Her Cultivation Diary

Chapter 124: 124.Yet again harvesting leeks_1

If that’s the case, then of course I had to make preparations first.

The outer side of the barbed wire was blocked with Golden Sakura, completely sealed off, leaving only one exit at the top of the mountain and one next to the pond at the bottom.

Although it might be a bit troublesome to pick peaches later on, it would save a lot of energy on daily supervision.

I wasn’t planning to leave the inner side of the barbed wire idle either. Whatever climbing plants were suitable—whether green beans, cucumbers, loofahs, or tomatoes—I would plant them.

Song Tan spoke of it lightly as if a wave of her hand would set everything in order—which, in her memory, was indeed the case with a simple wave of her hand.

But that was in the past!

Now, with such a developed network, if she didn’t want to become a modern-day cult leader, or join the national ranks as a spiritual energy instructor, she still had to stay low-key…

In short, she had to act human.

A normal human, that is.

But while her actions were normal, her way of speaking still carried the dismissive undertones as if it was all nothing to fuss about.

Zhang Yanping was listening to her arrangements and envisioning the entire garden filled with vegetables and fruits, also feeling somewhat envious:

“Okay, Tantan, you’re doing really well with the planning now! Even the nooks and crannies are taken care of. You’re not planning to intercrop in the Peach Forest too, are you?”

“Of course.”

Song Tan stated decisively, “I’ll just plant some early-ripening watermelons.”

The peach trees were planted late, and even with their spiritual energy, they had to slow down a step, first taking root before growing and blooming, and finally bearing fruit.

Song Tan predicted that they would likely become a late-ripening variety, with maturity in August.

She had no plans to use chemicals on the Peach Garden, at most pruning it a bit, so intercropping wouldn’t have much impact.

Moreover, the shape of peach trees in modern orchards is all managed meticulously and wouldn’t completely block out the sun.

Although it would still slightly affect the sunlight, the problem was not significant.

Given that, this patch of land also had to be utilized.

Early-ripening watermelons could be planted as soon as the peach trees were in, and they would mature in just three months. Though they wouldn’t grow very large, they were suitable for dense planting.

In that case, I would harvest watermelons in July and pick peaches in August, which was perfect timing.

If I were to get ready-made watermelon seedlings, I could even harvest them in June.

As Zhang Yanping listened to her frighteningly intensive plans, he shivered subconsciously and swore to seize any opportunity to run away.

He rubbed his face for quite some time before speaking:

“With such arrangements, I think the whole village will be working for your family this year.”

However, Song Tan just smiled faintly, “Besides planting trees, other tasks won’t require much effort. They are even suitable for the middle-aged and elderly.”

“When the time comes, I will ask the village party secretary to help organize it.”

Organizing at the village level has two benefits: it makes it easier to assign responsibility in case of any issues, and it helps both my family farm’s reputation and the young party secretary’s performance record… Why not do it?

Zhang Yanping stood there stunned for quite some time before finally giving a thumbs up, “It’s a pity you didn’t end up with a position at the end of the universe back then.”

So now the question was—

“With so many people working, you’ll have to provide meals every day. You couldn’t possibly ask for help with cooking every day, right? My aunt definitely wouldn’t want to spend the money.”

“But if she were to do it every day, wouldn’t she be utterly exhausted?”

Song Tan: …

Damn, so the most urgent matter turned out to be hiring a chef?

She had no choice but to leave Zhang Yanping behind again and head back to the tea garden, where she followed Wu Lan and helped pick tea leaves while quietly relaying what her aunt had said.

As expected, once it involved Qiaoqiao’s lifetime prospects, Wu Lan became extraordinarily excited.

She even uncharacteristically said something noble and righteous, “We don’t care about your Seventh Uncle’s house; we just want Qiaoqiao to learn a skill.”

Song Tan then asked her, “But what if Seventh Uncle really wants to give us the house, should I accept it or not?”

This girl!

Wu Lan glared at her, righteously indignant, “Of course you should take it! Why not? I was just saying. Besides, if that day really comes and you’ve put your heart into it and made an effort, there’s no need to shrink back from what’s ours.”

“When the time comes and Seventh Uncle really means it, we can have the village officials bear witness!”

After all, everyone has a sense of what’s fair.

“It’s just…” Wu Lan mused, not without some anxiety, “learning to cook also requires talent, right? I’m afraid Qiaoqiao doesn’t have that knack, and he might never be able to learn.”

Song Tan started to laugh.

Whether or not one could pick up a skill was actually something she was rather laid-back about.

“Mom, even if Qiaoqiao doesn’t have that knack and can’t learn anything, after studying for three years, five years, or even ten or eight years, he should still be able to cook for himself and take care of himself, right?”

“If he can do that, isn’t it better than not being able to do anything at all?”

When she put it that way, it indeed seemed to make sense!

Wu Lan was already fantasizing about, a hundred years later, Qiaoqiao being a lonely old man in this old mountain village, keeping a swarm of bees, cooking for himself…

Although it was somewhat bleak, at least he would be able to live by himself! He could already work in the fields now, so if they just taught him how to garden seriously, his life would be carefree.

“Alright, I’ll give your aunt a call tonight, and ask her to probe Seventh Uncle’s intentions tomorrow. If it looks good, take our tea and honey with you and have a proper talk with Seventh Uncle.”

“But Tantan,” Wu Lan still cautioned her seriously, “since you’ve set your mind on this, regardless of the house, you must follow through on your commitments.”

“Taking care of the elderly is no easy task, and if you’re tired or aggrieved, Mom will go and work for you, but you must also hold your ground.”

Song Tan laughed:

“Mom, if I said I was going to take care of him in person, you definitely wouldn’t believe me. But now that I can make money, I can hire a nurse to go there, and you or Dad can supervise the nurse to make sure they work properly. Can’t I afford to pay for that?”

She spoke with brash confidence.

Wu Lan glanced at her, “You barely scraped together enough for the final payment for the peach trees. What about tomorrow’s labor costs? The village rent? What are you planning to earn with?”

At the mention of this, Song Tan got stuck.

There were plenty of expenses coming up, and she just happened to be in the off-season for crops, with nothing growing yet!

Ah, all thanks to the village Party Secretary, she had originally planned to deal with the Bags Mountain lease the following year. However, he presented her with such a big opportunity that things got accelerated unexpectedly.

With hiring about twenty people for tomorrow plus the original three uncles, she’d have to shell out more than three thousand in wages. How she was going to come up with that money was something Song Tan really needed to ponder for a while.

After thinking it over, she ran back to the pond, “Brother Yanping, tell my dad to come with me later to dig for bamboo shoots!”

Bamboo shoots are just in season!

Not minding Zhang Yanping’s mournful expression, Song Tan touched her phone—okay then, she’ll let Qiaoqiao handle the live broadcast.

She prepared the baskets at home, then opened the computer, and sent out a “scything leeks” notice in the WeChat group:

[Tomorrow at 10 a.m., it’s the prime time for spring bamboo shoots! Twenty yuan per pound, first come, first served! Wind Speed Express delivery to your door, postage payable by the recipient.]