A Young Woman's Heart

"It's not about whether it's expensive or not." Mo Xueyao wiped the sweat from her forehead with her arm. "There are five left, let's continue!"

……

Chapter 102 Farming on the Rooftop of the Fruit Shop (Part 2)

In the sweltering heat, after a day of physical labor, I find it hard to eat anything heavy or greasy.

Of all the dishes her mother cooked, Mo Xueyao ate the most hot and sour shredded potatoes.

She ate three bowls of rice with this dish, and still felt a little unsatisfied.

"My appetite suddenly becomes really good after working..." she muttered, rubbing her stomach. "No, I can't eat anymore. I finally started dieting."

"You're already this thin and you're still trying to lose weight?" the mother mocked mercilessly.

"Now they're saying I've lost weight, but they said I was fat before!" Mo Xueyao complained, snatching the half-empty bottle of ice-cold beer from her father and gulping it down. "Whew—so refreshing!"

"You drink faster than me, huh?" The father shook his head helplessly. "Drink slower. You've just finished eating and you're already drinking so much. Be careful not to get a stomachache."

"My constitution isn't that bad," Mo Xueyao confidently patted her chest. "Even if I haven't exercised in a long time, it shouldn't cause stomach pain like this."

"After you've eaten, rest for a while, and then get back to work."

"Mom, aren't you coming?"

"You and Yan Yan go. Does Yan Yan know how to farm?"

"Yes, I will." Li Wanyan nodded.

"Pick whichever seeds you like from these! Oh, and here are two sweet potatoes that have sprouted. Find a box and plant them!"

"Okay~" Mo Xueyao wasn't impatient today. If it weren't for the hot weather, she wouldn't even want to come down to rest.

"Take this parasol up there and use it to block the sun." The mother pointed to the parasol placed in the corner of the fruit shop. It had a water-filled base underneath, and it was still quite heavy when full.

Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan then laboriously carried the parasol up again, and working under it felt much more comfortable.

Although it's already the beginning of autumn, the weather still feels like summer, with no hint of autumn coolness.

However, usually, it's late autumn, when the leaves start to fall, that's when things cool down.

"Did Wanyan used to grow vegetables often?" Mo Xueyao asked curiously as she watched Wanyan cut the sprouted sweet potato into several pieces.

"Not really often." Li Wanyan blinked, feeling as if sweat had gotten into her eyes, the salty, stinging sensation making it hard for her to open them.

Before even starting work, Mo Xueyao used the handkerchief she had given her to wipe her face: "Is this better now?"

“Hmm.” Li Wanyan couldn’t help but smile, continuing from where she left off, “My mom used to grow things at home too.”

"I see. That makes sense. After all, if you grow your own, you won't have to buy any, which will save you a lot of money."

"Mmm." She nodded gently, placed the cut sweet potato with the sprouted side facing up, and buried it in the soil, intentionally letting the longer sprouts peek out from the soil with a small tip.

"Yaoyao, sprinkle some water on it."

"Alright!" Mo Xueyao immediately grabbed the watering can used for watering flowers, pulled the piston on it with a 'click-click' sound to fill it with air, and then pressed the button to spray water onto the soil.

"You don't need too much, just spray until it's damp at first."

"Okay~ What should we plant next?"

"Let's choose from afar."

"Can all the ones I selected be planted?"

"Most of them are fine."

"Then I'll choose!" Mo Xueyao excitedly opened the bag of seeds, which contained packets of seeds labeled with names: Chinese cabbage, loofah, cucumber, bottle gourd...

There are all kinds of seeds available, and they are all vegetables that can be planted in basically all year round.

"How are the green beans?" Mo Xueyao asked, pointing to a small packet of seeds.

"Yes, but the green beans need bamboo vines to climb on."

Is it troublesome?

"For the first time, you can stick a bamboo stick into the soil and then add more bamboo sticks as it grows."

"Let's plant one of these first, and choose... the biggest box!"

Actually, growing vegetables isn't that difficult. Most of the steps involve burying the seeds and watering them. The rest is just watering them every day and waiting for them to mature.

Compared to animal husbandry, growing vegetables is relatively easy and convenient, requiring almost no management and having the lowest cost.

"Hmm~ Hmm~" Mo Xueyao hummed a tune softly, buried some gourd seeds in a small box, covered them with soil with a small shovel, and then lightly sprayed some water on them.

In Hangzhou, bottle gourd is called "huoluo," and sometimes it is called "hulu" in Mandarin.

Although it does belong to the Cucurbitaceae family, most bottle gourds actually look quite different from regular gourds.

A gourd is made up of two circles of different sizes, while a bottle gourd is a long, plump, green crop.

Its skin is very smooth, and its shape is somewhat like a plump cucumber.

Stir-fry it with dried shrimp and shredded meat, and the taste is simply amazing.

When it's young, even its seeds are edible, but as it ages, the seeds darken in color and become like black watermelon seeds, making them difficult to swallow.

Should we fertilize it?

“This soil doesn’t look like it needs any fertilizer,” Li Wanyan shook her head. “It should be fertilized next year.”

"Hmm, is it because the 'fertilizer' in the soil has run out?"

"almost."

In just over an hour, the two carefully planted vegetables in six planting boxes.

The two small boxes contain chili peppers and tomatoes, while the other two medium-sized boxes contain sweet potatoes and bottle gourds.

The two largest boxes contained long beans and white radishes.

It's not visible now, but it should sprout in a few days.

Mo Xueyao looked at it again and again with great anticipation, then twisted her body contentedly, "Alright, all done~!"

"Okay." Li Wanyan wiped the sweat that had dripped down her face with her arm. "From now on, we just need to water it every day."

"Vegetables really don't need much. All they need is water and photosynthesis. And if it rains, they don't even need to be watered."

"Yes."

"Mom—" Mo Xueyao shouted to her mother in the fruit shop from the ladder, "Shouldn't you put the parasol away?!"

"No need, just put them up there. If the sun gets too strong, you can move them under the umbrella."

"Oh—!" Mo Xueyao was delighted and climbed down the ladder in no time.

"Should we return the ladder?" Li Wanyan asked, turning her head.

"I don't know either, but it feels like such a hassle to take it in and out every day!" Mo Xueyao ran to her mother's side and shouted, "Mom, what about the ladder?"

"Give it back, what else can we do?"

"So you have to borrow a ladder every day? Don't you find that troublesome?"

"Are you worried about such a small thing? I'll be the one to pick it up after you start school, won't I?"

"What? I was just thinking of your convenience!" Mo Xueyao shouted angrily. "Mom always judges me by my own petty standards!"

So, in your heart, I'm a 'villain'?

"It's just a metaphor, a metaphor!" Mo Xueyao quickly explained.

"After you return the ladder, hurry up and wash your face; look how dirty you are."

"I'm still working for you, aren't I?"

"No way, I can tell you're really enjoying yourself."

"That's a different matter! Never mind, I'll just go to Grandma Jin's house to take a shower later."

"Then you still have to take a shower tonight, right?"

"Then I might as well just go home."

"People will be disgusted if you get on the bus if you're all dirty."

"Hey, hey, what do I want to do?!" Mo Xueyao shouted, "Nothing I do will work! Mom, what are you doing? Are you going against me? Who's going through a rebellious phase here?!"

"You're going through a rebellious phase, I'm going through menopause, we're even, we're the same."

"I'm not even in my rebellious phase yet! How am I being rebellious! Do you even call this rebellion!?"

In Mo Xueyao's mind, rebellion and bad kids are the same thing.

"Look, isn't this rebellious?"

“Ugh—” Mo Xueyao stopped arguing with her, put on an expression of ‘forgiving and magnanimous’, and moved the ladder to the grocery store next door.

"What did you take the ladder for?" Grandma Jin asked with a smile. She had finished checking the accounts and was now lying in her armchair, leisurely fanning herself.

“I went up to the rooftop and planted some vegetables in wooden boxes,” Mo Xueyao replied.

"No wonder you're covered in mud. Why don't you come to my place and take a shower?"

"No, I'll have to shower again later. I plan to wash my face and go home so I can stay home after my shower." Mo Xueyao put the ladder back in its place and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She didn't feel tired when she was busy, but when she finally stopped, she felt sore all over and exhausted that she wanted to go home and take a shower as soon as possible.

The only regret is that there's no air conditioning in the house...

"Are you hungry? Want some snacks?" Grandma Jin pointed in a direction with her fan. "The boxes are full of things that are about to expire, take whatever you want. They'll just be thrown away if they don't sell."

"Okay!" Mo Xueyao loved this kind of snack the most because she had a legitimate reason to eat it openly.

They claimed it was to help resolve the backlog of inventory.

She took a few bags of puffed snacks and spicy strips, and then went back to her shop.

"Wanyan, here, these are your favorite spicy snacks! Help yourself." Mo Xueyao placed the snacks on the table, then turned on the tap and comfortably washed her face.

In such hot weather, taking a cold shower is absolutely wonderful.