Spring comes to the desperate place

Chapter 297 Digging a cellar

Wu Ke and Lu Jiming were both stunned after hearing what Fang Chen and Fang Yi said. They had never planted fruit trees before, so naturally they didn't know what to pay attention to when planting fruit trees. They just subconsciously thought, it's just a tree, those trees in the wild are not taken care of by anyone, and they are still alive and well.

At this moment, Fang Chen and Fang Yi listed all the things that need to be paid attention to in planting fruit trees as if they were familiar with them. Their eloquent appearance made both of them feel amazed.

Wu Ke scratched his head awkwardly: "I am inexperienced. I thought we just needed to plant the tree."

Fang Chen and Fang Yi were both speechless at his ignorant words, feeling that what they had just said was like talking to a cow.

Old man Ding on the side was listening with great interest. His family had also planted fruit trees, but as Wu Ke said, they never took care of them after planting them. How much they could harvest in a year was entirely up to fate. But he had never noticed that fruit trees also needed to be fertilized and their branches pruned. The process was much more complicated than he had imagined.

"It turns out that there are so many things to do when growing fruit trees. We farmers like to plant a jujube tree in our yard, but the fruit it produces each year is not too many, just enough for our family to eat. If we do what this young man said, can we increase the yield of the jujube tree?"

Neither Fang Chen nor Fang Yi had any experience in this area. Their experience was limited to growing grapes. Upon hearing this, they immediately looked at Song Chunlin. Song Chunlin looked at their eyes and nodded at them.

"Indeed, it can, but it depends on the species of the tree. Okay, now that we're full, let's get back to work."

The host had spoken, so Old Man Ding quickly ate a few more pieces of the apple. At the end, he took a few pieces in his arms and ate them while walking.

The winery that Song Chunlin requested was bigger than the yard that had been built before, so Old Man Ding spent the whole day just drawing the lines, and he had to bring several of his grandchildren to assist him. A group of people were busy around, and the girls and boys in the small yard next door did not go out either. They all stood on the wall and looked out curiously.

Because Song Chunlin was going to dig a large cellar this time, during the planning, Old Man Ding said that he would send people to dig the cellar first. People here are more casual when digging cellars than digging foundations, and there is no time limit. Once both parties agree on a time, they can just come directly to the door.

After agreeing on the start time, Song Chunlin thought about it and decided to ask someone to send a letter to Cheng Qiao, asking her to find a few strong people to help.

Because the work started in a hurry, Song Chunlin did not wait for them and started working directly. Old Man Ding brought his own family members. Compared with last time, there were a few more men Song Chunlin had never seen before. They were said to be Old Man Ding's sons-in-law, grandsons-in-law, and prospective sons-in-law and grandsons-in-law.

With the addition of these outsiders, Song Chunlin once again felt the super strong reproductive ability of Old Man Ding's family. He felt that even rabbits could not be as fertile as the Ding family.

However, these hardworking rabbits are very skilled at digging holes. They had dug one-tenth of the hole on the first day. At this rate, the cellar would be almost finished by the time Song Chunlin left.

On the second day after the construction of the cellar began, Cheng Qiao came with her people in a mighty procession. This time she brought some healthy veterans. Their physical strength was naturally not comparable to that of the rabbits from the Ding family, but fortunately they were all hardworking people. Not long after they arrived, they joined the team for digging the cellar. Song Chunlin looked at the new members and felt that the cellar would be almost finished in a few days.

While Song Chunlin was busy, Dabao seemed to be a little idle. After everyone learned that Dabao was the younger brother brought by Song Chunlin, they showed great enthusiasm for him. Dabao was a good eater. When he was at home, Fang Siyi fed him. When he went out, the girls and brothers next door fed him. His mouth basically never stopped eating every day. When he went back to sleep at night, his belly was bulging. Song Chunlin found that Dabao's belly was bloated when he urged him to take a bath. He was surprised to find that this kid had eaten so much.

"Don't eat anymore. You've gained weight."

Dabao immediately retorted: "No way, how can I get fat!"

Song Chunlin gently pinched his belly: "Look, what are these? This is all big white fat. You are seven or eight years old now. Such a layer of fat on your belly is not very beautiful. Be obedient and eat less."

Dabao lowered his head suspiciously and looked at his white and tender belly. He could indeed pinch out a layer of flesh with his hands, but it was not as exaggerated as Song Chunlin said.

Well, Dabao is so cute, how could he be fat? The owner must be dissatisfied with him for eating too much, so he said that. The owner is so stingy, he will ignore the owner tomorrow.

Although they said so, the next day both sides forgot what they had said the day before. Dabao still ate and drank as usual, and basically accepted everything that people fed him, with a good appetite, which made all the girls and guys very happy.

Who can not love such a fat baby who eats everything with relish?

Huang Cuizhu even studies delicious pastries every day just to make Dabao happy and joyful when eating. Others tease her, saying that if she wants to feed a child, why doesn't she give birth to one herself.

Huang Cuizhu spat at the other person: "Dabao can be fed without giving birth, why should I go through that pain?"

Everyone dispersed with laughter. In fact, everyone knew that in their current condition, it was impossible for them to get married, let alone have a child of their own.

Cheng Qiao had been here for two days and had long been curious about these girls and boys. When he heard Huang Cuizhu say this, he became even more confused.

She walked over and started talking to Huang Cuizhu and the others. When she asked them why a group of girls and boys were living here, everyone's faces became visibly stiff.

When Cheng Qiao saw them like this, her heart skipped a beat and she knew she had said the wrong thing.

Huang Cuizhu was only embarrassed for a moment, but soon got over it. Anyway, she could find out everything about them by just asking around, and there was nothing to hide, so she told Cheng Qiao about her experience.

Upon learning that these people had the same experience as herself, Cheng Qiao's eyes immediately became red.

"To be honest with you sisters, I am actually the same as you. My father was the garrison general of Wanshan City. When the Turks attacked, he led the garrison and died at the city gate. After the city was captured, all of us girls with a little bit of beauty and our brothers were captured and locked up together by those barbarians. My mother was tortured to death by them, but I was lucky enough to survive. It was not until Master Song arrived with the Gu family army that we were saved from danger."

Huang Cuizhu didn't know that the woman in front of her was Madam Cheng from Wanshan. She thought she was just an ordinary woman. They had heard about Madam Cheng a long time ago. They had heard about how a woman like her could lead her subordinates to kill the barbarians. Now when they saw her, they realized that they were all miserable people, and they suddenly felt that the distance between them was closer.

Huang Cuizhu was the first to speak: "Let's not talk about the past anymore. We all have the same experience, so we should help each other. If Madam Cheng can't make it in Wanshan, just come to us. We welcome you at any time."

Song Chunlin was not aware of what was happening on Cheng Qiao's side. He was busy building the cellar. When he came out from underground, he found that Cheng Qiao had been perfectly integrated into Huang Cuizhu's big family.

Looking at the older sister talking about the younger sister, Song Chunlin felt deeply confused.

"Girls' friendships are really confusing."

The cellar has been half built, and the remaining half will probably take another half a month to complete. Fortunately, the speed of digging the pit is much faster than before. In order to accommodate the veterans who came from afar, Song Chunlin specially asked Fang Siyi to clean up two rooms to make room for them.

It is the beginning of summer now, and the weather is neither hot nor cold. It is not a problem for a group of men to sleep together, but it is a bit troublesome to prepare meals. Fang Siyi and his two uncles are simply unable to handle it.

After Huang Cuizhu became familiar with Cheng Qiao, she brought a few sisters to help, so that everyone could have meals on time every day.

The cellar was being dug in an orderly manner. Old Man Ding and Uncle Ding took some time out to go out and have the ordered materials transported over. Fortunately, the place here was wide enough, and a lot of materials were piled here, as spectacular as a small hill.

In addition to the materials for building the house, Song Chunlin also asked Old Man Ding to order a large number of wooden barrels. These barrels are used for making wine. Song Chunlin has been here for almost twenty days, and the day of departure is getting closer. He plans to settle most of the things first, and then take charge of the winemaking when the grape harvest comes next year.

Why next year and not this year? It’s because Song Chunlin is busy. If there were a plane now, he would like to go back and forth every day.

Inconvenient transportation is indeed a major drawback.

Song Chunlin saw that the prototype of the cellar was almost completed and planned to leave in two days.

Upon learning that Song Chunlin was leaving, the Fang family members were reluctant to let him go. Surprisingly, the person Fang Lanxin was most reluctant to let go was Dabao.

This made Song Chunlin feel very hurt.

"Xiao Lanxin, do you no longer like your brother? Why is Dabao the person you are most reluctant to part with?"

Fang Lanxin looked at Song Chunlin who was pretending to be sad, and shrank timidly behind Fang Siyi. She was young and gullible, so she was fooled by Song Chunlin's poor acting skills. She thought she had really made this older brother sad. She was at a loss for a long time, and finally hugged Song Chunlin's thighs, blinking her eyes and told him that she didn't dislike her older brother.

"Lan Xin likes big brother the most. Lan Xin doesn't miss big brother at all."

Seeing the little girl almost crying because of his teasing, Song Chunlin said in his heart: What a sin, how could I make such a cute girl cry?

So he could only resign himself to his fate and squat down to coax the little girl: "Big brother is not sad... Well, it is indeed a little sad. The next time I come, Xiao Lanxin will not remember me?"

"Yes, yes. Lan Xin will never forget big brother. Big brother is the best."

After getting the answer he wanted, Song Chunlin was satisfied and couldn't help but lower his head and give the little girl a big kiss on her fair cheek.

"Come over next time, Xiao Lanxin will be taller again. Oh, time flies so fast. When I first saw you, you were still a little ball."

Fang Siyi smiled and said, "The child has grown up very fast in the past few years. When the young master comes over next year, the girl will be almost nine years old, and she will be a big girl."

Fang Siyi's calculation was the same as that of most parents, which was based on the lunar age. In fact, the little girl had just turned six this year and would only be seven next year.

Song Chunlin let go of Fang Lanxin with a smile. Speaking of age, it seemed that Fang Chen and Fang Yi were already in their twenties. Song Chunlin curiously asked Fang Siyi, "Are they really not planning to get married? Have they not met the right person or what?"

Fang Siyi also had a headache about the marriages of her two sons. Perhaps because they were too disappointed with their biological father, the two children had no interest in getting married. In the past, the family was too poor and had to drag them down, but now that life had gotten better, the two children no longer had that idea.

"In fact, I don't ask them to marry into a wealthy family. I just hope that they can have someone who understands them for the rest of their lives, and preferably have a child. Don't you think that the reason we ordinary people live our whole lives is to have children to take care of us? Every time I mention this, they resist. Alas, they are already in their twenties. If they delay any longer, I'm afraid they won't even be able to become someone else's successor."

Song Chunlin looked at the two busy Fang brothers and thought, "Do they have anyone they like? It's impossible that they don't have anyone they like, right?"

Fang Siyi thought about it carefully and it seemed that there really were no men who were close to her two sons. If there were any, Lu Jiming and Wu Ke could barely be counted as two, but the way they interacted with each other in their daily lives did not seem like they were interested in each other.

So he could only shake his head regretfully: "I really didn't notice that. On weekdays, the two brothers are busy working in the fields. If they really are interesting people, I can't fail to see them."

Song Chunlin had nothing to say about this, and could only comfort Fang Siyi dryly: "It's okay, Uncle Fang, maybe it's not their destiny yet. Besides, what's wrong with being in their twenties? As long as someone is capable, there will still be a group of people asking for marriage in their thirties. Don't worry. With their current abilities, getting married is not the only way out."

Fang Siyi then thought about her miserable marriage and felt relieved.

"That's true. If they meet a jerk like their father, I might as well let them stay at home forever. It is said that men are afraid of choosing the wrong career, and girls are afraid of marrying the wrong man. Marrying the wrong man is worse than not marrying at all. Let them be. Even if they don't marry for the rest of their lives, they can stay at home for the rest of their lives. It's just right for them to stay at home with me. Once these children get married, I will be the only old man left at home. It will be lonely."