Chapter 10: Giving Fruit Trees Some Nutrient Solution

The next morning, they returned from Pingyuan County city.

Upon arriving home, Wang Yuelan was just cutting meat and vegetables, preparing lunch.

Mengmeng saw her grandma and hopped over, stretching out her small hands and shouting, “Grandma, hug me.”

But Wang Yuelan was cutting meat, her hands were all greasy, and she spread them out for her granddaughter to see: “Mengmeng, stay away from Grandma, or you’ll get it on you.”

“Oh!” Mengmeng stood there, half-understanding, scratching her head: “Grandma, what are you doing?”

“Grandma is cutting meat to treat the grandpas and uncles who are building our house to a meal, okay?” Wang Yuelan said.

Mengmeng clapped her small hands upon hearing this and shouted, “I want to eat too, I want to eat too.”

“Okay, later I’ll give Mengmeng the best meat to eat.” Wang Yuelan finished cutting a piece of pork belly and was ready to stop.

Cao Shujie came over and saw that there wasn’t much meat cut in the basin: “Mom, why did you only cut so little meat? Is that enough for anyone to eat?”

Cheng Xiaolin also added, “Mom, just cut more, we can buy more if it’s not enough.”

“What can I say about you two? We’re providing meals, and stewing a pot of vegetables with two or three catties of meat is already very good. Other families are lucky to put in one catty. Saving a bit is all money,” Wang Yuelan grumbled.

“Besides, pork is so expensive now, ten yuan a catty!”

Hearing her mother say this, Cao Shujie and Cheng Xiaolin stopped nagging her about it.

“Wife, you play with Mengmeng for a while first, I’m going to prepare something,” Cao Shujie said.

Cheng Xiaolin looked at the large and small bags he carried in and knew he was going to prepare that nutrient solution, so she didn’t bother him.

“You go get busy, I’ll take Mengmeng to walk around outside,” Cheng Xiaolin said straightforwardly.

Cao Shujie was busy for most of the day, but fortunately, everything went smoothly, and he finally got what he wanted.

Looking at the slightly turbid, yellowish liquid in the transparent glass bottle in his hand, Cao Shujie was very happy. This was one of the research achievements he often worked overtime and stayed up late for in his previous life.

Now, due to incomplete materials, it could only be called a semi-finished product, but it was sufficient for use.

And this thing had only one function: to increase nutrition for plants and promote their vigorous growth and better development.

It was like how people who lack calcium, iron, or zinc are prone to various problems due to malnutrition and need targeted supplementation; this nutrient solution has the same effect on plants.

“It’s too late today, I’ll go sprinkle it first thing tomorrow morning and see how it works,” Cao Shujie muttered.

As for the price of this thing, it wasn’t expensive, but if one didn’t have the formula or understand the mixing ratio, Cao Shujie was very confident that even if all the raw materials were given to others without any missing, others still wouldn’t be able to make the finished product.

Cao Shujie had been researching this area in his previous life; this was his painstaking masterpiece.

In this life, he had just compiled a project research plan and hadn’t even submitted it to the company before he resigned.

Cheng Xiaolin saw that her husband had finally appeared and was about to ask him what was going on, but as she got closer, she smelled a pungent odor on him and instinctively covered her nose, backing away two steps: “Husband, you smell so strong.”

It was like some people can’t stand stinky tofu; they have to avoid it even if there’s just a slight smell.

Cao Shujie didn’t mind, he said, “I’ll go change my clothes, this will wash right off.”

But Mengmeng didn’t care about anything else; she hadn’t seen her dad for most of the day, and when she saw him suddenly appear, she directly shouted “Oh oh” and rushed towards him.

Cao Shujie was afraid she would fall, so he quickly squatted down and hugged her, but at that moment, Mengmeng also raised her small hands and covered her nose: “Daddy stinks.”

“Haha!” Cao Shujie laughed for a while and then put her down.

“I’ll go change my clothes,” he said.

…

In the evening, after their daughter Mengmeng fell asleep, Cheng Xiaolin held the yellowish bottle of nutrient solution with residue at the bottom and asked her husband, “Is this the nutrient solution you mentioned? Does it work?”

“Wife, I researched this day and night, risking my life; it definitely works,” Cao Shujie joked.

He said, “I’ll go spray it tomorrow morning, you don’t need to go, just rest at home with Mengmeng.”

Cheng Xiaolin gave him a roll of her eyes: “Do you think Mengmeng can sit still?”

“Besides, how tiring would it be for you to do it alone? I’ll go help you tomorrow too, we can take turns, and it’ll be faster.”

Hearing his wife say that, Cao Shujie felt a faint sense of satisfaction in his heart.

To have such a wife, what more could a husband ask for!

By now, it was very dark, and the wind outside was howling, sounding particularly harsh.

The wind continued to blow until late into the night before it stopped. By then, Cao Shujie and his family of three were fast asleep.

On the morning of the 21st, the temperature was slightly cool.

The large locust tree in the yard had sprouted new tender green leaves again. In a few more days, the locust flowers would bloom, which were truly delicious when used to make dumplings or fried eggs!

In Cao Shujie’s memory, when he was little, his parents planted this locust tree at home. Back then, its trunk could be held in one hand, but now it takes two hands to encircle it.

Twenty years had passed in the blink of an eye.

His mother, Wang Yuelan, got up to make breakfast again. Cao Shujie told her there was no need to make it so early, but she didn’t listen. After decades of a biological clock, if she didn’t cook at this time, it felt as if all the day’s tasks would be delayed.

His father, Cao Jianguo, came out of the house and saw his son looking at the locust tree in the yard. He said, “Shujie, the house has been demolished. I told Grandpa Zheng Gang to save all the usable bricks, and the rest were all hauled away by truck to fill the big pit. That can save us about a thousand yuan.”

Cao Shujie was surprised by how quickly they acted: “Dad, how was it so fast?”

“It’s all machinery and equipment. The excavator drives over, and the truck is full in a few scoops. How could it not be fast?” Cao Jianguo said.

Thinking about it carefully, it was indeed true.

“Your two-story house is a bit troublesome, but the temperature will get higher later, so it will dry faster, and it can be finished in a little over two months,” Cao Jianguo told his son.

Cao Shujie was not in a hurry: “Dad, it’s okay, take your time with that. There’s still decoration later, which will also take some effort.”

Cao Jianguo was puzzled and said to his son, “Do you really want to decorate it like a multi-story building? How much more money will that cost? In our hometown, we don’t pay attention to such things. Is it really necessary?”

“Dad, you don’t understand this. If we’re going to live there, we should live comfortably. It’s not like we can’t earn this money, why should we make ourselves uncomfortable?” Cao Shujie shook his head and said.

He disagreed with his father’s view; this was a difference in cognition between two generations, and there was no possibility of one convincing the other.

Cao Jianguo heard his son say this and knew there was no point in continuing the discussion, thinking he should just let him do his own thing, as long as he didn’t ask for money.

Around eight o’clock, the temperature was just right. After having breakfast at home, Cao Shujie rode his electric tricycle, carrying two buckets of water, a cleaned spray tank, and took his wife and daughter to the foot of the mountain.

Upon arriving, Cao Shujie discovered a problem: the path up the mountain was a bit narrow and not easy to walk. He couldn’t ride the tricycle up, so he could only carry things on his back, which was going to be tough.

He muttered, “There’s really a lot to do.”

“Husband, what’s wrong?” Cheng Xiaolin didn’t hear clearly and asked.

Cao Shujie shook his head, pointing to the small path, and said, “Next, I plan to find someone to repair this road, otherwise it will be quite troublesome later.”

“Husband, are you planning to pull these fruits out to sell during the autumn harvest?” Cheng Xiaolin asked him.

Hearing his wife ask this, Cao Shujie immediately shook his head: “How could that be? How much money could we make that way?”

(End of this chapter)