CHAPTER 631: 631 OUTER VILLAGE

Let’s talk about Chaoyang and the other three. When they arrived at Jin Family Village, all the villagers gathered around, and the four of them felt quite proud inside.

Old Yang and Wang Shulin arrived earlier than them and had already arranged their accommodation.

It’s now half-past two in the afternoon, and the four stopped but didn’t turn off the engines.

"Uncle Wang, which plot should we start with?"

"Start now?"

"Yes, my dad instructed us to make the most of the time. Planting one day earlier could mean harvesting a week earlier."

Upon hearing this, Wang Shulin felt quite convinced. Without relying on others, he led the four of them directly to the fields.

The four arrived at the edge of the field; three started setting up the rotary tiller, while Chaoyang asked, "Uncle Wang, there are no rocks in this field, right? As you can see, the rotary tiller is made of iron. If it hits a rock, the blades will bend, and then there’s no way to till the field.

Tell us in advance if there are rocks; those fields we won’t plow. Uncle Wang can take the opportunity to organize manual planting; otherwise, this rotary tiller costs nearly two thousand, and asking you to compensate would be uncomfortable. If not, we can’t just take a loss like that.

So it’s best to clarify this upfront, to avoid awkward situations later."

"Don’t worry, dear nephew. There are absolutely no rocks here; these are good fields cultivated for many years. Go ahead and work."

Wang Shulin understood this too, eight yuan per mu of land, how many mu must this rotary tiller plow to make it worthwhile?

The three young men had already set up the tiller, moved grass mats from the truck to the outside land, pegged four corners, and tied messy fabric on top.

Chaoyang started working first, and the others lay directly on the grass mats.

They needed rest; they were already quite skilled with the rotary tiller, so working at night posed no problems.

The villagers of Jin Family Village filled the edge of the field, curious about everything.

"Uncle Wang, we need people from our village to follow behind; I don’t know the edge of this field."

The captain of Jin Family Village’s team quickly jumped onto the vehicle and Chaoyang immediately started it.

Everyone squatted in surprise behind the tilling machine, uttering words of amazement.

The elderly folks followed the tiller machine, feeling very excited.

"Shulin, this is really a good thing; truly eye-opening. Our village must have one too."

"Third Uncle, this isn’t small change; it costs eight or nine thousand yuan."

"No matter, we can earn it back this year. We’ll buy one by year’s end."

"Alright, if the money isn’t enough, we’ll all pitch in." Wang Shulin also had this idea, though he hadn’t mentioned it yet.

By six-thirty, Chaoyang had tilled six or seven mu of land. Meanwhile, Wang Shulin arranged for them to have a meal — cornmeal pancakes, large stalks of green onions with meaty oil steamed red pickles, and a pot of egg soup.

The four young men sat together gobbling down the food, at their hungriest, luckily there was ample food prepared.

After eating, Da Linzi took over the tractor, while the other three rested.

That evening, they planned it out well — three people rotating shifts, sowing seed during the day tomorrow to ensure the current moisture in the soil wouldn’t evaporate.

"Uncle Wang, have the seeds prepared by six o’clock tomorrow morning. We’ll start sowing, and your village members should supervise. Of course, we’ll also have someone help oversee the sowing process."

"Okay. You are doing great; I’ll stay with you tonight."

The three smiled and made room for him. Back then, when the four of them worked evenings in the village, the village chief wasn’t at ease and accompanied them too.

By the end of one afternoon and evening, thirty mu of land were tilled. The next day at five, Wang Shulin left to have someone bring the seeds.

By five-thirty, the village elders came over, ten or so of them, witnessing the widely tilled land, feeling overwhelmingly excited.

The seeds arrived along with breakfast — cornmeal pancakes, red pickles, egg soup.

The four changed to the seeder before sitting down to eat.

We appointed the captain of the team to oversee the sowing, while the elderly didn’t leave either, feeling uneasy unless witnessing it personally; this was their annual hope.

Chaoyang took the first shift again, sowing twenty mu of land during the day, continuing tilling at night and sowing during the day.

Wang Shulin wore a smile on his face too. At this pace, they would certainly be able to plant everything within a fortnight.

Each small team leader led everyone to plant on private fields, where the land wasn’t ready yet. Mainly because people repeatedly emphasized there shouldn’t be any stones, these fields were tackled manually.

Wang Shulin found Chaoyang, "Dear nephew, could you first till the sweet potato field so we can form ridges?"

"Uncle Wang, no problem at all; we’ll start tonight. But there must be someone with us the whole time, and I’m still concerned; is that really stone-free land?"

"No, no, you can rest assured."

Now, J Village’s villagers were equally enthusiastic; everyone saw hope. With this timing, they would all ripen by autumn, achieving harvest.

They would no longer face past years watching crops freeze before they formed kernels — that truly was heartbreaking.

Chaoyang and the others utilized nighttime to till, while the village began forming ridges the next day. Women and children at home harvested seedlings; really no tasks were delayed.

After half a month passed, all corn was planted in Jin Family Village. On the first day, the planted corn already sprouted.

The village elders cried tears of joy, having never experienced this in their lifetime.

Now the sweet potatoes and potatoes were all planted too. Sorghum was speedily being planted. Now it was effortless — since the sorghum fields were tilled, they became loose soil, and so the whole village’s villagers finished planting all the sorghum within three days.

Chaoyang and the other three worked tirelessly this half month, though eating to their fill each meal, they still became much leaner.

Yet, they were full of spirit; many families with daughters in Jin Family Village favored them greatly.

Previously, no one would marry their daughters into Li Family Village, but now it’s different. Li Family Village has few people and many lands; owning the machinery, struggling days became improbable. Many families began to consider.

The young ladies also strolled around the fields when they had time; the four young men were well-built and energetic, naturally attracting the girls.

Li Yungui didn’t realize that not only did they recover substantial costs this time but also gave the young men a chance to shine.

Tonight, they went to dinner at Wang Shulin’s house, eager to return, but couldn’t resist the hospitality. There was even stewed chicken; though they all craved it, they maintained decorum, at least not embarrassing themselves.