Reborn with a Space: Building a Fortune Amidst Famine

Chapter 42: 42 Spring Planting

This time Su Yuanyuan felt a bit more at ease. Could it be that she’s repaid Hu Chunhua’s favor? The debt of gratitude is the biggest.

But judging from the couple’s behavior, it seems more or less settled.

In the afternoon, she didn’t do anything, just lay down to rest because the morning had been exhausting enough.

Time slipped by, and it was now the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month. In the past few days, Su Yuanyuan had made two pairs of shoe soles.

They were all given to her by Hu Chunhua. She didn’t refuse them.

Hu Chunhua told her not to work during the Spring Festival. He mentioned it was a tradition, saying that if you work during the Spring Festival, you’d be tired for the whole year.

Although Su Yuanyuan didn’t care about these things, she agreed readily. The shoe uppers were already in hand, so she decided to make two pairs of shoes while she could.

On the night of the thirtieth, the village was still setting off firecrackers. It looked quite festive.

However, Su Yuanyuan wasn’t interested, so she made dumplings outside by herself and ate alone. She made quite a few, saving them for later when she felt like eating, as once she got busy, it was uncertain when she would have the time to cook.

In her previous life, when she was a child, she used to weed the fields with her grandmother all day. There was no pesticide, and the weeds grew very vigorously.

There wasn’t any chemical fertilizer; most of it was dung used as fertilizer. Since the livestock would eat grass, naturally there would be grass seeds too, which created a cycle where it seemed impossible to eradicate the weeds in the field.

She stayed home, not going out. The little lamb was very energetic. The mother sheep would take them out, so Su Yuanyuan endured it for a month before finally letting them go to the sheep pen.

Given her cleanliness obsession, enduring for a month was already her limit.

However, because she drank milk every day and washed her hair with goat milk every three to five days, the changes were quite significant, although she didn’t notice it herself.

But Hu Chunhua, who hadn’t visited for over ten days, noticed.

”Girl, you’ve gained weight, grown taller, and your skin has become fairer.”

”Being at home by myself, I don’t have to serve anyone else. I have enough food and drink.”

”That’s great! I now think it’s a good thing Su Daqiang and his wife didn’t take you away.”

”Isn’t it? I don’t have to be a servant to them, nor do I have to take daily beatings, scolding, going hungry, or being cold. Aunt, I’m actually lucky, aren’t I?”

”Yes, leaving their family has been your fortune. It’s Su Daqiang and his wife who are the real downfall.”

Su Yuanyuan nodded heavily. Even though inside she was an old aunt, some things were still important to her.

She felt very pleased to gain Hu Chunhua’s approval.

”Girl, I couldn’t make the sticky sorghum flour at home, so go buy a little yourself. We need to eat dumplings during the Lantern Festival.”

”Okay, I’ll go buy some.”

The Lantern Festival is a very important holiday in the eyes of the common folks. There are still many firecrackers being set off at night.

Su Yuanyuan stood in the courtyard. Although there weren’t any pretty fireworks, the sound of the firecrackers shooting into the sky was bright enough.

She shook her head with a smile and went back inside. She still found herself having moments of sadness.

In the space, she had some sticky rice dumplings. Hopefully, when cooking, she could mostly use the outdoor stove; the iron pot became encrusted with water deposits from constant boiling.

This year saw two snowfalls; hopefully, there won’t be a drought this year.

After the Lantern Festival, daytime temperatures rose above freezing, and the snow would melt during the day.

Once the thawing starts, the busy days begin.

In fact, Su Yuanyuan really felt a bit apprehensive. She hadn’t done heavy farm work for many years; she didn’t quite know how it would go. Looking at the sheep in the pen, she hoped it could come through for her. Otherwise, she was ready to plant more Winter Melon.

After all, she truly wasn’t capable. It was quite worrisome.

However, regardless of her worries, the days kept getting warmer. The snow in the yard melted as well.

Su Yuanyuan thought she should try it out in the yard since she’d be planting vegetables soon anyway. So, on the second day after the second day of the second lunar month, when the dragon raises its head, she made plans with the mother sheep to conduct some tests in the yard.

The ridges they made weren’t long; they experimented two to three times before getting the hang of it.

The sheep knew how to walk a straight line, and this hoe blade had steel added to it, and it was new, so it worked pretty fast.

Su Yuanyuan felt relieved. Although it didn’t plow as deep as oxen or horses, it was definitely enough.

The ground was still muddy, and no one had started spring planting yet. So Su Yuanyuan decided to wait until everyone else started.

In the afternoon, she went to the county and bought corn and soybean seeds at the seed station. She only had two acres of land, so she planned to interplant. As for sorghum and such, she’d wait until she had time to clear some land beside the house—those tasks could wait until the main fields were planted.

She was preparing every day and had already chosen her spot at the edge of the field.

About five days later, every household in the village started planting.

In fact, there weren’t many livestock; most people tilled the soil by hand.

Su Yuanyuan took the sheep to the field, but she attracted everyone’s attention.

When they saw that she was actually using sheep to plow, everyone was stunned.

The elderly even went to her field to check, and the depth was acceptable.

While everyone was working, they kept an eye on her.

This girl was smart. After a round trip, she’d let the sheep rest while she did the planting.

By noon, this little girl had planted half an acre of land all by herself.

Su Yuanyuan did not cover the seeds with soil; she planned to do that in the afternoon, which was quite efficient.

By the end of the day, she had planted seven-tenths of an acre.

Everyone was surprised. Although they didn’t like this girl, they didn’t wish her any harm. So seeing her do this, most people were just amazed.

That day, Su Yuanyuan was utterly exhausted and didn’t want to move at all at night, but she still had to tend to the sheep since it had work to do the next day.

Judging by today’s progress, she could finish planting in two more days.

That would leave her time to clear more land; the more she could plant, the better.

In fact, everyone in the village was discussing this girl. She hadn’t come out during the whole winter and had grown taller. She was now like any other kid her age, maybe even a bit chubbier, and she looked fair and clean.

Most importantly, the elderly noticed she was interplanting. Four ridges of corn and four ridges of soybeans.

They were lifelong farmers, and it didn’t take much for them to understand the situation. Both crops are tall, so they worried about poor ventilation. Some thought that the soybeans might get overshadowed by the corn.

Currently, soybean prices weren’t as high as corn, so the villagers didn’t follow suit.

The next day, one person and one sheep marched boldly to the field. They followed the same process, but did even more than the first day.

By the third day, at four o’clock, she finished planting the two acres. She saw many children her age were rolling the field, a task she had done before. It helped pack the soil and allow the seeds to germinate better.

She didn’t have a roller, so instead of asking Hu Chunhua, she went to the team leader.