Peppa's Great Grace_1
The siblings left the house in high spirits.
In the end, it was only one of them who returned in high spirits.
"Where's Qiaoqiao?"
Wu Lan asked.
Song Tan burst into laughter, "He's right behind!"
No sooner had she spoken than a tall, thin boy with a shiny, round buzz-cut came around the bend in the path behind, his sleeves wiping away tears, looking so wronged and sobbing...
"Pfft!" Wu Lan couldn't hold back her laughter either as she went over to take the basket from his hand, "What happened? Why are you crying? Oh dear, look at our Qiaoqiao's 'calico cat face,' you've cried yourself ugly!"
Feeling someone's sympathy, Song Qiao cried even louder.
"Mom… waaaaah, mom… my sister, waaaah… my sister isn't farming properly!"
Song Tan wouldn't take the blame for that: "Nonsense, I've scattered all the seeds, how can you say I didn't farm properly? Didn't I leave you a handful to plant slowly?"
She then quietly explained to Wu Lan that Milk Vetch seeds just needed to be scattered directly onto the soil, but Qiaoqiao only knew how to plant corn, so he insisted on planting the seeds one by one.
In the end, Song Tan scattered all the seeds, leaving him only a palm-sized patch of land and at most fifty seeds, letting Qiaoqiao plant them one pit at a time...
Song Qiao was crying miserably, "But you... but you! You scattered the seeds all over, and now we won't have any corn growing! I..."
He rubbed his sleeves frantically across his face, growing more heartbroken as he spoke, "Waaaaah mom, my sister, hic… only gave me a little bit of seeds, I planted them so carefully… and if there's too little corn when it's time to harvest, we won't have enough to eat, waaaaah…"
With tears in his eyes, he gazed at Song Tan, "In the future… I won't be able to take care of my sister, waaaaah…"
Oh dear, this sweet, foolish boy!
Song Tan's heart softened completely—no wonder Qiaoqiao was crying so hard, he must remember what she had said at the beginning about farming to feed themselves!
He probably thought that the haphazard scattering of the seeds meant there wouldn't be enough corn to eat, which was why he felt so sad and wronged.
As expected, Wu Lan also gave her a sharp stare in reprimand, and quickly comforted him, "It's okay, Qiaoqiao, mom can farm, mom will take care of you!"
Song Qiao stopped crying, hesitated for a while, and then started sniffling again, "Then, you'll also take care of sister."
As soon as he spoke, Song Tan had already hugged his shoulders, "Good brother! Sweet Qiaoqiao! Sister is so touched—come on, no more crying, wipe your face and let's watch Peppa!"
"We can watch two episodes today!"
Ultimately, it was the pink pig that ended the tears.
…
The beginning of March.
It was the third day of the second lunar month, the Awakening of Insects.
Everything begins anew, and the hibernating creatures wake up.
Song Tan had been back for half a month now.
In that half-month, Song Sancheng, along with the villagers, had almost finished cleaning up the hillside, and the fields had taken on a layer of fluffy green—
It was the newly sprouted Milk Vetch, its tender green pushing through the brown soil, fragile as if it would break with a mere gust of wind.
The villagers marveled upon seeing it, "These modern seeds sure aren't afraid of the cold! Look at this, in previous years we only dared to plant seeds in March, but now they're already sprouting in early March."
An expanse of twenty mu was covered in this fuzzy green, with the fields unevenly distributed, and a mere glance filled one with involuntary joy.
All the villagers passing by couldn't resist pausing to take a longer look.
The saying "The grass looks greener from afar, yet up close, there's none" was truly apt.
An elderly villager leading an old ox passed by and couldn't help but ask, "Tan Tan, when this Milk Vetch grows tall, can I bring the ox to graze in your fields?"
Milk Vetch was nutritious and tender, a favorite among cattle and sheep. Previously, when the ox was needed for plowing the rice paddies, it was always allowed to feast on the fields, but since the farming had ceased, the ox too had aged.
And Milk Vetch was no longer being planted.
Song Tan promptly agreed, "Of course, Grandpa Li! When the time comes, you can bring the ox down to those two lower fields, just let it in and it can eat as much as it wants!"
Milk Vetch grows quickly; starting from the green leaves, it could be grazed for a couple of months!
Old Li thought for a moment, "Are you just planting these two patches of land this year? How about I bring my ox to plow your fields?"
Indeed, an ox-plowed field couldn't compare to a tiller machine, it could only cover five or six mu per day. But Song Tan only had a little more than three mu, not even four!
Otherwise, Old Li wouldn't be willing: "But my ox is old, so I need to plow slowly, you can't rush me."
"Two days to finish plowing for you, okay?"
Song Tan smiled, "Okay! That's great! Grandpa Li, then I won't mention money. When the rice is harvested, I'll bring you fifty jin!"
The old man didn't eat much, fifty jin would last him half a year.
Old Li was extremely happy in his heart!
The young people coming back nowadays always talk about money, it's not that it's wrong to pay for work, but sometimes helping out neighbors can feel quite impersonal.
The young people are not unwilling to help the villagers, but they simply don't know how.
It made these old folks, accustomed to village favors, always feel uncomfortable.
Tantan was just good like that.
And besides, his own home-grown rice! How fragrant that must be!
He thought about it, he hadn't tasted it in one or two decades…
Who would have thought that he'd get to eat it again before the end.
The old ox also seemed to sense his joy and let out a long "moo" as well. Old Li patted its head, "Let's go, let's go, let's go home! Soon there will be good food!"
...
Song Tan was also pondering:
Milk Vetch, with green leaves and purple flowers, Old Ox...
What beautiful materials!
Song Tan had planned this long ago, and now with the ox, it would appear more lively.
As for whether she could sell products after becoming famous—of course she could!
If she couldn't sell products, what was the point of all her efforts?
She was confident: after trying it once, no one could resist becoming a repeat customer.
Song Tan had farmed on Yunmoon Peak for a hundred and ten years, removing pests and weeds to enhance the flavor; her skills were solidly honed!
She refused to believe that vegetables grown with Spiritual Energy would not have a market!
Furthermore, many of the vegetables she planned to grow were storage-resistant; wood ear and silver ear mushrooms were especially suitable for online sales.
Nowadays, logistics were so developed that most cities could receive next day delivery, as long as you were willing to pay, which was sufficient to meet e-commerce demands.
The perishable items, once they made a name for themselves, could be consumed locally.
She farmed first to satisfy her cravings and second to make money.
As for how much she earned—as long as she could break even, she didn't have many demands.
Calculating all this, there was still so much to prepare.
In the next few days, she had to hurry and get her filming equipment ready and pick her editing skills back up. Whether she could be successful or not would depend on this wave!
Thinking it over, Song Tan stood by the field, her fingers moved subtly, as she quietly drew forth strands of Spiritual Energy...
That invisible white mist, hardly seen by the naked eye, slowly merged into the field, making the greenness of the Milk Vetch seem even more vibrant.
With a gentle breeze, the hazy shade of green at this moment grew ever richer.
The roots of the Milk Vetch rapidly absorbed nutrients from the ground, while the light yellow rhizobia clinging to the roots reciprocated by nourishing the soil.
Such is the life of nature.
Repeating in cycles, in a rhythmic loop.