"what to buy?"

The aunt asked impatiently while eating melon seeds.

"Soybean seeds and farm tools." Qin Hao stepped forward and pointed to a pile of farm tools in the corner.

The aunt glanced at Qin Hao with some confusion: "Are you an educated youth? How can I buy seeds for you to come?"

"Isn't it true that the village has been busy sowing seeds recently? We educated youths are relatively free, so they asked me to come. This is a letter of introduction issued by the village."

Seeds and farm tools are also scarce resources these days. Although no receipt is required, a letter of introduction is also required as a voucher.

The aunt took a look at the letter of introduction and was not embarrassed. She paid the money and delivered the goods. Qin Hao bought 50 kilograms of soybean seeds. Calculated by sowing five kilograms per acre, ten acres of land can be planted. Mainly because of the difficulty of clearing land in the early stage.

It is large, so there is no need to buy too many seeds at once. You can buy them again later when the wasteland is reclaimed.

To avoid unnecessary losses due to improper storage of seeds, Qin Hao also needs to be careful with the money he has on hand to survive the most difficult years.

Then Qin Hao bought six more hoes, two shovels, and three pickaxes. The pickaxes are actually similar to hoes, except that one end is tapered, mainly to deal with harder soil layers.

After buying these farm tools, Qin Hao walked around the county town again and found that most of the cooking oils sold in the stores were peanut oil, sesame oil, and rapeseed oil. However, the prices of these three oils were high, and ordinary families were more willing to buy fertilizers.

After all, the oil from fried pork has a meaty aroma, and it can also be used for cooking.

As for trans fatty acids, in this age without oil and water, no one worries about body shape. Fat people are a symbol of wealth.

In the afternoon, Qin Hao followed the donkey cart back to the village. Along the way, many villagers looked at him with smiles. It was not that Qin Hao was popular, they were just watching the fun.

In the eyes of these villagers, a group of educated youths from big cities who don't even know how to farm and have to work alone are simply ignorant.

The educated youth who came to help get things felt a little unhappy and wanted to argue with the villagers. When had they ever suffered such injustice?

Qin Hao stopped them: "Okay, it's useless to talk now. If you want to shut them up, just make some achievements and let them see."

After hearing this, Ning Yu gritted his teeth and glared at the surrounding villagers, gritting his teeth and said: "That's right, we can't let a bunch of old haters look down on us!"

The morale of the group was immediately high, and they returned to the Educated Youth Courtyard with their heads held high, carrying seeds and farm tools.

"This is soybean seed? How to grow this thing?" Zhong Ling curiously grabbed a handful from the bag and asked.

None of the others had ever won a soybean, and they all looked at Qin Hao eagerly.

Qin Hao put down his bowl and chopsticks, took a sip of water, and then explained: "To have a high germination rate of soybean seeds, you must first soak them in water for three to five hours, then dry them in the sun for half an hour, and finally sow them."

"But the most important thing is the soil. We can't buy chemical fertilizers, and it's newly reclaimed wasteland, so fertilizers can't keep up, so we have to get some organic fertilizers."

Ning Yu and others looked at each other and scratched their heads: "Brother Hao, what is this organic fertilizer?"

"I didn't know this, organic fertilizer is just shit." Zhong Ling said proudly.

Animal excrement has always been a good source of fertilizer. For example, the most common fertilizer is called urea. In fact, the composition is similar to the urine excreted by the human body, but the composition is relatively simple and it is a nitrogen fertilizer.

Moreover, organic fertilizers are richer in ingredients and have no side effects when used. Unlike urea, which is a quick-acting fertilizer, it does not bring organic matter to the soil, does not promote the reproduction of microorganisms, and cannot improve the physical and chemical properties and biological activity of the soil. On the contrary, it is a large amount of

After use, the physical and chemical properties and biological activity of the soil will be reduced and the soil will become compacted.

When Zhong Ling said this, several female educated youths started to make a fuss.

"You girl, why do you say this while eating?"

"That's right, I think you did it on purpose. You finished eating your own and didn't want us to enjoy it."

Zhong Ling was tickled so hard that she couldn't stop laughing. She could only keep begging for mercy: "Good sister, I was wrong. I don't dare to do it anymore."

Qin Hao suddenly remembered and asked Ning Yu: "How is the land reclamation going today?"

Speaking of this, Ning Yu became very angry: "If they don't lend us farm tools, I can only lead them to pull out the weeds on the wasteland and burn them all with fire as you said, Brother Hao.

It’s piled in the ground.”

Qin Hao was not surprised. Farm tools were collectively owned these days, and the village was unwilling to borrow them. Naturally, they were afraid that the educated youth would wear them out. After all, the educated youth were now separated from the village.

"Okay, everyone, please stop complaining. Now I have bought back the farm tools. From now on, we will be self-sufficient and we will no longer have to look at other people's faces to live our lives."

Everyone was very enthusiastic when they heard this, as if they had been given a shot of blood. Young people of this age are always full of enthusiasm.

Well, it's easier to fool.

Turning around, Qin Hao got up early and found that Qin Ling did not go to practice his voice today, but made breakfast. This was also the consensus of several female educated youths. Since they were living together, the female educated youths were lacking in physical strength, so they took the initiative

Taking on the burden of cooking and washing clothes is a tacit understanding between the two parties.

"morning."

"Well, it's quite early for you." Qin Ling replied casually and continued to lower his head to add firewood.

Just when Qin Hao was brushing his teeth and washing up, Qin Ling suddenly asked.

“Can we really be self-sufficient?”

Qin Hao nodded lightly, his tone full of confidence: "Of course."

Qin Ling said nothing more, a trace of longing flashed in his eyes.

Soon, everyone had breakfast. Taking advantage of the cool weather in the morning, Qin Hao led everyone and carried various farm tools to the back mountain to reclaim wasteland.

At the beginning, everyone was working enthusiastically, but after an hour, the enthusiasm was almost wiped out by boring and mechanical manual work.

Some educated youth began to complain: "Are we going to have to stay in this broken mountain village with our backs to the sky and our faces to the loess?"

"Yeah, what's the difference between this and those old haters?"

In an instant, everyone's morale was low, and everyone was worried about their future.

"if life has cheated you,

Don't be sad, don't be impatient!

Calmness is needed in melancholy days:

Believe it, happy days will come!

My heart is always looking forward to the future;

Now I am often depressed.

Everything is fleeting and everything will pass;

And what has passed will become a kind nostalgia."

A high-pitched voice came, and everyone looked up. At this time, Qin Hao was standing on the highest field ridge. The golden sunshine shone on him, and the sweat reflected brilliant light on his forehead.

No one said anything, and for a long time, everyone silently waved their hoes, their bodies filled with strength again.

The barren mountain where Qin Hao and his team worked was separated from the village collective land by more than 20 meters. Both sides could see it. Some villagers were a little surprised by the enthusiasm of this group of educated youths, and their impressions of them also changed.

However, some villagers feel that Qin Hao and the others are just hot-headed for a while, and will definitely give up after a while when they can no longer endure the hardship.

At around 12 o'clock at noon, Qin Hao and his party finally reclaimed three pieces of wasteland. At this time, everyone was very tired, so Qin Hao asked the female educated youth to go back to cook first, while he took a group of male educated youth to pick the food.

Water irrigates the land.

Ning Yu asked in confusion: "Brother Hao, don't you always wait until after sowing before watering? Isn't it a waste to water in advance?"

Qin Hao explained: "If soybeans want to have a high germination rate, they must first ensure that the soil is fluffy and moist enough. Watering should be started one day after sowing. Otherwise, the soil will clump together and affect the germination of the seeds, so they need to be watered one after another."

Just water it once."

"So that's it, Brother Hao, you haven't farmed before, have you? How come you know so much?" the educated youth asked curiously.

Qin Hao smiled: "I like to read some miscellaneous books. These are all the knowledge in books."

Afterwards, the group went to fetch water. Irrigation in northern Shaanxi is also a problem. Due to insufficient rainfall, the crops can only rely on artificial watering to replenish water. However, the water sources in northern Shaanxi are relatively scarce, and it is often necessary to walk several miles of mountain roads.

Find the water source.

Qin Hao and his team walked two or three miles before getting water. In addition, Ning Yu and the others seldom carried water, so they walked all the way and only half of the water was left at the destination.

After carrying water for three or four times, Zhong Ling called Qin Hao and his party to eat. When they returned to the small courtyard for educated youth, everyone was in a state of half-death, and they were not even as active as before in cooking.

It looked like he was really tired.

The hardship of farming is sometimes unbearable even for many farmers, let alone these big farm boys who grew up in the capital. They rarely even had brooms at home before, but now they have to work hard in the fields.

The gap is really too big, so it would be good if it didn’t collapse.

In the next half month, almost every day, some educated youth wanted to give up, but with Qin Hao's persuasion, they finally came through. Humans are animals with strong adaptability. After continuous heavy physical labor, the human body

My functions have also begun to regulate themselves, and I feel less tired.

During this month, news of educated youths escaping from nearby villages continued to spread. Some were captured, some ran back and were deported, and some accidentally fell into a deep ditch and were buried here for the rest of their lives.

.

The village party secretary was so nervous that he came to talk to Qin Hao and his gang almost every two days. It was not until he was sure that Qin Hao and his gang had no intention of escaping that he felt a little relieved, but still asked people to guard the entrance of the village to prevent

Some educated youths ran away.

A month later, Qin Hao received the first letter from Zhou Xiaobai. This silly girl was worried that Qin Hao would not have enough money, so she sent her first salary to Qin Hao, saying that she would have food and drink in the army.

, and there is no place to spend money.

Qin Hao was really touched, but he was determined not to accept the money. He would have to find a rich woman to make a living, and he couldn't bend his waist for these five buckets of rice.

So Qin Hao wrote a reply to Zhou Xiaobai, briefly explaining what he was doing here, and also sent the money back.
To be continued...