Chapter 188: Chapter 104: Tree-Planting Activity in a Different Space-Time

That afternoon, Zheng Changhe indeed returned with a good haul of toon shoots. He arrived just as Liu Xiaomei was delivering some dried chilies and chili powder, so he gave her more than half to take back to the village and share with the little girls from earlier that day.

That evening, Juhua scrambled two eggs with the toon shoots and blanched some in boiling water for a cold salad. The shoots were wonderfully fragrant. Being freshly picked, they had a unique, tender, and crisp flavor. Even after the meal was finished, a fresh scent lingered in her mouth.

Qingmu remarked, “Grandma used to pickle these, and they were delicious too.”

Juhua quickly asked, “How did she pickle them?”

Qingmu and Zheng Changhe exchanged blank looks. ’How did she pickle them? You just add salt!’

Seeing their expressions, Juhua knew it was useless to ask. “These tender shoots are best eaten fresh anyway,” she said. “We barely have enough as it is. There’s none left over to pickle.”

Zheng Changhe said, “Li the carpenter has a tree in his backyard. When I go up the mountain to gather bamboo shoots, I’ll look for a small seedling, dig it up, and plant it by our front door. Once it’s grown, we’ll have plenty to eat, and it’ll save us the trouble of trekking up the mountain.”

Speaking of planting trees, Juhua thought of something else. “Dad,” she said to him, “you should try to find some small willow trees, dig them up, and plant them by the river. It gets so hot and sunny doing laundry in this weather. It would be great to have a tree for shade. How come we never thought of planting trees by the river before?”

“There used to be,” Zheng Changhe said. “They were washed away in the big flood that year, and we just never got around to replanting. I’ll go stick some willow cuttings in the ground later. They’re easy to grow.”

“They’ll grow too slowly that way,” Juhua said. “If you dig up a few small, half-grown trees, they’ll provide shade by next year.”

Qingmu chimed in, “Ah, that’s a great idea. We can find some suitable ones first, and when I’m back for my school break, we can dig them up with their root balls and transplant them. We should plant a few—a whole row along the riverbank would look nice.”

Mrs. Yang said, “You two just focus on planting the bigger ones where Juhua does her laundry. For the rest of the spots, just stick in some willow cuttings and let them grow on their own. And Father, didn’t the village chief say something about planting acorn trees? Did he say when?”

“It’ll be in the next few days,” Zheng Changhe replied. “It’s a good time for planting. The trees should take root easily.”

The next evening, Qingmu and Zheng Changhe found some half-grown willow trees near the village. They dug them up with the earth still clinging to their roots, carried them over, and planted them near the stone slab where Juhua did her laundry. They planted three trees in total and also stuck numerous willow cuttings into the riverbank.

As Juhua watched her dad and brother busy themselves digging holes and planting the trees, she picked water celery nearby. When a few little ducklings saw her arrive, they didn’t scatter. Instead, they swam right over, quacking at her. Juhua fed them every day, so they had grown familiar with her.

The ducklings had shed their first layer of downy fluff, and a few stiff pinfeathers were emerging on the tips of their tails and wings. They floated leisurely on the water, occasionally diving into the reeds by the bank. It was impossible to tell if their flat beaks had snatched a shrimp, a fish, or an insect, but they certainly looked delighted. Their “QUACK QUACK” was still soft and high-pitched, not at all like the harsh call of a full-grown duck!

After picking a good amount of water celery, she noticed that plenty of sweet flag had sprouted as well. Its leaves were flat and straight, like green swords. For the Dragon Boat Festival, villagers would gather sweet flag and mugwort to hang by their doors—a local custom to ward off evil spirits.

She washed the water celery, laid it on the bluestone slab, and went over to help her dad hold a tree steady while Qingmu and Zheng Changhe shoveled dirt back into the hole.

Seeing that his sister had picked more water celery, Qingmu smiled at her and said, “That stuff tastes pretty good. It’s got a nice, fresh fragrance.”

Zheng Changhe swung his iron shovel with effort as he spoke. “All these things are edible. A lot of wild vegetables taste even better than the ones we plant. You just don’t pay them much mind when you have other food. But if a family were truly poor, they’d be out searching everywhere for them—in the mountains, in the water, picking whatever they could find. When I was a boy, your grandma was an expert at cooking up these wild plants for me. Back then, the County Magistrate here in Qinghui County was a real scoundrel. No matter how much of our harvest we sold, it was never enough to cover the taxes. Times were tough. If we didn’t eat these things, what else was there to eat?”

“We’ve been able to live a more peaceful life these last few years,” Qingmu said.

Juhua knew he was referring to the fact that the current County Magistrate was a good official. She sighed. ’This place is so picturesque, and the villagers are hardworking and honest,’ she thought. ’They shouldn’t have to be so poor. But if they run into a corrupt official, that’s another story entirely. In the face of officials, these common folk are completely powerless to resist.’

After the trees were planted, Zheng Changhe straightened up and laughed. “By next year, we’ll have a nice patch of shade here. Your brother buried a load of manure at the bottom of these holes. Once the roots take hold, that fertilizer will kick in, and these trees will shoot right up.”

Juhua saw that Qingmu had treated the willows the same way one would a peach, apricot, or plum tree. She smiled and asked, “Brother, who told you to bury manure under the trees?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep