Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 377 - Chapter 377 377. Diverse Interests_1

Chapter 377: 377. Diverse Interests_1 Chapter 377: 377. Diverse Interests_1 Song Tan finished speaking and showed Xin Jun the clarifying message–after all, he was here to be a proper tutor, and it wouldn’t do to tarnish someone’s reputation without cause.

Xin Jun: …

Whether it’s clarified or not isn’t important, since he probably wouldn’t give up this job for a girlfriend anytime soon. A real job.

But the problem is–

“Song Tan, didn’t you just say you plan to hire people to harvest rice and pick out a boyfriend? How come now you want to ‘hide a beauty in the golden house’?”

And what are these wild and ferocious words!

If it’s about exercising, just say exercising, why mention core flexibility… It all sounds so suggestive in context!

Song Tan thought for a moment: “Oh, that might be because my interests are varied–but isn’t it normal for a person to have multiple hobbies?”

“What hobbies?” Zhang Yanping chimed in as she passed by: “It’s totally normal to have a variety of hobbies!”

Xin Jun glared at her–“We were talking about the type she likes! Didn’t you hear her, she likes a variety!”

“That’s normal too!” Online influencer Zhang Yanping didn’t understand Xin Jun’s frustration: “Nowadays, girls like ‘puppy love’, ‘mature men’, ‘overbearing CEOs’… They don’t make choices, they want them all!”

Song Tan clapped excitedly: “Right! That’s the kind of person I am!”

Xin Jun: …

…

As the class reunion needed to be coordinated based on everyone’s schedule, Wa Qianqian’s requested watermelons couldn’t be delivered just yet.

And the fifty watermelons pre-ordered by the young policemen at the station, since they had already taken a few earlier, could hold on for another day or two, so there was no rush.

Song Tan was looking at the pre-sale orders online, wondering how many more to sell tomorrow… when she turned her head to see Old Li with a straw hat, leisurely ambling towards her.

“Tantan, could you check the weather for the next few days? If it’s good, I’ll start draining the fields today, and we can prepare for the rice harvest.”

“Oh wow!” Song Tan became excited–her rice!

Was it already time for the harvest?

Locals seldom grow double-cropped rice; her attempt was a bold one relying on Spiritual Energy. The crops had looked promising a while back, but she did not expect the time to harvest them would come so quickly.

Song Youde, hearing the news, emerged from his room and cheerfully said to Old Li:

“You really know how to take care of the rice plants. I passed by the other day and saw the rice ears heavy and full, so plump I couldn’t bear to pick them…”

Old Li was rather embarrassed: “What are you talking about?”

“We’ve been growing rice all our lives, but when have we ever grown rice that’s pest-resistant and disease-free like this? Each plant has such full and firm panicles! If anyone had grown rice like this in the early years, people from miles around would come to see… It’s all thanks to your choice of rice variety, and Tantan adding some sort of nutrient solution or something–I don’t even understand it.”

No wonder you can easily achieve a yield of over 1000 kg per mu these days; science really makes a difference.

The two exchanged looks, each feeling a sense of respect for the other’s expertise.

Song Sancheng was beaming too:

“For so many years, I’ve been craving the taste of our homegrown rice! It feels like buying any other rice won’t have that same aroma afterward.”

Song Youde shot him a glance: “That’s because you aren’t thinking straight. What kind of rice did we used to grow? Could it taste better than the kind Tantan later bought, what’s it called, Wuchang rice?”

What they used to grow was just ordinary long-grain rice, the kind now selling for two yuan per half a kilo in supermarkets, not crystal clear, rather dull with a hint of yellow, and a mediocre taste.

It was just high yielding, pest-resilient, lodging-resistant, and low-cost, so everyone planted it.

In terms of taste, it surely fell far short.

But Sancheng wouldn’t concede: “The rice variety wasn’t as good as others’, but rice harvested from our own fields always had a richer rice aroma. The purchased rice is shiny and translucent, but I always feel it’s missing something…”

Zhang Yanping did nod in agreement–he had connections with grain merchants, and understood a bit:

“That’s indeed the case. Nowadays, if you want to sell rice, it needs good packaging, high aesthetic value, and it needs to be preserved for a long time.”

“So, before we used to just thresh the rice and be done with it, picking out the stones and broken husks when it came time to cook…”

As a child, he found this task the most tedious.

“But now the rice needs to be polished until it sparkles and is translucent.”

However, the most nutritious germ layer had been ground away, so what’s eaten is all starch.

This is also why, in recent years, no diet recommends rice as a staple food when trying to lose weight.

It’s not that rice isn’t good or lacks nutrition, but the current processing methods don’t preserve its nutrients.

Unless you buy expensive germ rice with a short shelf-life, which specifically retains these nutritious layers.

Song Youde didn’t quite understand all this talk of germs and non-germs, but that didn’t prevent him from getting the gist. He sighed at the moment:

“Anyway, as long as we can eat our fill, we’ll worry about nutrition and flavor after we’re full… Our own rice is nutritious this year, so we’ll just eat more of it.”

He was taking it in stride, but couldn’t help worrying again: “But now the yard is full, how can we sun-dry the rice from two acres?”

The old man’s memories of rice harvesting were still of the times with sickles.

Back then, after cutting the rice, they had to carry it back, spread it in the drying field to dry completely, and then use manual labor to push the heavy round stone mill over it again and again to thresh it.

Finally, they spread it out to dry and winnow, and then it was time to pound the rice…

In short, the busiest times for a farmer were sowing and hurriedly harvesting, which was truly backbreaking labor!

Zhang Yanping was taken aback:

“How to dry it?”

Isn’t it just using the harvester to go through the field for a dozen or twenty minutes, pick up the rice, chop the straw, and then just pile up the grains in an open space to dry?

Song Sancheng started to laugh.

“You young people just don’t take money seriously–we have only two acres in total, and it’s in a mountainous area. How much would you have to pay someone to bring a harvester, per acre, just to break even?”

If the entire village were harvesting, or if it were a large plain, the cost of harvesting one acre would be between 80 and 150, which everyone could accept.

Because with volume, one can make the money back.

But with only two acres, even at 150 per acre, considering labor, fuel, and equipment wear… would that even cover costs?

And in the scorching heat, who would be keen on doing that job?

But if you added money per acre, say increasing it to 300–good heavens! Song Sancheng didn’t dare think about it.

The state regulates grain prices, and the price of grains cannot rise. If you calculated it that way, working hard for a year on those two acres wouldn’t earn a penny, but actually result in a loss!

Of course, they weren’t planning on selling, but once you do the math, no one is willing to spend that money.

Zhang Yanping was at a loss–

“Otherwise, in such hot weather, if we were to harvest by hand, how long would it take?”

The so-called “distance is deceiving when viewing mountains.” Two acres of land might sound easy when talked about, but when it comes to actual farm work, once you bend your back, there’s no end in sight…

Harvesting by ourselves?

He shuddered at the thought, unable to imagine it.

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