It's really hard to just farm peacefully.

Chapter 337

New year, new atmosphere.

After the beginning of spring, Grandma Juhua picked a good day and Dongshan Village quickly began preparations for spring plowing.

The people at the foot of the mountain were busy plowing, loosening the soil and applying fertilizer, and the people on the mountain also increased the frequency of sending out pigeons to deliver messages.

The early spring sun was not too scorching, but Jiang Yan put on her straw hat early. Soon, beads of sweat began to roll down from under the brim of her hat, and her cheeks were flushed and hot.

She stopped digging the soil for a moment, held the hoe with one hand, and took off her straw hat with the other hand to fan herself.

Seeing her like this, Li Hao tried to comfort her: "Don't wear it if you're hot. Look, you've been fine these past few days. The last time was just an accident."

Jiang Yan looked up at the sky. Since she came out to work today, six pigeons have flown back and forth over her head.

She recalled the first time she spotted a pigeon flying low in the sky. Without time to go home and get her bow, she simply picked up a clod of earth and threw it at the pigeon. She thought, if she was lucky, she could have some soup tonight to nourish herself.

Jiang Yan's aim was excellent, but the force wasn't strong enough, and the clod of earth grazed the pigeon's belly and fell. The pigeon's flight was only disrupted for a few moments before it quickly flew away. Although she felt regretful, she didn't have the chance to catch up.

Just when she thought the matter was over, about an hour later, before she returned home from the fields, she was hit head-on.

Do pigeons also hold grudges like those birds?

Jiang Yan wanted to believe that this was just an accident caused by her straightforwardness, but she inevitably became wary of the birds in the sky, and thus discovered that there were suddenly more pigeons in the sky.

Then someone from the mountain came down and told us not to try to catch the pigeons...

Jiang Yan quietly complained, "How many homing pigeons do they have? They've been flying back and forth every day these past few days. It's obvious there's something fishy going on here. Come and find out."

If one carrier pigeon couldn't deliver all the messages, she could send someone to the county to report it. She was really worried that if they continued to fly like this, their village would sooner or later become the victim.

In fact, there were many people who went to the county to deliver letters, but they always avoided the people from Dongshan Village, so Jiang Yan had never met them.

Li Hao didn't respond to Jiang Yan's words. Jiang Yan had privately told them during the winter that the masters of the Fu Mansion might be up to something big, but what did it matter? They had neither the reason nor the ability to stop it.

Her daughter Yingzi and many other young men in the village work for the Fu family. The mountains behind them also belong to the Fu family. In recent years, they have turned a blind eye and allowed the villagers to go into the mountains to collect firewood and find food.

What's more, since the masters of Fu Mansion came to Rongcheng County, their lives have become much more peaceful and better.

Li Hao occasionally wondered that Jiang Yan was so worried now because of old man Jiang Wang. She was such a naive and simple girl before.

She looked around at the progress of others and reminded them, "Finish your work first. We can think about these things when we get home."

Because of last year’s success, Jiang Yan is going to plant another acre of land this year, and the burden on his shoulders is even heavier.

Most of the newly added acre of land is used to grow food. Although what she planted last year was enough to eat, Jiang Xing and Jiang Wang and others considered it and still felt that she should plant more so that they would feel more at ease if there was surplus.

The rest are prepared to be planted with the new seeds given by Mr. Hao last year.

Jiang Yan once dreamed that the seeds she sowed grew potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn, even a few tomato and pepper plants, but when she woke up, she could only hug her knees in pain. The two handfuls of seeds she had distributed didn't even produce a single cucumber.

Since there was no one in the entire Rongcheng County who knew about these two kinds of seeds, Jiang Yan decided to do it the foolish way and plant a small half in the spring to try it out.

First expose it to the sun for two days, then divide it into three parts, soak one part in warm water, mix one part with wood ash, and leave one part alone. Then count the number of seeds and plant them in different blocks.

Jiang Xing, who had gathered around to watch the fun and also to lend a hand, was rejected without hesitation by Jiang Yan. He smiled and said to Jiang Fa, "Now take care of this old fellow like me."

Jiang Yan is immersed in her seeding work. Whether it is the sowing depth, the thickness of the covering soil or the sowing interval, she wants to keep them as similar as possible.

As for the control variable method... She was forced to study the theory again not long ago, and she is sure she can do it.

Jiang Yan temporarily named the large seeds A and the small seeds B.

On the morning of the eighth day after sowing the seeds, Jiang Yan picked up her farm tools and prepared to go to the field when she saw Mu Yang running over and whispering, "Sister Xiaoyan, your seeds have sprouted."

"Really?" Jiang Yan followed Mu Yang over in surprise. He bent down to take a closer look and saw a tiny sprout from the hole in the brown mud.

The one that sprouted was seed number B. Jiang Yan looked at it again and again, and after confirming that it was not a common weed in the field, he stood up and looked at the land that was still brown and yellow.

Yesterday was the seventh day after sowing the seeds. After Jiang Yan searched the field carefully from beginning to end but couldn't find any sprouts, he became worried, wondering if the ground temperature was not high enough or if something went wrong.

Fortunately, one person showed up today, so the whole army will not be wiped out.

The child's eyes are really sharp! Jiang Yan gently patted Mu Yang's thin shoulder and said, "Come to me later and I'll treat you to some candy."

Mu Yang smiled shyly with his lips pursed.

After a night of spring rain, the land that Jiang Yan and other Dongshan villagers cared about so much finally sprouted.

After twelve or thirteen days, the tender shoots of A and B had grown into seedlings. Jiang Yan looked at the gaps that had not been able to break through the soil, thought for a moment, and took out a few more seeds to fill the gaps.

This time, the seeds sprouted much faster. It turned out that I had planted them too early and the temperature was not very suitable.

Twenty days later, when Jiang Yan broke away from the wheat growth management to carefully observe her plants, she felt a little dazed for a moment.

How come she didn’t notice the last few times that this plant was actually growing more and more like a corn seedling?

I can’t possibly dream of it coming true and the seeds I sow will mutate into corn…

The veins in the middle of the seedling are white. When you touch the leaf with your fingers, it feels smooth, while the edges of the leaf are a bit rough.

Jiang Yan tilted her head and wiped the sweat from her eyelashes with her sleeve. She knew it was 80% likely sorghum.

How can I eat sorghum? I think it can be cooked into porridge or steamed rice, but I don't know how it tastes or whether it's easy to digest.

If it is used to make wine... Jiang Yan frowned and thought, it seemed that he needed yeast.

Jiang Yan couldn't help but shudder when she recalled the rice wine she had tried to brew at home and the black and white fungi floating on the surface.

It’s better not to try it. Some traditions are not so easy to break. Drinking is harmful to your body, and wasting food is harmful to your body and heart.

However, Jiang Yan scratched his chin. Manager Hao San seemed to have complained that his master was angry in the mansion because the caravan forgot to bring him some wine.

There must be people out there who can make sorghum wine, but I wonder if anyone in Rongcheng County knows how to make it. If it sells for a good price but doesn't taste good, she'll...