Chapter 125: Another Way (Another update tonight)

*Rumble, rumble, rumble!*

Zhong Di was still half-asleep when he was jolted awake by a loud, rumbling din.

He wanted to pull the blanket over his head and go back to sleep, but the persistent noise left him with no choice but to get up.

A fleet of trucks had appeared outside the farm, loaded with bricks, cement, and other building materials. Over by the homestead site, one of the trucks was already unloading its bricks.

This was the result of their prior discussion.

Originally, they had planned to unload the materials directly at the greenhouse construction site. However, his older sister had pointed out that having so many heavy trucks driving on the road would easily ruin it.

Theirs wasn't an asphalt road. Even a concrete road would struggle under such weight, let alone a dirt path. It had taken a lot of effort to repair the road, and they couldn't afford to ruin it now.

So they decided to unload everything at the homestead site first, stacking it neatly. The homestead area was spacious enough, and they could later transport the materials inward using electric tricycles as needed. This way, they would only haul what they used, preventing the place from turning into a chaotic mess.

Fortunately, it was Monday, so there were no dining guests, making clean-up much easier. Even the tourists who came to buy vegetables understood that the farm was undergoing renovations, so there were no issues.

"Dad, how long do you think it'll take to unload all these raw materials?"

"The crew I contacted said they’d finish by this afternoon. I hired extra hands on purpose. I know we can't afford to waste time—every day wasted is a lot of money down the drain."

"Alright. Remember to have everyone stay for dinner tonight." This was an old tradition of the farm: whenever people came to work, they would occasionally be invited to stay for a hearty meal.

"Sure thing. The guys are really putting their backs into it." His father smiled at Zhong Di and went off to coordinate the workers.

Zhong Di watched his father's retreating figure. Ever since his father decided to step down as the household's main pillar, he had found peace of mind.

Now, in his own quiet way, he was supporting Zhong Di, who had taken over as the new pillar of the family.

If they really could finish unloading everything in one afternoon, it wouldn't disrupt their schedule much.

However, with all these materials piled up at the homestead, the dining area would probably be completely cramped. Fortunately, they had broadened their thinking and decided they could set up the dining area inside the Herb Garden; otherwise, it would have been a real headache to manage.

The open space to the south of the eastern strip of land was the sheep pen, which would have been highly inappropriate.

After watching for a while, Zhong Di found it rather dull and decided to work on refining his technical proposal.

This was going to be his first official post on a public platform, so he wanted to prepare it thoroughly.

To gather material, Zhong Di headed straight into his own orchard.

When it came to farming, if you didn't get your hands dirty on the front lines of production, any technique you spoke of was merely theoretical at best.

Many techniques seemed incredibly advanced on paper but failed to gain widespread adoption for this very reason: they hadn't been tested in the actual fields.

Of course, he wouldn't limit his data collection to his own orchard; he would also gather data from other jujube orchards to ensure he had a more robust set of data to support his claims.

Zhong Di began to observe the behavioral signals of the jujube trees.

Looking closely, he noticed that some of the jujube trees were still giving off the scent of love, but this romantic aura seemed weak and exhausted—almost as if they lacked the strength to carry on.

Yes, that was exactly it.

At this stage, the fruit had already set, and the trees were growing vigorously. Whether it was the nutrients absorbed by the roots or the energy produced by the leaves, everything was prioritized for the developing jujubes rather than the newly blossoming flowers.

It was like the old days: when survival rates were low, people would have many children. Once they had enough children, if another was born but food was scarce, they would prioritize feeding the children with the highest chance of survival.

This was also why the story of Kong Rong giving up the larger pears had survived for so long—not because it was about bullying the weak, but because to successfully propagate, resources had to be managed. If they were to allocate food to the smallest, not only would the young have a low survival rate, but even the older children's chances would drop. This logic was a gene passed down in their very bones.

The same applied to the jujubes. If the trees continued to divert nutrients to the newly opened blossoms at this stage, even the fruit that had already set would not grow well.

Of course, this didn't rule out the trees with abundant nutrients that could still support new fruit, but those would mostly fail to develop properly, becoming what were known as "yellow-skinned jujubes."

Zhong Di noted down these observations one by one.

*Hmm, after the last rain, some of the jujubes showed signs of splitting. It seems they need a calcium supplement. Milk and bone meal can be fermented separately to provide some calcium at this stage.*

*Come autumn, some of the leaves will age, and the nutrients they produce won't even cover their own consumption. I can apply some foliar magnesium fertilizer to boost chlorophyll.*

After inspecting his own orchard, Zhong Di headed over to Uncle Zhang's jujube orchard.

"Zhong Di, are you done with your orchard for the day? What brings you over here?"

As soon as he arrived, he saw Uncle Zhang busy at work.

Over the past few weeks, Uncle Zhang had watched Zhong Di transform from someone with nothing to a small business owner. To say he wasn't envious would be a lie.

But he was an easygoing man by nature, and he figured it was just the Zhong family's turn to prosper in this generation.

Some people were just like that—no matter what they did, their luck was extraordinarily good, and they became wealthy in the blink of an eye. Meanwhile, others were plagued by misfortune, losing money on every venture until their family fortune dwindled to nothing.

"Uncle Zhang, I mentioned last time that I wanted to write a technical article. I was hoping to look around your place to collect some data, if you don't mind the intrusion."

"Collect data? Sure, go right ahead. Ask me anything if you have questions." Uncle Zhang's face lit up with joy. Ever since the fruit-setting rate of Zhong Di's orchard had been revealed, his curiosity had been burning.

Even if he couldn't make as much money as Zhong Di, learning their jujube cultivation techniques would still boost his annual earnings significantly!

After thanking him, Zhong Di began to look around. When it came to gathering data, he didn't even need to ask; he could read the information directly with his own eyes.

Whoa!

What was that feeling? Why was there such a strong emotional fluctuation?

Just as Zhong Di was about to look away, he suddenly sensed a powerful surge of emotion.

He searched carefully and, in an inconspicuous corner, discovered a massive jujube tree.

"Sharp eyes! That tree has the highest fruit-setting rate every year and produces the most king jujubes. It's my absolute pride and joy."

Seeing that Zhong Di was finally showing interest in his trees, Uncle Zhang felt a slight swell of pride.

"Then I must take a closer look," Zhong Di replied, stepping up to examine it.

The overall feeling this tree gave Zhong Di was that it possessed a much stronger spiritual presence than the trees in his own orchard. It felt so close to being able to converse with him.

This was highly unusual! For the longest time, apart from the bougainvillea, the waterweeds in the reservoir, and the Wild Sand Fairy Sprout, only a few ancient poplar trees had ever reached this level of awareness.

As for jujube trees, this was the first time he had ever encountered one so spiritually aware.

Zhong Di attempted to communicate with it, but finding that it could only convey very simple concepts, he did not press for a deeper conversation.

Simply put, it could understand some of what Zhong Di said and could reply a little, but its expression was muddled.

It was like a poor English student who could grasp the general idea but couldn't pinpoint the exact meaning, able to speak a few words but unable to make themselves clear.

Zhong Di felt a strong urge to buy this tree from Uncle Zhang. Encountering a plant capable of communication was a rare privilege.

Communicating with them was not only fascinating, but it also offered a unique emotional connection.