Chapter 97: What to Plant on the Back Hill

Just like that, Qiao Qiao carried the fish fry back, one plastic bag in each hand.

At home, Grandma Wang Lifen and Until Wu Lan were busy washing and scrubbing in the courtyard, occupied to the point of exhaustion.

There was no helping it; according to local custom, if you hire fellow villagers to work, you have to provide a lunch. Song Tan's family of four, her grandparents, plus Zhang Yanping, the young man living at their house who operated the excavator, and the three old companions of Song Sancheng who were helping out on the back hill...

That made eleven people in total. And because the food at home tasted so good, aside from Song Tan who had an average appetite, everyone else could easily polish off two or three bowls per meal.

The workload for cooking was by no means small.

Song Sancheng was currently so busy his feet barely touched the ground, and Until Wu Lan was the same; she had to go to the fields with Song Tan and Qiao Qiao early in the morning to pick Chinese milk vetch.

As the weather warmed up, more and more Chinese milk vetch in the fields were budding. Once they reached this stage, they could no longer be picked; they were too old and couldn't be eaten.

Therefore, to ensure quality, the time spent picking and sorting every day had increased.

What's more, ever since people found out that the Chinese milk vetch wouldn't be available for much longer, more and more people came to the vegetable market to buy it. They would buy ten or eight jin at a time, then take it home to blanch and freeze, so they could eat it until the New Year.

And so, Song Tan added another order early this morning: "Mom, we need to ship another two thousand jin out of town today."

Because of this, the whole family was mobilized.

Until Wu Lan was puzzled: "Are they wholesaling it to sell?"

Song Tan shook her head: "No, he said his family runs a farmhouse restaurant. After the Chinese milk vetch is shipped there, they blanch and freeze it all, then serve a portion to every guest who comes to eat."

Whether it's stir-fried or made into soup, they just say it's wild vegetables grown in the fields. The quantity isn't large, so they don't sell it; they only use it as a free gift.

Good heavens, business had been booming lately!

Spring was already the best season for eating wild mountain vegetables, and with this commotion, everyone knew that this farmhouse restaurant had an outstanding reputation, and their income had risen significantly.

Of course, the young man buying the vegetables hadn't mentioned these inside details, but Song Tan had guessed it anyway.

In the past, Until Wu Lan would only be happy about things that made money. But now, she had to figure out how to work quickly and well without delaying the lunch cooking.

Having too much work is also a source of worry.

However...

"Oh my, this one order is forty thousand yuan. Plus the money from the small vegetable sales these past two days, can we pay off the remaining land contract fee?"

Otherwise, always owing money feels quite unsettling.

Song Tan cruelly shattered her fantasy: "Mom, since we plan to receive subsidies for planting fruit trees on the back hill, we can't just plant them for nothing. We need to see results this year."

For three-to-five-year-old saplings, even if you only plant a hundred per mu, that's nearly twenty thousand yuan gone right there.

"And then you have to hire people to plant and irrigate, right? This little hill relies entirely on the pond below. Buying an electric water pump with a long hose—these miscellaneous, inconspicuous costs will add up to quite a bit of money."

"And our fields here..."

Before Song Tan could finish, she saw Until Wu Lan painfully close her eyes:

"Alright, alright, stop nagging."

She then asked: "Has the honey been sold yet? That's money too!"

Could that possibly not sell?

With a shout in the group chat, the out-of-town client who wanted two thousand jin of Chinese milk vetch also asked for ten bottles in one go.

There were only thirteen bottles in total, and now only one was left to drink; the inventory was cleared out.

The bees still needed a few days to go back and brew more nectar, so there was no stock for now.

When asked what they were wholesaling it for, they said they also planned to mix honey water to use as a free gift.

Song Tan mused that if it weren't for the short time and the fact that the profit point hadn't been calculated yet, this insightful young man might have even turned their tea into their signature product!

Until Wu Lan tidied up the vegetables at hand while directing Song Tan: "Find time to go to the back hill and feed the pigs, and feed the chickens and ducks too."

Song Tan made a trip up the hill, took a look at the flock of ducklings, and came back with another idea:

"Mom, I see the ducks are molting. Let's build a duck shed by the pond on the back hill."

Originally, they planned to raise them in the pond by the fields, but the pond by the fields was a neat, round-edged square, while the one on the back hill looked like a mirror with a handle. The handle part of the mirror was just right for building a simple duck shed. By then, with Da Wang watching over the whole back hill, everything would be visible at a glance from top to bottom, making management easier.

Until Wu Lan thought for a moment: "No rush. Let's wait until the hill is tidied up. Right now, the fruit trees are the most important!"

April waits for no one!

Only then did she remember to ask: "What do you plan to plant?"

Song Tan was still humming and hawing:

"Here, all things considered, express delivery is still a bit inconvenient, and the mountain roads are bumpy. I've noticed the town hasn't had any money to fix our roads in the last two years."

People in the suburbs can have orchards for on-site picking and selling, but they couldn't do that here.

People who don't get carsick would get carsick after one trip here; the road is truly hard to travel.

"Since that's the case, we have to plant something that can be stored and is tough and not afraid of bumps."

Until Wu Lan thought about it: "So, apples? Pears? Pomegranates or dates? Grapes?"

She couldn't think of anything else.

Anyway, something like the local cherries by the front door definitely couldn't be planted. They were delicious, but once picked, they couldn't be covered, couldn't be squeezed, and were afraid of bumps; if you didn't eat them within half a day, they wouldn't be any good.

Song Tan was also hesitant: "I haven't decided yet."

This wave was truly relying on spiritual energy and being bold because of her skills. If it were any other farmer, being this reckless and unplanned, it would be a wonder if they didn't lose money.

Just as they were talking, Zhang Yanping came back wearing a straw hat and carrying a rake, his shoulders drooping like a seasoned old farmer.

He had a mournful face:

"Cousin, no matter what you plan to plant, I have connections, I'll go contact them for you! Take me with you, let's go choose the saplings."

He really didn't want to go up the mountain anymore.

Until Wu Lan laughed out loud: "Yanping, if you can't take it, just go home. If you keep working day after day at your aunt's place, your mom will really feel sorry for you."

Zhang Yanping was on the verge of tears: Was it that he didn't want to go back? It was clearly his mom calling every day, ordering him to stay here!

However, as an aunt, she ultimately said a fair word: "Tan Tan, you really should ask Yanping what to plant. Your eldest aunt said he has a picky palate! He only eats what's good, and the imported fruits in the shop have all been devoured by him."

"Since we sell our stuff so expensively, you should plant something expensive too."

Zhang Yanping's spirits lifted: "Right! You have to listen to me on this! Let me think—apples and oranges don't grow well here; there's no other reason, it's just a climate issue, so rule those out."

"Grapes won't work either; the grapes from Zhengjiagou are famous throughout the city. It will be much harder if we go and try to grab market share now."

"Domestic cherries and blueberries are quite popular right now, but our sunlight here just can't compare to theirs. Besides, these things are mostly grown in the suburbs and operated as plantations. For us beginners, the risk is a bit high."

"By the way, the kiwifruit from Huacheng is very famous. Our climates are similar; have you considered kiwifruit or anything like that? They are vine-climbing plants and are quite durable before they ripen."

———Author's Note———

There was a reason for fewer updates the past two days. Today, ten thousand words!

Working hard on the manuscript, thanks for the support!

7017k ===== CHAPTER 98 =====