Chapter 204: Chapter 112: Digging a Pond to Plant Lotus Roots and Raise Fish

Juhua thought digging a pond would be a great idea. She could raise all sorts of things in it. She nodded happily and said, “Dad, you have to remember now!”

Qingmu smiled. “If Dad forgets, I’ll remember. We can dig it bigger, turn it into a small pond, and raise some lotus roots, water bamboo shoots, and fish. It’ll bring in some extra income. And when we’re working, we’ll be able to look over and see a pond full of lotus leaves, and then lotus flowers blooming. Wouldn’t that be beautiful? It would also make watering more convenient. If there’s a real drought, this little ditch won’t be enough for such a large plot of land.”

Just as they were speaking, Zhang Dashuan, his wife, and Zhang Huai came over, carrying hoes on their shoulders. In her hand, Mrs. He held two strings of crucian carp, their gills threaded with willow twigs. Their silvery-black scales shimmered in the sunlight, and their tails flapped and thrashed about—they were incredibly fresh.

Zheng Changhe and Mrs. Yang quickly invited them to sit down, asking why they were heading home so early.

As he walked toward the shade of the locust tree, Zhang Dashuan said, “We don’t have much land, you see. His mother and I finished weeding our fields in just a few days. We wish we had a few more acres to weed, but we don’t. It’s not like you—you bought some land last year, so you’re busier than usual this year. I’ve been thinking we should also start buying a bit, an acre or two at a time. We’ll save up slowly. You can’t get fat from one bite, after all.”

He remained standing, fanning himself constantly with his straw hat as he spoke to Zheng Changhe.

Zheng Changhe comforted him, “What’s the rush? If your pigs do well this year, won’t you be able to buy several acres of land? Once you have the land, you can plant more sweet potatoes next year and raise a couple more pigs. Then you can buy even more land the year after. Isn’t that a fast way to save up?”

Hearing this, Zhang Dashuan let out a hearty laugh. “Your words are a comfort to my heart! I feel full of energy now. Alright, we won’t keep you from your work. Huai Zi, since we’re done with our fields anyway, why don’t you help Uncle Zheng for the rest of the morning? Your mother and I will head back first.” With that, he plopped his straw hat on his head, shouldered his hoe, and left.

Zhang Huai was talking with Qingmu and Juhua, and he nodded upon hearing his father’s words.

Mrs. Yang smiled. “Oh, how can we do that? Even if the work in your dry fields is done, isn’t it time for work in the paddy fields? Doesn’t Huai Zi have to weed the rice seedlings?”

After transplanting rice, weeds would also grow in the paddy. You couldn’t use a hoe on them, so you had to use a narrow seedling rake, pushing it back and forth between the rows of seedlings to scrape the weeds up by the roots, letting them float to the surface of the water.

Mrs. He smiled. “We still have to wait a few days. I don’t think the seedlings’ roots are firm enough yet. If we weed now, I’m afraid we’ll knock the seedlings over.”

Only then did Mrs. Yang stop declining. The two families often helped each other out, so it wasn’t a big deal.

Mrs. He separated one of the strings of fish and handed it to Juhua with a smile. “Huai Zi caught these in the ditch when they released water from Jing Lake. A couple of grass carp got out too, but Huai Zi caught them and put them back. We kept these crucian carp for a nice meal.”

An idea sparked in Juhua’s mind. She quickly accepted the fish, thanked her, and said she would put them in the ditch to raise. She wished Zheng Changhe would dig the ditch into a pond right away so she could raise fish and plant lotus roots.

Hearing this, Zhang Huai said urgently, “Then you’d better put them in the water quickly, or they’ll die!” With that, he and Qingmu went with Juhua to release the fish.

As it turned out, the fish had been out of the water for a while and had their gills pierced. Only two of the larger ones were still alive and thrashing, having endured the ordeal. The smaller ones didn’t make it, so they only released the two big ones.

Zhang Huai saw that the ditch was deep and wide—over five feet across—but it was still just a ditch. He asked Qingmu, “You want to raise fish? Then why not dig this out into a pond? This land next to it is yours, anyway.”

Qingmu smiled. “That’s exactly what we want to do. We were just talking about it. When you have time, you can come help us dig. We’ll give you some lotus roots to eat once we plant them. And we’re definitely going to raise fish.”

Under the sun, a fine layer of sweat beaded on the tip of Zhang Huai’s nose, and a reddish flush bloomed on his tanned cheeks. Seeing Juhua also looking at the ditch with anticipation, he smiled. “I’ll come help dig when I’m free. It’ll go quickly.”

Juhua said regretfully, “It’s too late for this year, though. We won’t have time to dig until after the autumn harvest, so we can’t plant lotus roots or raise fish until next year. We didn’t think of it sooner. Otherwise, we could have dug it when we were clearing the land. The lotus leaves would probably be growing by now.”

Qingmu laughed. “Back then, I was only thinking about digging it wider for better drainage. The thought of making a pond never crossed my mind. If I had, with all the people who came to help, wouldn’t it have been dug in no time?”

Zhang Huai thought for a moment and said, “If you want to plant lotus roots, the pond can’t be too deep, or it’ll be a hassle to harvest them in the fall. If we don’t dig it too deep, we could get the basic shape done today. Then you and Uncle Zheng could work on it in the mornings and evenings, and it would be finished in a couple of days.”

Qingmu considered it. That could work.

Juhua was ecstatic when she heard this and quickly urged them on. “Let’s dig it, then! We only planted some soybeans here, we can just move them over there. Having a pond also means one less plot of land to farm, which will save us some tiring work.”

Seeing her so fired up, Qingmu and Zhang Huai couldn’t help but laugh.

Qingmu said to her, “Go talk to Dad and see if he agrees.”

Juhua thought about how her dad had always doted on her and agreed to anything she wanted. She said confidently, “Dad will definitely agree. It’s no big deal to skip one day of weeding.”

Seeing how happy she was, Zhang Huai told her, “Once it’s dug, I’ll help you find some lotus root starters. The sprouts are just coming up now, so there’s still time.”

Juhua was overjoyed and eagerly asked him to be sure to get some.

Qingmu asked in surprise, “Even though people don’t really cultivate them seriously, they can’t just let you go into their ponds to dig up lotus roots. Where are you going to find them?”

Zhang Huai smiled. “Naturally, I’ll go to someone who will let me dig in their pond—my uncle has a small one. He even gave you some lotus roots once, remember? But his pond is small, so I probably can’t dig up too many. I have to make sure to leave him enough to regrow.”

Qingmu nodded, saying he remembered now.

Juhua excitedly ran to tell Zheng Changhe about digging a fish pond. As expected, he had no objections. Mrs. Yang, however, felt they were neglecting proper work to dig some fish pond.

Juhua reasoned with her, “Mom, isn’t the whole point of farming this land to get a bigger harvest? But if we turn this land into a pond, I guarantee you won’t lose out. Never mind anything else, the lotus roots, the fish, the loaches… all of it together would definitely sell for more money than the soybeans. We can make a bet if you don’t believe me.”

Seeing her daughter so insistent, Mrs. Yang couldn’t help but smile. “You silly girl, who wants to make a bet with you? I was just saying. It’s not like I’m forbidding you from digging. Since you’re so keen on this, go on and dig it so you can raise your things. Hmm, I suppose you’ll be able to manage it well.”

Juhua grinned. “Of course I can manage it well. You just watch!”

And so, everyone got to work. Mrs. Yang and Juhua went home to get bamboo baskets, carrying poles, and other tools so the men could haul away the earth.

Juhua saw that Zhang Huai was bareheaded, his face beaded with sweat under the sun. She quickly said to him, “Brother Huai Zi, I brought a straw hat for you. Put it on, or you’ll get a headache from the sun.”

A sweet feeling filled Zhang Huai’s heart. He smiled as he took the hat and put it on. After a moment’s thought, he said to her, “Don’t bother with stir-frying for lunch. It’s too much trouble. Just make a pot of pickled vegetables. It’s easier and faster. It gets so hot cooking on a day like this.”

Juhua laughed. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. Make a pot of pickled vegetables with some meat to save time. I still have to help Mom transplant these soybeans over there.”

Zhang Huai glanced up at the sun. Although he really wanted her to stay and talk with him, he felt that she wasn’t used to working in the fields, and it would be hard on her to be out in the sun like this. He said to her, “Your brother and I can transplant the soybeans with the soil around their roots. We’ll be done in no time. You should hurry back inside. The sun is pretty harsh. Or you could go sit under that tree and rest while you watch us.”

Qingmu walked over. “Exactly! You’d just be in the way here. You can’t really help, and you’ll just end up getting heatstroke and feeling miserable. You’re better off sitting under the tree and watching us dig.”

Hearing that both of them didn’t want her to work, Juhua felt touched. Still, she said, “Then I’ll just watch from here and help by passing you things or bringing you water. I’ll head home in a little while.”

Qingmu took off his outer shirt and handed it to her. “That’s more like it. Take this over to the tree. Digging is hard work; one layer is enough.”

Zhang Huai nodded, quickly taking off his own outer shirt and handing it to Juhua as well. He watched her run joyfully across the field. ’She must really want this fish pond,’ he thought. ’I’m glad I could finally help her with something that makes her this happy.’

As he dug, Zheng Changhe said to Qingmu and Zhang Huai, “Once this is dug and we’ve channeled the water in, we can go net some fish from the Little Qing River to stock it. We’ll cast the nets every morning and evening and build up the stock slowly. By the end of the year, we should be able to harvest some fish from this pond. Heh, and they’ll be all ours.”

Zhang Huai said thoughtfully, “I don’t think it’s good for our village’s fish to just rely on nature. The water bamboo shoots only grow for a few months, and some ponds don’t even have those. If we regularly cut some grass and throw it into the ponds, the fish will surely be much bigger by the time we harvest at the end of the year. Isn’t that more reliable than just leaving it to chance? It doesn’t even take much effort.”

Juhua happened to walk over just in time to hear him. ’He’s pretty sharp to have thought of that,’ she mused, then praised him with a smile, “Brother Huai Zi, that’s a great idea. You should go tell the village head. If we feed the fish regularly, we’ll definitely harvest a lot more at the end of the year than we did last year.”

Seeing that Juhua also approved, Zhang Huai’s cheeks flushed with delight. He looked at her expectantly and asked, “Is it really a good idea? Should I go tell the village head, then?”

Juhua said with certainty, “Of course it is. You have to feed chickens and ducks for them to lay eggs. If you feed the fish, won’t they grow faster? In past years, they’ve just been left to grow on their own, so naturally, they grow more slowly.”

Zhang Huai and Qingmu looked at each other and smiled.

Qingmu found it rather amusing to see the boy beaming, his face flushed and his eyes shining. ’He gets this happy from a single compliment from Juhua?’

Zheng Changhe said, “If you have an idea, you should tell the village head. As long as it’s truly good for the village, he’ll definitely listen. He’s much more knowledgeable than we are.”

Juhua immediately agreed. “Exactly. Everyone in our village is hardworking. If we just use our heads a little more, maybe our harvests will be better than in previous years. We can’t just rely on farming a few acres of land.” (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian.com to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep