Chapter 721: Money is never spent in vain

On the road, Wang Li returned the 30 yuan to Wang An and asked him:

"Fourth Brother, what are you planning to do with all these things you bought?"

To tell the truth, when driving or riding in a four-wheeled tractor, Wang An was extremely reluctant to talk.

Because the sound of a diesel engine while running is simply too loud; one has to shout at the top of their lungs just to say a single sentence.

So, upon hearing Wang Li's question, Wang An replied directly: "We'll talk when we get home. You'll know once we're back."

Wang Li nodded and stopped talking.

A few minutes later, Wang An and Wang Li drove the vehicle back into the courtyard of Wang An's home.

At this moment in the courtyard, Liu Guilan, Mu Xueqing, and Shen Wei were picking through dried cabbage and dried mushrooms.

The walking tractor wasn't home; Wang Dazhu must have gone to plow the fields. Wang Li's walking tractor was also gone, and Wang Daliang and his wife must have returned home as well.

Seeing the two of them return, Liu Guilan stood up and asked:

"Xiao An, I heard from your father that you went to buy a rice transplanter?"

Upon hearing this, Wang An pointed to the cargo bed and said with a chuckle:

"Yeah, I bought it back, didn't I? Bought it at scrap metal prices; it was dirt cheap."

Liu Guilan didn't look at the rice transplanter, but asked with great concern:

"Are you sure that rice transplanter will work? It's been so many years since anyone in our area used that thing. Don't go and ruin the rice seedlings and the paddy fields."

It was clear that Liu Guilan was very conflicted at this moment.

She wanted to dissuade Wang An, but didn't want to dampen his enthusiasm; she wanted efficiency, yet feared the risk.

In fact, agriculture in China during this era was far more developed than one might imagine, and many things beneficial for improving agriculture had already been developed.

For example, seed drills, sprayers, irrigation pumps, various crop harvesters, and so on.

It's just that most of these things only appeared on large-scale farms; for ordinary farmers, the most primitive way of farming was still the norm.

On one hand, they had no money to change, and on the other, the cost of trial and error was too high.

Because although there was plenty of land in Heilongjiang Province, with each household having dozens of acres, this place only had one crop season, and disasters like insect infestations, floods, and frost were quite severe.

Simply put, if this batch of crops didn't grow well, there wouldn't even be a damn chance for a remedy.

Even if you replanted something else, you would only harvest some straw to feed the livestock, and that piece of land would be considered completely wasted for the year.

Therefore, Liu Guilan's worry was actually completely necessary.

Wang An looked at his mother's worried face and said with a chuckle:

"It will definitely work. Do you really think I'm reckless? I bought this thing, so I'll definitely make it work. Otherwise, why would I buy it?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Guilan felt a bit more at ease. She looked at the rice transplanter on the cargo bed, seemingly wanting to say something more, but opened her mouth and said nothing.

Consequently, Wang An said again:

"Mother, just rest assured. I definitely won't let our family's paddy fields go to waste."

After saying this, Wang An turned his head and said to Wang Li:

"Come on, Fifth Brother, let's unload all these things."

"Alright, Fourth Brother," Wang Li replied casually.

As they spoke, the two of them moved all three rice transplanters down. Only after they were all moved did Wang Li ask again:

"Fourth Brother, what do you want to do with those tools you bought?"

Wang An didn't expect Wang Li to still remember that. He pointed his chin at the rice transplanter and said: "I'm definitely going to tidy these things up and tinker with them."

After speaking, he ignored Wang Li further, turned around, went to the vehicle, and took down the pile of newly bought items.

Immediately after, Wang An took out a wrench and began to unscrew the bolts on one of the rice transplanters.

By the time Wang An had unscrewed two bolts, he looked up and found Wang Li watching him tighten bolts with great interest.

Consequently, Wang An said with annoyance: "What are you staring at like a fool? Go, there's a wrench in that bag. Whichever machine you like, find the parts with bearings, unscrew the bolts one by one, and then apply some grease."

After Wang An finished speaking, Wang Li agreed and went off to find a wrench with great enthusiasm.

It must be said that perhaps the vast majority of men like to tinker with something, like tightening a bolt or repairing a tool.

In any case, Wang Li was genuinely quite happy tightening the bolts.

Less than an hour later, the two brothers had finished maintaining all three rice transplanters.

Immediately after, Wang An began cutting sheet metal with scissors and punching holes in the cut metal.

The rice transplanters at this time were different from the ones Wang An had modified in his past life in the fence-enclosed fields, but fortunately, the structure and principle were basically the same, so it wasn't difficult for Wang An.

It was nothing more than adjusting the range of the seedling needles, changing the position of the hydraulic rod, raising the height of the float, and finally making the seedling pusher dig deeper... In short, the goal was to ensure that as long as the seedling needles picked up seedlings, that strand of seedlings would be deeply embedded into the mud to ensure survival.

Or, if the seedling needles didn't pick up seedlings, one could clearly see where the seedlings were missing in the transplanted area, giving people time for timely remedy.

The thing about rice seedlings is that the biggest taboo is seeing them standing there, only to have them fall over and die a few days later, leaving no time for remedy.

The reason this problem occurred was that the roots of the seedlings weren't pushed into the mud, but only entered a tiny bit.

Wang An guided Wang Li while modifying his own family's rice transplanter, and just like that, the whole afternoon passed.

Near dusk, when Wang Dazhu returned, the two of them had finally finished modifying all the rice transplanters, though they hadn't been tested yet.

Wang Dazhu, who returned from plowing, was not only covered in black mud on his walking tractor, but his own body was also covered in black mud.

However, it was clear that Wang Dazhu was in a genuinely good mood.

Because the first thing he said upon seeing Liu Guilan was with a smile: "Xiao An really bought the right thing with this walking tractor. In just this half-day, Second Brother and I finished plowing all three of our families' paddy fields. This thing is fast because it drinks oil."

Upon hearing this, Liu Guilan asked with surprise while preparing bathwater for Wang Dazhu:

"Finished over 40 acres of land in just half a day?"

Wang Dazhu nodded with a smile:

"Yeah, we finished the work as if we were playing. This thing is really good; it's so fast."

Liu Guilan nodded and said: "That's for sure. Money is never spent in vain."

It was clear that Liu Guilan was also genuinely quite happy.

After cleaning up, Wang Dazhu came to the two of them who were testing the rice transplanters and asked impatiently:

"Xiao An, how is it? Can this thing be used tomorrow?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 722 =====