A lavish meal not only satisfied everyone's cravings and appetites but also provided an opportunity for them to get acquainted, understand each other better, and strengthen their bonds. It enhanced the valley's cohesiveness and sense of unity, while also allowing everyone to relax their bodies and minds, weary from the busy spring planting season. Sudan Novel Network
After the gathering, life in the valley returned to its usual rhythm, and everyone's work continued as before; people did what they were supposed to do.
Chen Lan, as usual, went up the mountain every day to gather wild vegetables to sell to the system. In addition, the more expensive wild vegetables picked by the young women and married women in the morning were also sold to the system. Chen Lan's income from the system this month was very substantial.
After all the vegetable plots in the garden were sown with seeds, the mother-in-law and the elder women took over the work in the garden.
The young women and married women, who had no specific work arrangements in the early stages, now spent their mornings studying and learning to read at the reading club, and their afternoons helping out at the construction site. They worked in pairs, using wheelbarrows to transport cement, sand, and red bricks for building the sheep and pig pens.
Lin Mai and Chun Cao also studied at the reading club in the morning and worked in the two-mu sugarcane field and ten-mu sugar beet field in the afternoon. Every day, they watered the sugarcane seedlings and pulled weeds in the sugar beet field.
As life became busier, time seemed to fly by. By the time Chen Lan finished her work of gathering wild vegetables on the mountain to sell to the system for money, more than half a month had passed.
One morning, after breakfast, Chen Lan helped out at the kindergarten for a while. Then, holding the hands of the dragon and phoenix twins, she walked with them until their little noses were sweating and they were both tired. While the siblings rested and drank water, Chen Lan secretly slipped out of the yard.
Since she was already out, Chen Lan decided to come to this side of the mountain to check on the progress of Xiang Xi's sheep and pig pen construction. She also wanted to see how the transplanted sugarcane seedlings and the sprouted sugar beets were growing.
Chen Lan first went to Xiang Xi's construction site. The roofs of the sheep and pig pens already had beams and purlins installed. Rafters were also placed on the purlins, and a layer of reed mats was laid on top of the rafters, followed by a layer of yellow mud. It seemed that Xiang Xi and his team were about to start tiling.
Chen Lan thought to herself, "No wonder Xiang Xi told me a few days ago that he needed thirty reed mats. I was too busy preparing to go up the mountain to ask him: 'What do you need reed mats for to build houses?' Xiang Xi and his team were in a hurry at the time, and they left with Xiao Shuan after moving the things."
Chen Lan secretly congratulated herself, "Fortunately, I was too busy at the time and didn't ask him why he needed reed mats! Otherwise, I would have been lectured by Little Watermelon again."
Xiang Xi always did things in an organized manner. Chen Lan wasn't worried that the work would go wrong if it was entrusted to Xiang Xi; she was just sometimes unable to suppress her curiosity.
Standing under the shade of the trees, Chen Lan watched everyone working diligently on their tasks, each with a clear division of labor. This gave her a general understanding of Xiang Xi's work capabilities.
Chen Lan thought to herself that there would be many more places in the valley that needed to be built in the future. Xiang Xi was extremely familiar with this. It seemed that the construction of the granary could also be entrusted to Xiang Xi and his team.
Chen Lan stood at a distance, watching them work in an orderly fashion, and decided not to go forward to greet them and disturb their work. After watching for a while, she left.
Turning to leave, Chen Lan strolled for a bit and then headed to the sugarcane field. She saw that the sugarcane field was lush and green, and most of the transplanted sugarcane seedlings had survived. The sugarcane seedlings had already grown two new tender leaves. The sugarcane field looked vibrant at a glance.
Chen Lan was very satisfied with the growth of the sugarcane. Although only two mu of land were trial-planted this year, judging by the current growth, there should be no major problems in planting sugarcane on a large scale next year.
Sugarcane can be processed into brown sugar, which could become a major source of income to improve the quality of life for everyone in the valley in the future. The sugar content of sugarcane is considerable, and especially when large-scale planting begins, the issue of sugar processing from sugarcane will need to be considered.
Chen Lan walked closer to the sugarcane field, thinking as she squatted down. She reached out and squeezed the sturdy stalks of the sugarcane, nodding with satisfaction. After looking around, Chen Lan basically confirmed that the sugarcane was growing well. She then walked out of the sugarcane field and headed towards the sugar beet field.
Entering the sugar beet field, she found that the sugar beet seedlings had already grown two true leaves, and their height was about six to seven centimeters. It should be time to start thinning the sugar beets.
The purpose of thinning is to remove weak seedlings and those affected by pests and diseases, leaving only the strong ones.
With ten mu of sugar beet field, thinning would be a considerable amount of work. It would be impossible for Chun Cao and Lin Mai alone to complete it in a short time. This task could not be assigned to the students at the reading club either, as thinning requires a certain level of planting knowledge.
Chen Lan pondered for a while and decided to bring all the young women and married women in the valley to the field in the afternoon to thin the sugar beets.
Having made up her mind, Chen Lan checked the system time. It was already ten-thirty in the morning. She needed to notify the young women and married women at the reading club before the morning classes ended, so they could come to the field to work in the afternoon.
Without further hesitation, she immediately turned and walked back.
When one has something on their mind, they tend to walk faster. Chen Lan quickly returned home and went to the reading club. Ming Wei was teaching her students a Chinese class, and the topic was the ancient poem "A Joyful Rain on a Spring Night."
Ming Wei was explaining the meaning of the poem line by line. She said, "'Good rain knows its season, it falls when spring is due and plants emerge.' This sentence means that good rain knows the time for rain; it falls precisely when plants are about to sprout in spring. It's like the sugarcane seedlings and sugar beet seeds we just planted a few days ago; they need a timely rain, not too heavy and not too light. The rain that falls at this moment is good rain."
At this point, Xiao Xue raised her hand and asked, "Reporting, Teacher, does rain that falls when we need it from heaven count as good rain?"
Ming Wei thought for a moment and replied, "That can also be interpreted that way. Students, Xiao Xue's question is very good. It shows she is listening attentively in class. Everyone should learn from her."
Ming Wei continued her lecture: "'It sneaks in with the wind at night, moistening all things silently.' This sentence is even easier to understand. It means that light rain, accompanied by the spring breeze, falls quietly at night, silently moistening all the crops and vegetable patches on the land, including our sugarcane seedlings and sugar beet seedlings."
Upon hearing Ming Wei's explanation, Chen Lan couldn't help but nod in agreement. Ming Wei's ability to explain ancient poetry in a way that was easy to understand, by combining it with current situations, could increase the students' engagement and prevent them from finding ancient poetry obscure and difficult.
Ming Wei did a very good job in this regard.