Chapter 667: Fifty-Year-Old Motherhood System (24)

"However, I didn't know at the time that the Chinese milk vetch written about in the newspaper was the same grass-seed flower that could be seen everywhere across the mountains and plains. It wasn't until I went into the mountains after the farming season that I discovered the soil was particularly fertile where there were many grass-seed flowers, and I also discovered that the leaves of the grass-seed flowers were exactly the same as the Chinese milk vetch leaves described in the newspaper, so I tried transplanting the grass-seed flowers into the fallow rice fields."

Xie Yang brought out the set of excuses she had pondered beforehand:

"Auntie, it's not that I'm hiding things and not telling everyone, it's just that I can't find that newspaper now. Without evidence, if I just say it with my mouth, everyone might not believe me. I just thought I'd try planting a round myself this year, and if the rice yield really increases next year, I'll tell everyone then."

Zhishu Xifu returned home and told her husband about this, ending with a sigh: "Xie Yang is a thoughtful child; we all misunderstood her. If her family's rice fields really do have an increased yield next year, when you report this, remember to ask for some extra credit for her."

The village party secretary tapped his pipe: "Later, let's plant some grass-seed flowers in our vegetable plot and see."

"That's what I was thinking too. If it can really fertilize the fields, we might be able to grow a few more pumpkins when we plant them in early spring."

Xie Yang saw Zhishu Xifu off. The Chinese milk vetch in the half-mu of rice fields had been mostly transplanted, and she sprinkled a few more seeds in the places along the field ridges that hadn't been covered.

Waiting for them to slowly cover this fallow rice field, she would plow them under after the New Year, then irrigate a thin layer of water to nurture them for three to five days to let the Chinese milk vetch turned into the soil decompose thoroughly, then maintain a water level of one or two centimeters to prevent nutrient loss, and then wait for early spring to transplant the rice seedlings.

After finishing these tasks, the work following the autumn harvest came to an end.

The time until the winter vegetables were harvested was the slack farming season, and Xie Yang returned to her homebody routine—

Waking up naturally in the morning, feeding the chickens and pigs at home after getting up, and sitting in the courtyard basking in the sun while eating brunch.

Although winter hadn't arrived yet, there were already winter bamboo shoots.

Digging up a few winter bamboo shoots and cooking them with the pickled mustard greens she had made herself into winter bamboo shoot and mustard green noodles was so delicious it would make one's eyebrows fall off.

Once full and satisfied, if she was in the mood, she would take a firewood knife and a basket to wander around the mountains, bringing back a bundle of firewood and catching some small fish and shrimp in the river; if she wasn't in the mood, she would move to the backyard to meditate and practice her skills.

If it rained, she would stay home even more and not go out.

After a year of nourishment and a regular routine, she finally looked like a young woman in her early twenties—

Her whole body exuded vitality, her face was full of collagen, and her hair was black and shiny.

Without needing to dress up deliberately, she looked fresh and lovely even when going out with a bare face.

Compared to this time last year, it could be said she was like a different person.

This made the young men in the village who didn't have partners yet restless.

Xie Yang had seen those young men, and how should she put it, none of them were her type.

Main System: 【System summarizes for Host: The universal version—not to the Host's liking. The blunt version—not handsome enough.】

Xie Yang raised an eyebrow: "You know again?"

Main System: 【Hehe! System has already figured out the Host's aesthetic completely.】

"..."

Xie Yang still wanted to hear the Main System's evaluation of her aesthetic when Ace suddenly popped up:

【Congratulations to the Host! Smart Orchard has leveled up to 10, unlocking the module—Smart Fish Pond. Please choose a reasonable location and confirm the deployment of the Smart Fish Pond.】

Xie Yang's attention immediately shifted to the Smart Farm: "The fish pond is unlocked?"

Ace: 【Yes, Host! Congratulations to the Host for being about to achieve aquatic product freedom! Throwing flowers!】

Main System: 【...】 Flatterer!

Ace: 【...】

Xie Yang ignored the bickering between the two systems; it wasn't the first day they hadn't seen eye to eye anyway. She went to the backyard to scout for a location for the fish pond.

Where would be a good place to put it?

The east wall of her backyard was already planted with a row of fruit trees.

The Orchard leveling up to 10 meant her home already possessed twenty or thirty fruit trees; even in reality, it could be called a small-scale orchard.

Fortunately, some fruit trees were so mini they could be used as potted plants, such as blueberries, raspberries, kumquats, lemons, kiwifruit, figs... although they also harvested a batch every half month, they didn't take up much space. Otherwise, how could a farmhouse courtyard of about one mu fit them all.

As for the west wall of the backyard, near the main house's kitchen, a row of firewood was stacked along the wall. Past the firewood was the outhouse, and next to the outhouse was the Pig Pen.

In the middle of the courtyard was the Nine-Grid Vegetable Plot covered by the Smart Vegetable Garden. There was still quite a bit of space around the vegetable plot, but if the fish pond were placed here, the vegetable plot would inevitably have to be moved to the side, otherwise the overall layout wouldn't look good.

Xie Yang rubbed her chin and pondered for a moment, then asked Ace: "Will the fish pond be too exaggerated in the later stages?"

After all, this was a farmhouse courtyard in the fifties; it wouldn't do if it were too out of place with the surrounding environment.

It would be best if it just looked like an ordinary small pond, raising a few Fish and occasionally used for some domestic water. That way, even if seen by outsiders, it wouldn't be anything.

Ace: 【The Host can choose the style of the fish pond.】

"I can even choose the style?"

【The style can be chosen once the fish pond levels up to 5.】

Xie Yang: "Let me see what the initial style of the fish pond is like?"

Looking at it, Xie Yang couldn't help but be amused: Isn't this just the fish pond she wanted?

—A square little pond with a circle of wild water plants along the shore, and stone steps built on one side for easy access to fetch water.

There was also a small stool on the shore, a small wooden bucket next to it, and a bamboo fishing rod resting on the bucket; this must be the fishing platform that came with the fish pond.

It looked truly a bit shabby, but that shabbiness was exactly what she wanted!

If it had come with a solid wood fishing platform, a modern sun umbrella, or an outdoor fishing chair that were out of place for this era... she would be the one with a headache.

"No need to choose, this one is just fine!"

Since she decided to place the fish pond in the backyard, Xie Yang moved the Nine-Grid Vegetable Garden to the side, clearing enough space for the fish pond.

Then she had to manually dig a water pit; the fish pond couldn't be deployed on flat ground.

Xie Yang released the Mining Robot and entered a command for it to dig a small dirt pit one and a half meters deep next to the vegetable plot in the backyard, so it would be convenient for her to deploy the fish pond after filling it with water.

The Mining Robot worked with a clatter, and suddenly, with a "duang" sound, the robotic arm touched something, and the sound was a bit crisp.

Xie Yang walked over and discovered that the robot had dug up a brown, two-eared earthenware jar.

The lid of the jar was sealed with yellow mud, looking like a jar of wine at first glance.

Xie Yang raised an eyebrow, carried the jar to the base of the backyard wall, brought a bucket of water over, rinsed the jar clean, then carried it to the kitchen, took a dry cloth to wipe the jar dry, knocked off the yellow mud seal, and shone a flashlight inside—it wasn't wine at all, but clearly pieces of high-quality silk Fabric.

Each piece of Fabric was just enough to make a cheongsam.

Xie Yang suspected this was the dowry Xie Yun had left for his daughter, originally intending to use this high-quality silk to make beautiful cheongsams for his daughter and watch her wear them to get married. Unexpectedly...

Huh!

It's not just the Fabric; at the very bottom, there is also a deep navy blue small cloth bag.