My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 11 Improvement
The mountains surrounding Chenwangzhuang are called Wuyun Mountain. For many years, dark clouds covered the mountaintops, and thunderstorms were frequent. The situation only gradually improved after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

The entire county is surrounded by Wuyun Mountain in the center, and the county was originally named after Wuyun.

It wasn't until the 1950s that "Wuyun" was changed to "Lingyun".

Chen Ling arrived at the foot of the mountain and descended along the long earthen slope. Then came the old cemetery of Chenwangzhuang. Beyond the old cemetery lay the thirty acres of wasteland.

Here, the ruins of the lime factory are no longer visible, as nearly ten years have passed.

But discarded bricks and stones are still everywhere.

The villagers said that not a single blade of grass grew there, which was obviously an exaggeration.

However, the outlook is not optimistic.

The wild grass here is sparse, leaving only the withered yellow of last year. This year, when spring comes, there are not even any tender grass shoots on the ground, and the place is devoid of life.

This shows that even wild grasses have a hard time growing here.

In addition, there are deep ditches crisscrossing the ground.

It was formed by mountain streams during the summer when there is abundant rainfall.

This means that even if vegetation can grow, the vegetation coverage is not high.

Chen Ling took out a hoe from the cave and casually dug a couple of times.

I grabbed a handful of soil in my hand; the surface layer was severely dispersed, with no moisture at all.

But the deeper you go, the harder the soil becomes; digging with a hoe feels like hitting a rock.

After only a few digs, Chen Ling's wrist went numb from the impact.

"Holy crap, that's way too hard!"

Chen Ling was speechless. He had originally planned to find a plow and plow the land twice.

It seems there's no point in even thinking about it now.

It's impossible to plow it.

The main reason was that a huge amount of lime was buried underground. When the earthquake struck, many places collapsed, and hundreds of lime pits in the lime factory, including those that had already been bagged, all collapsed underground.

With such a massive amount of lime acting on the soil, moisture and nutrients simply cannot be retained.

Over the years, and for nearly a decade, no one has taken care of it, which has led to the loosening of the soil surface and severe solidification of the underlying layer.

Building houses and factories is relatively straightforward.

If used for farming, it would be a complete wasteland.

"If there were no Sun and Moon Grotto-Heaven..."

“Setting up a breeding farm in a place like this seems like a good idea.”

Chen Ling, carrying a hoe, looked around.

Then he walked around the ridge of the field, tidied up the discarded bricks and rubble, found a flat spot, dug small holes with a hoe, grabbed a handful of peanuts and scattered them into each hole, and covered them with soil.

Then, he drew a bucket of stream water from the cave, scooped up a ladleful, and casually splashed it twice.

Since there's no effect after two bowls, there's no need to worry about wasting them.

Soon, peanut seedlings sprouted from the soil.

Within minutes, it had grown to maturity.

Chen Ling plucked one, peeled it open, and tasted it.

It tastes slightly better than regular peanuts.

However, if you compare this to the peanuts grown inside the cave, the difference is not just a little bit.

the reason is simple:
First, the Dongtianxi River uses very little water.

Secondly, the soil in this area is terrible.

"However, it wasn't all for nothing."

Chen Ling squatted down, grabbed a handful of soil, and smiled with satisfaction.

"It's pretty much what I expected. With the stream flowing alongside the crops, the roots of the crops will absorb the nutrients from the stream, which will be retained in the soil, thus improving the soil quality considerably."

"My previous idea is still feasible."

"Plant one patch today, plant another patch tomorrow, and in a little time we can plant the whole plot of land and complete the initial improvement of the soil."

"And we can also harvest 30 mu of peanuts."

"Then, we'll find someone in the county town to sell it to..."

"It just so happens that greenhouse cultivation has been promoted in the last two years, so we can say that these are fresh peanuts that have just been dug up from the greenhouse. Hmm, we can use this excuse to sell anything in the future."

Actually, peanuts are basically not grown in greenhouses.

From off-season vegetables to off-season fruits, you can make money, but very few people grow grains.

But what can we do when people are unfamiliar with greenhouses these days?
With this in mind, Chen Ling immediately became motivated and stood up to continue digging holes and planting peanuts.

It has to be said that for someone who doesn't often do farm work, suddenly going to work in the fields is not only tiring, but also unfamiliar.

To give a simple example, take tilling the land. Don't be fooled by how others look at the fields, digging and turning the soil with a hoe, looking relaxed, interesting, and fun. If you were to do it yourself, you would be surprised by what you find.

Besides being physically exhausted, I'm also mentally exhausted.

Those who don't often work in the fields and lack the skills often do a terrible job, working slowly and inefficiently.

The more I do it, the more frustrated I get, let alone do it well.

Of course.

That's why Chen Ling is different now.

I once attended university and served in the military in another time and space. I raised pigs and grew vegetables in the army, so I have some experience.

Although he wasn't very good at farming, once he got the hang of it, he did a pretty good job.

The more you do it, the better you get at it.

No one goes up the mountain or comes to this remote place during this season.

He buried himself in planting peanuts, digging holes, sowing seeds, and watering, skipping the normal steps of plowing, turning the soil, covering with soil, and making furrows.

It only took about three hours to plant the peanuts on one acre of land.

If someone else were to grow peanuts, it would take at least a whole day to work on one acre.

……

In the cool mountain breeze of early spring, large fields of lush peanuts sway in the wind, bringing joy to the heart.

This filled Chen Ling's heart with hope.

"I think I misjudged it. It doesn't take too long to plant an acre of land, and I'm not too tired."

"Could it be that the water from the cave stream improved my physique?"

Chen Ling clenched his fist, feeling as if he had inexhaustible strength. Although he was sweating, his whole body was hot and full of energy.

It's like a machine that's just been boiled and is about to unleash its power.

"This guy, once he's harnessed to a plow, he can be used like an ox."

Chen Ling shook his fist and made a self-deprecating remark.

Then, wielding a hoe, he dug down the peanuts that had grown to maturity.

Planting peanuts is easy, but harvesting them is a bit more difficult.

It wasn't until noon that the peanuts from this one-acre plot were harvested and brought to Dongtian.

"Ah, this kind of life is so good, simple, fulfilling and happy."

Chen Ling wiped the sweat from his forehead, stretched, and laughed.

In the past, he might have found rural life boring and dull, preferring to stay at home or find a way to make quick money and enjoy life every day. That would have been more fulfilling.

Now, in another time and space, he has experienced decades of life's trials.

Only then did I realize how precious this kind of life is.

At that time, he also thought about going back to his hometown to farm and raise birds, but unfortunately, the rural life of that time had long since changed.

When he went back, the villagers would point fingers at him behind his back, as if they thought he couldn't make it outside and had come back to escape.

It's really boring.

And now, he is fortunate enough to possess a magical blessed land.

No need to worry about food and drink.

They also don't need to struggle to make a living.

Without any worries, he can live the life he wants.

How good.

For a man who has experienced a fast-paced society and is struggling to breathe under increasing pressure.

This kind of life is the best; it's comfortable and peaceful, and I wouldn't trade it for any amount of money.

"My peanut yield is about 600 jin per mu. I'll plant another mu this afternoon when I have time, and I'll go to the county town to sell them tomorrow."

Chen Ling happily made his calculations.

Having not done farm work for many years, I experienced it again and felt extremely satisfied and exhilarated.

The wonder of the cave, in particular, allowed him to quickly experience the joy of harvest.

They can also actually transport the goods to the city to sell themselves.

Manually convert it into cash.

That feeling was even more addictive than playing farming games in later generations.

Chen Ling was in a good mood and hummed a little tune on her way home.

"Peanuts are good, peanuts are wonderful, peanut oil is fantastic."

It must be said that peanuts are indeed a good thing.

It can improve the soil itself.

Although it is inconspicuous, it is an essential ingredient for pressing oil.

Among food crops of that era, the price was relatively high.

The problem isn't yet apparent here because of the mountainous terrain and limited farmland.

In many places outside, especially in plains areas, peanuts and soybeans were the main source of income for many rural families in those days.

……

Chen Ling got home after 1 p.m.

He held two puppies, one black and one yellow, in his arms, their big, dark eyes looking around.

The two little guys were quite comfortable in the cave. They slept for most of the day in the thatched hut, and even the noise Chen Ling made while messing with the peanuts didn't wake them up.

He's very energetic now, and he won't stay still even when Chen Ling holds him in his arms.

It kept twisting its body, trying to climb onto Chen Ling's shoulder.

"Is dinner ready, Susu?"

Chen Ling called out and walked into the courtyard.

"Alright, the pot hasn't been served yet, we've been waiting for you to come back."

At that moment, Wang Susu was sitting in the courtyard sewing shoe soles.

Spring is almost here, and my cotton shoes are too thick to wear anymore; I need to make new ones.

Hearing Chen Ling's voice, I looked up and saw him walking in carrying two puppies.

"Oh, a puppy?"

Wang Susu, who was already feeling uneasy about the farmland, suddenly brightened up and quickly got up and ran over.

"Ah Ling, didn't you dislike dogs? Why did you suddenly bring back two puppies?"

Wang Susu gently touched the two little ones in Chen Ling's arms, a little curious.

"We found them near the local temple. These two puppies were still nursing when their mother died."

“If I left them outside, they would starve to death sooner or later. I felt sorry for them, so I brought them back.”

"If you don't like it, we'll raise it a bit bigger and then give it away."

Chen Ling smiled and said.

"No, don't give it away."

"I really like it..."

Wang Susu became nervous upon hearing that she would raise them and then give them away. She quickly took the two puppies into her arms and gently stroked them.

She really likes dogs, but Chen Ling wouldn't let her keep one before, saying it was too dirty because dogs pee everywhere, and also because they easily breed lice and fleas.

Now that Chen Ling has finally taken the initiative to bring back two of them, she is overjoyed and has no intention of giving them away.

"By the way, the land exchange has been settled. After it was settled, I went to check on the wasteland, and the situation wasn't as bad as I thought."

Chen Ling proactively informed Wang Susu of what happened that morning to avoid making her worry, but she didn't dare to ask.

Keeping this bottled up inside might cause problems.

"I dug some soil back, you'll see when you take a look..."

(End of this chapter)