CHAPTER 356: CHAPTER 79: FARM CROPS (PART 2)

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"What’s the big deal about having read books? I only graduated from technical school and now my assets are worth over a hundred million. I tell you, to get rich, you have to rely on brains and luck. What about college graduates? Now they still have to huddle up and farm. Can’t find the reason? Just let it go? Acting stupid after raising pigs, in a few days, I’ll get some herbicide, and you sneakily spray it around them, so they can’t even grow a single hair. I lost a batch of cattle and sheep because of them, don’t think this matter is settled," Seven-pointed Head exhaled a ring of smoke, quite contentedly.

"Brother-in-law, the sheep are gone, what should we do in the future?" The person in charge wasn’t so much worried about the sheep but about the money for the fodder. With fewer sheep, there would be less money.

"Do you think I’ll run out of lambs? In a bit, I’ll send you a batch over. Remember this time, don’t raise them with any problems, or I’ll castrate you just like the sheep," Huang Tengchong finished his cigarette in one gulp and crushed it in the fodder.

A kilometer away at the farm, Zhuo Feng had been lying on the fence of the farm these past days, carefully observing the movements of the Milk Feed Factory.

The grass that had not been grazed for more than half a month turned green again and grew several centimeters taller. The feces left by the cattle and sheep after grazing were piled up by Feng Xing in a dugout pit next to it, waiting to be fermented as farm fertilizer.

"Ah Feng, you’re still watching. The cattle and sheep have learned their lesson after getting sick from the grass. If Milk Feed Factory lets them out again, they wouldn’t dare to run this way," Feng Xing, wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat, holding a fence rake in his hand, piled up the dry grass and fallen leaves from previous years on the side.

"I’ve noticed that our Xiao Xian is quite clever," Zhuo Feng put on her gardening sleeves and started turning over the soil, speaking to himself when he saw a certain plant in the dirt.

"Yes, who would have thought of using ferns to drive away the cattle and sheep?" Feng Xing described the fern as a perennial evergreen herb common across the country, with pale green leaves, somewhat similar to ginkgo leaves, but only tens of centimeters tall. Bai Ju’s farm had many clusters of them growing in shaded areas.

The inconspicuous herb that caused vomiting and diarrhea in cattle and sheep was this fern. Xiao Xian mentioned that when in the village, the local sheep accidentally ate the ferns and vomited and had diarrhea. It took them a while to recover.

The day the cattle and sheep were driven away, the three of them moved all the ferns from the corner to several places where the cattle and sheep like to graze. It did not take many days before the Milk Feed Factory had an incident with cattle and sheep having diarrhea and vomiting. After that, they didn’t dare allow grazing over here anymore. It has been quiet these days, and it seems they won’t be causing trouble anymore.

"Hmm, there’s a science to doing anything. You know some methods of planting economic crops, but you don’t understand the use of such inconspicuous wild herbs. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. If we’re going to live here for a long time, we should get used to the environment here. The land has been mostly prepared, let’s go to the city this afternoon to look around and choose some crops to bring back." Feng Xing, being the man of the house, lacked the dreaminess of women and favored the pragmatic approach of leading life one day at a time.

The farm renovation cost a lot of money, and the water, electricity, and heating systems in the house had all been repaired. The land had been plowed, and it was time to think about what to plant.

In the days following their arrival, Feng Xing and Zhuo Feng had also looked around. They initially planned to plant some easy-to-grow common crops, but that plan fell through.

In Yanqing, where residences were scattered and the variety of crops was diverse, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, and other vegetables were plentiful. Those things did not sell well, and selling them would result in a loss due to transportation costs.

Feng Xing considered planting some of Northern’s common fruits, like jujubes, persimmons, apples, etc. But all of these required labor and technical skills, and the couple did not have the capital to do so at the moment. After much consideration, it was better to go to the flower and bird market or the seed station to see and choose something suitable.

On the way to the seed station, Zhuo Feng noticed a sweet potato stall on the roadside. She had only eaten a few bites for lunch and felt hungry after sitting in the car for a while. She thought of buying a roasted sweet potato to fill her stomach.

After asking for the price, a two or three tael roasted sweet potato actually sold for two yuan, which was considered expensive. Zhuo Feng clicked her tongue in astonishment.

The old lady selling the sweet potatoes laughed heartily: "Young lady, don’t underestimate these sweet potatoes. They are all grown by myself and stored in a special clay cellar over the winter. They are even sweeter than Red Fuji apples."

After hearing this, Zhuo Feng peeled open the hot and charred sweet potato skin.

Despite the unattractive peel and misshapen baked sweet potato, a mouthful of chestnut-yellow sweet potato flesh was fragrant, sweet and sticky, like drinking fine honey, sweetening one from head to toe in one breath.

"Delicious, husband, have a bite," Feng Xing casually took a bite. In Beijing, street vendors were not allowed to set up stalls anywhere they liked. Eating a roasted sweet potato had become a luxury.

"It is delicious. If they caught the morning market, the price of sweet potatoes would be even higher," Feng Xing had bought sweet potatoes a few times at the vegetable market before moving to the farmhouse and knew the prices.

"Hmm, it is pretty expensive," Zhuo Feng ate half of it and suddenly had an idea. "Husband, I’ve thought of it. Let’s go buy sweet potato slips. First, we’ll go back and buy some sweet potatoes from that old lady selling them. If that doesn’t work, we’ll ask in the city."

Feng Xing thought about it and agreed. For the first year, planting sweet potatoes was more reliable, saving on fertilizer and labor. The couple could just hire some helpers when it was time to harvest the sweet potatoes. The farm had only a few acres of prepared land, and the remaining dozen or so acres of thick grass needed some time to be cleared.

Putting thoughts into action, Zhuo Feng ate the sweet potatoes and came up with a good idea for planting sweet potatoes. On that trip, the couple then bought several pounds of sweet potato slips of different varieties. Next, they just had to wait to plant the sweet potatoes down.(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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