Daily Life in the Countryside After Being Reborn
Chapter 60 - 59: The Farming Competition Between Grandfather and Granddaughter (Part 2)

Chapter 60: Chapter 59: The Farming Competition Between Grandfather and Granddaughter (Part 2)

After everything was ready, Xiao Xian began planting the rice. Once the topsoil was spread, the dry nursery bed for the seedlings was preliminarily completed.

At that time, Zhu Shijun hadn’t yet sown his rice.

Xiao Xian didn’t say anything, but she was somewhat annoyed that Zhu Shijun didn’t take her farm seriously. Upon learning that her grandfather was going to use the water method to cultivate rice seedlings, she, as if to act in opposition, adopted the dryland method. The different cultivation methods also meant different sowing times; by her calculations, she was a whole week ahead of Zhu Shijun’s water-cultivated seedlings.

By mid-February, the seedlings that had been sown were ready to be transplanted at the beginning of March. From sowing to growing seedlings, there was someone even more anxious than Xiao Xian.

Sister-in-law Lian, after finishing her chores, would squat by the edge of the field every day. Her husband had gone out to work this year, and they didn’t plant the labor-intensive rice in their field, growing some greens and loofah instead, which didn’t need daily attention.

More than half a month after planting the seedlings, even the water-cultivated seedlings that Zhu Shijun sowed seven or eight days late had sprouted and grown leaves, while Xiao Xian’s three fen of seedbed remained quiet.

"Xiao Xian, why don’t we try another method? Like your grandfather, change to water-cultivated seedlings. Everyone in the village uses that method to nurture seedlings. Using dryland might not work out, let’s not waste the rice seeds."

"Xiao Xian, or I’ll go ask the village chief for some rice seeds and cultivate another bed next to it."

Finally, around the tenth day, Zhu Shijun’s late-planted seedlings were ready to spread and transplant. Sister-in-law Lian couldn’t stay calm any longer, thinking how a mere seven-year-old Xiao Xian could be so patient, "Xiao Xian, or you could do like sister-in-law, don’t plant rice, just grow some taro and tomatoes. Those are easier to cultivate."

Xiao Xian couldn’t restrain her impatience either, not because of the seeds in the field, but because of Sister-in-law Lian’s nagging, "Sister-in-law, please stop worrying. Tomorrow, just go and check the field early in the morning. I promise you’ll see the seeds have sprouted by then."

Sister-in-law Lian still didn’t believe it, thinking how Xiao Xian was so concerned about face. However, Sister-in-law Lian dared not say this in front of Xiao Xian. You see, the grandfather and granddaughter each cultivated their own plot without discussing how the other’s was doing, each confident in themselves. As someone who only helped occasionally, she really shouldn’t meddle.

Still, early the next morning, Sister-in-law Lian went to check the few mu of land at the village head, an hour earlier than usual. To her surprise, she found something. In the not-so-large three fen of land, nearly a thousand seedlings had sprouted.

In the following days, until the day before Xiao Xian was forced to "attend school" at the temple, standing at the edge of Ge Village’s fields once more, she saw a vast expanse of lush greenery. The seedlings had leaves three times the size of others and were half taller than Zhu Shijun’s spread seedlings. To put it simply, Mr. Zhu’s mu of seedlings was like a delicate girl from the south of the Yangtze River, while Xiao Xian’s three fen of seedlings were typical strapping fellows from the north-east.

Once the seedlings reached about ten centimeters in height, it was time to transplant them. The original plan was to have more than a mu of rice seeds, but after cultivation, seeing the momentum, it seemed no problem to plant three mu of land.

After the seedlings matured, it was time to spread them. Sister-in-law Lian wouldn’t let Xiao Xian help, worried about locusts that bite in the field. She found a few women from Ge Village who were also free at home. Each was given five home-raised eggs and, with a wet towel wrapped around their bamboo hats and pants legs rolled up, they combined their strength to move the thriving rice seedlings from the nursery to the paddy field.

Xiao Xian couldn’t get into the field and stood on the field ridge, watching the adults transplant the seedlings. Sister-in-law Lian held a bund of seedlings, her feet soaked in water, and with her index and middle fingers parted the seedlings, and with a gentle press of her thumb into the soft mud of the water, the seedlings obediently settled into the paddy field.

The seedlings were transplanted from west to east in an orderly fashion. Xiao Xian became eager to join in, but not wanting to contradict Sister-in-law Lian, she grabbed some seedlings in her hand. The seedlings in her hand had well-developed roots and distinct veins. Spotting a gap in the paddy field, Xiao Xian’s hand traced a parabolic arc, and the seedling was thrown.

The rice seedling landed firmly in the earth, causing a small spray of water like raindrops. After Sister-in-law Lian saw this, she called out a few times from the edge of the field then let it be. Xiao Xian, however, could not be swayed and continued; the seedlings in her hand were like the shuttlecocks often played with by the girl next door, Xiao Hua, one after another flying toward every corner of the paddy field. As long as the distance was right, the ’flying seedlings’ would grow just as well as the normally transplanted ones.

The transplanting work, which was originally expected to take a whole day, was shortened to half a day with Xiao Xian’s "interference". Sister-in-law Lian, still not reassured, meticulously checked the seedlings in all three mu of land to ensure each one was straight and firmly planted before she stepped up onto the field ridge.

While they were transplanting, the white pear tree behind the Zhu Family’s house also had a huge harvest. Mr. Zhu gave several jin to the village chief’s house and San Gouzi’s family and planned to send a few more to the Li Family and the Great Wizard in a few days. After counting the remaining pears, there were still over three hundred left.

"It’s really strange, how many fruits did this pear tree bear last year, and now this year it’s a bumper crop," Zhu Shijun pondered, leaving a few for his family and handing over the rest to San Gouzi, who took them to sell down the mountain.

"Mr. Zhu, what price should I sell them for?" San Gouzi asked before going down the mountain. Even he, who didn’t know the price, understood that pear trees across the country were just budding now, and it would be a while before they bore fruit. Selling early-season fruits generally merits a higher price. The fruits from the Zhu Family’s backyard pear tree were densely packed, and since it was winter, even the greedy birds that hadn’t left their nests hadn’t pecked at them; the fruits that in previous years had been pitted by birds were now each uniformly beautiful. Weighing one with the right hand, it could reach a jin, and the taste went without saying.

"Just one yuan more expensive than the market price should be good. It’s a pity the New Year has passed; if we could have sold them during the holiday, the price would be different," Zhu Shijun had the village carpenter make several dozen wicker baskets, padded them with straw, and loaded them onto San Gouzi’s truck.

Mr. Zhu’s health had improved lately, and he liked to do things in person, almost outpacing the young men in the village.

San Gouzi then went down the mountain with a truck full of pears. (To be continued. If you like this work, we welcome you to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)