Chen Lan led a few people to the backyard with four giant grape seedlings. Upon entering, they were stunned by the thriving scene before them – a verdant expanse of lush greenery. The rose bush wall, enclosed near the foot of the mountain, had already taken shape. What were merely eight to nine centimeter high cuttings with three or four small leaves when planted over two months ago, had grown into luxuriantly leafy branches in such a short time. Chen Lan couldn't help but marvel at the tenacity of roses!
Chen Lan involuntarily imagined the scene next year, when the roses would be in full bloom, a tapestry of flowers, warm and romantic. It would truly be a courtyard filled with the fragrance of roses cascading over their trellises!
Chen Lan walked up to the rose bush wall, pacing back and forth, measuring the distances with her feet as she went.
Considering the grapevines' preference for sunlight, Chen Lan decided to build the trellises horizontally on the north side of the backyard, where sunlight was abundant throughout the day, facing west. Xiang Xi and Xiao Shan were to build them on the north side, near the mountain's foot, about four meters away from the roses. This way, when the grapes grew and covered the entire trellis, they wouldn't block the sunlight for the roses. The family could then enjoy grapes under the trellis while admiring the brilliant sight of roses in full bloom.
Work went quickly with four people. Digging and setting up the trellis legs simultaneously, they soon finished excavating the pits. The trellis was of mortise and tenon construction, and with everyone pitching in, they assembled it quickly! Once the trellises were up and the legs secured, the job was done.
Chen Lan exclaimed excitedly, "Let's plant! By this time next year, we'll have sweet and delicious grapes to eat!"
With that, she prepared to act. As they were about to dig pits to plant the grape seedlings, Xiang Xi and Xiao Shan whispered to each other, looking at the grape seedlings in Chen Lan's hands. Noticing Chen Lan looking at them, they immediately fell silent.
Feeling a bit strange, Chen Lan asked them, "Xiao Xigua, Xiao Shan, what were you two whispering about? Is there something you can't tell everyone?"
Xiang Xi, seeing Chen Lan ask, couldn't help but say, "Xiao Lanzi, don't you find anything strange?"
Chen Lan looked at Xiang Xi and Xiao Shan, bewildered and asked with some urgency, "What? What's strange? Xiao Xigua, hurry and tell me, what's strange?"
Xiang Xi said, "Look at the trellis you built, it's so tall and large. Then look at the small, thin grape seedlings in your hand. Don't you feel something is amiss?"
Chen Lan froze for a moment, looking up at the newly built trellis, then at the grape seedlings in her hand, still not understanding the problem.
Seeing that Chen Lan truly didn't grasp the issue, Xiang Xi said, "You bought such a big and long trellis, and you're only planting these four tiny grape seedlings. How many years do you expect these four seedlings to take to cover this trellis? Let's not even talk about whether these four seedlings can survive this winter. Just your claim about eating grapes next year, I find that quite dubious, rather unreliable?"
Chen Lan finally understood what was going on! That's right! Why hadn't she considered whether the grape seedlings would survive the winter? She had indeed taken things for granted.
Thinking this, she handed the four grape seedlings to Xiang Xi and said, "Hold these for now. You can plant them later." With that, she turned and ran out. After a quick tour outside, she returned to the backyard with the remaining six grape seedlings from her system's inventory. She handed the six grape seedlings to Xiang Xi, asking him to plant them as well.
Chen Lan directed them on the specific operations.
When buying the grape seedlings, Chen Lan had consulted the seller about planting them. Following the seller's advice, the planting pits required were one meter square and about 0.8 meters deep. Some organic fertilizer needed to be added to the pits beforehand. Then, the grape seedling would be placed in the center of the pit, followed by soil. After watering, once the water had seeped in, more soil was added. To ensure a balance between the growth of the above-ground vines and the underground roots, the newly planted vines should be pruned heavily, leaving one to three main vines, and selecting the thicker ones as main vines.
The individuals worked with great efficiency. They quickly finished planting all ten grape seedlings and thoroughly watered them. Only then was the grape planting considered complete! All that remained was to wait. Chen Lan imagined the grapes hanging full on the branches next year, her mouth watering. She couldn't think about it anymore and went back to work!
Chen Lan then led Xiang Xi, Xiao Shan, and the others back to the front yard.
After dividing the tasks for the front yard, everyone got to work.
Chen Lan was responsible for planting the lawn, scattering Japanese Zoysia grass seeds on the freshly turned earth.
Xiang Xi, Xiao Shan, Lin Mai, and Xiao Shuan were tasked with paving the path. Chen Lan told them to lay down inlaid flagstone paths. Xiang Xi was stunned when he heard this and asked again, "Xiao Lanzi, you said paving what kind of flagstone path?"
Chen Lan realized she had used professional terminology from her past life and that was why Xiang Xi didn't understand. She explained, "It's like inlaying stone slabs into the ground."
Seeing that Xiang Xi still didn't understand and that it would take time to explain clearly, she added, "How about this! You do as I say, alright?"
Xiang Xi happily replied, "Absolutely!"
So, Chen Lan began, "First, we need to determine the width of the path, then draw two lines to mark it. Xiang Xi, are we building a straight path to the main gate, or a winding one to the entrance?"
Xiang Xi said, "Let's build a straight one. We're all so busy all the time, where would we find the leisure to walk a winding path?"
Xiang Xi then asked, "Xiao Lanzi, should we build a path that's one point five meters wide or two meters wide?"
Chen Lan thought for a moment, then looked at the sides of the path and said, "One point five meters is enough. It's just for walking, why make it so wide?"
Xiang Xi nodded and asked, "Then what will we use to separate the flagstone path from the lawn? Are we just going to lay them down haphazardly? There should be some kind of border, right?"
Chen Lan realized that, as Xiang Xi pointed out, there needed to be a border on both sides of the path to separate the walking surface from the lawn.
After thinking for a moment, she said, "Let's use what we have on hand. How about using the leftover red bricks for the border to separate the ground from the lawn?"
Xiang Xi asked, "Will red bricks look good?"
Chen Lan said mysteriously, "A wise man has his ways! First, send someone to bring some red bricks. I'll teach you how to do it, and I guarantee it will look good and have a touch of class."
Xiang Xi didn't hesitate. Estimating the approximate amount of red bricks needed for a path, he figured they would need quite a few. He quickly asked Xiao Shan and Lin Mao to go together and use the tractor to haul more red bricks, as they would be needed for paving the path.