Chapter 4

Author's note:

Now that the first three chapters are out, you've got a pretty good idea of the writing style! The story should be around a million Chinese characters long (though that's not necessarily accurate). Happy reading!

Also, thank you all for the landmines and nutrient solution! I'll draw 188 comments on this chapter to receive little red packets in celebration of National Day. Enjoy the holiday, and see you tomorrow!

Chapter 4

Qing Mengzhu's romantic feelings had yet to lead anywhere, but the lotus seeds he had soaked were developing faster than he had imagined.

In just two days, tender green shoots had emerged from the dark brown seeds. It probably wouldn't be long before they grew leaves.

And once the seeds grew leaves, they would need to be transplanted into the fields immediately, or their subsequent growth would be affected.

Qing Mengzhu didn't have much time left.

After checking on the lotus seeds, Qing Mengzhu called Qing Yukai and told him that he wouldn't be renting out his family's land for the time being this year.

Qing Yukai was surprised. "You're not renting out any of it? Are you going to farm it all by yourself?"

Qing Mengzhu said, "I'll plant a little first and gradually figure out what to do with the rest. The main thing is, if I rent the land out, it'll be for twenty or thirty years at a time. If I want to grow something later, I'm afraid it won't be so easy."

Qing Yukai thought that made sense. "Then give it a try this year. If it doesn't work out, you can rent it out next year."

Qing Mengzhu laughed. "That's what I was thinking too. By the way, Yukai, I want to grow deep-water lotus. I can just plant it directly in the ponds, right? Do I need to report it or anything?"

Qing Yukai said, "No need. They're your ponds, and you're not changing their nature or anything. Just go ahead and plant it."

Qing Mengzhu said, "All right, I'll repair the pond banks and get ready to plant the lotus. If there's anything I'm not doing right, could you let me know?"

Qing Yukai readily agreed. "Of course. That's part of my job."

As they chatted, Qing Mengzhu also asked him to recommend someone to till the land.

Even ponds needed to be tilled again before planting.

Otherwise, the soil in the ponds would be badly compacted, affecting the growth of the lotus roots and making them difficult to dig up later.

Qing Yukai recommended several workers in one breath and advised him to ask them as soon as possible.

It was spring planting season, and if he waited too long to ask, he'd end up much further down their schedules.

After hanging up, Qing Mengzhu immediately called them one by one and soon arranged for a worker to come the following afternoon.

His family only needed two ponds tilled. As it happened, the worker was coming to their village to till some fields and didn't want to make another trip, so he squeezed Qing Mengzhu in and would till his ponds after finishing someone else's fields.

Since Qing Mengzhu wanted to grow deep-water lotus, the worker suggested he drain the water that day and let the pond bottoms dry out a little, which would make them easier to till the next day.

Qing Mengzhu quickly agreed.

Once everything was settled, Qing Mengzhu carried a hoe, a bucket, and other things to the ponds, ready to drain them and let the bottoms dry so the worker could till them more easily the next day.

As he was draining the ponds, a villager who lived nearby came over. "Mengzhu, draining the water? What are you planning to raise?"

Qing Mengzhu looked up and smiled. "Uncle Wenlei, I want to grow some lotus."

Tan Wenlei squatted at the edge of the pond, watching him secure a protective net. "In the ponds? What variety? Are you looking to harvest lotus roots for eating, lotus seeds, or flowers?"

Their area had a dense network of rivers and plenty of people grew lotus. But though they were all lotus, different varieties produced different main crops. Some were grown specifically for roots, some for seeds, and some for flowers. Others produced more than one, though their yields were lower.

The packet of lotus seeds Qing Mengzhu had won in the lottery had no information about that on it, so he didn't know either. "I got a new kind of seed. I'm not sure yet."

Tan Wenlei squatted on the pond bank, smoking, and nodded in understanding. "There are a lot of new varieties these days. Are you planting both ponds at once?"

"More or less," Qing Mengzhu said vaguely.

Tan Wenlei asked, "Are you going to raise some fish alongside the lotus?"

Qing Mengzhu smiled. "I haven't decided yet. I might raise some freshwater prawns in there later."

Tan Wenlei grew interested. "What kind of freshwater prawns? I have a friend who specializes in selling fish fry and prawn larvae. His giant freshwater prawns are pretty good. If you want to raise Hubei prawns, Japanese river prawns, longarm prawns, or something like that, he can help you ask around too."

Qing Mengzhu said, "I haven't decided yet. I need to plant the lotus first and let it grow a bit before adding the prawns. Otherwise, I'm afraid it'll all get eaten before it has a chance to grow."

Tan Wenlei gave a couple of hearty laughs. "True enough. Come on, let's add each other on WeChat. If you want to buy fish fry or prawn larvae, I'll put you in touch with that friend of mine."

Qing Mengzhu pulled out his phone and quickly scanned the code to add him.

After they connected on WeChat, Tan Wenlei didn't leave. He stayed squatting by the pond and smoking.

Qing Mengzhu had dug a wide opening, and the water rushed downstream into the river. Quite a few small fish were swept against the protective net across the opening, their silvery bodies gleaming like pieces of broken silver.

When most of the water had drained, Qing Mengzhu used the bucket to scoop up the fish and called out to Tan Wenlei, "Uncle Wenlei, want some little fish?"

Tan Wenlei took a look. "Little crucian carp?"

Qing Mengzhu said, "Little crucian carp and other small fish. If you keep cats or dogs, they'd be good to feed them."

Tan Wenlei was interested. "Then I'll take a string of them home."

With that, and without needing Qing Mengzhu's help, Tan Wenlei rolled up his trouser legs and jumped down to the outlet. In no time, he caught the plumper little crucian carp and other small fish, tossing them into Qing Mengzhu's bucket one after another until it was nearly half full.

Qing Mengzhu was a generation younger than him and nowhere near as nimble, so he helped him from the side.

After catching the fish, Tan Wenlei pulled a few weeds from the nearby pond bank and twisted them into a grass rope. "Can I take ten fish?"

"Twenty is fine too," Qing Mengzhu readily replied. "I can't eat that many by myself."

Tan Wenlei smiled around the cigarette in his mouth. "My family can't eat that many either. The environment has improved these past couple of years, and we often catch crucian carp, pond catfish, loaches, and things like that. If we take too many at once, we can't finish them."

The two chatted a little longer, and when Tan Wenlei saw it was getting late, he said goodbye and went home.

Qing Mengzhu went to check the outlet of the other pond, caught the larger fish, and decided to go home for lunch as well.

He carried the bucket home, greeting quite a few villagers at work along the way.

Some drove tractors that chugged along the concrete road, their trailers loaded with vegetables.

Listening to the sound and catching the faint smell of diesel, Qing Mengzhu finally felt that he really had come home to farm.

He walked all the way home, locked the courtyard gate, pulled out his phone, and immediately used the Interstellar Mall to scan the fish in the bucket.

He wanted to see whether he could sell the aquatic catch!

Qing Mengzhu looked down at his phone. The Interstellar Mall scanned quickly, and a moment later, a line of green text appeared in the middle of the scanned image-"Live crucian carp. Please process before selling."

It didn't accept live animals?

Looking at the line of text, Qing Mengzhu felt relieved.

For some reason, the Interstellar Mall's refusal to accept live creatures made him feel safer and more at ease.

The little crucian carp weren't difficult to clean. Qing Mengzhu went into the kitchen for his tools and had the fish cleaned in no time.

He deliberately divided the little crucian carp into two batches, removing the innards from one and leaving them in the other.

When he scanned them again with the Interstellar Mall, it indeed gave different prices-0.33 per jin for the gutted crucian carp and 0.28 per jin for those with their innards intact.

It seemed the Interstellar Mall really did set prices based on the quality of the goods.

Unfortunately, the Interstellar Mall required every purchase it made to be worth at least 10 Star Coins. Otherwise, selling the fish would have helped him recoup some of his losses.

Qing Mengzhu looked regretfully at the fish in the bucket. He would have to eat this batch himself.

The worker Qing Mengzhu had hired was quite reliable. The following afternoon, after tilling someone else's fields, he did indeed contact him, ready to help till his ponds.

Qing Mengzhu was a little worried. He asked the worker, "The mud in the ponds is a bit deep. Can the tiller handle it?"

The worker had already inspected them. At the question, he nodded. "It can. Mine has big wheels, so it won't sink in. But tilling ponds costs a little more. Shall I charge you based on the area shown on my machine afterward?"