Yun Fujin hesitated a bit. He was really afraid that this chemically synthesized fertilizer would burn to death all the seeds they had planted with so much effort.
But he couldn't withstand Yun Que'er's constant pestering, so he could only sprinkle a little to give it a try.
In the following days, Yun Que'er regarded this plot of land at the back mountain as her precious treasure. Every night when there were few people on the village roads, she urged Yun Fujin to carry water to irrigate the land.
Yun Fujin was so exhausted that his shoulders ached. He sat by the field and sighed.
"It would be great if we had a waterwheel. This place isn't far from the river. We could divert the river water here, and it would be perfect for irrigating the land."
Yun Que'er, who was fiddling with a small hoe beside him, looked up and smiled at Yun Fujin.
"Big brother, why are you in such a hurry? If our family can monopolize this area in the future, it won't be difficult at all to dig a canal and build a waterwheel."
"What nonsense are you talking about, you little girl?" Yun Fujin was greatly shocked. He quickly waved his hand, signaling Yun Que'er not to say any more.
Monopolizing? That was a crime. One couldn't just talk nonsense about it.
"Stop talking. Don't mention it in front of outsiders in the future."
Yun Que'er shrugged. This was about strategic planning. Anyway, there would surely come a day when their family would rise.
Suddenly, Yun Que'er noticed green shoots emerging from the loose soil. She immediately pointed in that direction and exclaimed excitedly.
"Big brother, look! The shoots are coming out!"
Yun Fujin turned his head and looked in the direction Yun Que'er was pointing. Sure enough, he saw that the seeds they had planted had already sprouted. He couldn't help but feel overjoyed. He and Yun Que'er immediately split up and searched around.
Although this was at the foot of the back mountain and the land was a bit hard, usually growing nothing but wild grass, it had the advantage of being on the sunny side with plenty of sunlight. Thanks to this favorable condition, the seedlings had already emerged in just a few days.
Especially the kidney bean seeds that Yun Fujin had taken a fancy to before. They were growing even faster. Presumably, in a few more days, the vines would start to grow.
Time was of the essence. The two siblings quickly returned home. They took a few cornstalks that were originally used as firewood, tied them up with cloth strips, and used them as bean poles. Then they carried them to the back mountain.
With the support of the bean poles, the vines grew out quickly. Almost every day when they went to the back mountain, they would get good news.
Gradually, the kidney beans grew as big as a little finger. The eggplant seedlings also emerged, and Yun Que'er's daisies showed signs of blooming. Everything was developing in a good direction.
But Yun Que'er wasn't satisfied with this. The area of arable land for ordinary crops at the back mountain was still too small. It was such a waste that this mountain was left barren with weeds growing everywhere. They had to think of other ways.
However, soon they didn't have the time.
It was the height of summer, and the fields in the village needed constant irrigation and weeding. So they got busy again, spending most of their time in the fields.
The rainfall this year was especially scarce. Although there was a river beside the village and they could directly carry water to irrigate the land, it required a lot of manpower.
At first, it wasn't too bad. But after a few days, the villagers started to complain. They thought it was too time - consuming and felt that it was deliberately torturing them.
So whenever the village head came to inspect the fields, the villagers would take turns to go to him and report the situation.
"I said, village head, it hasn't rained all summer this year. We've got to figure something out, right? Just relying on us carrying water is useless. We'll be exhausted after a while. Besides, farming is a time - sensitive task. Time waits for no one. No matter how hard - working we are, we can't meet the water demand of the fields."
The village head laughed it off and replied, "Isn't there always a few hot days in summer every year? When there's not enough rain, we still have to carry water. We all need to persevere. We only work hard for these few days in a year. Maybe it will rain in a few days."
Yun Que'er, who was cutting grass, was squatting near the village head and overheard this conversation.
Hearing what the village head said, she disdainfully curled her lips.
The village head was clearly irresponsible. Everything seemed fine to him now, but when the autumn harvest came in a while, they would find that they couldn't pay the public grain, and he would have a hard time.
But seeing that the village head wasn't in a hurry at all, he must have been used to being slippery in his work. He probably thought that since the drought was caused by the lack of rain, even if the higher - ups asked about it, he could shift the blame to God.
Although the higher - ups might accept the village head's excuse due to the practice of mutual protection among officials, the villagers couldn't accept it. After all, it was they who were really suffering. So they simply didn't listen to the village head's explanation.
"Yes, it's always dry for a few days every year, and we've all tried to figure out ways. But how did the other villages do it? I accompanied my wife back to her hometown a few days ago. Their village head has already started leading the way to dig a canal. Why don't we learn from them?"
"The situation in each village is different," the village head still explained unhurriedly, not taking the villagers' reactions to heart at all. "How big is their land and how big is ours? Everyone in the neighboring villages knows that our village has the largest population and the most extensive land. If we also learn from them and dig a canal, how many days of work will it delay? By then, the land will surely die of drought. Who will be responsible if we can't grow any crops in the end, me or you?"
Hearing this, the villagers were unhappy. "We're not saying that we won't irrigate the land while digging the canal. We can assign a few strong young men to dig the canal. The rest of us can still carry water to irrigate the land for a few more days. This way, neither task will be delayed. Why do we have to stick to one way?"
The villagers had already come up with a good idea. It would be unreasonable for the village head to find more excuses to decline. So he said vaguely.
"I need to think about it, think about it again... This matter isn't up to me alone. I'll go back and report it to the leaders in our village. At least the secretary should know about this. I can't make a decision on my own."
After saying that, the village head walked away grandly with his hands behind his back to inspect other fields.
He had an easy life. Yun Que'er looked at him contemptuously.
Even though he was the village head, he was still one of the villagers. It was fine that he didn't work in the fields with everyone. All day long, he just wandered around in the fields, claiming to be supervising everyone's work, but in the end, it was the ordinary villagers who suffered the most.
With this "I need to think about it" from the village head, he might not come up with a solution until next year. They had been through this every year. Who didn't know what kind of person the village head was? The person who had just put forward the suggestion couldn't help but chase after him.
"Village head, even if we need to discuss this matter, it won't take more than a day or two. You've got to give us a definite answer, right? You can't let us keep working ourselves to death in the fields. Lao Wang's son suffered heatstroke while carrying water yesterday and is still lying in bed unable to get up. You can't just care about whether the land is good or not and ignore our lives."
Liu Kui passed by and said casually.
"Whether the crops grow well or not depends not only on irrigation but also on whether the farmers themselves have any ideas, doesn't it?"