Chapter 371: Sowing

After the farmland is plowed, it needs to be leveled once with a leveling rake so the ground within the same ridge is basically flat; otherwise, fertilizer and water will pool in the low spots, leaving the high spots to dry out and die and the low spots to drown and die.

Xia Qing certainly knew how important a flat plowed field was, but she had no experience, so she simply eyeballed whether the field was level and started sowing. It wasn't until she watered that she found out where the high and low spots were.

So Xia Qing always leveled her field according to the water level at the first watering. But since the seedlings had already been planted, all she could move was the soil between the seedlings.

After harvesting the first crop, she adjusted the highs and lows once, but overdid it and swapped them.

Taking advantage of a Lord Alliance meeting, Xia Qing carefully asked how to level the ground. If she still had to rely on eyeballing, she'd need to find Zhong Tao and trade points for a builder's level.

She hadn't expected Shi Zhong to introduce her to an ancient leveling tool: the leveling rake.

The leveling rake looks much like the big iron rake Xia Qing uses for gathering hay, but it's made of finger-thick, tightly woven willow branches, and is used specifically for leveling land.

After Xia Qing went to Territory Ten to see the leveling rake Shi Zhong had made, she went back to her own territory and made one. Today it was finally going to be put to use.

After Boss Sheep pulled the plow and easily finished tilling two and a half mu, Xia Qing fed it tender cabbage leaves and compressed rations, unhitched the plow and hitched on the leveling rake, then went over the deeply tilled field with the rake three times, back and forth.

After using the leveling rake, Xia Qing felt her spirits lift just looking at the farmland.

At 2:30 the next morning, Xia Qing got up on time, soaked the rapeseed and wheat seeds in pesticide-free spring water with the temperature adjusted and insecticide added to start the seed soak, then went out for her night shift guarding the territory.

During this period, Xia Qing has been sleeping a little after eight and getting up a little after two, taking turns with Beard Feng's squad to protect the farm machinery and construction crews in the territory.

Xia Qing has to harvest crops, pull night shifts, and prepare for autumn plowing — saying she isn't tired would, of course, be a lie. Fortunately, the green-light spinach seeds on the terraced fields haven't ripened yet, so Xia Qing can still keep going by injecting herself with one vial of premium nutrient solution a day.

The construction crew will be able to connect the territory's west wall and north wall together today, so tonight Xia Qing can finally sleep soundly.

After finishing the three-to-six early shift, Xia Qing ate breakfast, and it was time to sow.

Qi Fu and his wife carried a wooden seed drill on a pole between them and arrived at Territory Three.

This seed drill was different from the one Xia Qing had seen at Qi Fu's territory last time. Shi Zhong and Qi Fu had improved it again: it had three iron pipes at the bottom, with a furrow opener fitted beneath each pipe. Seeds pass from the seed hopper into the iron pipes and drop into the furrows cut by the openers.

Three iron pipes means three ridges can be sown at once — three times the efficiency of a single-pipe drill. A drill like this costs only 30 points; Xia Qing thought the price was very fair.

Qi Fu explained why he'd brought his wife along. "Our seeds are limited, we can't afford to waste them. Having your sister-in-law scatter the seed by hand is more even than letting the hopper sow it directly." Qi Fu said cheerfully, "Qing, you pull, I'll steady it, let your sister-in-law scatter the seed."

"Sorry to trouble you, sister-in-law." Xia Qing of course had no objection. She slung the drill's pull rope over her shoulder, gripped the handles with both hands to steady it, and walked forward slowly at the pace Qi Fu asked for.

Qi Fu held the two handles to control the sowing depth, while Yuan Yan followed alongside, dropping seed into the hopper. The three of them walked from one end of the greenhouse to the other, and three ridges of wheat were sown.

Qi Fu set the drill down and carefully scraped open a short section of furrow at the headland for Xia Qing to see. Looking at the evenly spaced seeds in the soil, Xia Qing sighed, "This drill is a fine piece of equipment, and your sister-in-law's hand is truly steady."

Yuan Yan laughed. Her face, once burned by the acid rain, had filled out a little, and her complexion was much better. "It's because you pulled steadily — the hopper didn't wobble at all."

Qi Fu figured it was because Xia Qing had picked all the big stones out of the field, so the three furrow openers at the bottom of the drill weren't knocked off course by stones, which was why it stayed so steady.

Although Xia Qing's territory only has one person and the farmland she's opened up is small, she's willing to put in the work and use fertilizer. Now, comparing them side by side, Qi Fu noticed that the wheat grains from Xia Qing's first wheat harvest were plumper than those in his own field.

If Xia Qing knew what Qi Fu was thinking, she'd tell him straight out: it's because I traded a lot of points for high-quality wheat seed, that's why they look plumper.

Qi Fu brushed the dirt off his hands, lifted the drill upright, and discussed with Xia Qing, "It looks dense now, but only half our wheat seed will actually sprout, so once it comes up it won't be dense. Shall we just sow it like this?"

"Sure." She hauled the drill up and kept sowing.

Slow work makes fine work. Sowing is a very important part of farming, and the three of them spent a whole morning finishing two mu of yellow-light wheat, half a mu of green-light wheat, and one mu of yellow-light rapeseed.

Once the seeds were in the ground, Xia Qing's heart was at ease.

The three sat by the field drinking water and resting for a while. Yuan Yan asked, "Xia Qing, how many greenhouses are you planning to build?"

Xia Qing had already planned it out. "Two — one for growing vegetables, one for raising chickens. As long as the vegetables I grow are enough for me to eat, that's fine; if I grow more I won't be able to handle it. What about you, sister-in-law?"

Yuan Yan answered, "I'm planning to keep a few workers in the territory over winter and build ten greenhouses. Once the greenhouses are built, I won't tear them down — in spring I'll use them to raise rice seedlings and vegetable seedlings."

Vegetable prices in winter are sure to be higher than now, so building a few more greenhouses can't hurt. Xia Qing asked, "Sister-in-law, have you been able to buy the plastic film for your greenhouses? I still have two sheets extra; if you're short, take them back and use them."

Xia Qing had traded ordinary green-light spinach with Li Si and Tang Huai for five sheets of thick greenhouse plastic film, a good notch better in quality than what Kuang Qingwei could get.

Since Xia Qing was willing to offer them up for trade, Yuan Yan certainly wouldn't refuse, and discussed with her, "I'm a bit short on hand right now — can I give you the points after I sell the vegetables?"

Xia Qing nodded in agreement. Qi Fu asked, "Xia Qing, once we've got the greenhouses and walls sorted out, how about we go wander around the Evolution Forest before it snows?"

Seeing her two allies looking at her eagerly, Xia Qing smiled. "Of course. Let's go try our luck in the valley on Mountain Fifty."

After Qi Fu and his wife cheerfully carried the seed drill away, Xia Qing went to check on the wall construction progress. The crew was installing the last five hundred meters of the north wall; at this pace, they'd definitely finish by this afternoon.

Xia Qing was feeling great. She went behind the wild grass and bushes under the big Chinese toon tree on Gao Po, and discussed with Boss Sheep, who was supervising the work, "Boss, I've finished sowing the seeds. Let's go home for lunch?"

When the territory's south wall was being built, Boss Sheep had gone over to sneak a peek and lost interest after a few glances — eat, drink, life as usual.

But when it spotted the construction crew rumbling up the north barrier strip in their vehicles and starting work, Boss Sheep immediately called Xia Qing over, had her stand behind it with the big toon tree for cover, and struck a combat-ready pose.

The big toon tree is still over two hundred meters from the north barrier strip, and the dense wild grass and bushes block the view, so the busy construction crew didn't notice that a powerful evolved sheep had already marked them as a target and was ready to send them flying at any moment.

This green-light toon tree is Boss Sheep's important food source, and Xia Qing well understood its desire to protect its food. She assured it over and over that the construction crew wouldn't touch its precious toon tree or come near it. But Boss Sheep was still uneasy — as long as the crew came over, it had to stay here and keep watch.

The construction crew was still clanging away nearby, and Xia Qing actually had the nerve to tell it to go home for lunch. Boss Sheep wouldn't even turn its head, let alone spare Xia Qing a glance.