Chapter 57 - 57

Chapter 57 Spring PloughingHao Yan looked at the apple that Lu Jiayan had thrown away and gave him a wronged look." Jia Yan, do you really have to treat me like this?""How many times do I have to tell you? I don't like you, so leave me alone."Lu Jiayan was truly fed up; this was the first time he had ever lost his temper so much with a female comrade."Did you hear that? Brother Jiayan said he doesn't like you." Yin Jiao said gleefully, not wanting to miss out on something good."Shut up...""Bang..." Lu Jiayan slammed the door shut, shutting out the noise from outside.——None of the new students from the Educational Youth group suggested having dinner together. Besides the argument that happened during our last meal together, it's also because everyone can tell that these new students are not to be trifled with, so it's best not to cause trouble.This courtyard is quite lively now! Yun Ting, as usual, watches the show from the sidelines, not finding it annoying at all. Who can blame her when life is so boring? Sigh…It's spring planting season now, and everyone's busy. Of the newly arrived Educational Youth, only the two male Educational Youth are adapting well; the other three femaleEducational Youth are completely incapable of doing any work. The Brigade Leader is furious…Especially Hao Yan, she's practically the same as Yin Jiao back then. Of course, Yin Jiao still can't do her job well now, but she doesn't care about how many work points she gets, so the Brigade Leader is too lazy to bother with her. Unexpectedly, three more came, and even he, who is usually good-tempered, wanted to yell at them.Yun Ting was assigned to plant corn with Aunt Meihua. Initially, Aunt Meihua was responsible for digging the holes and Yun Ting was responsible for filling them with corn kernels. Later, Yun Ting asked Aunt Meihua to take a break and took over the task of digging the holes." Young Yun, the soil here is loess. It looks loose, but there's a hard layer underneath. You have to hit the right spot with your hoe, otherwise you won't be able to dig a decent hole.""Don't worry, Auntie, I'll definitely get a good ditch and dig a nice hole for you...""Haha... Oh my! There are even pretty pits, you're really joking." While laughing, Aunt Meihuasquatted down, dug a small pit in the ground with her hand, picked up three bright yellow seeds with her fingertips and threw them in: "Remember, the pit should be three inches deep, and the number of seeds should be neither too many nor too few. Too many seeds will compete for nutrients, and too few may prevent the seedlings from sprouting.""There's so much to learn about this kind of corn!""Of course, there's a lot to learn about farming..."She tossed the seeds into the small hole beside her feet, gently tamped them down with her foot, and the yellow soil covered them completely: "Take sowing seeds, for example. You have to consider the weather, the soil, and the seeds. If it's too dry, you have to water the hole more so the seeds are well-hydrated; if it's too damp, they'll rot in the soil. There's also a trick to the hoe you're using. You can't dig the hole straight up and down; you have to tilt it so that when it rains, the water can flow down the slope into the hole without washing the seeds away."Yun Ting was stunned, forgetting to move the hoe in his hand.Aunt Meihua took two steps forward and pointed to a few clumps of grass by the edge of the field: "See that? That's crabgrass. It competes with corn for nutrients. Once the seedlings grow, you have to pull them out before the dew dries, otherwise the roots will get tangled together, and pulling the weeds will pull up the seedlings too. You also have to apply fertilizer. You have to apply it once when the seedlings are knee-high, and then again when they get smallpox. Too much fertilizer will burn the seedlings, and too little won't work. You have to judge the amount by feel."" Aunt Meihua, you are amazing!""Hey, what's so great about it? It's all from spending too much time in the fields."Yun Ting was following Aunt Meihua's lead, asking how tall the corn seedlings should grow before thinning them out. Just as Aunt Meihuawas about to speak, a sharp scream came from not far away, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, suddenly breaking the silence of the field.The two turned around at the same time and saw a female educated youth in a blue cloth jacket hopping on one foot by the ridge of the field to the west. A glaring red stain had spread on the cloth shoe of her other foot. The hoe in her hand had fallen to the ground, and the blade was still covered with fresh soil. Several commune members had already gathered around her, chattering excitedly."Ouch...did you cut your foot with the hoe? Is that the new female educated youth?" Aunt Meihua frowned and continued, "Doesn't she know how to be careful? She must be suffering a lot."Yun Ting glanced at it twice and then stopped paying attention; she still didn't know the other person's name.So, first Lin Xue cut his foot with a sickle during the autumn harvest, and now someone else has cut their foot with a hoe during the spring planting...Just thinking about it hurts; it seems she needs to be more careful.The Brigade Leader arrived and arranged for two people to help take the injured femaleeducated youth to the barefoot doctor.Everyone went back to work, but they were all talking about it."These female educated youths are all so spoiled, they can't do anything right, they just cause trouble for others...""Hey, these city girls have never done manual labor before, how can they possibly do it well all at once?""You can't generalize and condemn all people! Young Educated Youth Yun and Li Educated Youth are quite good." She was referring to Li Zhaodi.Li Zhaodi remained as quiet as ever, but she was incredibly hardworking. Now that she no longerworked for Yin Jiao, Yin Jiao, knowing she was in the wrong, didn't do anything to her.Zhao Weidong was fawning over Lin Xue a while ago, but now he's going to Hao Yan to curry favor. He probably thinks Hao Yan has a good family background, so he's trying to curry favor with her. Right now, he hasn't even finished his own work, but he's already running off to help Hao Yan with his.Lin Xue cursed inwardly but didn't show it. Fortunately, there was He Junjun. Although she didn't like either of them, it didn't stop her from stringing him along to do chores and occasionally bringing him food.Yun Ting looked down on her approach and simply ignored her.After several days of hard work, the corn planting was finally finished. Looking at the neat fields, everyone was overjoyed, as if they could already see the future harvest.Next, we planted soybeans, sorghum, spring wheat, sweet potatoes, and potatoes. Although it wasn't as tiring as the autumn harvest, it wasn't easy at all.Only after all these are planted will I have time to rest for a few days.When the last hoe fell during spring plowing, and the Brigade Leader announced the end of spring plowing and gave everyone a three-day holiday, a burst of cheerful laughter erupted from the paddy field ridges.Aunt Meihua patted Yun Ting on the back and laughed, "Now we can finally catch our breath. Just in time for some things to come out of the mountains, let's hurry up and go for a look, we might catch some good stuff."Don't think that just because everyone's resting they're really idle and doing nothing. They're not idle at all; they've all gone up the mountain to find good stuff.Sure enough, the village roads became lively early the next morning. Women carrying bamboo baskets and children carrying small pickaxes walked in twos and threes toward the mountain valley behind the village.Yun Ting also joined in the fun. At this time of year, shepherd's purse is very fresh, as are bracken, willow shoots, and so on.A few hazel mushrooms may also sprout in the forest, but in smaller quantities and with less flavor and fullness than in summer and autumn. However, this is not a problem for Yun Ting, since she can use Wood Element Ability to bring them to their best.On the way, Yun Ting met Li Hongxia and a few other female educated youths. Li Hongxia came over to greet her and walked with her, saying, "This is the best time to go up the mountain. Shepherd's purse grows in patches on the slope, and if you're lucky, you can even find wood ear mushrooms. If you happen to find Wild Chickeneggs, that's like a windfall.""Shepherd's purse dumplings taste great," Yun Ting replied with a smile."Sigh! What dumpling isn't delicious? Even the dough is tasty! But what about refined grains? How can we eat them whenever we want?" Li Hongxia sighed deeply.