The daily life of a space tycoon raising children, doting on his husband, and farming.

Chapter 76 Plant If You Want
"Yes, yes!" Aunt Yao called out loudly, "Husband, come out quickly, the scholar and his wife are here."

Old Wu was repairing a cabinet in the house when he heard the shout, so he immediately slipped on his shoes and came out.

Lu Chengjing came to talk about the disaster relief grain. Upon hearing this, Old Man Wu immediately asked his youngest daughter to fetch Old Man Liu and the others.

He didn't mention Village Chief Lin, and Lu Chengjing naturally wouldn't either. Since the Lin family wasn't involved in the village's reconstruction, it didn't matter whether Village Chief Lin was invited or not.

Aunt Yao brought hot water and a small bowl of fresh, red cherries to entertain the guests.

Lu Chengjing now has a wheelchair, which makes him much more mobile and can also be used for self-defense. Shang Wan sat with him for a while before taking her leave with Yuanyuan and driving the oxcart home.

The house was just as it had been before he left. Little Gray came out to greet him when he heard the noise, which startled Yellow Ox.

Shang Wan forcefully reassured them, placing Yuan Yuan on Xiao Hui's back and keeping the two of them away from the yellow cow.

She unloaded the things from the oxcart and then removed the frame to let the oxen relax.

Finding a rock to sit on, Shang Wan opened her spatial storage and glanced at the small white cabbage seeds she had sown in the spirit field the day before.

The bok choy has already sprouted and grown leaves, which is indeed faster than growing it outdoors, but the exact speed is still unclear and requires further information.

When she went to the Zhang family to borrow vegetable seeds, she asked Aunt Zhou that it normally takes thirty to forty days, or more than a month, for bok choy to grow from sowing to a normal edible size.

If you want to save the seeds, you have to wait until the bok choy bolts and produces seeds, which takes about two months for the seeds to mature.

Shang Wan plans to keep a small portion of the vegetable seeds, not only so that she can continue to grow them herself, but also so that she can give some back to Aunt Zhou.

Xiao Huan returned carrying three round, muddy white radishes. Seeing that Shang Wan seemed to be thinking about something, she didn't disturb her and rolled up her sleeves to pack up the things she had bought.

Tung oil cloth was used to cover the roof to prevent rainwater from leaking in through the gaps when it rained.

Put away the chipped bowls at home and replace them with new ones to avoid them constantly scratching your mouth while eating.

The chopsticks of different lengths were thrown away and replaced with new bamboo chopsticks.

The rice and flour were packaged separately, and the salt and oil containers were washed and dried before use.

Wash the radish, cut it into strips, and let it dry on a clean stone slab. It can be used for cold dishes or soups later.

Xiao Huan was busy with many trivial matters, her feet barely touching the ground. Shang Wan offered to help, but Xiao Huan repeatedly said no, and told Shang Wan to sit down and rest for a while.

Shang Wan couldn't stay idle while thinking about things. She changed into a simple cloth shirt, found a saw, and skillfully sawed wood.

Before work begins, we need to set up the wooden shed for He Sizhi and the other three to rest in.

Before long, Shi Tou returned, carrying four large white radishes in his arms, which were a gift from Aunt Zhou.

Just as Xiao Huan was about to do the same, Shang Wan brushed the sawdust off her sleeve and said, "Take two and make them into pickled radishes, like the ones in noodle shops."

The pickled radishes in the noodle shop are sour, spicy, and slightly sweet. They're crunchy and appetizing, and go well with rice.

Xiao Huan has never made pickled radishes before, but she can give it a try.

After slicing and marinating the radishes, Xiao Huan took off her apron, grabbed her money pouch, and came out. "We've run out of spices for stewing meat at home. I'll go to the Yuan family's house to check, and bring back my brother-in-law's medicine while I'm at it." The spices she mentioned were Chinese medicinal herbs, which could have been bought at pharmacies in the city, but Xiao Huan thought they were too expensive. Anyway, the Yuan family had some, and they were cheaper than at the pharmacies.

Xiao Huan's father was an excellent cook and worked as a chef in a restaurant before he passed away. Xiao Huan practically grew up in the kitchen, and from a young age, she was very familiar with the kitchen routine.

If it weren't for the disaster that struck her hometown, her father being killed by a minor general, and her mother abandoning her and remarrying with her younger brother, Xiao Huan wouldn't have fallen into the hands of slave traders, nor would she have had the chance to escape. She was caught by Lu Chengjing when she was about to freeze to death and was bought into his household as a maid.

"Auntie!" Yuanyuan rode over on her little gray bike, waving her little hand at Xiaohuan, "I'm coming!"

"You can go, but you can't bring Little Gray." Xiao Huan reached out and picked up Yuan Yuan, helping the little guy straighten the crooked little bun on his head.

"Okay." Yuanyuan nodded her little head and waved her little hand at Little Grey, who was looking up at her. "Go back to play!"

Little Grey stood watching the two figures leave for a while, then slowly walked over to Shang Wan and lay down, its tail swishing to the other side.

Shang Wan casually stroked it and saw that its eyes were half-closed, as if it was about to take a nap. She then nudged it and pointed in the direction of the mountains and forests, saying, "There are people at home now, why don't you go back and check on those wolf cubs?"

Upon hearing this, Little Grey stood up, nuzzled Shang Wan's leg with its head, and ran towards the forest.

"Sis, why don't we buy a dog to guard the house?" Stone suggested. "Little Grey has such a big family of wolves to take care of, it's too tiring for him to run around to both places."

Shang Wan placed the wooden board on the ground and said, "Even if you chase it away now, it won't leave."

Do you really think she was just feeding her the magic spring water for nothing?
Shi Tou silently admired Shang Wan's skill in taming wolves, then suddenly had a whimsical idea and asked, "Sister, can you tame a tiger? I think tigers are more imposing than wolves."

"Isn't that impressive? I could eat you without spitting out the bones." Shang Wan tossed a small piece of wood on his head without looking up. "Stop thinking about that and get to work."

"Oh." Stone scratched his head and said while digging at the wood, "Sister, everyone in the village has land. They grow grains and vegetables, whatever they want to eat, without having to spend money to buy anything. Why don't we get a couple of plots of land to grow too?"

Shang Wan glanced at him. "What did you hear this time?"

Shi Tou chuckled, “I heard that we don’t have to pay taxes on the wasteland we reclaim ourselves. Sister, I think that area at the foot of the mountain is pretty good. It’s close to our home, so it’s easy to take care of it.”

“Your brother-in-law is a scholar. As long as he owns no more than eighty mu of land, regardless of whether it’s wasteland he reclaimed himself, he doesn’t have to pay taxes.” Shang Wan asked, “Who told you this?”

Shi Tou said, "When I came out of the Zhang family, I passed by the Luo family and saw Brother Luo and a few men from the village chatting together. I stood there and listened for a bit."

"After the earthquake, many wheat seedlings in each family's fields collapsed. Everyone felt this was a bad omen and worried that the wheat they planted last year would not yield a good harvest. They all planned to clear land on the north slope and plant a few more acres of millet while the season was in full swing, so that they would not have any food to eat in the winter."

“I think what they said makes a lot of sense. Sister, our family lives in the village. If we can manage our few acres of land well, we won’t have to worry about food in the future.”

"What you're talking about is a bumper year." Shang Wan poured cold water on the hot-headed boy. "In famine years, when there's no harvest, how many people sell their children just to have enough to eat?"

In this world, there are neither greenhouses nor artificial rainmaking; farmers rely entirely on the weather. To think that they can live a stable life on a few acres of meager land is simply too naive.

"I didn't think that much about it." Stone lowered his head in frustration and asked, "Sister, are we still going to farm?"

“If you want to plant, then plant,” Shang Wan said. “However, the village land has already been distributed, so if we want to farm, we’ll have to clear the land ourselves. I don’t know the specifics of the rules, but we’ll discuss it together when your brother-in-law comes back.”

“Okay.” Stone nodded happily, his earlier frustration completely gone.

(End of this chapter)