Chapter 87: Chapter 85: Sprouting Wheat

However, just to be honest, she really didn’t want to get involved with the captain’s family. She was familiar with the captain, but with his family, not so much.

During the New Year, people want to reunite, having an outsider like her would make things awkward.

But the Xiao Family…

Not to brag, but she was already well-acquainted.

“Yeah,” Wen Ran blinked and said with a smile, “Uncle, I already agreed with Aunt Xiao that I’ll spend New Year at the Xiao Family’s place.”

Seeing that the situation was developing as expected, Xiao Chenye breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately puffed up like a victorious rooster, “Did you hear that, Uncle!”

The captain: “…”

He was so angry that he gritted his teeth, lifted his tobacco pipe, and gave a light but firm knock on Xiao Chenye’s head, “So impudent.”

Xiao Chenye held his head, “Ouch~ You’re just mad you couldn’t win against our house!”

The captain was now truly embarrassed and angry, scaring Xiao Chenye and Wen Ran into running away.

The tobacco pipe hitting the head could be quite painful.

The two of them ran ahead, full of youthful energy, while the captain laughed following behind, thinking how nice it was to be young.

His gaze passed through Xiao Chenye and Wen Ran, as if he was seeing himself in his younger years.

He sighed softly, lamenting, “Time really spares no one.”

In the blink of an eye, he had become an old man.

Hmm~ This year’s harvest was good. After going back, let the wife get some face cream or something, smear it on. Didn’t have this luxury when young, but it’s not too late to make it up now.

Thinking of his wife’s joy at receiving a gift, the captain’s eyes narrowed with happiness.

The journey was quite smooth. The captain’s worries the entire way were useless, making Wen Ran even happier.

The pigs squealed, which meant she didn’t have to collect pigweed for one thing, and for another, she gained ten work points without doing anything, just wandering around the whole day.

Hahaha~

Made a big profit.

We’re just small folks, a little thing can make us happy all day long.

The captain was also thrilled, clutching the money and items. Then looking at the pigs that the pig farm didn’t want, he waved his big hand, “Everyone, the Silly Deer Team has worked hard all year!”

His face got red, his voice almost broke, “When we get back in the afternoon, let’s cook oil and stew pork! Let’s have a good New Year too!”

“Oh oh oh~”

The scene quickly got out of control, and the young lads who came along instantly turned into monkeys from Emei Mountain, howling.

When some are joyful, there are those who are sad.

The captain looked at the crowd beside him with red eyes, feeling inexplicably distressed.

The harvest of one year, just like that…

Turned into bubbles.

Wen Ran frowned and went over to take a look.

Rained on and poorly stored, many had sprouted, even those that didn’t had black mold spots, and if handed over, surely they would be rejected.

“Boohoohoo, I deserve to die, I’m sorry to the villagers, it’s all my fault, if it weren’t for my carelessness, this year we…”

The man’s exhaustion was visible to the naked eye, his eyes filled with despair.

He really wished he could just die.

“It’s all your fault!”

A voice of resentment rose in the crowd, thinking of the coming winter and their unattained grain supplies, their hearts sank into despair.

No grain, how can the days go on?

They didn’t know.

Even if adults could endure, what about the children?

“I’ll pay with my life!”

“Pay with your life for what?” The captain of the Antelope Team gave a bitter smile, “Even if you die, we would still have to starve, the same.”

He wasn’t one to blame others or heaven; it had reached this point, they could only think of ways to salvage and mitigate the losses.

If it couldn’t be saved, they’d think of ways to hoard more grain, every household had relatives, borrow a bit; as long as they didn’t starve, get through this cold winter, within two or three years, things would surely turn around.

As long as people were alive, there was hope, as for hardship…

Who wasn’t raised from a pool of hardship?

“So just let him off like this?”

“Enough!” The captain of the Antelope Team was already annoyed, now even more irritable, “Yes, it was indeed poor supervision from him, and then?

You push him to death? What should be done now is to find a way, blaming alone, if you push someone to die, would that not make you hungry?”

The weather was like a child’s mood, changing at a whim.

One moment it was a clear sky, the next a strong wind blew, and raindrops poured down like there was no cost.

He was responsible, but not guilty to death.

“Did their best.”

What the captain of the Antelope Team said was fair, and everyone accepted it, falling silent.

Wen Ran looked at the malt and seemed lost in thought.

Xiao Chenye saw this, and his heart felt clogged, for those who made a living from the earth, he could empathize.

“Let’s go.”

Wen Ran shook her head, refusing, “Wait a moment.”

The Antelope Team members, besides being depressed, only the captain was left there, frowning and thinking.

“Wait a minute,” Wen Ran thought for a moment, finally unable to get past her conscience, spoke up, “How much sprouted wheat do you have?

What are you planning to do with the wheat?”

Upon seeing Wen Ran, the Antelope Team immediately focused all their attention on her.

The captain of Antelope Team saw that Wen Ran was pretty, with delicate skin, especially the way she dressed, her whole demeanor didn’t look like someone who worked the field for a living.

He thought she was a cadre from the commune, hurriedly, “Even if sprouted, we can’t just throw it away, our team still raises a lot of chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs, use it as concentrate feed to feed them.”

Sprouted wheat was indeed tender.

If squeezed, green juice would stain your hands, when brought close to the nose, all you could smell was a fresh fragrance.

Watching them eat happily made the captain’s heart feel like it was being cut by a knife.

Wen Ran was dumbfounded, “Already fed?”

“Ah? Not yet,” the captain of the Antelope Team was also honest and simple, “didn’t bear to, thinking to wait until they grow a bit more to feed.”

Wen Ran: “…”

This way of thinking was really something.

“If there aren’t wheat seedlings, will the chickens and ducks starve?”

“No, there’s feed available.”

Then it’s settled.

Wen Ran felt that her method could be tried boldly, “I have a method, it can lessen some of your losses, it’s just whether you want to try it or not.”

“What?!”

Once these words came out, everyone was shocked, the captain of the Antelope Team was so excited he almost wanted to kneel to Wen Ran, “What, what method is it?”

“First of all, it might not work, and it’s very labor-intensive. Do you want to try it?”

“Yes! Willing!”

It was just a bit of effort, even if it didn’t work out, the losses had already occurred, nothing else mattered.

“Turn the sprouted wheat into maltose,” Wen Ran had made it with the orphanage mother when she was in the orphanage, “Oh, by the way, do you have glutinous rice?”

“Yes! My family harvested over thirty pounds this year.”

“My family has some too.”

Hearing this, there was a resounding response.

If they had this thing, then it would be easier.

“Making maltose requires a lot of glutinous rice, but at the same time, the price is a bit higher, balancing the two, it should recoup some of your losses.”

Comparatively, sugar was more valuable.

The best ratio of glutinous rice to wheat seedlings was 10:1, though 5:1 could work too, but the temperature must be watched carefully, a slight overheat, and it’s a bust.

The captain of the Antelope Team was full of gratitude, “Excuse me, which leader are you? We don’t know how to make maltose, this…”

“What leader?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep