Reborn with a Space: Building a Fortune Amidst Famine

Chapter 43: 43 Spring Planting

Yang Hongwen heard about the girl using a sheep to pull a plow these past two days.

Last year, he did hear that she had set a hole. Didn’t expect it would actually work?

”There are two rollers at home, go pull them yourself.”

”Uncle, can you lend them all to me? That sheep should be capable, I’ll finish using them early, and your family can use them too.”

”Alright, go pull them.”

”Uncle, I want to open up wasteland near my house, is that okay?”

”Go ahead.”

Su Yuanyuan happily went to the team leader’s house. Only the elderly were at home, and upon hearing she wanted to borrow rollers, they readily lent them to her.

One person and one sheep pulling the roller, which was actually made of stone, Su Yuanyuan thought of buying two when she had time and also preparing a small stone mill. This way, she wouldn’t have to go to the village’s stone mill to grind grain, saving a lot of trouble.

Now every family in the village had over twenty mu of land. Everyone, old and young, was working in the fields, even those who couldn’t labor, cooked and cleaned at home.

Su Yuanyuan worked until after eight in the evening, with only a third left. It was really too late, so she decided to continue tomorrow and went back.

After feeding the three sheep to fullness, she entered the space to take a bath and eat.

If there wasn’t the space, she really didn’t know what to do.

Lying on the kang, there wasn’t even time for random thoughts, she fell asleep in seconds. She was too tired.

The next day, she still pulled one roller, and the sheep pulled another. The two went to the fields.

Actually, it was quite early, just past six, but many people were already working in the fields.

It was really too arduous. The input and income were simply not proportional. But there was no other way.

Everyone watched a little girl and a sheep working.

Today, a few families wanted to try, but how could those sheep walk a straight line? They all ended in failure.

By nine in the morning, Su Yuanyuan finished working the two mu of land. She didn’t stay but returned the roller to Yang Hongwen’s house and went straight home.

Now was the time to open up wasteland herself. Honestly, Su Yuanyuan didn’t want to work like this, it was too exhausting.

But if there really were natural disasters in a few years, then in these years, she must grow more grain.

If the two mu of corn could yield a thousand jin, it would be good enough.

Su Yuanyuan sighed in resignation but continued to work. She would plant sorghum and sweet potatoes; if she couldn’t use them in the future, she could exchange them for goods or money.

In her previous life, having more money in hand allowed her to live freely.

She intended to do the same in this life. Without money, one feels uneasy. Back home, one person and three sheep ate.

She had already informed the village chief, so the wasteland near her home could be opened up.

Su Yuanyuan drank the last sip of milk, endured the soreness all over her body, and stood up. The two little lambs were no longer small, but Su Yuanyuan never gave them Spiritual Spring Water. The mother sheep was enough.

This place was at the foot of the mountain, so opening up wasteland meant encountering many stones.

This was really too strenuous. Still, the sheep pulled the plow, but there were too many stones. Pulling up a ridge meant picking out the stones.

It wasn’t until noon that Su Yuanyuan rested. Looking at the stone piles at the field’s edge, she felt like crying. How long would it take to open up this wasteland?

Luckily, the plowhead had been reinforced with steel; otherwise, it would have broken by now.

Go home, go home, sleep and talk later, too tired. No one around, not even a person to talk to, just her, all alone.

After feeding the sheep, she returned indoors, sat on the kang, got out a chicken leg meal, too tired to even find it appetizing.

After eating, she lay straight back; she no longer minded cleanliness.

After two hours, one person and one sheep started again. This half-day hadn’t opened even a fen of land.

Su Yuanyuan stood at the field’s edge, sighed. At this rate, when could she open a whole mu? Luckily, sweet potatoes could be planted later.

She used the space to store the stones on the ground, preparing to pave a path; otherwise, she wouldn’t want to go out when it rained.

The next day, it was the same routine. But she was noticeably more skilled than yesterday.

After five days of busy work, she finally opened a mu of land.

The next day, she didn’t open more land but planted sorghum.

After ten days of busy work, she had planted two mu of sorghum.

Seeing the remaining sorghum seeds should still be enough for a mu. So, she continued.

However, the two mu of corn and soybeans had already broken ground. Su Yuanyuan took a special walk around. The germination rate seemed pretty good.

All the good land in the village had been planted. Every household was busy planting sorghum, soybeans, cotton, peanuts, and other grains.

Su Yuanyuan thought she should also plant some cotton. After all, it would be needed in the future.

After another ten days, a mu of sorghum was planted. For the remaining mu, Su Yuanyuan planned to plant cotton.

But eventually, she discarded this idea and planted sweet potatoes instead, as she still had time to buy cotton.

She knew how to plant sweet potato slips. So, she busily made a ridge for the sweet potatoes on this mu.

In the evening, she deliberately went to Hu Chunhua’s house and spent one yuan to buy three hundred sweet potato slips.

Returning home in the evening, she intentionally soaked the sweet potato slips’ roots in diluted Spiritual Spring Water.

Because she found that the corn and soybean seeds she soaked in water were sturdier than those of the two neighboring families.

The next day, she planted sweet potatoes. Fortunately, the sweet potatoes were planted at the doorstep; otherwise, even supplying water would be tough.

The sorghum had already sprouted. It looked quite good. However, it had been too dry these days, and Su Yuanyuan sat crying at the field’s edge.

Really, she needed to water them, but the reservoir was far away. The well in the yard couldn’t be relied on.

After crying enough, she got up and continued working, finishing planting the three hundred slips of sweet potatoes and then immediately resumed opening wasteland.

It was already mid-May now. Others had already finished planting sweet potatoes.

Su Yuanyuan bought another three hundred sweet potato slips, and the last mu of land she opened was planted too.

By then, it was almost June. She didn’t have wheat fields, which was somewhat better. But soon it would be time for thinning seedlings, and weeds were appearing. She wouldn’t open more wasteland. Taking care of these five mu was enough.

It’s truly the most tiring work. Always squatting or bending over.

Su Yuanyuan arrived at the fields at five. She squatted down and started using a small hoe to weed and thin out the excess corn seedlings.

”If I could get a heavy rain after I finish weeding, that would be great. The crops would grow better.”

In the nearby fields, many people were doing the same work. However, they were families working together, while she was by herself.

It wasn’t until past eleven that Su Yuanyuan dragged her heavy legs home.

She didn’t even attend to the three sheep tied outside in the morning. She didn’t even want to eat, lying on the kang, she fell asleep in no time.

Su Yuanyuan didn’t know her actions were witnessed by everyone, and their views of the orphan who wasn’t an orphan changed significantly.