LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 38: Wanting the Orchard
“Danhong, are you going to the back mountain again?”
An aunt in the village asked her with a grin after seeing her carrying a watering can and had brought two dogs.
“Mhm, I'm going to have a look.” Su Danhong smiled.
“I heard that all the saplings in the back mountain are growing now. You are really lucky. If this orchard is ready in the future, you will be prosperous. When that time comes, you should help out Aunt Lu and let Aunt Lu make a small fortune with you!” Aunt Lu laughed.
“I see what Aunt Lu is saying. But as you can see, I hire people to do the work. If you rely on me to take a watering can to do some watering every day, then how is that useful?” Su Danhong smiled.
She also saw that Aunt Lu wanted to plant an orchard when she saw how her orchard on the back mountain was growing slowly. Thus, she pushed the responsibility of the orchard’s growth onto Xu Aidang and Ji Hongjun, who did not slack off in their work. As for herself, she didn't know what was going on while the fruit saplings grew.
After some time had passed, the saplings had grown green leaves. Basically, if there were no incidents, then it could be regarded as growing.
Father Ji and Mother Ji liked to walk to the back mountain every day. If they had nothing to do, they would take some fertilizer over. With regards to these matters, Danhong did not refuse it.
After saying goodbye to Aunt Lu, Su Danhong went up the mountain with Da Hei and Xiao Bai.
“How is it? Did she tell mother the secret to growing the saplings?” Aunt Lu’s daughter-in-law asked when she came home.“She said there was no secret,” Aunt Lu replied.
“No secret?” Her daughter-in-law’s face was full of doubt. “How can there be no secret? That old couple in the Ji family could not grow anything in that wasteland. But when it became hers, the things she planted would grow. How is it possible without a secret?”
“That’s not what was said. There was nothing else besides just planting the saplings. What other secret do you want? Isn't it just watering and fertilizing? I think you shouldn’t let your imagination run wild from reality. The most important point is that she hired Xu Aidang and Ji Hongjun to water the saplings every day,” Aunt Lu said.
“Is that it? Mother, it's not like you didn’t know that those two in the Lao Ji family worked a lot on the land, but nothing grew out of it! She can plant those saplings, but we will also become rich if we plant an orchard and it becomes valuable later on!” The more her daughter-in-law spoke, the brighter her eyes became, as if she had made a lot of money.
“I don't agree with this. I can only say that she has a lucky family if there really is something incredible over there. Just look at her manners and style. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn't have dared to go over and talk to her. The young ladies from landlord families in the past can't even compare to her!” Aunt Lu frowned.
Let’s not talk about that side anymore.
Su Danhong went up the back mountain and began to water the fruit saplings with the spiritual spring water. She brought Da Hei with her because even if Xiao Bai was not smart enough to know if there was any trouble stirring in the wind, Da Hei could bark at the first moment of any trouble to warn her of it.
“This year I will give you time to take root and grow, but next year you need to bear fruit.” After Su Danhong watered the saplings, she looked at her orchard with satisfaction.
As for the fact that Aunt Lu came to check on her, she didn't let it concern her.
These days, many people came to ask her questions, and her responses all sang the same tune: Ji Hongjun and Xu Aidang worked hard in watering the orchard.
Besides these people, Feng Fangfang and Ji Mudan also came over.
Su Danhong finished watering the saplings with the spiritual spring water and went down the mountain. She didn't stay any longer because the fertilizer was put down yesterday and the smell was a little strong.
But now that she was going down the mountain and had just watered the saplings with spiritual spring water, the air was refreshing. There are a lot of weeds on the ground and Su Danhong told Father Ji and Mother Ji not to get rid of them and let them grow.
Although Father Ji and Mother Ji said that the weeds would strip away the water and fertile soil, they didn’t say anything else once Su Danhong spoke, even if it went against the farming principles they followed for so many years.
But ever since the old couple saw that all the saplings were growing, they basically never disagreed with her. Even if they did disagree with her, they would not confront her.
When Su Danhong arrived at home with Da Hei and Xiao Bai, she went to prepare dinner. She made her own food, as well as for Da Hei, Xiao Bai, and the other dogs. The food was mainly for them.
She stewed pickled vegetables and pork1, a fresh fish, and a small plate of fried green peppers with eggs2. She bought the fish in the village, and the green peppers were grown in her own backyard. She didn’t care about what vegetables Mother Ji grew in the backyard as it was all very delicious.
Mother Ji didn’t grow vegetables in her yard anymore. Instead, she raised fifteen almost grown chickens for Su Danhong’s confinement. She was afraid that the vegetables in the yard would be wrecked by the chickens, so she grew the vegetables in Su Danhong’s yard. If she wanted to eat some vegetables, she would go over and pick some. Not all of it could be eaten, so some were given to the neighbors. Otherwise, the vegetables would be picked to feed the chickens. They didn’t need to spend money as long as the vegetables grew from the fertile ground.
Recently, Su Danhong’s appetite has grown. She ate one and a half bowl of rice and would eat the delicious fish soup poured over the rice. She also ate a lot of meat. She ate half a fish, but still ate a bit of vegetables in order to balance her nutrition.
Before she was pregnant, she loved eating vegetables; after she was pregnant, she realized that she craved meat!
Although Su Danhong still wanted to eat again, she restrained herself. One and a half bowls of rice, as well as fish, eggs, and vegetables was really enough. She gave the leftovers to Da Hei and the other dogs to eat.
“Oh, Danhong, are you at home?” Feng Fangfang's voice came in.
“Yes, come in,” Su Danhong answered.
Feng Fangfang pushed the door open and went in. As soon as she came in, she saw how Da Hei stopped eating and stared at her. The other dogs did the same, like they would jump at her if she made any strange movements!
Feng Fangfang was a little scared. She really didn't want to come here after she had visited that one time. One big black dog was scary enough the first time, but now she had three more!
“Eldest sister-in-law, come in. Da Hei and the others won't bite you,” Su Danhong said.
Feng Fangfang came in with a stiff smile and did not dare to be too presumptuous. The last time Ji Mudan raised her voice, Da Hei almost jumped at her. If Danhong didn’t order him to stop in time, Ji Mudan would have been immediately bitten!
“Danhong, what did you think of what I told you last time?” Feng Fangfang asked in a warm voice.
Da Hei glanced at her and continued to eat his own meal, but he was not completely focused on it. From time to time, he would look up and look their way. It was obviously guarding against Feng Fangfang. This really made Feng Fangfang scared that she had not yet been invited into the room by Su Danhong.
“I already gave my response to eldest sister-in-law. There’s nothing else to discuss about returning the 200 yuan for the orchard. Don't say I didn’t keep the promise, our parents won't agree to it either. It’s clearly written in black and white from the first day of the New Year,” Su Danhong said indifferently.
“Danhong, we are all a part of the family. Could it be that you absolutely want to fuss about it? It is true that we were wrong about what happened during the New Year. We should not be angry with our parents, but we were also angry with Yun Lili. Who told her to deceive our parents and go buy a place without saying a word? Danhong, you can be assured that if you agree to it, your eldest sister-in-law will certainly help you manage the orchard well in the future and you don't have to worry about it!” Feng Fangfang said at once.
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