year, there will be quite a few people planting vegetables, beans, expanding fields, and developing mountains! If I don’t act fast, I don’t know what number it will be by then."

This familiar efficiency.

Song Tan blinked and couldn’t help but be curious: "I think Uncle Maozhu’s family also..."

Haha!

Aunt Zhang Hong became proud: "Their family is as slow as anything. Yesterday Zhou Shunshui told me that on Master Xiaosun’s schedule, Zhou Maozhu’s family is already down to number fifteen or so."

How many people in the village are actually working on the land!

Song Tan was equally speechless.

Even though she reminded them, Li Lanhua said she’d go home to discuss, and now they’ve delayed it to the very end.

Some people, clearly, just don’t have much luck with money.

...

That’s right!

Li Lanhua was also sulking at home.

Song Tan had reminded her early on to plan ahead, but when she mentioned it to her family, Zhou Maozhu hesitated and said: Is planting vegetables on the mountain more productive?

Zhou Tianyu said, planting soybeans doesn’t maximize economic benefits, we should plant more vegetables instead.

"Vegetables, vegetables, vegetables!"

Li Lanhua finally lost her temper: "You guys just flap your lips and make arrangements!"

"Tianyu, you haven’t even packed your luggage home. Aren’t you planning to continue working in Beicheng? It’s just me and your dad at home, and he spends most of the year busy with roasting tea leaves. Who’s going to lend me a hand?"

With so many kinds of vegetables, today we plant this, tomorrow we plant that, today we fertilize this, tomorrow we pest-control that.

"That mountain head has such a large slope, I can’t even pull weeds fast enough, let alone plant a variety of vegetables..."

They didn’t consider that others also plan to expand production!

When summer comes, long beans, peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants will all harvest at the same time, why would people bother to follow her to the slope to buy them?

Vegetables are all about freshness.

If they’re not sold one day, they’re no longer fresh, and they don’t store well. Who’s going to help deal with them?

The more she thought, the more annoyed Li Lanhua became, her eyes turning red instantly: "My financial luck for this life has been dragged down by you all."

This statement made Old Zhou and his son silent.

After a while, Zhou Tianyu tried to console her:

"Mom, don’t worry, aren’t we still discussing as a family? This, we haven’t even planted yet, why cry already? If vegetables are too much work, then plant beans."

Mentioning beans, this is another sad affair.

Li Lanhua truly was about to cry: "I’ve asked, as for our village, 17 households have already booked Master Xiaosun. When it’s our turn, I don’t know how much we’ll be behind others."

Zhou Tianyu remembered that Sun Ziqiang was the one who married Tian Tian, feeling a bit uneasy.

"There are so many excavator operators, why must it be him? We could find someone else. Mom, if you can’t find anyone, let me ask my friends."

"What do you know?"

Li Lanhua flatly refused:

"I don’t know how other excavator operators are, but Master Xiaosun has worked for Lao Song’s family for so long, he’s clear about how to handle the mountain land."

Moreover, he’s diligent and meticulous. That piece of land at Shitou Slope, both big and small stones were piled neatly along the roadside.

Switching to another operator, do you think they’d be willing to do this?

Consider that there are plenty of excavator operators without jobs, but why is their village willing to wait in line for Sun Ziqiang?

It’s clear to everyone how well he works.

Zhou Tianyu felt even more awkward.

"But it’s just August now, we can’t plant beans yet, isn’t it something for next year? Why rush these few days?"

Li Lanhua glanced at her son, no longer wanting to speak with him.

He’s from the countryside, hasn’t he seen pigs run if he hasn’t eaten pork before?

Which family’s planting just involves digging a hole and putting some soil in?

The slope on the mountain needs to be cleared, dug deep and shallow, and ridged and embanked; otherwise, once a heavy rain occurs, the mud and water will flow away, and it won’t be worth the effort.

The Lao Song’s family even held a special meeting with Yan Ran to discuss how to clean up the wasteland, maintain the soil, and strive to grow high-quality crops.

As mentioned, if the soil quality of the slope isn’t good, they’ll need to add rotted fertilizer, bury base fertilizer.

If time permits, winter requires another round of sowing Milk Vetch or similar fertilizer crops.

Though soybeans themselves contribute to fertile soil, who complains about too much fertility?

This one thing after another, it’s just two people in their family. Without advance planning, how long will it take?