Era: I was a farmer at the foot of Yaoling Mountain

Chapter 37: Safflower and Potatoes

Fang Wei didn't delay and started running. Soon he arrived at the team headquarters.

When I walked into the house, I saw Tang Ze holding a handful of rice in his hand. Each grain was big and full, and looked very tempting.

"Xiao Fang, are these the rice seeds you cultivated?"

"Yes, Secretary Tang. However, this is not solely my achievement. The team and others have given me strong support. This rice variety is still in the experimental stage, and its quality is far from stable."

Fang Wei did not take credit for the work, nor did he make any guarantees.

Don’t joke about seeds. Without strict verification, who would dare to plant them on a large scale?

Zheng Xianfa then explained to Tang Ze:
"Wu Maosheng, who was assigned to the team to work, and some of the younger guys in the team, all put in a lot of effort for the experimental fields, but the main credit goes to Fang Wei himself."

After listening to this, Tang Ze nodded without saying anything more.

Of course he knew about Wu Maosheng's labor in the second team.

At the same time, I also know that the other party is an agricultural expert, but because he made mistakes in previous years, he is currently in the stage of labor education, so I have to let the old man be the hero behind the scenes.

But no matter what, Fang Wei played a very important role in breeding work, and this cannot be erased.

"Xiao Fang, I heard that the quantity of this batch of rice seeds is very small. How many acres can we plant next year?"

"These seeds can be used to plant about four to five mu of land. By next summer's harvest, the seed supply will be significantly increased. However, we will have to wait until next autumn's harvest to draw preliminary conclusions on the genetic stability of this rice variety."

Fang Wei didn't dare to make any guarantees, but it made Tang Ze look at him with admiration.

It is not easy for a 16-year-old boy like him to be so rational when he is competitive.

"I'll be going to the provincial capital soon. I'll take this little bit of rice seeds with me and have someone test them. Fang Wei, work hard and don't feel too burdened. Even if you fail, you'll still gain valuable experience."

Tang Ze and Fang Wei chatted for more than half an hour before sending each other away.

"Secretary Tang, are the seeds that the young scholar created really useful?"

Zheng Xianfa hoped for better rice seeds more than anyone else, but although the seeds Fang Wei produced looked good, he didn't know whether they could be used in production practice.

He had no way of testing the quality of the seeds, so he could only wait and see after planting them next year.

Now Tang Ze is also very interested in this seed, which undoubtedly increases his confidence.

"It's hard to say. Let me go to the provincial capital and find someone to examine it."

Tang Ze was not born into a rural cadre family. He was a graduate of a legitimate agricultural school. Technical secondary school students in those days were not simple and could be considered professionals.

Therefore, when he saw the rice seeds cultivated by Fang Wei and others, he found it incredible.

When he left the second team, he took a handful of seeds with him and took them directly to the provincial capital a few days later. He had many acquaintances at the Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences and asked them to identify them.

The laboratory's identification results exceeded imagination, but they still need to be tested in practice to be valid.

So Tang Ze became even more interested in this bookish boy.

Fang Wei didn't know about this situation. After resting for a few days, he went to find Zheng Xianfa and suggested that safflower be planted in all the fields of the team.

"When the safflower grass grows tall, it can be turned over in the ground. It will be very beneficial for increasing the fertility of the soil."

The team used to dump some rice straw into the fields, and after it rotted, it became a natural fertilizer. However, its effectiveness was less than that of safflower.

Zheng Xianfa did not express his opinion at that time. He took some time in the evening to ask Wu Maosheng, and the other party gave a positive response.

"Captain, who gave you this idea?"

"Our little scholar, why didn't you teach him this trick?" "I didn't. I haven't seen him recently."

Zheng Xianfa was a little confused. Since planting safflower in the fields was a good idea, and Wu Maosheng said that he was not the one who taught Fang Wei, then the question was, how did Fang Wei know it?
However, he did not look for Fang Wei again. He discussed it with several team leaders and decided on this matter.

Safflower is not a rare plant, and its seeds are easy to find. It can grow by sowing it in the field without any effort.

It will take a few days to fix, and then let it die out on its own.

Fang Wei did not participate in the grass planting work. He re-turned his own private plot these two days and planted potatoes on the entire one mu of land.

Potatoes can survive the winter, so if you plant them now, you can harvest them around February of next year. In fact, potatoes are a better alternative to staple food than sweet potatoes, but they don't quite suit the taste of locals.

My eldest brother’s family planted cabbage, radish, green onion, lettuce, etc. in their private plot. Anyway, they are all varieties suitable for growing in winter, so there is no need to worry about having no vegetables to eat in the coming days.

The key is that there is a well in the village. The second team is the envy of the whole commune, not only in the brigade.

The members of Team 2 are now worried about whether they can have enough to eat, while the members of most other production teams are worried about how long they will have to go without food.
In fact, the situation in the south is much better at present. After all, the climate is mild and rice can be harvested twice a year. At the very least, there are still many wild vegetables in the mountains.

Before he knew it, Fang Wei had become a true "little scholar" in the second team.

No matter whether they were men or women, young or old, when they saw him, they would greet him politely from a distance, because they all knew that the third son of the Fang family was a capable young man.

He himself was not deceived by superficial things. What if he was just a scholar? If he didn't live up to his expectations, it wouldn't be long before many people would forget the benefits he had brought, and he would be looked down upon wherever he went.

"Third brother, should we plant some more potatoes in the valley?"

Fang Ping has always had a strong sense of crisis. He is not interested in anything else but being well fed and well clothed.

He didn't know how long the disaster would last, but it was better to be prepared. He began to think about the land in the valley again.

"It's not impossible. I'm just sitting around doing nothing anyway. But as the drought continues, more and more animals are coming to the valley to drink water. I'm worried about the danger."

After the autumn harvest, everyone is basically idle. Some people have the courage, skills and guns to go into the mountains to hunt, but most people just live a lazy life.

Fang Wei has recently gone to the mountains twice and brought back a pheasant and a rabbit.

[Harvest prey, points +8, total points 828 points]

Most of the mountain was also very dry. There was a stream in the woods where he had picked swan mushrooms, but it was now dry.

The pool in the valley is fine, with no obvious signs of shrinking water surface. However, around the pool, there are more and more signs of wild animal activities, which cannot but arouse people's vigilance.

"Potatoes are easy to grow. We should manage them roughly and try to avoid the morning and evening hours."

Fang Ping thought about it and decided to go to the mountains to grow potatoes.

He felt that as long as he was careful, and since he had a gun, the risk would not be great overall.

Fang Wei stopped objecting, and the two brothers made some preparations and started to get busy in the valley.

There is no need to worry about soil fertility on this piece of land in the valley. Unlike the rice fields in the team, other crops are not usually planted in the winter, but the land is left to rest and recuperate.

Even in years of severe drought, this tradition has been well maintained.

The two brothers planted another acre of potatoes in the valley. Fang Wei would just come and take a look when he had time. He didn't want his elder brother to come here often, mainly because he was worried that he might encounter danger.

Fang Wei doesn't look strong now, but his muscles are very firm and full of power.

In a one-on-one situation, Fang Ping is no match for the third brother.

(End of this chapter)