Struggling to get up from the ground, Accountant Li sighed deeply and reached for his pole.
"Hu Hongju, go back and pack your things. Get out and go back to your parents' home immediately. Zhang Fangcao, take Daniu with you. Huang Sulan, take Youcai with you. That house is mine and mine alone. None of you are allowed to step foot in it again!"
Hu Hongju felt as if struck by lightning. Her husband really didn't want her anymore.
Li Jianguo tried to catch up with his father, but his wife held him back. "Don't try to persuade him. Father's words, especially in front of outsiders, are never taken back. Bring Youcai back first."
"Alright."
The people outside the gate slowly dispersed.
Tian Jing released the climbing rose she was holding. She'd planted a row of them inside the courtyard wall too, always keeping an eye on the outside.
And so, she saw all sorts of spectacular scenes.
Two days later, the commune members discovered that several thorny climbing roses had appeared on the Li family's main gate, their roots winding up from the bottom.
The gate was completely blocked now, but one could still knock with their knuckles.
...
From Qingming Festival to Guyu, a light rain had been drizzling. It wasn't until today, the first day of the fourth lunar month, that the sky finally cleared.
The commune members noticed that the crops in the fields had grown taller by a section, lush and green, more vigorous than in previous years.
Their hearts swelled with excitement. Would their Kushan valley also have a harvest day?
With this hope, they tended to the crops with even more care.
However, there were some differences.
The two mu of land adopted by Li Aiguo and Zhang Fangcao were planted with wheat, but they had received free seeds distributed by the production team.
In the wheat fields, the seedlings were sparse and had a sickly yellow-green appearance, unlike the verdant green of the surrounding fields.
Next to their land were two mu adopted by Lin Er Lai and his wife, and five mu belonging to the Zhang family.
Lin Er Lai's family planted one mu of wheat and one mu of corn. The corn seedlings were already five to six inches tall. Although not as good as the neighboring land, they were much better than the land next door to Li.
Li, next door, with his right hand bandaged and in a splint, looked at his neighbor Lin, then at his neighbor Zhang.
None of their families had received the high-priced seeds obtained by Tian Jing. Why were their seedlings better than his?
...
Li Zhengguo became busy again. He and Chen Suozhu began reclaiming land, opening up the wasteland south of the plastic greenhouses.
As the name suggests, wasteland must have more stones. The surface was entirely covered with rocks, and beneath them was a mixture of stone and soil.
This time, more soil would be needed.
Tian Jing again ventured into the mountains to bring out soil.
Seeing the deep pits dug by the commune members on the mountain, Tian Jing would quietly use plant roots to level them out, then insert branches to encourage new growth.
Seeing the Li family reclaiming land, others immediately followed suit.
A scene of bustling activity unfolded in the village.
Captain Ou accompanied Secretary Ji into the village for an inspection. They first circled the adopted land behind the village before returning to the front.
"Secretary Ji, I believe this system of adopting land and taking responsibility for it is very feasible. Originally, my idea was for Tian Jing to lead in sifting the soil, followed by the Niu family, and only after seeing results this year could we sift soil for collective land in the following years."
"However, with the implementation of the adopted land responsibility system, the commune members' enthusiasm has been ignited. Coupled with Tian Jing's lead and the acquisition of high-priced seeds, the commune members now hold great hope for the harvest from their land."
"The green seedlings in the fields just now made one want to take a bite. Now, Li Zhengguo is leading the reclamation of wasteland. That wasteland, in the future, can also become cultivated land. These are things I never dared to dream of. Every night, I fall asleep with a smile and wake up with a smile."
Secretary Ji looked at the southern side of the reclaimed wasteland for a long time before speaking, "Currently, this can only be implemented here. Because you are breaking all ties with the past and have no other options; if you don't change, you have no way out."
"But no matter what, a direction has been found. Let's proceed slowly. Perhaps if your implementation here yields significant results, and without me needing to push it, others will want to imitate it? Therefore, I will remain patient and observe."
Captain Ou nodded. "I understand. I will definitely manage these lands well and achieve good results to show everyone."
"You must not fail this transformation I have initiated," Secretary Ji said with a serious tone. "I also saw clearly just now that the gap has widened considerably. A few families are no different than before. Are they lazy or unable to farm? If they can't farm, send people to guide them. If they are lazy, take back their land as soon as possible. It can still be salvaged."
"Yes."
...
When the cotton seeds arrived, Li Zhengguo's wasteland had been reclaimed.
Tian Jing decided to plant cotton on the reclaimed land.
A trip to Qingsongyan had optimized the cotton seeds.
Of course, quite a lot was also planted on the hot spring land. However, she didn't have enough land, and she had encroached on the wolf king's territory.
The wolf king was helpless against this domineering woman it couldn't defeat. It could only watch helplessly as the overbearing woman 'carved up' its mountain and then transported stones to build a dividing wall.
The dividing wall was curved. The large hot spring pool was the highest point of the curve, descending sharply from the sides to the middle line of the pool, and then running parallel to the sides from the center.
Its territory had been inexplicably carved away by this curved wall.
Tian Jing waved to the wolf king. "Don't worry, I'm planting cotton, and it won't affect you."
The wolf king: "..."
The Li family planting cotton on wasteland?
The commune members came to watch, only to see that the Li family's wasteland had become more fertile than any other land.
Where was the cotton?
Li Zhengguo came out of the vegetable shed. "The cotton is still in the seedling stage and needs more time before it can be transplanted."
Unable to see the cotton seedlings, they could at least look at the vegetable seedlings. The commune members were very interested in the Li family's vegetable sheds.
This time, the vegetable sheds were made of plastic sheeting and built tall enough that one wouldn't feel suffocated after staying inside for a short time.
The commune members gasped as they looked at the seedlings. This, this? This!
In the south shed were tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, and beans. The tomatoes and eggplants already had flower buds, and the cucumbers and beans were climbing densely on the trellises.
In the north shed were Chinese cabbage, cabbage, kohlrabi, and small radishes. These four types of vegetables were already entering their mature stage.
Emerging from the vegetable sheds, the commune members finally caught their breath, wiping the sweat from their brows.
"Zhengguo, you are truly skilled at growing vegetables. Those vegetables seem to have a shorter growth period than our normally grown ones, don't they?"
"Yes, growing vegetables in plastic sheds not only allows for out-of-season cultivation but also for earlier maturity, like the temperature in June or July accelerating the vegetables' ripening."
The commune members wiped their sweat again. The temperature inside the sheds was indeed high.
The commune members dispersed, and Li Zhengguo wiped the sweat from his own brow.
As the weather grew warmer, the adobe bricks for his house dried, ready to be made into heated beds.
This time, he invited Brother Wang to help again. Brother Wang was a skilled builder of heated beds, especially efficient in his use of firewood.
The heated bed in the west room was still connected to the kitchen stove.
The heated beds in the east room and the main hall shared a single stove. Therefore, the heated bed in the main hall was built along the east wall of the main hall, and the heated bed in the east room was built along the west wall of the east room. In essence, one wall served two heated beds.
Brother Wang, working alone with his eldest son Wang Hongwei and Chen Suozhu as assistants, took five days to complete the three heated beds.
Brother Wang had also seen the vegetables in the Li family's sheds. He attributed it to the good soil in the deep mountains and said he couldn't envy it.
Tian Jing secretly infused some of her special abilities into their vegetable sheds.