Her Cultivation Diary-Chapter 172 - .Double-season rice_1
Chapter 172: 172.Double-season rice_1
Chapter 172: 172.Double-season rice_1
Picking tea, Wu Lan remembered another matter:
“Tantan, by planting the rice this early, are you planning to cultivate two crops this year?”
She was a bit worried, “There aren’t many here who plant two crops of rice!”
Song Tan hadn’t actually made up her mind.
Now, it was just the beginning of April, and the robust seedlings had been planted. By the end of June, the rice would certainly need to be harvested.
If another season’s rice was planted at that time, the timing would indeed be just right.
Yet if they harvested the rice and then prepped the soil anew, planting more vegetables, they would surely earn more money.
After all, they were not planning to sell the rice for money.
However…
The variety she chose had a good taste but a slightly lower yield. Almost three mu of land from the two plots could produce about three thousand catties of rice, which would yield roughly two thousand catties of milled rice.
Two thousand catties sounded like a lot, but considering her father’s appetite, when there was no Spiritual Energy before, they would need over two hundred catties of rice a year per person. Now that everyone at home can show off by eating three bowls per meal, one person would need at least six hundred catties of rice a year, right?
Just their family of four could use up all the rice in a year.
Not to mention that from time to time they also need to hire people to work and cook, and then there were Zhang Yanping and Seventh Uncle…
After calculating, Song Tan reached a decision in her heart:
“Right, I’m planning to plant double-cropping rice.”
“If we calculate, the rice harvested from these two plots won’t be enough for us to eat in a year, so let’s plant two crops of rice.”
Wu Lan then started to blame her a bit, “Planting two seasons of rice requires a lot more fertilizer. Why don’t you ever fertilize your fields?”
As the head of the family, she was aware of whether they had purchased urea fertilizer or not.
But when Song Tan opened her mouth, it was all bluffs:
“There is some, the imported organic fertilizer is too expensive, I didn’t want you guys to see it… and there’s no need to use other kinds. Nowadays, isn’t it all about eating food that is safe and secure?”
“Besides, using chemical fertilizer and urea year after year, the soil becomes incredibly compact, and it’s not as nourishing as it used to be.”
Wasn’t that obvious?
Wu Lan almost rolled her eyes—
Everyone knows the more fertilizer you use on the land, the greedier it gets, but the worse the condition of the land, the more fertilizer is needed. It’s a vicious cycle.
Yet, to make a living from farming, it’s an indispensable evil.
The crops in the fields this year were indeed exceptionally good.
But thinking of all the great vegetables they had eaten this year, none had made it to the fields yet, Wu Lan glanced suspiciously at Song Tan again, “Have you used it for the wild vegetables and bamboo forest?”
“When? Where from? How come I didn’t see it?”
Sigh, one lie requires a thousand others to cover it up.
But it had to be covered up.
Every household in the village had their land, but only their own crops were thriving. Keeping it a secret from outsiders and not having an explanation for their own family would eventually lead to trouble.
Thus, Song Tan confidently proclaimed, “I have used it.”
“That concentrated fertilizer doesn’t take much, just one milliliter is enough for our plot. But it’s so precious; other countries won’t sell it to us. I’m afraid that if others hear about it, it could cause trouble.”
What kind of fertilizer was this? It was clearly an Immortal Pill!
Wu Lan’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly advised, “You must check carefully whether we can use it here or not. Don’t they say on TV that many foreign plants can’t make it here?”
Ah, Mrs. Wu Lan now had an understanding of invasive species, Song Tan felt greatly relieved!
At this moment she pounded her chest and promised, “Don’t worry, it’s fine. Our national research bases also have it, they just don’t sell it because the cost is so high. I’ve gone through a lot of trouble, why else would I be in such a hurry to make money…”
Whether it worked or not, it was best to brush it off like this for now, always providing a reason.
However, this also reminded her that when she got back, she would place an order online for a fancy bottle.
As for this concentrated fertilizer… let’s wait and see, wait until she enters the Foundation Establishment Stage, when Spiritual Energy can condense into water. Then I’ll get a box of nutrient solution for Wu Lan to see!
Right now, though…
The scarcity of Spiritual Energy, when mentioned, makes one want to cry.
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Wu Lan, however, listened with a mixture of belief and doubt, half-understanding.
But after thinking it over, aside from that explanation, what else could it possibly be?
It’s just, having just watched the livestream, Wu Lan realized that she really didn’t understand these young people’s inventions. Maybe… the concentrated fertilizer is really like this?
Concerned about the family’s livelihood, she hastily cautioned, “Alright, alright, stop talking about it. Let’s just say the God of Soil smiled on us, and this year the crops grew well in the field.”
At the same time, she muttered resentfully, “I said it, how could you farm better than me…”
The last stand of a senior farmer.
With business out of the way, Wu Lan began to nag again, “Qiaoqiao isn’t even in the frame; what are you always watching? You’re here now, hurry up and pick more tea leaves — that’s where the real money is.”
What tea picking, with the span of two generations between us, Song Tan remembered all too well the hardships of picking tea, and he hurriedly carried his empty basket.
“I’m going to check on Qiaoqiao and have him show his face on camera.”
With that, he dashed off in a hurry.
Wu Lan really couldn’t help feeling frustrated—
Isn’t tea picking the most profitable thing? Why does nobody want to do it? Can it be more tiring than digging out mountains?
…
Song Tan returned to the Chestnut Woods.
Qiaoqiao had been moving around from one side of the tremella fields to the other, and now he was back in front of the camera once more.
He didn’t have any knowledge about tremella, so now he didn’t spout nonsense, simply silently paring them one by one with a small bamboo knife.
While counting out loud, he kept losing track, which resulted in his failure to gather even a hundred tremellas after half a day’s work.
Zhang Yanping, not wanting to appear on camera, had stayed out of frame. Seeing Song Tan’s return, he couldn’t help asking, “Do you think, if I started a rural livestream, I could be as popular as this?”
Qiaoqiao’s path to success seemed too simple!
Song Tan chuckled, recalling her last video which was so beautifully shot yet didn’t attract viewers—proving that success is never easy, no matter what the industry.
“Brother Yanping, I’d support you making videos, but have you thought about what content you’d want to film?”
Qiaoqiao’s success came from taking a distinctive route due to his unique thought process, the result of a sheer fluke.
But as a perfectly capable young man, Yanping would need some genuine content to offer if he wanted to livestream something.
Song Tan even offered some advice, “Otherwise, draft a script about wild vegetables, the countryside, etc. — do some popular science education on plants and agriculture.”
“Forget it.”
Zhang Yanping backed off, tossing a freshly peeled tremella into the basket.
“Working every day alongside you all was nearly my undoing. I came to the countryside to escape progress!”
As a representative of the contemporary “salted fish” youth, he didn’t quite understand the ambition of family elders.
“I have quite a few connections and know of many good orchards. If I really wanted to deal in fruit, hiring someone to do the heavy lifting and developing a small online app, where I’d manage the shop operation, would be so much more relaxing!”
“But my parents disagreed; they insisted I must come in person to make any money.”
“Oh, how much money is enough, anyway?”
That was something Song Tan couldn’t comment on.
After all, she, too, was keen on making more money. Not to mention the enormous costs that would be involved in Qiaoqiao’s future education; just consider their family home, which was built when she was in the first grade!
In the village over the years, families with money have already renovated their houses. Whether they lived in them or not, having a rural villa exuded prestige.
Her parents had put down their roots here for a lifetime. With their daughter returning from the city and their son in such a state… they had to find a way to save face elsewhere.
Such is the life of ordinary people, filled with vanity, yet also undeniably real.
