The Fiery Era: Starting from Longxugou

"Mommy, Mommy, I want to plant melons! Quickly, get the melon seeds out!"

As soon as she got home, Zhao Xiaoyue loudly proclaimed that she wanted to plant small melons.

"What are you planting? You look like a little melon. It's so cold, hurry up and wash your hands and eat!"

Hearing her little girl's words, Liu Guiying assumed that her daughter was just craving melons, so she immediately glared at her and put on a stern face.

"Mom, my eldest brother says it can be planted! It really is! If you don't believe me, ask my eldest brother!"

Seeing her mother's reaction, Zhao Xiaoyue shrank back and quickly began to explain.

"Your older brother was just kidding! It's still cold today, we can plant them in another month. Boss, wash your hands and eat!"

Liu Guiying took it as her eldest son teasing her daughter and didn't take it to heart.

"Mom, we can definitely grow small gourds. It's too cold outside to grow them, so we can grow them on the stove. When we cook and burn the fire, the house will be warm, just like our pot of garlic sprouts. We can plant the small gourds in it, take good care of them after they sprout, and then plant them in the ground when the weather gets warmer. At least we can eat them half a month earlier."

Seeing his younger sister's aggrieved expression, Zhao Shi'an quickly began to explain, pointing to the pot of garlic sprouts on the stove as an example.

"Boss, can it really be grown?"

Liu Guiying hesitated upon hearing this.

"Brother, if we plant them now, will we be able to harvest the melons in a couple of months?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Shijie immediately rushed to his elder brother's side and asked with anticipation.

He had thought his younger sister was talking nonsense, but now that he heard his older brother say the same thing, he immediately believed most of it.

My brother is so knowledgeable, what he says must be right!

"Yes! My brother says that planting them near the stove will result in fruit ripening earlier than planting them outside!"

Seeing her older brother speak up for her, Zhao Xiaoyue immediately became smug again.

"Xiaoyue is right!"

Zhao Shi'an ruffled his younger sister's messy hair and continued speaking:

"Mom, you can definitely grow small melons. Just think, garlic sprouts can grow even in winter if you put them on the stove."

But in the field, we've only just started planting garlic!

The same goes for small melons; as long as it's warm, they can take root, sprout, flower, and bear fruit.

We'll plant them on the stove, and when the weather gets warmer, we'll plant them outside. When our melons are ripe, everyone else's melons will still be small, so we can sell them for a higher price, just like how we're watching the first batch of chives every day!

If you're worried about not being able to grow them successfully, let's plant a few and give it a try!

Seeing his mother hesitate, Zhao Shi'an patiently explained.

"That makes sense! Boss, you know so much more. Let's plant them now!"

Listening to her eldest son's reasonable and well-founded words, Liu Guiying believed most of them. Her eldest son was a promising student, and he even used the garlic sprouts growing on the stove as an example. This matter was very likely to succeed.

Thinking of this, she immediately tried to take the bamboo basket down.

"Mom, no rush, let's eat first! We'll plant after we eat! Oh, where's my dad?"

Zhao Shi'an quickly grabbed his mother and looked around but didn't see his father.

"Your dad and your uncle are working outside. If they haven't come back by this time, they've probably found someone to provide them with meals."

"Don't worry about him, let's eat. After you finish eating, tell your mother how to plant these little melons."

"Yes! Good!"

Zhao Shi'an agreed and called his younger sister to scald their hands with hot water. After washing their hands, the family sat down to eat together.

Lunch was still steamed noodles with vegetables, cornbread, and thick soup, with pickled vegetables including fermented soybeans and pickled cucumbers.

The only advantage for vegetable farmers is that they never lack vegetables to eat.

After finishing her meal, Liu Guiying put away the bowls and chopsticks and then asked impatiently:

"Boss, tell me quickly, how do I plant this little melon?"

Hearing their mother's words, Zhao Xiaoyue and Zhao Shijie, the two little ones, also came over, pricked up their ears, afraid of missing any important information, after all, it was related to whether they could get to eat the gossip.

"Growing melons is similar to growing garlic. Garlic has a thin skin, while melon seeds have a thick skin. Soak the melon seeds overnight to soften them, and they'll germinate faster!"

As Zhao Shi'an spoke, he observed the control group in the space and found no obvious changes.

It's only been a dozen hours since yesterday, and even considering the tenfold increase in spatial velocity, it's only been six or seven days. In such a short time, there's no obvious difference.

Although drinking spring water for a long time can improve health, it is obviously wrong to talk about the effect without considering the dosage. Moreover, the effect of spring water is far less powerful than one might imagine. After drinking spring water for two days, the chilblains on his hands were relieved, but they were not as itchy. It was not a cure.

Although the effect is not obvious, since it can improve physical health, it should also have many benefits for breeding.

Soaking the seeds overnight can indeed promote germination, and with the added boost of spring water, the effect should be even more pronounced!

"That makes sense! Boss, take the bamboo basket down, let's make some and try it first!"

Liu Guiying nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

"Why!"

Zhao Shi'an agreed and stood on the stool to take down the bamboo basket.

Liu Guiying took the basket and rummaged through it, finding a pile of old newspapers and small newspapers. After searching for a while, she finally found the melon seeds.

"Found it!"

Liu Guiying opened the small paper packet, counted out twenty or thirty seeds, and put the rest back in.

"Mother, isn't this too much? What if..."

Seeing his mother searching for the seeds, Zhao Shi'an felt much more at ease. Last night, he had taken a few seeds from each of the vegetable seeds in the house. If you were a detail-oriented person, you might have noticed that some seeds were missing.

It seems like things are going well now. What surprised him was that his mother trusted him so much, bringing out so many seeds all at once.

"Eldest son, you've read a lot, so I trust you! Melons aren't worth much, and every household grows them. If we can eat them half a month earlier, we can earn quite a bit."

If these seeds sprout, we'll plant them at home; planting them in the ground will only attract unwanted attention!

Liu Guiying said with a smile, "Unlike watermelons, small melons are hardy, don't pick and choose the soil, are easy to grow, and can bear fruit no matter what kind they are."

She also took advantage of her son's suggestion to harvest the melons half a month early, otherwise the price would drop by the time the melons grown by the villagers were ready to eat.

"Hey! I'll go get some water!"

Zhao Shi'an nodded, took an empty bowl from the cupboard, rinsed it, scooped half a bowl of water into it with a gourd ladle, and then added some spring water from his spatial storage.

"Boss, is it okay to just put it there like this?"

Liu Guiying looked at the half-full bowl of water her eldest son had brought over and asked.

"right!"

"middle!"

Liu Guiying nodded and put all the melon seeds in!

After soaking the seeds, Zhao Shi'an placed the bowl on the stove, using the residual heat from cooking to raise the temperature and promote seed germination.

After doing all this, Zhao Shi'an turned to his younger sister and brother and instructed them:

"You two keep a close eye on things, or you won't get to eat the melon."

"Don't worry, big brother! I'll keep a close eye on things!"

Zhao Shijie nodded seriously upon hearing this.

"Big brother, me too!"

Zhao Xiaoyue nodded vigorously.

Liu Guiying watched this scene with a smile, asked about the precautions, and then urged her son to go to the kang (a heated brick bed) to sleep for a while.

Zhao Xiaoyue and Zhao Shijie stood by the stove, watching the melon seeds floating on the water, their eyes fixed on them without blinking.

Seeing her youngest son and daughter's reactions, Liu Guiying found it amusing. She tried to persuade them for a while, but seeing they wouldn't listen, she gave up. She immediately grabbed a basket and went to dig for wild vegetables. Before leaving, she looked at her youngest daughter and said:

"Xiaoyue, I'm going to the fields, do you want to come?"

"Mother, you go ahead! I need to watch the seeds!"

Zhao Xiaoyue replied without looking up, clearly finding the melon far more appealing than the work itself.

"Okay, if your older brother isn't awake, remember to call him!"

"Mother, I understand. You should go now!"

Zhao Xiaoyue waved her hand as she spoke.

"This child!"

Liu Guiying shook her head, slung her basket over her shoulder, picked up her hoe, and went out the door.