Spring comes to the desperate place

The next day, Song Dazhuang had the braised pork as he wished, as well as two large goose legs. The vegetarian dishes were cold cucumbers and cabbage with vinegar, and there was also a large pot of cooled sour plum soup.

Song Chunlin put all the dishes in the space, and quietly transferred them into the food box when he got to the field. When he took them out, the food was still piping hot. The aroma of braised pork and roast goose wafted in the wind, attracting the people working around to look over here frequently.

As soon as Song Chunlin placed two large bowls filled with rice, Song Dazhuang immediately took them and started eating.

"Hmm, delicious. This roasted goose leg is so fragrant." Song Dazhuang was eating with relish. The goose leg was as big as his palm, and he finished half a bowl of rice with the whole goose leg. After biting off every last bit of meat from the goose leg, Song Dazhuang focused on the braised pork.

If you eat too much meat and feel sick, you can have some cucumber and cabbage to help you get rid of the greasiness. After the meal, you can drink some sour plum soup to quench your thirst and help your digestion.

Song Dazhuang ate very quickly. When Song Qinshi had just finished eating a goose leg, he had already put down his bowl and shouted to the sky in comfort: "Comfortable!"

Song Chunlin saw that they were almost done planting, so he asked Song Dazhuang when they would plant sweet potatoes and potatoes.

"It seems that the sweet potatoes and potatoes need to be cut into pieces first, which is more troublesome. Dad, if you are almost done here, I will go back and prepare it."

Song Dazhuang looked at the remaining seedlings and estimated that at the speed he and Song Qin were working at, they would be able to finish it in the afternoon.

"Tomorrow, dad will plow the soil for you tomorrow, right in the backyard, and also plant the vegetable patch. It's spring now, and your mom said she wants to plant some vegetables. Then you can plant one or two of those tomatoes of yours, too. You like to eat that stuff."

Song Chunlin made an OK gesture to show that he understood, and Song Dazhuang also made an OK gesture. This was what Song Chunlin taught them.

After delivering lunch, Song Chunlin walked back panting. When he got home, he went to the warehouse in the backyard, where all the potatoes and sweet potatoes in their family were stored. He picked out the rotten ones one by one and threw them out to use as fertilizer. He cut the remaining intact ones with a knife.

Grandpa Song brought a small stool over and cut the potatoes into pieces while Song Chunlin and Aunt Song dipped the cut surfaces of the potatoes with wood ash to prevent pests and diseases.

After processing the potatoes, Grandpa Song started cutting sweet potatoes. Amao Song was about to dip the sweet potato pieces in wood ash when she was stopped by Song Chunlin.

Song Chunlin asked Song Amo to wait a moment, then took out a book from the space and turned to the page about sweet potato planting.

"Grandma, it says that the sweet potatoes should be cut into pieces and dried, and can only be planted after a layer of white frost forms on the surface."

Grandpa Song and Grandma Song put their heads close together. Grandpa Song did not know simplified Chinese characters, and Grandma Song was completely illiterate, so both of them were looking at pictures.

The picture is in color, and clearly shows sliced sweet potatoes with a thin layer of white frost on the surface.

Song A-mo stopped and said, "There is actually such a saying. I thought they both grew in the soil, so they should be similar when grown."

Grandpa Song stroked his beard and said, "There is always someone better than you. We still don't have enough experience."

Song A'mo nodded repeatedly, then put the wood ash away. Lin Ge'er said that this thing had many uses.

After collecting all the potatoes and sweet potatoes, it was getting dark outside, so Grandma Song hurried to the kitchen to cook, while Grandpa Song spread out the cut potatoes and sweet potatoes, waiting to plant them tomorrow after the soil in Song Dazhuang was turned over.

Some of the land in the backyard has been dug up, but because the yard is large, most of it is still empty. Song Dazhuang thought that since he had to dig it anyway, he might as well spend a day turning over all the land. Song Chunsheng also went to the foot of the mountain to pick up a lot of stones and slowly built a fence around the vegetable patch.

The potatoes were buried in the ground and covered with a thin layer of soil, waiting to sprout. At the same time, Song Dazhuang took his horse to plow the land near the foot of the mountain.

They had long since set their eyes on this piece of land and had specifically used it to plant potatoes and sweet potatoes in order to verify that these two things could yield a good harvest even in poor soil.

Of course, Song Chunlin had already thought of an excuse. He said that he had no experience in planting for the first time, so he chose the same mountain where he discovered potatoes and sweet potatoes to conduct the experiment.

Song Chunlin also believes that modern seeds are definitely superior to ancient seeds in terms of disease resistance and drought resistance. As long as they can survive, Song Chunlin guarantees that these seeds will eventually produce a good harvest.

The spring ploughing season passed in a busy manner. Song Dazhuang finally had a few days of leisure. Song Chunlin told him that the sweet potato vines would grow more and more, and it was time to put pig raising on the agenda.

Song Dazhuang felt that this was not a trivial matter. After asking the whole family for their opinions, everyone unanimously decided that raising three pigs was the most cost-effective. Three pigs were not too many, and taking care of them was not tiring. Moreover, three pigs could consume a large amount of sweet potato vines every day, killing two birds with one stone.

Before Qingming Festival, the Song family had three more piglets. Song Xiaobao was very happy, probably because the piglets had just been weaned and were quite cute. He would go into the pigpen four or five times a day. After so many times, Song Qinshi could even smell the pig manure on her little son.

"Song Dazhuang, you can't have this son of yours anymore, he stinks!" Song Qin stuffed Song Xiaobao into his biological father's arms with disgust. Song Dazhuang hugged his son and took a deep breath, which was so stinky that he almost fainted.

"Oh my god, this son of mine stinks." Song Dazhuang picked up the kid with great disgust and planned to wash him clean.

Song Xiaobao's bathing stuff was taken out by Song Chunlin from the space. It was a special shower gel for babies. Song Dazhuang used a lot of shower gel before he could barely wash the kid to make him smell good.

As for the clothes, Song Qin really wanted to throw them away, but thinking that she would have to make new ones for him after throwing them away, she finally endured it. She also put in a lot of effort and rubbed the soap frantically to get rid of the smell of pig manure.

Seeing that Song Xiaobao liked to go into the pigpen so much, Song Chunlin felt that he couldn't just let it go like that. He still liked his sweet and soft younger brother more.

Song Chunsheng was more direct: "Dad, Mom, please give birth to another sweet sister. We don't want this one anymore."

"What are you talking about, brat? This is your own brother, look him in the eye and say it again."

Song Chunsheng: “…”

Okay, it smells okay, at worst he won’t hug me anymore.

Song Chunlin held his washed brother in his arms in a serious tone: "My brother has grown up, and it's time for him to learn to read."

Song Xiaobao was unaware of the danger and thought his brother was going to play with him. But when he was forced to sit at the desk the next day, he was completely dumbfounded.