Courtyard House: After disbanding the Elderly Care Gang, I went to the countryside to cultivate immo

Ever since the crops sprouted and turned green, the hearts of the educated youth seemed to take deeper root in the black soil, just like those tender seedlings.

The daily work is no longer just about completing tasks, but also about protecting and looking forward to something.

Soon, the crops in the field grew to about ten centimeters. The spring sunshine and rain not only spurred the growth of the crops, but also caused all kinds of weeds to grow wildly.

Foxtail grass, lamb's quarters... all sorts of wild grasses compete with seedlings for precious nutrients and space.

Thus began the educated youth's protracted battle against the weeds.

This job sounds simple, but you only realize how difficult it is when you actually do it.

It doesn't require the strenuous activity of wielding a pickaxe like clearing land, but it severely tests one's patience, eyesight, and core strength.

Maintaining a bent-over posture for a long time makes it seem like all the blood rushes to the head. Over time, you'll feel stiffness and soreness in your lower back, as if you're pressing on a stone slab.

The eyes must be constantly focused on the dense, varied green leaves, trying to distinguish the subtle differences. Before long, the eyes become sore and blurry, as if a layer of fog has been shrouded in mist.

Sweat dripped from his forehead and nose, falling into the soil, but he didn't bother to wipe it away. In the silent field, only the rustling sound of weeding, the occasional soft "click" of bones as he straightened up, and suppressed sighs could be heard.

Only then did everyone truly understand what it meant to "Farmers toil under the midday sun, their sweat dripping onto the soil beneath the crops."

Lin Mantong initially couldn't distinguish between wheat seedlings and weeds, and several times she almost pulled up the thin wheat seedlings thinking they were weeds, which made Zhang Xiuying anxious: "Mantong, look carefully! Wheat seedlings have narrow leaves and fine hairs, while weed leaves are wide! Take another look!"

After several attempts, Lin Mantong gradually mastered the knack. Although she was slower, she made fewer mistakes.

Her slender fingers were scratched by the grass blades, and then stung by the mud and sweat, but she just pursed her lips and continued to identify and pull them out.

Occasionally, I would straighten up and rub my lower back, gazing at the distant rolling green hills and the figures of my companions working nearby. The longing for the refined life in the city seemed to be gradually worn away by this vast land and the concrete details of labor.

Wang Xueling was meticulous and weeded very cleanly. She could also often find some edible wild vegetables, such as shepherd's purse and dandelion, which she would quietly pick and put in her apron pocket. When she finished work, she would bring them back to the educated youth settlement to enrich the dishes for dinner.

Zhang Xiuying was still efficient at her work. She was always the first to finish the plots she was responsible for, and then she would go to help Zhuang Hui or Lin Mantong who were slower.

She likes to hum songs while working, sometimes revolutionary songs, sometimes folk tunes from her hometown in Shandong, adding a touch of liveliness to the monotonous field work.

Her optimism and diligence inspire those around her.

The days passed by in the daily routine of weeding, loosening the soil, fertilizing, and hoping.

The black soil seems to possess boundless magic; nourished by sunshine, rain, and sweat, the crops change every day.

The villagers have also entered a relatively relaxed period of field management.

With a little more free time, the villagers began to pay attention to the "experimental field" that these city kids had created.

During the off-season, three or five villagers would often stroll to the edge of this slope, carrying hoes or smoking pipes. They wouldn't get close, but would just stand on the ridge, squinting at the view, puffing on their pipes, and occasionally exchanging a few words in hushed tones.

"Tsk, Old Wang, look at this. The land these educated youths have planted is quite interesting." An old man in an old jacket pointed at the wheat field. "The wheat stalks seem thicker than the ones in our fields. And the leaves are glossy too."

"That's right," the old man called Old Wang squatted down, picked up a clump of soil and rubbed it, then carefully examined the roots of the wheat seedlings. "This land is newly cultivated, so it shouldn't have much fertilizer, but these seedlings... are growing really well. Look at these branches, so many and strong."

Another middle-aged man turned his gaze to the cornfield: "The corn looks healthy too. The leaves are so green they're almost black; they look plump and healthy. Strange, where did they get such good fertilizer?"

"The bean patch is clean, the weeds have been cleared, and the bean sprouts look sturdy," added an auntie with her trousers rolled up.

The villagers were unaware of the "high-yield seeds" that Lin Shengli had mentioned to Hu Guangming. They simply relied on their generations of experience working with the land to intuitively sense that the crops on the land tended by the educated youth seemed to be growing even better than the cultivated land they had tended for many years.

This discovery surprised them, and even puzzled them somewhat, but more than anything, it evoked a simple sense of admiration.

"It seems these kids really put in the effort and put in the work," Old Li concluded, his tone tinged with approval. "They weren't just here to coast along."

These undisguised comments and praises drifted intermittently on the wind to the ears of the educated youth working in the fields. At first, they were a little embarrassed and pretended not to hear.

But gradually, a feeling mixed with pride, joy, and a sense of accomplishment, like crops in the field, quietly grew and spread in his heart. His sweat had not been in vain, and his clumsy efforts had been recognized by these true "masters of the land," which was more precious than any empty praise.

Even the usually serious Ke Haoqian had a rare slight upturn at the corners of his mouth; Lin Mantong seemed to straighten her back even more when pulling weeds; and Li Kuiyong felt full of energy and worked with great vigor.

Hu Guangming also started coming more frequently.

He no longer just glances at the crops from afar, but walks into the fields, squats down, and carefully examines every detail of the crops.

Seeing the seedlings growing much better than those in ordinary fields, the anxiety he had been holding for half a year finally eased a little.

He didn't say anything, but the increasingly relaxed brows and the growing expectation in his eyes betrayed the turmoil in his heart.

He began to silently calculate in his mind: if the harvest of these ten acres of land in the fall is as pleasing as the seedlings indicate, even if it is only 20% or 30% higher than that of ordinary seeds, no, even if it is only 10% or 15%, he will have the confidence to persuade the whole village to switch to these seeds next year.

By then, the grain yield of Heisonggou Village… He dared not dream too highly, but the long-dormant desire in his chest for his fellow villagers to have enough to eat and eat well began to pound involuntarily. Perhaps, this seemingly insignificant experimental field for educated youth could truly bring unexpected changes to this remote mountain village?

Before we knew it, it was mid-to-late May. The black soil of Northeast China had completely broken free from the last trace of cold, becoming warm and soft, like a huge, vibrant sponge.

The sun grew hotter, and the rain became more abundant.

The crops seemed to hear the bugle call to charge, and entered the most vigorous and rapid growth period of their lives.

The wheat seedlings began to grow vigorously, striving towards heading and flowering; the corn greedily absorbed nutrients, accumulating strength to produce large ears; the soybean branches and leaves grew increasingly lush, beginning to nurture tiny flower buds.

The demand for water and fertilizer has increased dramatically, and field management has entered its most critical, busiest, and most challenging phase. The real challenge has only just begun.