The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 259 - 248: Winter Wheat

Chapter 259: Chapter 248: Winter Wheat

As evening approached and the sun neared the high mountains on the horizon, the members of Old Zhou’s family finally started returning home—some carrying water buckets, some with hoes over their shoulders, and others with hands caked in mud. It was only then that they learned Manbao had been self-studying medical skills and was already able to treat Zhou Dalang’s illnesses today.

Of course, that was Junior Ms. Qian’s statement.

Zhou Dalang repeatedly stressed, "Manbao has only spent two and a half days reading books, and she hasn’t found anything."

Old Zhou conveniently ignored Zhou Dalang’s words and cheerfully beckoned Manbao over, delightedly saying, "Good, good. Manbao, learn more. From now on, if anyone in the family falls ill, we’ll rely on you to treat them."

Manbao nodded happily.

Not only Zhou Dalang but also the others felt a chill down their spines, especially Zhou Erlang, Zhou Sanlang, and Zhou Silang, who still had injuries on them and broke out in a cold sweat.

The happiest in the family were probably Old Zhou and Manbao.

The father and daughter gleamed with joy.

Ms. Qian didn’t pay them any mind and summoned Two, Third, and Four over, instructing, "The wounds on your bodies have almost healed. Tomorrow go to the village chief’s house and borrow a flatbed cart. Let’s head to the city together and buy tiles. It’s best if we can fix the roof in the next few days."

Old Zhou’s attention was diverted, and he nodded repeatedly, "Right, right, right. I checked today, and with the sunny weather these past days, the wheat has started to turn yellow. I estimate it will be ready to harvest in about half a month. We need to organize our household chores, because once the summer harvest begins, we’ll be too busy to take care of things at home."

Everyone acknowledged.

"That’s right, today I took a closer look at the fields and found that some of the wheat is growing exceptionally well. The wheat ears are very long and full," Old Zhou turned his head towards Ms. Qian and said: "Tomorrow, let someone from Eldest and Two’s families come with me to the fields to locate these wheat ears. When we harvest, we’ll cut these first to save for seeds."

Ms. Qian nodded and asked, "Are they much better?"

"Much better," he said. As he spoke, even Old Zhou himself seemed puzzled, frowning and saying, "I walked through three plots, and it was the same in each one, with some of these wheat ears mixed in. I hadn’t noticed them the last time, but this time, I realized they were slightly taller than normal wheat ears. The key is that the ears are very long and the grains very full. It’s a pity that if it hadn’t been for the flood this year, I would expect these to be even better."

"But this year’s seeds were the same as last year’s. The method of planting and everything else was the same as always. Could it be because they were flooded that some have turned out like this?"

Zhou Silang then asked, "Dad, next year, should we try flooding these wheat fields on purpose?"

Old Zhou fell into contemplation, apparently considering the feasibility of this idea.

A guilty Manbao: ...That’s because she mixed in some wheat seeds she bought from the market ahh~~

She glared at Zhou Silang, who was only giving her father rotten ideas, and said to her father, "Dad, I’ve never heard of wheat liking to be flooded."

Old Zhou, however, shook his head, "I think Silang might be onto something. Next year, we could select a smaller plot and try irrigating it to see whether it grows better in dry fields or flooded ones."

A dejected Manbao turned to Keke in her mind, "What should I do?"

Keke consoled, "Host, since you have lots of land, using a small plot for an experiment shouldn’t be a problem."

Alright then.

But Manbao couldn’t help feeling reluctant about the seeds she had carefully introduced, part of which would now be wasted on experimentation. She propped her chin in thought.

After a while, she finally had an idea. She clapped her hands together, and the entire family turned to look at her.

Manbao looked up at Old Zhou happily, "Dad, we can plant winter wheat."

The climate in their area wasn’t too cold in winter. Although she had not seen the locals plant it before, Manbao learned from books sourced by Keke that in the future, humans would not only grow winter wheat but also engage in intercropping during spring and summer.

Such practice would maximize land usage, but it required a lot of soil fertility, otherwise exhausting the soil’s potential and negatively affecting the crops.

Abandoning the thought of intercropping, Manbao still considered planting winter wheat feasible.

In winter, water is scarce—even in rice fields, there is no water. It would be perfect for planting wheat. After harvesting this crop, her father would naturally realize it was a problem with the seeds, and whatever the cause, mutations certainly wouldn’t happen because they were flooded.

Of course, Manbao couldn’t explain it to Old Zhou like that. Instead, she began counting on her fingers the benefits of planting winter wheat.

"Dad, this year the disaster was severe. If we don’t plant winter wheat, what will we eat in April and May next year?"

Old Zhou was about to respond when Manbao added, "This year, Yizhou suffered from a severe disaster. Next year, grain prices are sure to be high. If we grow a lot, we could even make a profit by selling it."

Old Zhou looked pensive, "But I fear the soil might not be fertile enough."

He, of course, knew that their climate allowed for winter wheat, and there were people in the village who planted it in previous years. Even now, Landlord Bai grows winter wheat every other year, hiring day laborers from the village, with Zhou Dalang and the others having worked there before.

But for Landlord Bai, his fields were fertile, and he always had ample manure prepared.

For families like theirs, planting winter wheat was not easy and could consume too much soil fertility, possibly failing to produce good winter wheat and even affecting the next year’s rice planting.

Moreover, the people in Qili Village didn’t really lack land. Given the smaller population, if they really wanted that bit of grain from winter wheat, they could simply focus more on the small plots they had in spring and summer, caring for them intensively.

That was usually better than overworking the land.

But...

Old Zhou became thoughtful again. This year they had endured a disaster, hadn’t they?

Perhaps planting winter wheat was an option, especially since it was still uncertain whether they would be tax-exempt or not.

If they weren’t, then come next spring, everyone would have a tough time.

Manbao continued, "Dad, if you’re worried about insufficient fertility, why not let the elder brother and the others prepare more manure? We can spread extra when it’s time, and after harvesting the wheat, plow the land and add some more then."

Old Zhou nodded, "That could work. What do you think?" He looked towards Ms. Qian.

Ms. Qian pondered, "It might be possible to plant some. Planting too much is risky as we might not have enough manure. Although producing manure is faster now, it’s still not enough."

Manbao said matter-of-factly, "Then we’ll just buy some."

Ms. Qian smiled and asked, "Where can we buy it?"

"I know, in the county town," Manbao replied. "I’ve asked Old Master Bai. He always buys it from those who collect night soil in the county town."

Everyone: ...

Junior Ms. Qian tapped her on the head and said, "Dinner’s ready. Let’s eat first and talk later."

Manbao, oblivious to the awkward atmosphere, enjoyed her meal and afterwards shared a box of pastries given to her by Ms. Liu with everyone.

The others found the meal to have a strange taste, but thankfully it was the elder sister-in-law who had cooked it. Had it been anyone else, they probably couldn’t have stomached it.

Old Zhou planned how many acres of wheat to plant, savoring the pastry gifted by his daughter, and finally clapped his hands decisively, "Alright. This year, our family will try planting winter wheat."