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

Chapter 96: Picking Season, Bitterness and Sweetness

Fang Wei traveled through time too late. If he had traveled through time earlier, he would have definitely finished high school and then taken the college entrance exam.

Life in the countryside is hard. It’s okay for adults to bear some of the hardships, but we should try our best to let the children go out.

Of course, it is very difficult to get into university nowadays. Families can only try their best to create conditions for their children. Whether they can succeed depends on whether they are suitable for it.

Next.

Fang Wei walks around the fields every day, and also takes time to visit [Poultry House No. 2], [Composting Yard], [Pig Farm], and [Afforestation Area].

The ones that are taken care of the most are the "natural male sterile plants".

These wild rice plants grow very well. After all, they grow in the wild and have very strong vitality.

They will have to be artificially pollinated when the time is right, otherwise the number cannot be increased.

After the beginning of next spring, he will start cultivating "sterile" rice to prepare for the next step of rice hybridization.

Of course, the conventional cultivation of rice seeds in the experimental field cannot be stopped.

It is still unknown whether the seeds of [Nanguang No. 1] will degenerate in the future, so continuing to cultivate seeds here is like having an extra insurance.

It doesn’t matter if degradation occurs, the experimental field can still provide enough rice seeds.

A few days passed quickly.

Fang Wei and Pan Lianhua made an appointment to go pick chestnuts together.

Pan Lianhua was waiting on the road with the hunting dogs early in the morning. Fang Wei came out of the woods carrying a large backpack.

"Good morning, Third Brother."

"Good morning, sister. How long have you been here?"

"I just got here too, let's go."

The two met and greeted each other, then walked hand in hand straight towards the chestnut forest.

The sunlight shines through the leaves onto Pan Lianhua's face. The girl has good skin, which sets off her three-dimensional facial features, making her look particularly beautiful.

The hunting dogs shuttled back and forth in the woods, and did not notice anything happening around them.

The two of them chatted and laughed on the way, and didn't feel the distance of the journey at all. They traveled through mountains and rivers as if it were flat ground.

"Look, it's right ahead, that forest."

Before they knew it, they arrived at their destination.

At this time, the chestnut trees are full of fruits, and the ripe chestnuts have fallen to the ground. If no one picks them, these large numbers of chestnuts will eventually turn into fertilizer under the soil, or take root and sprout into a small sapling.

The two of them didn't rest and started working directly.

Fang Wei observed and found that nearly half of the chestnuts in the entire forest had cracks, which meant that it was time to pick them.

First, pick up the chestnuts that have fallen on the ground. These are ripe fruits and will go bad in a few days.

Pan Lianhua has great physical strength. It squats on the ground and keeps picking up things. It takes a long time for it to stand up and jump a few times to prevent its legs from going numb.

Fang Wei didn't use the bamboo pole to hit the chestnuts on the tree for the time being. He roughly estimated that the chestnuts that fell to the ground were far more than two baskets, and they couldn't take away any more.

afternoon.

The two of them filled their backpacks respectively, and then sat together to eat their dry food.

The journey back and forth is very long, and there is no time to make a fire and cook, so we just have to make do.

"Third brother, will we come again tomorrow?"

Pan Lianhua mainly wanted to stay with Fang Wei, and chestnuts and the like were secondary.

Fang Wei thought for a moment and said:

"You can come tomorrow, but the chestnuts here are ripe, and I want to bring more people back to pick them. Sister, you can also ask a few sisters and brothers to come with you tomorrow."

Wild chestnuts don't belong to anyone. If he can discover this place, others may also discover it.

He was not so stingy as to insist on owning the forest, and the key point was that he couldn't do it.

Since that’s the case, we might as well be generous and share these wild chestnuts equally with the Yao village.

"No, I'll just bring some back tomorrow and that'll be enough. There's no need to mobilize so many people."

Pan Lianhua actually didn't want anyone to disturb her and her third brother's world of two, but so many chestnuts couldn't be wasted, so she accepted Fang Weidu's offer to bring people to pick them tomorrow.

As for calling people from the village to pick chestnuts, she had never thought about it, mainly because it was too troublesome.

Fang Wei didn't say anything, then took Pan Lianhua and set off on his journey home.

When they parted, he put down the backpack and hugged the girl gently, which made Pan Lianhua blush again.

"See you tomorrow, sister!"

"Okay, Third Brother, be careful on the road."

After watching Pan Lianhua and the hunting dog walk away, Fang Wei turned around and left.

When we got home, my elder brother and sister-in-law helped me peel chestnuts. There was a layer of burr-covered shell on the outside of the chestnuts, which had to be peeled off.

Taotao and Tingting almost drooled when they saw the chestnuts. Both children like to eat these things, so they are in for a treat.

the next day.

Fang Wei took a large group of people to the mountains, joined Pan Lianhua, and picked all the chestnuts in the forest together.

A total of 760 kilograms of wild chestnuts were harvested, which was a pleasant surprise.

[Picking chestnuts, points +760, total points: 13777]

Fang Wei then carefully selected the chestnut seeds. He kept 100 kilograms for himself, gave 150 kilograms to the breeding team, and gave the rest to the team, leaving it to Zheng Xianfa to distribute as he pleased.

It is also possible to sow chestnuts in autumn, but it is best to leave the chestnut seeds for two or three months, so he plans to sow them in the spring of next year.

"Actually, no need. If you follow my method, you can plant the seeds quickly and guarantee you'll have a large field of seedlings next year."

Gao Qingshan said that there is no need to be so conservative. The chestnut seeds should be dried in the sun for a few days first, and then dried in a cool and ventilated place for a few more days. After repeating this twice, the seeds can be soaked and germinated, and then they can be sown.

Fang Wei wasn't sure if this method would work, so he gave half of the seeds to Gao Qingshan and asked him to try it. He kept the remaining half for planting next spring. Cultivating an economic forest took a long time anyway, so there was no rush.

After resting for a few days, the team began to organize people to pick tea seeds manually.

To be honest, from the spring sowing until now, I have had very little free time and most of the time I have been busy.

This time, even Taotao went up the mountain to pick tea seeds. One more person means more strength.

Fang Wei didn't need to earn work points, but he didn't slack off either, and he led the team in picking. Now that the family's food was much better, and he had the added bonus of his personal attributes, who could possibly beat him?
That’s not all. When the team’s picking work is finished, there is still a large wild tea oil forest waiting for him in the deep mountains.

This morning.

Fang Wei and his elder brother carried their loads up the mountain.

After all, a backpack can only hold a few things. For such a long journey back and forth on the mountain road, as long as you have enough strength, you should naturally bring back as many things as possible.

"Third brother, are we almost there?"

Fang Ping's physical fitness is among the best in the entire second team, but it is still inferior to that of his third brother.

The two of them walked briskly up the mountain, but in the end he was the first one to give up.

"It's almost there, right in front."

Fang Wei was walking in front, not noticing that his elder brother was already lagging behind him. It was only when he heard his elder brother's question that he realized what was happening and slowed down his pace.

Half an hour later, the two arrived at this wild tea oil forest.

"Third brother, there are quite a lot of tea trees here. It will probably take us many days to work with just the two of us."

It’s not that Fang Ping is greedy, it’s just that cooking oil is too precious nowadays.

City dwellers have to eat a fixed amount of oil, while rural people rely on the mountains and water for their food and grow some oil-bearing plants, but it is not enough to eat.

Animal oil was even harder to come by. The entire production team only had a handful of pigs to meet production quotas. The remaining pigs would be slaughtered at most during the Spring Festival, and with about a hundred people sharing the profits, how much oil could there be?

So Fang Ping wanted to get as much as possible for his family.

Fang Wei didn't care much about these things. He didn't think there was anything wrong with his elder brother thinking this way.

Of course, there is no need to eat more and take more. If there is enough left at home, he will still share some of the benefits.

When they arrived at the field, they started eating. It was almost noon now, and they had almost finished their breakfast.

After eating and drinking water, the two began to pick.

Picking is a technical job, but fortunately both of them are familiar with it, so the progress is very fast.

In less than two hours, all the baskets were completely filled.

"Wow, this guy weighs at least 150 pounds. Third brother, I'll go first, you follow behind."

On the way back, Fang Ping didn't dare let his third brother take the lead, for fear that he would not be able to keep up with the other party's speed.

The two brothers can bring back about 300 kilograms of tea seeds this time. Fang Wei looked at the quality and estimated that the oil yield is 25%-30%. They can probably squeeze out 75 kilograms to 90 kilograms of tea oil when they return.

We stopped several times along the way, and it was dark when we returned to the village.

Tian Guihua prepared rice, steamed a plate of bacon, and fried a plate of eggs in addition to some vegetables.

She knew that Fang Ping and Fang Wei had worked hard, so she arranged better meals for them in the evening.

"Brother, drink up. Let's go on another trip tomorrow, and the tea oil at home will be enough to last for a long time."

These years were difficult times, and the per capita monthly supply of edible oil in the county was only 2 taels. Even in 1960, when the supply was relatively loose, it was only 2 taels and 8 cents.

Based on 2.5 taels per person per month, a family of four only consumes one jin of cooking oil per month.

Team 2 is relatively better off because it has its own tea oil forest, but the monthly cooking oil consumption of a family of four will not exceed two kilograms.

If the Fang brothers make another trip, they can bring back a total of 600 kilograms of tea seeds. Even if they produce 150 kilograms of oil, and consume 10 kilograms every month, they will not be able to use up all the oil in a year.

In today's rural areas, which family can consume 10 kilograms of cooking oil in a month?

Fang Wei picked up the bowl and clinked it with his elder brother's, took a sip of sweet potato wine, and decided not to go to the oil tea forest again tomorrow.

"Well, this trip wasn't easy."

Even if Fang Ping was a little greedy, it was only to a limited extent.

He calculated silently, couldn't help but smile, and agreed to his third brother's suggestion.

The next day, the two went to the mountains again and brought back 300 kilograms of tea seeds.

There were still many camellia seeds left in the tea forest, so Fang Wei took Zheng Hu and 12 others to pick them. This busy work took more than a week, and they picked a total of 6000 kilograms of camellia seeds.

No one laughed at their low efficiency, because not everyone could carry a 150-pound load on a mountain road.

It was considered good that Zheng Hu and his team could bring back 50 kilograms of tea seeds in one trip.

[Picking Camellia Seeds, points +6600, total points: 20377 points.]

Fang Wei decided to distribute 6000 kilograms of the 3000 kilograms of tea seeds to the team, and the remaining 3000 kilograms were left to the breeding group.

"Third brother should take the lion's share. He was the one who discovered the oil tea forest. I think he should get 1000 kilograms."

"agree!"

"agree!"

Fang Wei was too lazy to deal with the internal distribution, so he asked Zheng Hu to handle it. As a result, the guy actually held a meeting to discuss it, and everyone agreed that Fang Wei should be given 1000 kilograms of tea seeds.

After learning about this, he was still a little moved. His efforts in the past two years were not in vain, and his friends still supported him.

In the end, he only asked for 400 kilograms, and left the remaining 2600 kilograms to Zheng Hu and others.

The team now has an additional 3000 kilograms of tea seeds, and each household has received a lot more tea oil.

However, Zheng Xianfa also noticed a hint of concern. The output of tea oil trees and tea oil seeds in the team has decreased for two consecutive years.

Fortunately, Fang Wei has already started a plan to replace tree species, and this situation should be reversed in a few years.

The Fang family received 240 kilograms of tea oil this time. Fang Wei remembered that Guo Yongqing had helped him last time, so he packed 5 kilograms of tea oil and rode his bike to the county town.

This was his first time riding a bike to the county. He didn't have to go to the commune and could take a shortcut directly to the highway.

The road is not easy to walk on, but it can save a lot of time.

It was afternoon when he arrived at the county town. He had eaten at home beforehand and the journey took him more than an hour.

Guo Yongqing was about to take a lunch break when he heard his wife calling him, "Old Guo, Fang Wei is here."

He hurried out of the bedroom and saw Fang Wei walking in with a small pot of tea oil, a large bag of roasted chestnuts and a bag of peanuts.

"Third brother, what are you doing?"

Guo Yongqing was confused. Chestnuts and peanuts were fine, but tea oil was so precious these days, and the other party actually gave it to others as a gift?

He subconsciously wanted to refuse. No one was rich these days, and he didn't want to take advantage of it.

"Uncle Guo, listen to me. This year, our team has a bumper harvest of tea oil seeds, so there are a lot more tea oils than in previous years. You've helped our family a lot, and these few kilograms of tea oil are just a small token of appreciation from me and my brother."

Fang Wei explained with a smile, and Guo Yongqing really couldn't continue to refuse.

Then accept it and I’ll find a chance to return the gift later.

"Third brother, how is the family doing lately?"

"Everything is fine, just a little busy lately."

The two chatted for a while afterwards, and when Fang Wei saw that the other party was beginning to feel sleepy, he tactfully said goodbye.

Before leaving, Guo Yongqing's lover stuffed a bag of brown sugar and a few feet of cloth coupons into his pocket, and he had no choice but to give them up.

In the next two days, the two brothers sent 10 kilograms of tea oil to Tian Guihua's parents' home and Fang Mei's home respectively.

Then Fang Wei finally had some free time.

After Taotao started school, he had the added task of feeding the chickens, ducks, and puppies every day. Of course, if he needed to go out for something, his sister-in-law would help him with these chores, so he didn't have to worry about being left alone.

These past two days he has been hanging out in the Forestry Area, working with Gao Qingshan.

"Chestnuts are easy to plant, but they take a long time. It's a little more difficult to plant cuttings from these wild tea oil trees, and the survival rate depends on the quality of the cuttings."

Chestnut seedlings should be cultivated by sowing, while tea oil seedlings should be cultivated by cuttings.

Gao Qingshan is an extrovert and can't stop talking when he is working.

Fang Wei likes to communicate with the other party in this casual way. There are no particular rules between them. Just say whatever comes to mind.

(End of this chapter)