Li's mother looked at her daughter-in-law, and seeing no change in Tian Jing's expression, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, she didn't marry her daughter to the Tian family, otherwise she would have either starved thin or been disliked for eating too much.
In the future, who would be able to afford her daughter, who eats so much?
The last hundred or so dumplings were steamed. Tian Jing left forty for Li Min and her mother-in-law, and took more than sixty out. Li Min could eat so much, so the two big men outside must not have eaten enough.
Chen Suozhu felt embarrassed. He looked at Li Zhengguo, "Brother Li, I..."
Li Zhengguo pushed the enamel basin towards him, "Don't talk nonsense, I don't like people who are insincere."
After Chen Suozhu finished eating, he worked even harder.
Tian Jing took Li's mother to tidy up the self-reserved land outside the yard. The first step was naturally to sift the soil.
When Chen Suozhu went back in the evening, he took half a bottle of white wine with him, which was to return the wine he had borrowed.
The next morning, Chen Suozhu was ordered to dig soil and come back. Tian Jing and Li's mother continued to sift, and Li Zhengguo weaved straw mats.
The Wang family next door naturally saw the activity at the Li family's house, and Brother Wang brought his eldest son to help.
Sister-in-law Niu also came to help after seeing the activity at the Li family's house.
With many hands, after three days, Tian Jing and Li Zhengguo carried out two large wooden boxes for seedlings.
The commune members who had already been attracted by the Li family's activity were amazed to see the densely packed seedlings in the wooden boxes. They had never seen such green and robust seedlings before.
Sister-in-law Niu was even more surprised. These weren't the seeds she had given, were they? She thought the seeds she gave were planted on the wooden frame by Tian Jing.
Tian Jing smiled at Sister-in-law Niu and said, "I bought the seeds when I first went to the county town, and I have been growing them as seedlings. I only remembered that I didn't have seeds after the wooden frame was made."
"No wonder," Sister-in-law Niu nodded, "I said how could my seeds grow so well? I also planted some in wooden boxes. They grew much better than in the self-reserved land, but not as well as yours."
The commune members who overheard this conversation asked Sister-in-law Niu questions, and some stretched their heads to look into the Li family's yard, and of course, they saw Li Min knitting a sweater.
This discovery made the commune members feel a sense of unreality.
Unconsciously, had the Li family at the end of the village surpassed them?
How long had it been? Half a month? A month?
It seemed that things started to change after the young wife of the Li family entered the house, but this was too fast.
Tian Jing was indifferent to the thoughts of these people. She and Sister-in-law Niu began to plant the vegetable seedlings in the wooden boxes.
Three fen of land, not small, two hundred square meters. Sister-in-law Niu worked quickly, planting three-quarters of the land by herself.
Chen Suozhu, who was helping to shave the bamboo bows, had already been explained the principle by Li Zhengguo. At this moment, he cooperated very tacitly with Li Zhengguo in building the greenhouse.
More and more commune members gathered to watch.
Captain Ou and Secretary Yang also came.
When some people understood, they started to help, especially in pulling the plastic film on the bamboo bows. There were even more people helping.
Finally, after covering with long straw curtains, Tian Jing explained the principle of the greenhouse.
"... it is most suitable to use rice straw for these straw curtains. If there is no rice straw, straw is lighter, so I chose straw. During the day, when the sun is good and the temperature is high, open the straw curtains..."
Tian Jing pointed to the wooden frame boxes that Li Zhengguo and Chen Suozhu had carried out. "I have been growing these for a week. I take them out to bask in the sun during the day and bring them into the house at night to keep warm. This soil has also been sifted. I definitely cannot fertilize it, so I put in crushed eggshells and the sprouted garlic shoots over there."
Tian Jing then pointed to the broken pot bottom next to the wooden frame. "These are grown by soaking in water. I have already cut them once. If they grow again, they will grow slowly. Next time, I will just peel them off from the root and eat them. This is considered a simple way to grow garlic sprouts."
"These are some of my methods for growing vegetables. I don't know how to grow crops, but I know that there cannot be stones in the soil. I have shared my ideas. Whether you grow them well or not has nothing to do with me. Don't blame me after wasting your seeds."
"That's definitely not possible," Sister-in-law Niu was the first to speak. "Just like cooking, the method is told to you, and if you add salt twice and it's so salty that it's bitter, you still blame me. I'll slap you to death."
Hahahaha.
The commune members were amused by Sister-in-law Niu's words.
"Isn't that the truth? Everyone plants vegetables the same way, and yet no two people's vegetable gardens are exactly the same."
"Yes, the methods of farming are the same. It has to do with laziness or diligence, and it also has to do with watering and fertilizing. We can't blame Zhengguo."
"Exactly, we are already grateful to Zhengguo. If we can really eat vegetables this winter, we will have the right to ask for seeds from our mother-in-law's house."
"Oh, now that you mention it, I'm in a hurry. I'll go back and make wooden boxes. It's good to plant them for fun, and it's not like I have anything else to do."
"I'm going back to make them too. I'm going home right away."
"Let's go, let's go."
The commune members left, revealing Captain Ou and Secretary Yang.
Li Zhengguo took Tian Jing to introduce her to Secretary Yang.
Tian Jing sized up this respected elder in the village. He had the appearance of a typical old farmer, and even the wrinkles on his face carried simplicity. However, the shrewdness flashing in his eyes brought a sense of authority to his kind and aged face.
"Secretary Yang."
Yang Shukuang also sized up this sharp-tongued young girl.
The way she spoke eloquently to the commune members earlier, with a sense of distance and coolness, made people feel her intellect rather than her appearance, which indeed fit the image of a women's director.
At this moment, as they looked at each other, she could still speak to him without a trace of timidity. Not bad, very good.
"Comrade Tian Jing."
Captain Ou chuckled, "Why are you being so formal? We are all from the same production team, we see each other every day, so let's be more relaxed and at ease."
"It is a bit formal."
Secretary Yang put his dry pipe into his mouth, "Zhengguo, work hard. Our production team hasn't had such a lively atmosphere for a long time."
"It's you who have stimulated everyone's enthusiasm. We can all see it, and we will give you great support. If you have any needs, you can mention them, and we will help you solve them if we can."
"Thank you, I won't be polite if I need it."
Tian Jing could also speak polite words. Could her needs be met by ordinary people?
Captain Ou changed the subject, which was becoming too formal, and asked Li Zhengguo, "Did you only buy this much plastic film?"
"This much, and it was from someone else. We have placed an order and will pick it up after the New Year."
Captain Ou was relieved, "Then we will wait to see your results."
"Then I won't be polite. I'll start working on the land south of the road."
"Go ahead, go ahead. We wish all commune members would be like you, creating new tricks in the soil."
Captain Ou and Secretary Yang left.
Chen Suozhu helped Li Zhengguo to bury soil on both sides of the greenhouse. Tian Jing opened the straw curtains again. She had opened them earlier for the commune members to see, and now it was noon with good sunshine.
Li's mother called them to eat. The three people busy outside entered the yard.
Zhang Fangcao then walked out of the Li family's kitchen with a dark face.
Ever since Tian Jing arrived, she had been causing one thing after another. When she was with Brother Zhengguo, she hadn't seen Brother Zhengguo indulging her so much.
A vixen is a vixen, and she has led the upright Brother Zhengguo astray.