Gourd Farm Chapter 82
Translated by Etherna
Chapter 82: Wan'er's Doubts
"Old man, why does it feel like Xiaofeng's words are so mysterious?" Aunt Hua hesitated as she looked at the small bottle of water Yang Feng brought back.
Old Mr. Hua, panting heavily, pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. "I think it's hopeless. This medicine is what Feng used to water the vegetables. Can it really help with this illness?"
Aunt Hua, frowning, thought about what the old man said. "But Xiaofeng wouldn't lie to us. Why would he give us his own medicine if he had ulterior motives?"
"Creak."
Hua Wuque, disheveled beard and all, walked in. "Mom, what were you busy with this morning? I just met Old Zhang, and he said you were carrying a spray machine, spraying medicine over here?"
Hua Wuque, in the past few days, had been running around to cure the disease affecting the tomatoes and had just returned from the neighboring village.
Seeing her son return, Aunt Hua explained, "We went to see Xiaofeng this morning. He gave us a remedy to try."
"A remedy?" Hua Wuque, caught up in his busyness, had indeed forgotten about Yang Feng.
Aunt Hua pointed to the spray machine nearby. "Yes, your dad and I just finished spraying."
Hua Wuque looked at it and said in confusion, "Yang Feng can also provide medical treatment? I haven't heard about it before."
Aunt Hua, with a mixture of belief and doubt, sighed, "According to Xiaofeng, he's quite confident. Whatever, let's try it as a last resort."
It had been raining for the past two days, not heavy but incessant.
In the field, Xia Tian said, "Brother Feng, it's only been five or six days since you sowed these vegetables, and you've already sprayed medicine twice."
Looking at the chrysanthemum hearts that had sprouted after only five or six days of planting, if you looked closely from a distance, you could vaguely see a green area.
Yang Feng chuckled, "You don't understand. The first time is to create openings, and now this round is to speed up the growth of the first true leaves."
Normal vegetables usually have a growth cycle of thirty to forty-five days, from sowing to germination taking about a little over a week. With a small amount of gourd water, this time has been halved.
Normally, it would take about twenty days from germination to the appearance of the first true leaves.
A third of the gourd water from these days was given to Aunt Hua's family, and he wasn't sure if there had been any improvement.
Yang Feng and Xia Tian took turns spraying, and in half a day, this area was almost completely sprayed.
"Yang Feng, come over quickly, someone's looking for you," Xia Ying shouted from the greenhouse over there, and there seemed to be someone beside her, resembling Liu Wan'er.
Yang Feng waved his arm at Xia Ying, indicating that he heard her. "Xia Tian, you keep working here; I'll be right there."
"Okay."
Jogging all the way to the greenhouse, he confirmed it was indeed Liu Wan'er.
"Phew~"
Yang Feng bent over, hands on his thighs. "I'm really getting old; just running a few steps leaves me breathless."
"Pfft."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xia Ying and Liu Wan'er burst into laughter.
Liu Wan'er laughed for a moment, abruptly stopped, furrowed her brows, and said, "When did you become so good at pretending? Calling yourself old in front of me, are you intentionally trying to annoy me?"
Yang Feng didn't expect his casual remark to upset Liu Wan'er. It seemed mentioning age in front of women was a sensitive topic.
"How could that be? I just said it casually."
Seeing Liu Wan'er's reaction, Xia Ying couldn't help but laugh. "By the way, Sister Wan'er, didn't you have something to discuss with Yang Feng?"
Liu Wan'er, upon hearing Xia Ying, didn't pursue the matter further. She turned her head and said, "Yang Feng, I heard you cured Aunt Hua's tomatoes?"
Liu Wan'er had been researching the issue with the tomatoes for a while now, and she even had dark circles under her eyes from the effort. Until now, she hadn't found a definitive solution.
Today, when she visited Aunt Hua's greenhouse, she noticed a significant reduction in fallen fruits, and even the plants were slowly regaining vitality. This unexpected improvement caught Liu Wan'er off guard.
Upon inquiring, Aunt Hua explained that she had been using the medicine prescribed by Yang Feng for only three or four days. To Liu Wan'er's surprise, the tomatoes were not only perking up but also producing better-looking fruits.
Aunt Hua was about to come over and thank Yang Feng, but Liu Wan'er stopped her, suggesting they observe the situation and see if the improvement could be sustained.
Yang Feng scratched his head, "Did I really cure it? Are Aunt Hua's tomatoes better now?"
He really didn't know. He thought that it would take at least three days to see any improvement, and the gourd water wouldn't work.
Liu Wan'er stared at Yang Feng, observing his bewildered expression as if he genuinely had no idea.
"The tomatoes at Aunt Hua's place do seem to have improved temporarily, but whether they'll relapse is unclear."
After hearing Liu Wan'er's words, it seemed that this gourd water could indeed cure diseases. It was a new discovery, but it remained uncertain whether it could treat all types of ailments.
Watching Yang Feng lost in thought, Liu Wan'er poked him, "Hey, you haven't answered my question yet."
Faced with Liu Wan'er's inquiry, Yang Feng hadn't figured out how to respond. He cleared his throat, "Uh, this is just a folk remedy I heard about in the past, without any scientific basis."
Liu Wan'er kept her eyes fixed on Yang Feng. She couldn't help feeling uneasy about how a problem she hadn't solved even after attending a professional university was seemingly resolved by someone younger and without specialized knowledge.
Liu Wan'er was half-believing, half-doubting. "Are you sure?"
Yang Feng patted his chest to assure her, "Absolutely, I really don't know if it has any effect."
Xia Ying was also quite curious, but hearing Yang Feng's explanation, she believed it. In rural areas, some things indeed lacked scientific evidence but proved to be effective.
After observing for a while, Liu Wan'er couldn't make heads or tails of it. But then, she thought about it. If Yang Feng possessed such technology, he would have developed medicines and applied for patents long ago. There would be no need for him to toil in the greenhouse.
Seeing the curiosity of the two dissipate, Yang Feng secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed better to avoid such things in the future; continuing like this would inevitably expose his secrets.
"Xia Ying, I'll head back now. Whenever you have time, come over and take the data you need; I've already organized it," Liu Wan'er greeted Xia Ying and left.
As Yang Feng turned to leave, he heard a voice from behind, "Yang Feng, when you have time, tell me about that folk remedy. I'd like to study it too."
Yang Feng pretended not to hear and quickened his pace towards the vegetable field. He couldn't disclose the folk remedy; he needed to come up with a plan quickly before the secret got out.
In another greenhouse, Yang Meng and his father squatted on the ground, watching the tomatoes in front of them withering. They smoked, creating clouds of smoke.
"Did you hear, old man? Aunt Hua's tomatoes are already better."
Uncle Yang’s face darkened, the tip of his cigarette glowing intermittently. Thinking about what happened this morning, he smoked faster.