The county magistrate's daughter only wants to farm

On a spring morning, the sun rises slowly, shining on the busy figures in the fields.

Breathing in the cool, moist air, Gu Yin felt that all the pores on his body were opened, and he felt very energetic.

Xu Youliang looked at Gu Yin expectantly: "Miss, look, the winter melon seedlings and gourd seedlings have grown well, what should we do next?"

Hearing this, everyone else at the scene turned their eyes to Gu Yin.

Gu Yin checked the two seedlings. The watermelon seedlings had basically grown two to four true leaves, while the gourd seedlings had just grown true leaves and were shorter than the watermelon seedlings. The two seedlings were planted alternately, with a gourd seedling planted next to each watermelon seedling. The two seedlings, one tall and one short, were placed side by side and leaned against each other, which looked quite pleasing to the eye.

"Both seedlings are well managed. Now is the right time for grafting!" Gu Yin praised casually.

"Thank you for the compliment, Miss." Xu Youliang said a little awkwardly, "But what is grafting?"

"Grafting is a horticultural technique that involves connecting the branches or buds of one plant to the branches or roots of another plant so that they grow together. This technique can be used to cultivate better varieties and improve the characteristics of crops."

Gu Yin squatted down while explaining, used a blade to cut the watermelon seedling diagonally two-thirds from bottom to top, then pinched off the growth point of the gourd seedling, cut it diagonally two-thirds from top to bottom, then put the two plants together with the diagonal cuts, and finally tied the two seedlings gently with a rope.

"See, that's it!" Gu Yin stood up, clapped his hands and said with a smile.

Xu Youliang was stunned and said in disbelief: "Miss, you, you are not kidding, right?"

"Do you think I'm joking?" Gu Yin asked with a smile.

"But... this, will this really work? Will they not die if their branches are cut open?" Xu Youliang still couldn't believe it.

Gu Yin could understand his doubts. After all, grafting technology was too advanced in this dynasty. So she patiently explained, "Believe me, this will definitely work! As long as you follow my method, the winter melon seedlings will not easily get wilt disease!"

However, before Xu Youliang could say anything, an angry voice came from the side: "Absurd! Absurd!"

As soon as the voice came out, it instantly attracted everyone's attention. Gu Yin looked at the person who was speaking. He was a middle-aged man wearing dark blue cotton clothes and had a slightly plump figure.

"Who is this...?" Gu Yin didn't recognize this person.

Manager Fang immediately introduced to Gu Yin: "This is Liang Fu, one of the people that Master Ye brought with him to learn agricultural technology."

Oh, it turned out that they were the people brought by Ye Ningxin’s nephew Ye Jingyu.

"Why do you say that, uncle?" Gu Yin said calmly.

Liang Fu pursed his lips tightly and looked directly at Gu Yin: "I have been managing crops for decades, and I have never heard of a plant growing on another plant!"

“Just because you haven’t heard of it doesn’t mean it’s not possible.”

"That doesn't make sense! You can't expect pears to grow on an apple tree!"

"You know what, these two are really suitable for grafting. Apple trees and pear trees both belong to the Rosaceae family. They are closely related and can easily survive after grafting. But if you want to grow grapes on an apple tree, that would be more difficult." Gu Yin said with a calm and confident smile.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Compared to Gu Yin's calmness, Liang Fuke was not calm, "How can pears grow on an apple tree! This is ridiculous!"

"I can't prove this to you right now. But the results of the watermelon grafting will be apparent in a few days. If the watermelon seedlings are still growing well in a few days, does that mean the grafting is feasible?"

"If these two seedlings are not dead in a few days, it can indeed prove that they can grow together." Someone next to him nodded in agreement.

"The plant has been cut into pieces like that. It will surely die in less than three days!"

"Yes, if a grown sapling is cut off from its branches, it can still survive, but this is a young sapling. How can a young sapling survive being cut like this?"

"That's right."

The onlookers expressed their opinions. Although Xu Youliang was skeptical at first, he thought about how he had not discovered the wilt disease of the winter melon after years of research, and how Gu Yin easily pointed it out and knew the solution.

Someone who is so familiar with the issue of growing winter melons doesn't seem like someone who would mess around with it, so this grafting method might really work...

"Five days!" Liang Fu said solemnly, as if he had made some important decision. "If the grafted seedlings can still survive after five days, I will work for Miss Gu for another two years for free!"

Gu Yin touched his nose: "There's no need to bet so much..."

Ye Jingyu has already sent them to work for free for three years, and if he adds two more years it will be five years.

"Now that I have spoken, I will definitely keep my word!"

"Since you insist, then fine, if these grafted winter melon seedlings can't survive, then I'll give you a pound of tomato seeds plus a thousand taels of silver!"

Manager Fang took a deep breath and said, "Miss, are you really going to give me so many tomato seeds?"

He doesn't care about money, but tomato seeds are very hard to come by now, and many wealthy families want to buy them but cannot.

"You think I'll lose?"

Manager Fang slapped his forehead and said in annoyance, "Look at my reaction. I got anxious when I heard about tomato seeds! How could the young lady lose? My worry was unnecessary!"

"Hmph! The outcome is still undecided, it's too early to say that!" Liang Fu snorted coldly.

"Then let's wait and see." Gu Yin smiled slightly.

five days later

Same place, but different are the seedlings in front.

Five days ago, the two types of seedlings were still growing separately, but now they are tied together. A small number of grafted seedlings have withered, but most of them are growing firmly and seem to be in good condition!

"I win." Gu Yin grinned.

"This, this, this winter melon seedling is really not dead!"

“It’s amazing to be alive!”

"Yes, yes, I have been growing crops for decades and have never seen this kind of planting method!"

"If winter melon seedlings are grafted onto gourd seedlings, can they really grow winter melons instead of gourds?"

"After grafting, only the root is a gourd seedling, and the top is a winter melon seedling. It should not grow gourds."

"Hahaha...that makes sense."

Everyone was talking at once, from shock at first to curious discussions later.

"Ms. Gu is wise. It is me who is short-sighted. I admit defeat." Liang Fu stood in front of Gu Yin and bowed respectfully.

He admitted defeat and showed good character.

"Uncle, you are too modest. You must have some strengths to be able to be brought to Ning County by Master Ye to study. But the world is also very big, and there must be many things we don't understand waiting for us to explore. We can study together."

"Well said!" Everyone nodded, their faces full of appreciation.