Chapter 28: Growing Vegetables

The next morning.

Amidst the noisy clamor of the alarm clock, Zhong Di climbed out of bed with utmost reluctance—no, with overwhelming unwillingness. He had just finished dressing when he heard Uncle Zhang’s voice, arriving at precisely the right moment.

Work began at seven and continued until noon—five hours in total.

“Uncle Zhang, I’m sorry for troubling you to bring your own mower,” Zhong Di said, eyeing the machine slung over Uncle Zhang’s shoulder. He mused to himself that he should assemble a collection of such small machines in the future.

“It’s nothing. Do you have any fuel here? I’m almost out, and though I said I’d get some the other day, I forgot,” Uncle Zhang replied.

“I do. Fresh gasoline. More than enough,” Zhong Di said, handing over the prepared fuel.

Uncle Zhang and his companions set to work, two mowing the grass, one raking it. At this pace, the day’s tasks would be nearly finished; even if there was some left, it would be little enough for Zhong Di to complete easily.

Watching them mow, Zhong Di first went to harvest the wild sand immortal shoots—sixteen leaves in total. He had increased the amount of fertilizer, and sure enough, the yield had improved. It seemed he needed to hurry up and buy sheep manure.

He was about to pull grass for the rabbits when the phone rang—it was his father.

“In a few minutes, five people will arrive at the orchard. Lead them in planting vegetables; they’re all familiar neighbors and aunties. I’m hauling sheep manure now, should be there in about an hour,” his father said through a noisy background, but was still clear enough. After speaking, he hung up.

Just as he was worrying about the manure, his father had taken care of it.

After chopping the wild sand immortal shoots and soaking them in water, Zhong Di began preparing tools and various seeds. People would arrive soon, so everything needed to be ready—otherwise, precious work time would be wasted. Even a ten or twenty-minute delay, multiplied by five people, meant over an hour lost. These aunties were efficient workers, easily doing the equivalent of two or three hours of his own labor.

Preparation was essential.

He set out three rakes and three hoes, prepared small bowls for the seeds, and gathered the purchased vegetable seeds.

Spinach, lettuce, cilantro, celery, chives—leafy greens with short growth cycles. Celery seedlings took longer, but Zhong Di decided to plant them anyway; as long as they grew to half size, it would suffice. Aside from leafy vegetables, there were root crops: green radish, white radish, carrots—all autumn vegetables.

Root crops were planted at the end of summer because they needed to survive winter and spring. Spring’s function was vernalization—the plants accumulated energy through winter, experienced a period of cool spring temperatures, then flowered and set seed, reproducing. Sown at summer’s end, harvested the following early summer—such was the full cycle for most root vegetables.

“Is this Zhong Di’s house?”

While Zhong Di was preparing, a woman’s voice rang out at the gate.

“Yes, this is the place,” Zhong Di replied quickly, opening the door. He kept it closed to prevent the chicks from escaping. Once the chicken coop was built, he wouldn’t have to worry about it.

“As for requirements, I don’t have many. You aunties just need to plant the vegetables according to your experience,” Zhong Di said softly, pointing to the seeds on the ground.

There were plenty of seeds—enough, he estimated, for three or four plots. Excluding the area taken by jujube trees, it would cover over ten acres.

Ten acres of vegetable plot sounded small, but it was actually substantial. With radish yields at eight or nine tons per acre, it meant dozens of tons of vegetables—more than enough for harvesting. Whether he could sell all that was another matter; for now, planting was the priority.

“No problem. We’ve planted vegetables for others before, so we all know the basics. If you have no special requirements, it’s fine,” said one auntie, weighing about one hundred and sixty pounds, twisting her sturdy frame as she examined the seeds.

The other four aunties said nothing, simply picking up tools and seeds.

It seemed this robust auntie was the leader.

In farm work, every group usually had one capable, authoritative person; the rest would follow their lead. Even with something as simple as planting vegetables, those who understood how to organize produced very different results from those who didn’t.

Since his mother had chosen them, there was no doubt—they were reliable, at least in her circle.

“Hmm... This celery, and the water spinach, probably can’t be planted—the seedling period is too long, they won’t grow properly. And these chives, with temperatures like this, might not even sprout,” the strong auntie observed, frowning. With decades of farming experience, she knew what could and couldn’t be grown.

“Carrots are okay, though it’s a bit late; they may not grow very big. If you’re sure, we can plant them,” she said, seeking confirmation from Zhong Di.

Though they were paid by the day, professional integrity was important—she spoke up as needed.

Zhong Di was impressed by the auntie’s expertise, even thinking of hiring someone permanently to ease his workload. He quickly dismissed the idea; income was still low—better to wait.

“Follow your experience—broadcast, row sowing, hole sowing, whatever works, as long as the seeds are planted,” Zhong Di said.

As for whether they were suitable for planting... Wait, he had an idea. He ran back to the kitchen and brought out a bowl.

“When you plant, could you soak the seeds in this solution first?” Zhong Di asked, intending to try the wild sand immortal shoot extract to see if it caused any unusual changes.

“Is this... a germination stimulant?” The strong auntie looked at the solution, puzzled, then guessed.

She had seen others use such solutions when planting vegetables.

“It’s not a hormone, but a kind of biological agent. Auntie, just soak the seeds briefly—it’s easy enough, right?” Zhong Di asked again. If soaking made sowing difficult, he’d drop the idea and test the extract himself. Many seeds were tiny and became sticky after soaking, making them hard to sow.

“No problem. Just mix with dry sand and sow together,” the strong auntie replied confidently, accustomed to such methods.

After discussing a few more details, the aunties went off to plant vegetables while Zhong Di drove the tractor, keeping pace to till as much as possible before his father arrived with the manure in an hour.