Chapter 119: Persuasion

After bidding farewell to Xu Huizhen and two people, Yang Qing walked all the way home.

The weather had already begun to become scorching hot.

The day of the summer harvest was also drawing nearer.

Along with the summer harvest, another important matter was about to occur.

That was the impending first wave of layoffs, in which over the next two years twenty million industrial workers and their families would be driven back to the countryside.

Almost fifty-eight years later, due to the expansion of that thing, the rural people who had become workers and temporary workers, along with their families, would have to return to the countryside.

This was an unprecedented wave of layoffs, but because the countryside served as a reservoir, it did not cause too great a disturbance at the time.

As the streamlining work proceeded, Jia Dongxu's life would also enter a countdown.

Thinking of Jia Dongxu, Yang Qing also thought of Jia Zhangshi, who would be returning soon.

And not long after she returned, her son would be gone.

Haha…

Yang Qing laughed.

He had never been a good man, let alone a saint; he had no intention of saving Jia Dongxu.

Not adding fuel to the fire in this matter would already be not bad.

The future drama would be even more exciting, especially between a rising Qin Huairu and a lazy Jia Zhangshi; who knows what sparks would fly.

Right, in the future Qin Huairu would bring Xiao Dang over to study with him, and he could instill in her a bit more awareness of independent womanhood.

In this era, women can hold up half the sky; managing the household and being the master is the main theme.

With these days of growth, Qin Huairu's admiration for Jia Zhangshi is becoming lower and lower.

Only those with ability and knowledge are worthy of admiration.

For example, the stories Yang Qing told her expanded her horizons greatly.

The old lady's radio, she also often came over to listen, and she gradually developed an interest in news and national affairs.

The sweet potato seedlings in the house had already been separated; the sprouted sweet potatoes and potatoes bought earlier had already grown into a patch in the courtyard.

The old lady didn't know where she got the loofah, beans, and chives, but they also began to sprout.

Yang Qing's Houzhaofang began to have the air of a farmhouse vegetable garden.

Yi Zhonghai was very dissatisfied with these, but could do nothing about the old lady.

The old lady was subtly exerting her influence.

Yan Fu Gui's application to build a stove was not approved; seeing the old lady's vegetable garden developed in the back courtyard, he also felt moved.

He gathered some broken flower pots and clay pots, filled the front yard with them, and planted garlic sprouts, chives, loofah, peanuts, chilies—whatever he could get his hands on, he planted some of each.

Others, seeing San Da Ye's grand display, thought they might as well join in; maybe they could even save some money on buying vegetables.

The sprawling Siheyuan began to head toward the vegetable garden, going further and further in that direction.

Slowly within the big courtyard, even the place for meetings disappeared.

The Jiedao personnel, after receiving reports from some people, came to the Siheyuan for a visit.

Seeing this phenomenon, they recorded it briefly and then left.

Not long after.

Director Wang then found Chen Hong.

They had just finished dealing with the spy matter, and now they encountered this situation.

Aunt Wang patted her head.

"I heard this matter was caused by your family's Yang Qing? Go back and have him come over to me."

Chen Hong hurried back to the Siheyuan and caught Yang Qing, who was accompanying the old lady in tidying the vegetable garden.

She grabbed Yang Qing and walked out with him.

"How long has it been, and why is our courtyard littered with broken pots and tiles?"

"Someone reported it to the Jiedao; you go and explain the situation clearly."

Yang Qing passed by the pool and washed his hands.

He had anticipated this sort of thing.

To prevent others from encroaching on his land, he planted fruit trees; the old lady planned a bit, and the courtyard became a vegetable garden.

Now it not only blocks others' encroachment but also blocks pollution from the toilet.

Monthly rose and rose fruit trees are fragrant plants; when they bloom, the courtyard will be filled with floral scent.

"Don't be afraid; in these famine years, whatever people do to survive is not excessive, and we are not only blameless but actually meritorious."

Chen Hong gave him a white-eye look.

"You think I've never farmed? This is a residential area; they plant randomly, using all sorts of strange tricks—for instance, some use urine and feces, which will not only attract mosquitoes and insects but also stink terribly in hot weather."

"Workers are supposed to work; being tortured like this, who can endure it?"

Yang Qing took her hand and offered no explanation.

"Let's talk after we see Aunt Wang."

After buying a few ice pops at the roadside, the two of them hurried all the way to the Jiedao office.

Aunt Wang was already waiting for them.

Upon seeing Yang Qing, she launched into a tirade.

"Yang Qing, do you think that with the old lady backing you, you can act lawlessly?"

"The big courtyard is a place for people to live, not a place for you to mess around."

Yang Qing took an ice pop and shoved it at her.

"Auntie, it's hot; you first cool down."

Slurp slurp……….

"Don't think I'll let you off just because it's a popsicle."

Slurp slurp……….

Yang Qing also slurps slurp……….

"How could that be? I absolutely won't do anything that harms unity."

"But Aunt, this family farm doesn't have any problems, right?"

"We've always been advocating hard work and self-reliance, haven't we?"

"We're doing this also to not forget our roots."

Slurp slurp……….

"Hard work and self-reliance aren't wrong, but you've made a mess of the yard."

"When people enter, it's supposed to be blooming and prosperous, with even space to park bicycles."

"Now it's no good, just a pile of broken pots, jars, and flowerpots."

"If you were properly planting, it'd be better, but some people even use chemical weapons—who can stand that?"

"Workers have laboured all day, and then you toss them around like this—how depressing is that?"

"This isn't even the main problem; the main problem is that your stuff attracts flies and mosquitoes, buzzing everywhere, worse than a toilet—who can stand that?"

"Hurry back and clean it all up for me."

Yang Qing smiled along.

"Aunt, just tell us, is there any problem with self-reliance?"

Aunt Wang thought for a moment and indeed there was no problem.

"The spirit of self-reliance and hard struggle is worth affirming."

Yang Qing spread his hands.

"Then isn't that settled?"

"The family farm has flaws; if we fix the flaws, isn't that fine?"

"If it's messy, we'll just assign them spots."

"If it's dirty, we'll just stipulate who plants and who cleans."

"If it's poor, we can set conditions: no broken pots, jars, or anything that has an impact; we can set several standards. For example, design a rack to increase planting space and at the same time improve aesthetics."

"Master Lei can make the rack; vegetable basins—many vegetables don't need much soil, a palm's depth is enough. Make it of wood; pine is relatively sun- and water-resistant; after finishing, bake it and brush on tung oil, properly protected, it'll last five or six years without problem."

"For those with larger vines, we can use flowerpots or jars."

"In short, there are always more methods than difficulties."

Yang Qing's confident output surprised Director Wang a bit.

"You've never grown vegetables—what do you know? Don't just spout nonsense."

Yang Qing became unwilling to accept.

"Aunt Wang, don't underestimate people; I haven't grown vegetables, but our family has an elderly lady who's an expert."

"Moreover, over these years, while digging wild vegetables I've found that most vegetables' roots aren't deep at all—just a shallow layer."

"Take chives, for example—they're like that, and after cutting one batch, another grows, continuously."

Director Wang was somewhat moved by what he said.

"How will you solve the mess problem? Those manure and urine—this won't do."

Yang Qing gave a hehe laugh.

"Aunt Wang, through my observation, truly good fertilizer and good soil basically have no smell."

"Once the fertilizer is ready, it also has no smell."

"Besides, we have an Agricultural College—we can totally invite experts to give guidance!"

"If we really pull this off, we don't know how much we could lighten the burden for our fellow farmers."