Go back to the past to plant trees

"Brother Feng, what else can you do? I feel like there's nothing you can't do!"

After dinner, Zhao Jinquan lay in bed, looking at Feng Cheng with a hint of admiration in his eyes.

He can plant trees, play the piano, sing beautifully, bake bread, make cola, and boiled fish. He also knows various board games and can now make maltose from sweet potatoes and wheat. According to Brother Feng, he can also make pumpkin candy and winter melon candy later.

Zhao Jinquan felt that there was nothing Feng Cheng couldn't do; he could come up with something new every now and then, surprising you and making you look forward to it.

It's only because Feng Cheng is a man that Zhao Jinquan would have clung to him.

"There's a lot I don't know. You see how much I know, but actually, what I do know is quite simple. I just see and hear a lot, so I know a little bit. But there are many things I've never done before. Like this maltose, this is the first time I've ever made it."

This is the most valuable thing that short videos have given Feng Cheng. He has seen a lot of miscellaneous things. He may not have mastered them physically, but at least he has memorized them. Although it is difficult to produce many things, at least Feng Cheng knows how to do it. Unlike people of this era, who not only do not know the methods, but also have never even heard of many things.

Take maltose, for example. Is it difficult? No, it's not difficult at all, it's even ridiculously simple. But Zhao Jinquan just doesn't know it. He's not even familiar with it. This is the information isolation of this era.

Perhaps there are people in the county town who know how to make maltose, but in this Bashang area, where people rarely go and the mountains are high and the roads are long, it is very difficult for news to get in. In the past, even small vendors were unwilling to bring their goods here to do business because it was too difficult to travel.

"Brother Feng, can you make tofu?" Zhao Jinquan asked expectantly.

Feng Cheng looked at him and said, "You want to eat tofu? Someone in your brigade should be able to make that!"

"Yes, but the brigade doesn't do it often. They only make it during the Chinese New Year. The tofu workshop is not open at other times."

"I've never made tofu before, but I've seen others do it. If you want to try it, you can give it a go. But you need a stone mill to make tofu, otherwise you can't make soy milk."

Feng Cheng had seen others make tofu when he was a child in his previous life. He saw it when he visited his grandmother's house. It wasn't difficult. As long as you have brine, it's very easy to make.

Yeah, the kind where you already know it in your head.

"A stone mill? Oh, there isn't one here. The team does have one, but it's too far away," Zhao Jinquan said, shaking his head in disappointment.

"A stone mill isn't difficult to make; you can make one if you want."

Feng Cheng didn't know how to make a stone mill; he only knew what it looked like. But in the show, Sui Zhichao made a small stone mill by hand to grind coffee for Shen Mengyin. Since Sui Zhichao could make one, there's no reason why he... well, Zhao Jinquan couldn't.

"Then how do we make this?" Zhao Jinquan perked up when he heard this. He really wanted to eat tofu, and there was a stone mill in the camp, so he could make tofu whenever he wanted.

"Find two relatively flat stones, then hammer them into the shape of a millstone, and that should be about right."

"Any kind of stone will do? I saw that the stone mill in our brigade seems to use stones that are different from ordinary stones?" Although Zhao Jinquan trusted Feng Cheng, he felt that this job must be quite complicated.

"Then find a stone like the one used for your team's millstone. We don't need to make this one too big; a smaller stone will do." Feng Cheng didn't know what kind of stone to use for making a millstone, but it didn't matter; he could just copy the instructions.

Zhao Jinquan hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded. "Then I'll go back in a few days to take a look and ask what kind of stone the millstone is made of, and then ask where I can find that kind of stone."

"Okay, you find the stone first, and then we'll figure out a way to do it."

Feng Cheng was okay with tofu and soy milk, not particularly fond of them, but he was willing to change things up occasionally. Moreover, with a stone mill, it would be quite easy to grind anything he wanted in the future, such as rice milk, corn flour, wheat flour, etc. He could do it himself. Of course, the most important thing was that he didn't have to lift a finger to make the stone mill.

Giving orders to others is easy; all you have to do is open your mouth.

Two days later, Zhao Jinquan went home. The main purpose of his trip was to check on the stone mills in the village and to ask if there were any stone materials available nearby for making stone mills.

Feng Cheng asked him to take half a pound of maltose back with him, saying it was for his parents to taste. He felt a little embarrassed that he kept taking things from Feng Cheng's house.

After a few polite words, Zhao Jinquan accepted the gift. He mainly wanted to take it back to show off to his parents, since making sugar from sweet potatoes and wheat seemed unbelievable to him.

He was like a child who had just received a new toy, eager to show it off to others.

Although his parents told him not to tell anyone what Brother Feng had given him, it was something Brother Feng had taken back for him. He figured it wouldn't be a big deal to tell his parents, as long as he didn't reveal the specific recipe. Besides, Zhao Jinquan thought Brother Feng probably wouldn't care. He had made the pickled fish recipe in front of his older brother and cousin last time, and he hadn't kept any secrets.

Besides, Brother Feng knows so many things, he can't possibly keep everything a secret.

Zhao Jinquan went home, leaving Feng Cheng alone at the camp again. That night, looking at Xiao Liu sleeping peacefully in the doghouse, Feng Cheng went over and patted its head. Ever since the doghouse was built, Xiao Liu had been especially happy and would voluntarily lie down in it to sleep every night.

Xiao Liu opened his eyes and saw that it was Feng Cheng. He immediately tilted his head back and stuck out his tongue to lick Feng Cheng's hand.

"You must have been quite happy during this time, with Zhao Jinquan keeping you company and playing around, unlike before when you were with me, doing nothing all day."

Zhao Jinquan was bored, and since the nursery needed watering frequently, he would give Xiao Liu a bath from time to time, and the smell on Xiao Liu's body became much less noticeable.

After chatting with Xiao Liu for a few minutes, Feng Cheng got onto the kang (a heated brick bed) and continued reading.

Feng Cheng has read a lot of books recently and has developed many ideas about seedling cultivation. However, due to the limited conditions in Bashang, he cannot conduct experiments right now. Some experiments require measuring instruments, such as temperature measurement. Feng Cheng originally wanted to make a detailed report and then implement differentiated management for the seedlings in the nursery. For example, when the temperature is high, he could divide the land into several plots, watering some more and some less, and then record the growth of the seedlings. He could then conduct further experiments based on this data in the next seedling cultivation to obtain the best watering data.

Unfortunately, there were no thermometers in Bashang, so Feng Cheng was unable to collect experimental data.

We only have some rough data right now, and the accuracy is very poor, but it's better to have something than nothing.

Feng Cheng is now particularly hoping that the advance team can arrive soon, so that they will have the experimental tools, and some professional books and journals will also be sent over, so that he won't have to be so reserved as he is now.

Unfortunately, the advance team won't be back for more than a year, and during that time, Feng Cheng can only continue to conduct data statistics in this rough manner.