Gourd Farm Chapter 41
Translated by Etherna (ko-fi)
Chapter 41: Learning the Trade by Imitation
The temperature has been getting lower these days; we're almost entering November.
"Yang Feng, can you pass me that shovel over there?"
Xia Ying was clearing weeds in the greenhouse, and this batch of tomatoes had already grown to be a foot tall.
The strawberries in Greenhouse No. 3 should be ready before the New Year. We'll replant a season of Shanghai green vegetables then, just in time for the restaurant's reopening after the New Year.
In order to produce truly organic, green, and pollution-free safe food, we'd rather work a little harder than use pesticides to weed.
"Dad, can you go faster?"
Yang Meng was riding his bike, urging his dad ahead.
"You ungrateful child, can't you just ride your motorcycle slower for me?"
Uncle was carrying the crossbeam for the greenhouse, and because it was too long, it was inconvenient to bring the motorcycle, so he had to support it from behind.
"I'm already riding as slowly as possible; it's you who can't keep up."
*Huff, huff, huff~*
"I'm exhausted; this old body feels like it's about to fall apart."
"Can you blame me for this? I had already found a job in the county, and you insisted on dragging me back."
"You call that a job? Being a security guard in the neighborhood isn't exactly prestigious. Besides, if I let people see me in front of our doorstep, what's the point?"
"Come on, you always care about your reputation."
"What did you say?"
Uncle heard Yang Meng dare to talk back and gave him a stern look with his eyes wide open.
"Nothing, I mean let's just get to work quickly."
"That's more like it. I can't afford to babysit you forever."
Since their last argument, this was the first time they had started building the greenhouse again.
"Dad, how does this sleeve work?"
Yang Meng was studying a connecting sleeve.
"Can you please stop wasting time on that and come help with assembling the framework?"
Uncle looked at his son with a somewhat disappointed expression, wishing he would be more diligent. Yang Feng could build the greenhouse all by himself, and then there was his son, nearly as big as the former, playing around like a fool.
"Isn't this simple enough? Come over here and watch me."
Lately, due to the dry weather, the soil in the ground had become quite hard. Uncle, being of an age, didn't have the same strength as the younger generation.
Yang Meng took a framework pole and, with a bit of effort, easily inserted it into the designated spot.
"Whoosh."
It didn't take much effort, and the pole was in place.
"See, it's pretty simple, isn't it?"
Uncle looked at Yang Meng, realizing his son wasn't completely useless.
Following the marks that Uncle had drawn, they soon had one row of the greenhouse framework assembled.
"Dad, can we continue tomorrow? Look, we've made good progress."
"Do you believe I'll use my belt on you? You've barely worked for less than an hour, and now you want to go on strike?"
"I'm just discussing it with you. Why do you get so worked up, like a powder keg ready to explode at any moment?"
Seeing the old man getting all fired up again, Yang Meng cleverly steered the conversation away.
"You had the energy earlier; why are you suddenly giving up now?"
Uncle watched as Yang Meng effortlessly inserted the pole at first, but now, inserting a single pole seemed like trying to push a lazy mule to grind grain – he struggled for a while and still couldn't get it right.
"Dad, am I really your biological son? Look at my hands, the skin is practically worn off, and you never thought of giving me a break."
Yang Meng extended his palms, and they were indeed red, with a blister forming on the knuckles.
"I told you not to work so fast. You're the type who gets enthusiastic for just three minutes."
"Fine, if being slow and sluggish like you means I'll see the results in a million years."
Father and son argued and reconciled several times throughout the morning, and by now, they had successfully assembled the greenhouse frame.
"Dad, something doesn't look quite right to me, though."
Yang Meng, sitting on his motorcycle, observed the greenhouse he had just built with his own hands.
"What do you mean by 'something doesn't look quite right'? Can't you see how some parts are higher and others lower? It's all because of your great work."
This was Yang Meng's first time doing this, and he hadn't paid much attention to the depth of insertion. He had pushed too hard at times, and when he got tired later, he had rushed through it.
"So, what do we do now? Do we have to redo it?"
Looking at the greenhouse now, Yang Meng had a headache, unable to fathom how his old man got involved with this greenhouse project.
"It's not that bad. We can just adjust the ones that are too different in height, and in the end, we'll fasten the cross beams with connectors, and it'll be fine."
"Dad, what do you think we should plant in our first batch?"
Despite the old man talking about the greenhouse for such a long time, Yang Meng had never heard any mention of what they would actually grow.
"What do you think would be a good choice?"
Big Uncle hadn't had a good night's sleep for this entire period, after all, he had never dealt with greenhouses before.
He would occasionally sneak a peek at what Yang Feng was doing, but apart from the green vegetables in the vegetable garden, everything else was hidden inside the greenhouse.
"What if we plant watermelons like Yang Feng?"
"No, you didn't notice that his variety isn't suitable for regular soil. It's probably not easy to grow."
"Yeah, but his watermelons sell for a good price, around ten yuan per kilogram."
"Let's not bite off more than we can chew. We're just starting; don't set your sights too high."
At this point, Uncle's mind was quite clear. After all, he wasn't a reckless young man; the money he had saved up was hard-earned, and he couldn't afford to waste it.
"I think Yang Feng is growing tomatoes now; I heard people in the village talking about it a couple of days ago."
"Yeah, that's not a bad idea. We might even catch the New Year market and get a good price."
Uncle became interested upon hearing about tomatoes. They seemed like a safe and moderate choice with minimal risks.
"Yeah, let's go with tomatoes. They have a high yield, and I've noticed that even planting a few in our backyard garden each year yields plenty."
"That's true, planting a few every year keeps us supplied for a long time."
...
"Dad, should we go check out Yang Feng's place?"
"Are you out of your mind? We just had a falling out with him, do you really think he'll let you in?"
"That's you, Dad. I'm the same age as him. Even though things got unpleasant last time, I can be a bit shameless for the sake of learning from him. Besides, I heard he hired a girl over there now. I can use her to gather some farming techniques."
"If you could really go over there to see and learn, it would indeed be much better than us trying to figure it all out on our own."
Uncle couldn't go there due to pride, but since his son was so enthusiastic, it seemed like a good choice.
...
"Hey, Yang Feng, are you busy at the greenhouse again?"
Yang Feng saw Yang Meng approaching with an apologetic expression on his face, but he didn't respond.
"Why are you so petty? It was just a little misunderstanding. Do you really hold a grudge until now?"
"Do I really need to interact with you?"
"I heard you've started planting tomatoes again. Is that true?"
"Why, do I need to report to you about what I plant?"
"Look at how you're saying it. I've never seen you this interested before. I was just thinking about visiting and seeing if I could learn something."
Yang Feng looked at Yang Meng's demeanor and was certain that he had an ulterior motive, as if he never did anything without a hidden agenda.
