Talking His Parents Into It

Chen Mo and his father walked on for a while, but he realized something was off. This was not the way to their family's fields.

"Dad, this isn't the road to our fields, is it?" Chen Mo asked in surprise.

"Mm." Father Chen Jianguo answered in a low voice.

"Dad...?" Chen Mo called.

"We'll talk when we get to the field," Father Chen Jianguo said.

Hearing his father speak like that, Chen Mo could only stop asking for the time being. He knew his father's personality well. He was a fairly kind but somewhat stubborn farmer, and at home, his father had the final say in everything. So Chen Mo could only keep quiet.

They walked a short distance along the foot of the mountain, crossed a small stream, and arrived at the northwest corner of the village's sloping land. It was considered the innermost part of the village, several hundred meters from the village road. Turning around a cliff and following the winding mountain road for a few miles would lead to Qinggang Village.

"We're here," his father said.

Chen Mo looked around and saw that this was the land closest to the mountain's foot in the village. Transportation was somewhat less convenient than the fields they had previously had beside the main road, but otherwise the land was more or less the same. However, this was the spot nearest the mountain and deepest within the village. Past this point, following the dirt road a little farther, there was nothing but wasteland and mountains.

"Dad, this is..." Chen Mo pointed at the fields.

"Well, last year the village planned out a batch of housing lots, so fifty meters of all the fields along the south side of the road were taken over. Our family's fields were within the requisitioned area too. After the exchange and adjustment, all ten mu here were assigned to our family. You didn't come back last year, so I never told you," Father Chen Jianguo said.

Chen Mo looked at the surrounding environment and found it hard to say anything. Compared with their previous fields, there was not much difference. The transportation might be a little worse, but aside from that, it was actually closer to home. Moreover, they were at the mountain's foot, where the slopes were covered in the village's woodland, and a winding stream valley appeared and disappeared among them.

"This place is fine too. It's closer to home," Chen Mo replied with a smile. He said nothing more and picked up his hoe to start working.

"But dad, this land should have been virgin soil before, right?" Chen Mo asked.

"Yes, that's why there are four more mu," his father answered.

"Then what about the land farther over there? Has it all remained undeveloped, or what?" Chen Mo asked.

Father Chen Jianguo found it strange that Chen Mo was so curious about the family's land. He had never been this curious before.

His father pointed at their fields and said, "Our land is at the very edge, so beyond it is wasteland that's been abandoned for many years." He then pointed west from the edge of the field and added, "Over there are two hundred mu of wasteland that the village used to lease out. It was planted for a few years, then abandoned. No one has leased it since, so it's been left like this all along."

"What are you asking all this for?" Father Chen Jianguo asked.

"Oh! I was just curious and wanted to ask," Chen Mo replied with a smile.

Chen Mo knew that his parents and the two brothers had once had six mu of land between them. There had originally been another two mu belonging to Older Sister, but after she married, the village took it back, leaving only six mu. Although they had now exchanged it for ten mu, it certainly was not as good as the previous six mu of mature fields. But it had already been assigned for a year, so there was no point caring about it now.

Father and son said nothing more. They tidied the fields and pulled weeds, working until after noon before they were basically finished. The field was planted with spring wheat, which was sown in spring and harvested in summer before corn was planted. Crop rotation was used to ease the strain on the soil. The spring wheat could be harvested around late August or early September.

Father Chen Jianguo was the quiet type. He did not talk much and only kept his head down while working, so the two of them worked quite quickly.

In the past, farming ten mu of land alone would have exhausted someone to death. Ten mu was already the limit of a farmer's labor, and they might even need livestock to manage it. But the countryside had improved considerably more than ten years ago. Whether it was spring planting or autumn harvesting, people came with agricultural machinery looking for work. For some wages, they could plow and sow the fields. What remained were easier tasks like watering, fertilizing, and weeding. When harvest came, the agricultural machines would return to harvest and package everything together. All farmers needed to do was drive a walking tractor to haul the packaged grain home for drying and storage, or sell it directly to buyers.

After finishing the work, the two returned home one after the other. After working in the fields that morning, they basically would not need to return to the fields that afternoon.

After lunch, Chen Mo informed his parents and went out for a walk. He mainly wanted to look at the wasteland near the mountains, as well as places like Gourd Valley, where he had often played as a child. He spent the entire afternoon wandering around and took quite a few photos with his phone.

Chen Mo's Old House was here. Several connected households were all old homes built from rammed earth and bricks. They were terribly dilapidated and unoccupied, giving the place a desolate air.

To the west of the Old House lay two hundred mu of fields, but they had been left unused for a long time and were entirely overgrown with green grass. Less than a hundred meters north of the Old House was sloping land covered in shrubs and scattered trees. Back when Chen Mo lived at home, someone had leased the slopes to grow fruit trees. But for some reason, perhaps they lost money, and after a few years they cut down all the fruit trees they had planted. It was truly a pity.

To the east of the Old House, directly in front of its main gate, was a country dirt road about six or seven meters wide. Beyond it lay dozens of mu of wasteland and gradually rising hills. This dirt road had once been the village's main road. One end connected to the newly built provincial highway less than a kilometer away, while the other ended at the mountain's foot. It became a narrow mountain path leading directly into the entrance of Gourd Valley.

The entrance to Gourd Valley was not far from the northeast corner of the Old House. Beyond it lay a fairly large valley, but its shape resembled a gourd, so the locals called it Gourd Pass. Chen Mo had often played here as a child.

The valley inside Gourd Pass was all wild, barren mountains. A small stream ran through its center, flowing out of the valley entrance toward the southeast. It wound through the mountain hollow, eventually running alongside the provincial highway before turning around a large mountain hollow toward another village near the three-way intersection. That village was called Li Ying Village. One branch of the mountain road led to the town and connected to the main route to the county and urban area, while the other passed through Chen Family Village and led to Qinggang Village.

After entering through Gourd Pass and walking a few kilometers, the terrain was no longer broad and open. There were only mountains of varying sizes rising and falling ahead. Continuing deeper would lead into the Qinling Mountains, but the mountain paths were perilous, and no one lived there.

People had once lived inside Gourd Valley, but more than ten years ago, they had all moved to the planned housing lot area of the village in front of Chen Mo's Old House. No one lived inside now. Including the sloping land on both sides and the valley land itself, all of Gourd Valley covered roughly ten thousand mu. But perhaps it was difficult to develop and had no particularly attractive scenery, so no one had ever come to lease and develop it.

Chen Mo wandered around the Old House and Gourd Pass for a while. If he wanted to return home and lease land, he naturally needed to make some preparations. He could not just talk without conducting an actual inspection.

By the time he returned home, it was already dinnertime. His parents did not ask anything, and the family of three ate dinner around the table.

After dinner, Chen Mo pulled his father and mother into the main hall, intending to tell them about his plans.

"You're saying you don't want to work in the city anymore?" Father Chen Jianguo lit a cigarette. Hearing that his son planned to return to the village to farm, he immediately fell silent.

"Dad, competition for jobs among university students is fierce these days. My major is biology, so it isn't easy to find work related to it. That's why I want to come back to the village and farm," Chen Mo said.

"No! I paid for your education because I wanted you to leave the land behind and live a respectable life in the city, not so you could go to university and then come back to be a farmer facing the yellow earth!" Father Chen Jianguo said angrily.

"Dad! Listen to me first." Chen Mo gathered his thoughts, then continued, "My major is biology, so at school I researched a high-tech farming method. I want to come home and test it out."

"High-tech farming? I've farmed all my life, and this is the first time I've heard of farming needing high tech," Father Chen Jianguo said.

"Dad, don't look down on high-tech farming. Didn't the village start side businesses a few years ago and introduce cash crops? Didn't the technicians from the agricultural station provide technical support too?" Chen Mo said.

"Bullshit! Those peach trees they brought in were all cut down by the village and burned for firewood. What high tech?" Father Chen Jianguo had nothing but contempt for such things.

"Dad, can't you just let me try? What if it works?" Chen Mo stared into his father's eyes and spoke firmly.

His father said nothing and continued smoking.

"Honey, what about this...? Why not let the child try?" Seeing her son signal her with his eyes, Chen Mo's mother, Fu Huili, could only speak up from the side.

"What about your studies?" Father Chen Jianguo was worried about Er Wa's education. It had not been easy for him to get into university, yet he wanted to come back and farm. The thought made his heart ache with anger.

"My studies are already complete. In a few months, after I submit my graduation thesis, I can apply for my graduation certificate!" Chen Mo told the truth.

His father nodded but said nothing. He simply took out another cigarette, lit it, and smoked in silence.

"Honey, say something!" After waiting for quite a while, Fu Huili grew anxious and urged him.

"If you want to come back to farm and conduct experiments, suit yourself! But you know our family's situation. Don't expect the family to pay for it!" Father Chen Jianguo said.

Chen Mo smiled at his mother. "Thank you, mom. If you hadn't spoken up, dad definitely wouldn't have agreed."

"Coming back to farm is the road you chose. Don't regret it," Fu Huili said. She was not sure whether her child could persevere, so that was all she could say.

"Don't worry. I'll definitely make you gasp in surprise," Chen Mo said.

"Sigh! How much money do you have? If it's not enough, the family still has some!" Father Chen Jianguo had just said the family had no money, but seeing that his child had made up his mind to return home and farm, there was nothing else he could say. He could only support him. After all, this was his own child. If he did not feel for him, who would?