The rain had lasted for three days, confining everyone to the vehicle. Fortunately, the men passed the time with mahjong and chess, while the women engaged in a game of idiom chain.
Time flew by. It was already the morning of the fourth day. Upon waking, the sky had finally cleared. Beams of colorful sunlight streamed through the car window, illuminating Chen Lan's face. She pushed open the window, which was speckled with tiny water droplets. The air after the rain was exceptionally fresh, and the sunshine felt wonderfully warm on the skin. Looking towards the distant mountains and forests, the leaves, washed clean by the rain, appeared vibrant, and the grass was a lush green.
Little birds chirped merrily in the woods, the sky was a clear azure, and a beautiful rainbow arched across the heavens.
Chen Lan quickly got up to wash and get ready. Today was going to be a busy one. First, she needed to inspect the foundation waterproofing in the valley and discuss with Teacher Zhou whether an extra layer of new waterproofing coating would be more secure.
It was late April, early May, and the ground had completely thawed, ready for planting. This year, it was too late to plant rice. Chen Lan felt a pang of regret, as planting rice in the Northeast required raising seedlings in greenhouses beforehand. Transplanting to the fields would happen in mid-May. Northeast rice is a single-crop variety, with a growing season of about five months. Without early seedling cultivation, it wouldn't mature by October before frost set in, rendering a year's work futile.
Chen Lan quickly opened the car door and slipped out. She wanted to get everything sorted before the men headed to the valley to work!
First, she needed to purchase three multi-functional agricultural vehicles and two large barrels of diesel fuel from the system. The full name of these agricultural vehicles was hand-held multi-functional tilling tractors. With different attachments, these machines could perform rotary tillage, furrowing, ridging, hilling, loosening soil, spraying, sowing, cultivating, deep plowing, and a host of other field tasks.
If she couldn't plant rice, she would buy other seeds! Corn, potatoes, peanuts, soybeans, and even cotton. She had heard people say cotton couldn't be grown in the Northeast, given how cold it was. How would they get through the winter without cotton?
She could also plant vegetables: cucumbers, winter melons, peas, edamame, eggplants, peppers, cauliflower, celery, lettuce, radishes, carrots, and water spinach. Whatever vegetables could be grown, she would plant.
Chen Lan walked briskly, her mind racing, and soon arrived at the electric scooter. She lifted the rain cover draped over it, hopped on, and sped away. She reached the foot of the mountain outside the valley in no time. After parking the scooter, Chen Lan activated the system's search function to check for large predators within a 500-meter radius before quickly ascending the mountain and passing through the woods towards the valley.
Descending into the valley, Chen Lan surveyed the boundless black soil and quickly headed eastward.
Because the land had been cleared of weeds and stones by Lin Mao during the previous land reclamation, the ground was now a muddy mess after three days of rain, making normal walking impossible.
With no other option, Chen Lan retrieved a hand-held multi-functional tilling tractor from the system's warehouse. She filled the tractor with diesel fuel and, following the operating steps displayed on the system's light screen, started the tractor and drove it towards the eastern part of the valley. She stopped after about half an hour of driving.
Chen Lan decided to test the performance of this multi-functional agricultural vehicle. Was it truly as versatile and easy to use as advertised?
First, as shown on the system's light screen, she attached the rotary tiller and began tilling the land. It performed exactly as described in the manual. She wondered if it was because the machine was new or if the black soil here was fertile, but the machine was very easy to operate and fast. Sudanknovel.com
Chen Lan, as if she had found a fun new toy, chose an area of about thirty mu and drove the multi-functional agricultural vehicle back and forth, tilling the land.
She would ask Uncle De later, after he had breakfast, if thirty mu of reclaimed land would be enough for their annual grain supply. If not, she would reclaim more.
Chen Lan worked alone for an unknown duration. It wasn't until her stomach rumbled that she remembered she hadn't eaten breakfast yet! She quickly purchased milk and bread from the system and devoured them in a few bites.
Chen Lan checked the time. She figured they would be arriving soon, so she quickly took out the other two multi-functional agricultural tractors she had purchased and placed them aside.
Now, she had to finish tilling these thirty mu and then switch to the furrowing attachment to create furrows in this land. After that, there was still ridging and many other field tasks.
As expected, a short while later, they arrived. She heard Xiang Xi's distant call, "Little Lanzi, you ran into the valley alone without telling us? You had us worried for ages, thinking something had happened to you! Auntie was worried sick too!"
Chen Lan quickly stopped the tractor. As they approached, she greeted everyone and apologized, saying that she lost track of time when she got to work.
Seeing that she was unharmed, they didn't dwell on the matter any further. They were amazed to see her have cleared such a large area of land with this unassuming machine so early in the morning.
Xiang Xi eagerly offered to try the machine. Chen Lan quickly handed him the instruction manual and pointed to the other two machines, saying, "Little Watermelon, take a look at the manual first, then you and the other drivers can study it and try out the machines."
Having said that, Chen Lan turned her attention back to her own tasks. She had too much to do today. From her research in her past life, she knew that corn planting in the Northeast usually had to be done by early May. This was because there was more rainfall during this period. If it rained in time after planting, it would ensure uniform seedling emergence, which was crucial for the growth and harvest of corn.
It truly lived up to the saying, "Spring rain is as precious as oil, every drop is valuable."
She had to hurry and finish ridging the land to plant corn. Otherwise, it would be too late for corn planting, and she wouldn't be able to harvest any grain this year.
A short while later, Xiang Xi and Xiao Shuan joined the rotary tilling effort with the other two tractors. Chen Lan quickly told them to stop and switch to the ridging attachment to start creating furrows. She also hurried to stop Uncle De, asking him to check nearby to see if the ridges were suitable for planting corn.
When it came to planting crops, Uncle De was considered an expert. After all, his sister-in-law's fields had always been managed by Uncle De. He decided when to plant and when to harvest.
Thus, Chen Lan and the others plunged into tense and busy labor. By the time they finished the ridging, everyone was ravenously hungry. Chen Lan checked the system time; it was already 1:30 PM. Only now did she feel how intensely the sun was shining. She hadn't noticed it while busy, but now she saw that everyone's faces were flushed red from the sun.
At that moment, a voice was heard calling from a distance, asking them to come under the shade of the trees to eat. It was her mother-in-law, who had brought food for them to the valley.