They've all separated, so what does it matter to me if they get poorer and poorer?

Chapter 80 Plucking Sweet Potato Vines to Start Planting

"None of us know how to do it. We won't feel at ease unless we see how you do it. What if we make a mistake?"

"Yes, it would be such a waste if we pinched the wrong one. It's taken so long to grow this long."

"I want to see how to replant it after I've pinched it off; it would be even more heartbreaking if I made a mistake."

"Yes, yes, that's what I think too."

Everyone was so enthusiastic that they wanted to help themselves, but there were just too many people, which startled Xu Zhichun, who quickly stopped them.

Her family did indeed cultivate the most sweet potato vines in the whole village, but even that couldn't withstand so many people helping out; the land she should have been worried about was trampled solid.

Aunt Liang also helped by shouting, telling everyone to just stand on the edge of the ground and not to step in, because there were too many people and there was no need for help!
"We're all farmers, how could we not understand this? With so many people here, if everyone stomps their feet, we'll tamp the vegetable patch down, and then nothing will grow. Just stand aside and watch. Don't worry, Zhichun will definitely teach you. We're all farmers, how hard can it be to learn? You'll all know it in no time! If you don't, you can come back later when there are fewer people. There's no need to fight over this short time."

Xu Zhichun glanced gratefully at Aunt Liang. Seeing that everyone had consciously moved back and some of the less impatient ones had already gone back, she breathed a sigh of relief and had no choice but to give a special demonstration.

Xu Zhichun tried to smooth things over, saying, "It was all said by those two merchants. I don't really know either. It's my first time trying this. Please don't blame me if I make a mistake."
Of course, it's definitely not wrong, and prevention is absolutely necessary.

Nobody cared about that; it was as if she was the head of the household and everyone had to do exactly what she said.

After all, she's the only one who's met the merchants, so what she says must be true.

Everyone opened their eyes wide to see her movements clearly, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is that all? I'll get it now."

"Me too, I can finally relax."

"Looks pretty simple, hehe."

Xu Zhichun smiled, thinking to himself that it was a very simple matter!
Everyone learned quickly and then gradually dispersed.

Aunt Liang and others helped her plant for half a day. With many hands making light work, they managed to cut down and plant all the sweet potato vines that could be pinched, covering about twelve or thirteen acres.

She planned to plant 65 mu (approximately 4.3 hectares), which meant she had already planted more than one-sixth of the land.

Chunfen's mother glanced at the scattered seedling bed and felt a pang of heartache: "When I first came here, I saw how well and how pleasingly these sweet potato vines were growing. Now you've pinched them all off."

Everyone looked over immediately, and sure enough, the vines and leaves were lush and green, spreading out and crowding together, completely covering the ground. Even a farmer would find it delightful to see.

It's all bare now, and it doesn't look very distressing.

Xu Zhichun had no choice but to go along with everyone's mood and try to comfort and encourage himself: "It should be fine, right? This is what happens after you cut off the vine. We didn't do anything wrong. Those two merchants said the vine will continue to grow. I'll water it and check back in a few days."

"Yes, yes, it'll definitely grow back in a few days!"

"I think so too. What those two merchants said has come true, and it will definitely come true again."

"exactly."

Hearing this made everyone feel a little better. There was nothing they could do; farmers couldn't bear to see the fields like this.

Aunt Liang added, "Isn't just watering not enough? I think we should add some fertilizer, and apply a thin layer of fertilizer solution."

Xu Zhichun nodded: "Auntie is right, I'll give it a try."

Actually, she didn't need to apply fertilizer or water. When she was raising seedlings, she brought a lot of organic fertilizer from the harbor warehouse to fertilize the soil, so the soil was already very fertile.

She didn't plan to use chemical fertilizers, but she had no qualms about using organic fertilizers. She used them not only during breeding but also when planting potatoes and vegetables, adding them as base fertilizer whenever possible.

It really worked! Her sweet potato vines and potato sprouts looked much better than others', lush and vibrant, strong and healthy. They were exactly what farmers wanted, and no farmer could resist them.

This is part of the reason why everyone came to watch her pick sweet potato vines—after all, she clearly knows how to grow them better. They stood by her field discussing and dreaming for a while, then went home one by one, full of enthusiasm and joy.

Let's go home and discuss cutting sweet potato vines. Since Zhichun's family can plant them, others can too.

Everyone was worried about missing the right time, especially since there had been a light rain the night before, and the sun hadn't been very strong these past few days, with occasional overcast skies. Farmers all know that this kind of weather is the best for transplanting seedlings.

Everyone was busily busy picking sweet potato vines and planting them.

"Did you cut off the power at your house?"

"We've already planted them. Yesterday morning, the whole family did nothing but this first thing, and they're all planted in two days. What about you guys?"

"Haha, we've planted them all!"

"You know what, I didn't expect it to actually work like this. I went to check on the ones I planted yesterday morning, and they're looking great. It looks like they've already taken root."

"Absolutely! It really works. When you're picking the vines, they look so healthy and tender. Once they've grown up, you can water them and take good care of them. You probably won't even need to gather much pig feed. Isn't that better than pig feed?"

"Oh dear, in that case we should plant more, plant as many as we can!"

"Yes!"

"Don't even mention pigs, those tender shoots look so fresh and tender, they're not much different from the vegetables in the garden. In a few days when new ones grow, I'll try picking a handful and stir-frying them to see if they taste good."

Let me know if you try it; if it's good, I'll try it too.

"."

Sweet potatoes have once again firmly taken center stage as the talk of the village, with everyone discussing them endlessly.

While other families were busy cutting sweet potato vines and transplanting seedlings, the Liang family, the last and only family in the village that hadn't been able to buy sweet potato seedlings, was also getting anxious.

When others don't have it, it's nothing; but when everyone else has it and they don't, they become extremely anxious.

Zhang and Bai hurriedly went to ask Xu Zhichun for sweet potato vines.

“You promised to sell us the vines. You can’t go back on your word, can you? If you ask me, sweet potatoes are only one penny a pound. Who knows how many vines will grow from this pound of sweet potatoes? It’s not right for you to sell these vines for one penny a pound. Is it right to cheat your own elders like this?”

Zhang was still as energetic and talkative as ever, speaking at length.

Bai rolled her eyes inwardly. She should speak slowly and deliberately; she really didn't understand anything.

Xu Zhichun: "When the vines in the field grow, my family will leave ten catties for you. Now there are none left, my family has already pinched off all the seeds. If you think it's too expensive, you can buy from other families."

Zhang sneered, "If I could buy it from other stores, why would I be asking you?"

Xu Zhichun: "."

Bai: "." If you can't speak properly, then speak less.

The two women were quite unhappy when they heard that Xu Zhichun hadn't spared them any lives, and they launched into a barrage of complaints.

Liang Lizheng was passing by when he turned in, "Ahem!"

My editor told me this morning that there was a break in updates the day before. I was shocked and rushed to check, only to find that it really was a break. *crying*

I thought I updated it, really! ┭┮﹏┭┮

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(End of this chapter)