Chapter 50 The best sister-in-law in the 1980s (49)
Of course those two families felt good about it. Being an apprentice had the convenience of being an apprentice, and a helper had the benefits of being a helper. No matter what Father Xu planned, they wanted to bring their children over. As long as they could stay with him, they would one day learn from him. His melon-growing skills.
But Father Xu felt uneasy: "My dear daughter, if you plant so much at once, what will you do if you can't sell it?"
“No, even the Melon Seed Optimization Research Institute thinks the melons we grow are good. If we ship them out and sell them, we will definitely not worry about losing business.”
Xu Yin has absolute trust in the melon seeds produced by the system.
Hence the two harvests of melons this year, I left a lot of them for sowing melons. Even if she couldn't make it back from school in the future, the melon seeds collected would be enough for her father to grow seedlings.
The system did not fail her.
A year later, the super-large watermelons grown on 20 acres of deserted sandy land contracted by the old Xu family were advertised in advance as a case study by the Melon Seed Optimization Research Institute, and they were kicked out of the market before they were put on the market. Buyers from all over the country rushed to sell out the products and made a lot of money.
That’s a story for another day.
Right now, we have just reached the contracting stage.
There are about 20 acres of barren sandy land in Xujia Village that has been left uncultivated and has always been deserted.
Before the fields were divided into households, because it was a collective farm, you earned work points, and sometimes people were arranged to plant some sweet potatoes. The yield was not high, but it was better than wasting it.
But when it came time to divide the fields, no one cared about this land, and drawing lots was of no use. They would rather have the muddy land beside the river beach, where they could at least grow some taro, water chestnuts, and mushrooms, which could be used as both staple food and vegetables. At least take it to the city, it will be much easier to sell than sweet potatoes.
The village collective has no choice but to leave the village uncultivated.
Hearing that Xu Yin's family wanted to contract these sandy lands, the old party secretary came over excitedly: "Guoshun, do you really want to contract those sandy lands?"
“I want to take the contract. It’s my daughter. She is addicted to watermelon research. She said that the sandy land produces good watermelons, so let me try to take over the contract.”
As he spoke, Father Xu took the old branch secretary’s pipe and filled him with some tobacco leaves.
"This tobacco leaf was brought by my daughter from Tongcheng. You can smoke it and take a look."
The old branch secretary took a sip and his eyes lit up: "This tobacco leaf is good, isn't it cheap?"
"Expensive or not, that's all I have in total. It's gone after I've smoked it. My daughter won't let me smoke more, saying it hurts my lungs."
The old branch secretary glanced at him and thought to himself that this old guy was talking about showing off, but he pretended that he was showing off when he couldn't tell.
He took a puff of his cigarette with satisfaction and returned to the topic: "So, your family contracted this sandy land to grow watermelons? Can you grow it in more than 20 acres?"
“My daughter asked me to take over the contract first, and then hire people if we can’t plant enough.”
“Then there’s no need to contract now, right? There’s still time to contract next spring, and we can save half a year’s contracting fees.”
"That won't work. Yin Yin said that to grow delicious sweet potatoes, it's best to mix in some pond mud. Since there isn't much work in the fields now, I'll pick up more pond mud to fertilize. Please help me ask which strong young man can get it. Kong, come and help me pick it up, I’ll give you two cents for a load of pond mud that weighs one hundred pounds.”
Two cents was a lot, and many young men came to sign up after hearing the news.
They were responsible for carrying mud from the pond. Father Xu took his two apprentices to fertilize the pond. Mother Xu was sitting under the shade of a tree wearing a straw hat and was responsible for paying.
Xu Yin exchanged five bags of watermelon seeds in one go, spent all the energy points accumulated some time ago, and harvested 10,000 system brand watermelon seeds and a "Sand Watermelon Planting Techniques Manual".
Perhaps he spent his energy points generously, and the system mall also released a limited-time free "Mountain Fruit Tree Planting Techniques Manual".
The pond mud retting method is described in the "Sand Watermelon Planting Techniques Manual" given by the system. Xu Yin copied it and explained it to her father one by one.
Unexpectedly, Mr. Xu was very knowledgeable about farming. Whether it was pond mud fertilization or nutrient soil preparation, he and his two apprentices were able to operate it very well. Xu Yin did not need to follow him to guide him every step of the way. .
Xu Yin no longer cared about the melon fields. She took some time to go to her uncle's house and told him the techniques of growing fruit trees in the mountains.
Uncle Geng was worried that the peach trees in Ziliu Mountain were not growing well. He saw other people planting apricots, so he also wanted to uproot the peach trees and replace them with apricot trees.
After listening to the planting method taught by my niece, I decided not to pull out the peaches and continue to plant peaches. After all, I spent a lot of money to buy peach saplings. If there are other ways, who is willing to spend a lot of money!
Isn’t it just a matter of spending some time fertilizing, pruning branches, and carefully tending? Why are mountain farmers afraid of wasting time? How will you know if it works if you don’t try it? In this trial, the first 10,000-yuan household in Da'ao Village was created.
After returning from her grandmother’s house, Xu Yin continued to make clothes for the villagers to earn pocket money. In addition to tuition fees and living expenses for the next semester, she also wanted to save some money to go to the imperial capital to see what supplies she could use to supplement her small private treasury.
In a busy time, the days passed by the end of August.
The remaining acre of late-ripening watermelon has matured, and the preparation of the 20 acres of sandy land is on track.
Xu Yin is about to embark on a study journey and set off for the imperial capital.
This month, she received two letters from Fu Lingling. Once was delivered to her home by the postman, and again recently, Xu Jianjun passed by the post office and brought it back.
“Who is this? He lives in the county and writes to you?”
“Former classmates.”
"So we know each other? I thought we were pen pals. Since we know each other, why don't we tell my family if something happens? It takes at least two or three days to go from the county mailbox to the mailbox in our town. It takes more than a few hours to ride a bicycle. Do you need to write a letter?"
Xu Yin glanced at him: What do you know!
Xu Jianjun rolled his eyes: "Yeah! I don't understand. You girls just like literature and art and romance."
“How do you know it’s a girl?”
"You can tell by looking at the handwriting. If this is what this man wrote, I will be punished by carrying a dung bucket for three days." Xu Jianjun pointed at the envelope.
…”
Xu Yin was too lazy to pay attention to him.
But there was still something to trouble him, so I didn’t say anything to him.
“Let me know when you go to the county.”
"What? Are you going too? I'm going there tomorrow. Several teachers from the night school bought five hundred kilograms of rice at my house and I have to deliver it to them."
“That’s good, help me bring something to my classmate.”
Xu Yin prepared several sets of children's clothes for Fu Lingling, her own newly harvested rice, a carefully compiled set of college entrance examination materials, and several books of prose and poetry that she asked her sister-in-law to buy at Tongcheng Bookstore.
Fu Lingling said good news in her letter: this month the provincial newspaper opened a column asking her to write prose, and the fee for the manuscript was much higher than before.
In this way, the income is higher than working in a factory, and she has free time. She can take care of her twins at home with peace of mind.
She also said that her sister-in-law is pregnant and sometimes looks at the twins with evil eyes. She is worried that her sister-in-law will not like the twins after having a biological son, so she has recently moved out with the twins.
She lives in her grandma’s old house. The house is a bit old, but it’s quieter and doesn’t have as many complicated things at home, so it’s very suitable for her to write.
(End of this chapter)