Chapter 132: Mutual Help
Editor: Atlas Studios
Liu Ting also could not help but smile when he heard that. He handed the plow in his hand to his cousin, Liu Yuan, and said, “I’ll go over and help.”
Liu Daqian frowned slightly, but Liu Erqian had already waved his hand and said, “Go, go.”
Liu Ting walked over and took the iron plow from Madam Liu-Ma’s hand. “Let me do it. You go and plant the seeds.”
Madam Liu-Ma rubbed her hands awkwardly and looked at Mu Yangling. Smiling, the latter said, “Aunt, quickly go and plant the seeds. Let Uncle Ting help.”
Only then did Madam Liu-Ma stop planting. Initially, since Mu Yangling was not coming, she could only use the hoe to slowly start planting. With Mu Yangling pulling a plow, her speed increased by more than three times. Now that she had Liu Ting’s help, it was even faster.
Mu Yangling walked at a moderate pace as she pulled the iron plow. Liu Ting spoke to her as he held the plow. “Have you finished planting your land?”
“No, there’s still four acres left.”
Liu Ting widened his eyes in surprise. “There are only four acres left from 180 acres? Your family is quite fast.”
Mu Yangling smiled awkwardly. “Uncle Ting, my family is only planting the high-grade and medium-grade land. We’re not planting the low-grade land.”
Liu Ting thought about the ratio of the three lands and nodded. “That’s not bad still. As long as it’s planted well and the heavens give us face, we should have a huge harvest in autumn.”
Knowing that Liu Ting had misunderstood, Mu Yangling chuckled and said in a low voice, “My family’s low-grade land spans 97 acres.”
“…” Liu Ting said with a dark expression, “You’re only planting 83 acres?”
Mu Yangling nodded.
“This is too wasteful. Since it’s still early, you should plant more land. It’s not like you don’t have seeds.” Thinking of the wasted land, Liu Ting’s heart ached.
Mu Yangling hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Alright, I’ll take a look later. If there’s still enough time, we’ll try our best to plant more.”
At the thought that only Mu Yangling and his aunt could work in the Mu family, Liu Ting couldn’t help but sigh and stop talking.
The two of them worked even faster now that they had stopped talking. After half a morning, they had left Madam Liu-Ma far behind.
Mu Yangling was not tired yet, but Liu Ting, who was holding the plow, had already lost his strength. Mu Yangling stopped what she was doing and waved at Liu Ting. “Uncle Ting, let’s rest.”
Liu Ting let go of the iron plow and nodded in agreement.
Mu Yangling turned around to look at the plowed gullies and compared them with her fingers. She realized that the gullies plowed by Liu Ting were slightly larger than the ones her great-aunt had taught her.
When Liu Ting saw her gesturing, he walked over and squatted beside her. “By making it a little bigger, the wheat will be stronger and the wheat ears will be longer.” Liu Ting swiped the soil on the ground and said in a low voice, “I came to this conclusion after farming for more than ten years. Unfortunately, other than your Uncle Zhuang and Uncle Xuan, your great-uncle and the rest don’t believe me. They don’t even ask me to plow now.”
Mu Yangling said in surprise, “Isn’t the result obvious after planting it for a year?”
Liu Ting smiled bitterly. “If we expand the gully, the number of wheat seeds we plant will decrease. Who knows if the wheat harvested will be enough to make up for that?”
Mu Yangling fell silent. After a while, she said, “That’s not difficult. Can’t you just plant using one method in one year and the other method in another year, then compare the gains?”
Liu Ting patted her head in amusement and said, “It’s not that simple. The climate differs from year to year, making the harvest unstable. How can we compare?”
“Uncle, why don’t you choose a piece of land and split it into two parts? You can plant each part each way. This way, the climate, fertility of soil, fertilizer and weeding will be the same. Won’t you know which method is better when you harvest the crops in autumn?”
Liu Ting fell into deep thought, and his eyes gradually lit up. He lowered his voice and said excitedly, “This is a good idea. I’ll tell your great-uncle later. Actually, I’ve secretly tried it with your Uncle Xuan and the rest in the past. I keep feeling that this method of mine will yield more…”
Mu Yangling was all smiles. “Uncle, give it a try. Let me know when the results are out. I’ll do the same next year.”
Liu Ting nodded.
Mu Yangling saw that on Liu Daqian’s side, Liu Yuan was pulling a plow from time to time, while Liu Erqian was holding the plow. Liu Daqian and her aunts were planting together. As they had to rest from time to time when pulling a plow, they did not plow enough. Madam Liu-Zhang and the others would sometimes go up to replace Liu Yuan.
Mu Yangling threw away the soil in her hand and ran over. She took the rope from Liu Yuan’s shoulder and said, “Let me do it. Uncle Yuan, take a rest.”
Liu Yuan grabbed the rope tightly. “How can you do that when you just finished pulling the plow? You ought to take a rest.”
“Sigh, pulling a plow is like putting a rope on my shoulder. It’s not at all tiring for me. Uncle Yuan, rest.” She raised her voice and said to Madam Liu-Zhang, “Aunt, I came over to help Cousin Li. Now that I’m helping your family to pull the plow, you have to help Cousin Li’s family plant seeds and replace my uncle.”
When Madam Liu-Zhang heard this, she smiled and said heartily, “Sure, I’ll go replace him now to prevent him from slacking off over there.”
Smiling, Madam Liu-Zhao said, “Ah Ling, you saw that your Aunt Ting1 was fast so you specially asked her to help Cousin Li, right? What kind of bewitching potion did your Cousin Li feed you for you to dote on him so much? Tell me, so that I can learn it to let you help my family.”
Eldest Great-aunt Liu glared at her second daughter-in-law and said, “If you don’t know how to speak, just keep quiet. No one will think that you’re mute.”
Madam Liu-Zhao choked. Liu Yuan’s wife hurriedly said, “I want to learn too. Ah Ling, come home with Aunt during lunch later so that we can become closer.”
Mu Yangling agreed immediately. “Sure, I’ll be sure to eat a lot if you’re cooking. You have to cook a lot.”
“There’s definitely enough food for you.”
Only then did the atmosphere improve.
Mu Yangling did not feel tired when pulling a plow, and her speed was well-proportioned. On the other hand, the person holding the plow had to be replaced continuously. This way, after two hours, Mu Yangling was far ahead of the people planting the seeds. The gully she created would be enough for them to plant until the afternoon.
Only then did Mu Yangling throw away the plow and run back to plant the seeds with Madam Liu-Ma.
When Madam Liu-Zhang saw her coming over, she didn’t go back. The three of them worked in Liu Li’s field. When they were almost done planting the crops on the land that Mu Yangling had plowed today, Mu Yangling wanted to use the ‘double-sided rake’ to cover the seeds with soil. Seeing this, Madam Liu-Ma quickly pulled her back. “Good child, it’s already half-past noon. Let’s not cover the soil first. Let’s go back and eat before coming back. At least rest for a while.”
Mu Yangling replied with a smile, “Aunt, I’ll finish planting the plowed land. You can go back and cook first. I’ll go back after covering the seeds with soil. Otherwise, if the wheat seeds are sunbathed like this and the moisture in the soil dries up, it will definitely not be easy to germinate.” Then, she lowered her voice and said, “I brought a fish and left it in the kitchen. Aunt, go back and cook first. I’m fast and will be done soon.”
Madam Liu-Ma hesitated for a moment before agreeing.
Mu Yangling’s planting speed was not as fast as theirs, but no one could compare to her speed of pulling a plow and pulling a rake. It was very stable, and the land plowed was of even depth. Madam Liu-Ma could not help but feel envious and jealous when she saw this. She felt that it would be great if this was her daughter or son.