Chapter 135: Not Good
Editor: Atlas Studios
Mu Yangling went to the West Village to help for two days. On the third day, Madam Liu-Zhang brought her two sons over.
Mu Yangling did not ask Liu Lang and Liu Lun to plant the seeds. She only gave them a hoe and asked them to crush the clods of earth and flatten the ground with Xiuhong.
Liu Lang asked as he walked around the edge of the field, “This ground is considered flat now. What precious thing are you planning to plant? Should we flatten it further?”
“Just wheat. Continue flattening it. Can’t you see that the clods of earth on the ground are too big? It’s uncomfortable to walk barefoot on the ground.”
Liu Lang pursed his lips. “Try finding a spot that doesn’t hurt your feet.”
Mu Yangling had seen it before. In her previous life, when she went to her comrade’s house to play, she happened to see someone farming. When the farm equipment went around, the soil spat out was fine and slippery. It was so soft and comfortable to step on, unlike now, where there were clods of earth everywhere. Even though she had already used a hoe to hit the clods of earth for a while, they were still rather sizable.
Of course, there was no way Mu Yangling could show Liu Lang this now. She figured it was unlikely for him to witness it in his lifetime.
When Madam Liu-Zhang heard this, she slapped him on the head. “Hurry up and get to work. You’re talking too much.”
Liu Lang ran to join Liu Lun.
Mu Yangling took out the germinated wheat seeds. Madam Liu-Zhang looked at them and said in surprise, “Why have these seeds germinated? How are we going to plant them?”
“We’ll plant germinated seeds in these two acres.” Mu Yangling pointed at one acre of high-grade land and one acre of medium-grade land and said, “So we have to be careful not to damage the malt.”
This was indeed detailed work. Madam Liu-Zhang frowned and asked suspiciously, “Can it really be planted like this?”
“Let’s give it a try. Since it’s just two acres of land, it’s fine even if there’s no harvest.”
Madam Liu-Zhang looked at Mu Yangling speechlessly. As a farmer, not to mention two acres of land, even 0.2 acres would make her heart ache. Madam Liu-Zhang was glad that her father-in-law was not here. Otherwise, he would have quarreled with Mu Yangling.
Farmers simply couldn’t stand to see seeds and land being wasted.
Mu Yangling carefully poured the wheat seeds onto the dustpan and said to Madam Liu-Zhang, “Aunt, let’s plow first and plant the seeds later.”
Madam Ma-Liu walked around the field as she watched them and said, “What’s the use of that bit of fertilizer? From how I see it, you might as well do without the fertilizer altogether.”
Since Mu Yangling couldn’t find any fertilizer, she could only use the ‘fertilizer’ that had been accumulated in the latrine pit at home and ask a few families for some cow dung and river mud. Although it was little, it was better than nothing.
“No, even if we don’t have enough base fertilizer, we can’t do without it completely. Great-aunt, just do as I say and fertilize it.” Mu Yangling was very insistent on this.
Madam Ma-Liu pouted in dissatisfaction. “If only you’re as thoughtful towards the other land aside from these four acres.”
When Mu Yangling planted the other fields, she did exactly as Madam Ma-Liu said. However, these four acres of land had to be done according to her ideas and were also the most meticulously cultivated. Since Madam Ma-Liu was counting on the other fields for harvest, she was naturally dissatisfied to see that Mu Yangling had given all the advantages to these four acres of land that might not yield anything.
Looking at Mu Yangling’s smiling face, Madam Ma-Liu could not flare up. She could only do as she was told helplessly.
After plowing, Mu Yangling carefully planted the germinated wheat. Half of it followed Madam Ma-Liu’s density, but she strictly requested for the other half to be planted more densely. Madam Liu-Zhang did as she was told.
After planting the seeds, Mu Yangling and Madam Liu-Zhang carefully buried the seeds with their feet on half the land. Then, they covered the other half with the ‘double-sided rake’.
After that, Mu Yangling checked carefully and covered the gaps with soil. This way, she would finish planting two acres a day. There was still some time, but Mu Yangling stopped Madam Liu-Zhang from doing more and said, “We have to plant two acres in one day. We’ll plant the other two acres tomorrow.”
Madam Liu-Zhang straightened her back and looked at the other two acres. She couldn’t help but laugh. “Alright, I’ll listen to you.”
Now that everyone was free, Mu Yangling said, “Why don’t you come to my house to rest? When you go back later, bring two fish with you.”
Liu Lang clicked his tongue. “You haven’t finished eating all the fish at home? How many days has it been?”
Xiuhong said proudly, “Cousin caught a lot. It’s going to last us more than a month.”
Bowen covered his mouth in disdain and said, “My mouth smells like fish. I don’t want to eat fish anymore. Sister, I want to eat rabbit meat.”
Xiulan also looked at Mu Yangling eagerly.
Mu Yangling looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was still at the top of the mountain. There was still some time before sunset, so she said, “Alright, you guys carry the things back. I’ll go up the mountain.”
Everyone knew that Mu Yangling was familiar with the mountains, so they were very assured to let her go.
Mu Yangling jogged up the mountain. At this moment, there was no one in the forest. She carefully avoided the trees and entered the mountain. It was spring now, and the wild beasts in the forest were the hungriest after a winter. Without a bow and arrow, she did not dare to go deep. She only held a stick and carefully circled around the periphery.
She had only walked 300 to 400 meters when she saw a patch of green grass emerging from the snow.
As snow in the forest melted the slowest, it had not completely melted yet. However, there was a lot of green grass on the ground. It was tender and green, making for a joyful sight.
The corners of Mu Yangling’s lips curled up slightly. However, after turning around a big tree, Mu Yangling could not help but widen her eyes. She could no longer maintain the smile on her lips.
The snow in front of her was extremely chaotic, and many footprints could be seen. The grass had all been gnawed away, and some of the grass stems had even been dug up. Mu Yangling’s heart kept sinking. She didn’t even need to squat down to look at the footprints. Just by the smell, she could tell that it was done by rabbits. Moreover, it was by a large number of rabbits.
This was the best news for the hunters, but the worst news for the farmers.
Thinking of the number of rabbits in the forest in autumn, Mu Yangling’s heart kept sinking.
Mu Yangling walked around. This time, she paid attention to the situation of the grass on the ground and realized that the grass further in was especially badly damaged. The grass on the periphery was still better, but she could still see traces of rabbit bites.
If this was the case now, what if they finished eating all the grass in the forest in a few days? At that time, the crops in the fields would have just sprouted. Mu Yangling suppressed the panic in her heart and determined a direction to walk over.
A group of rabbits were gathered around munching on grass. When Mu Yangling saw the imaginary enemy, she could not help but feel angry. She jumped out and before the rabbits could react, she swung her stick over and knocked two rabbits unconscious…
Frightened, the rabbits fled in all directions. Mu Yangling did not chase after them. She just kept waving the stick in her hand and knocked the rabbits unconscious. Then, she grabbed two live rabbits with her bare hands and counted the eight rabbits lying on the ground. Only then did the anger in her heart dissipate a little.
Mu Yangling tied the rabbits together with a rope and carried them out with one hand. With the other two rabbits held in another hand, she walked home with a dark expression.