Great Tang Idyll

Chapter 79 I Won't Fall When The Strong Wind Blows

Billowing black clouds flowed like ink spreading in violent winds. New branches were moved, and seedlings collapsed onto the water's surface.

The sky was still fine last night. No one ever thought that before waking up in the early morning, the violent wind had rolled in with the dark clouds and covered the whole sky. The residents on the manor thought that there would be a heavy rainfall, and they all ignored the clattering noises of the wind blowing against the windows and got dressed and stood outside their doors.

The sky that was originally supposed to be bright was now still gray and black, and the surrounding trees were swayed back and forth by the wind. While waiting for the heavy rain to fall, the residents suddenly thought about how a lot of the rice seedlings in the fields might be blown over.

At this moment, they couldn't wait any longer, and each person put on a straw rain hat and hurried to the fields. They had to fix the fallen over seedlings as soon as possible.

The farmers on the Zhang, Wang and Ge Manor all started to get into action, and ran quickly. Not only did the adults in the family come out, but the little kids also wanted to help.

By the time farmers of the Zhang and Wang Manors arrived at the edge of the fields, they didn't see a field of seedlings that were completely knocked over, but instead, only a few seedlings had fallen over. Furthermore, there were other seedlings right next to the ones that fell over, so there was no need to fix them. As for the areas where a lot of seedlings have fallen over, they could wait for the wind to stop first then move some seedlings over from dense areas.

The farmers felt that this was a bit odd and they walked over to the Ge Manor's fields to have a look to see if the situation was the same. When they arrived there to have a look, they saw that all of the manor's residents were in the water and were trying to fix the seedlings. Even some women were crying anxiously.

If this was in the past, the Zhang and Wang Manor's residents wouldn't have cared at all since it wasn't their land, but now, they immediately jumped into the water and helped them fix the seedlings upright. Now that they were able to eat well, and dress well, they were able to think about helping others.

With so many people joining in, the speed at which the rice seedlings were fixed became faster. Even if some of the newly adjusted rice seedlings fell over again, everyone did not give up because if they didn't do anything about it, the rice seedlings will drown and die.

The people of Ge Manor thought that the people from the Zhang Manor came to just watch them, but after seeing that they were here to help, at that moment they felt grateful and a bit confused thinking about why the Zhang and Wang Manor residents weren't busy with tending their own seedlings in their fields.

"Little Wang'zi, you came to help, but what about your family's field? Do you not want it anymore? Go home. Your master is so good to you. You won't be able to hand in grains when the time for harvesting comes, how will you be worthy of your Master?" A Ge Manor resident tried to persuade those that came to his family's field.

"No need, the seedlings in my field are okay. They're even better than the ones in your field; they're very sturdy and much taller. Do you think there will be heavy rain today?" Little Wang'zi saw the rice seedlings in this field. Compared to his own field, he realized that the differences between the two were quite significant.

"Really? What kind of seeds did you use?" The people at Ge Manor were a little skeptical, but they all came here to help so there must be nothing wrong at their homes, or else they would all be busy themselves.

As he spoke, he looked up at the sky again. It was so dark and heavy that it seemed like it was going to rain any moment now, but not a single drop of rain fell.

Little Wang'zi also continued to bend over to fix the seedlings and raised his arm to wipe the water that was splashed onto his face. "I didn't lie to you, the same seeds as usual, but this time the seeds are all given by the master. The seeds we saved in our families to be used for planting were eaten as food."

Of course Little Wangzi didn't know that those rice seeds they used were soaked in lime water by his own Young Master and Young Miss Juan Juan. The two of them brought into action anything that could be thought of given the existing conditions to increase yield and prevent diseases in the plants.

After putting in a lot of effort into selecting seeds, further processing them when they were sprouting, adding fertilizer to the seedlings, ploughing the land well then adding fertilizer and mai'fan stones to the soil and then using the thrown seedlings method, their plants were grew faster than other people's plants and was more sturdy. This was made evident with this windstorm.

According to Wang Juan's words: ‘We want the grains on our Manor to win at the starting line. '

The person of Ge Manor straightened up his back and shook his waist twice. He looked up at the slightly brighter sky and he felt unbearably hot and stuffy. The clouds were still so dark and they were hanging down low. The sky only became brighter because the sun was rising and not because the sky was clearing.

"I don't believe you, if they're really the original seeds, then why are they better than mine? Could it be that the fertilizer was better? Tell me, what kind of fertilizer do you use there?"

"A whole assortment; a bit of fertilizer from my own home, a bit fertilizer the Master gave last year all mixed together and that's it." Little Wangzi also didn't really know why. Even if there were some differences, he wouldn't mention it. Who wants to tell others about their own manor's formula?.

With so many people working together, it was only natural that the Masters were alarmed. The Masters of the Zhang and Wang Manors heard that their residents went to help the Ge Manor so he asked the housekeeper to go check it out. The housekeeper was taken aback when he saw the young seedlings in their own fields.

When he first left the house, he thought that because the seedlings were randomly thrown into the water instead of being transplanted, it was impossible to help adjust the positioning of the seedlings so the farmers gave up, but that was not the case at all. The rice seedlings in the field didn't need to be cared for at all and were free to move with the wind. Some of them have already touched the surface of the water but once the wind passed, they straightened up again. It was amazing.

"Old Wang, why when I look at the rice seedlings, I feel like they look like standing people? If they fall, they will stand back up. Even if some of them are weaker, their roots do not come out after falling. If this was last year, there will be quite a few seedlings floating in the water."

Housekeeper Zhang stood on the raised pathway in the paddy field and spoke to Housekeeper Wang, who was equally surprised. Housekeeper Wang also felt this way. When the little seedling fought against the gale, people couldn't help but shout "good!". In his eyes, these rice seedlings each became a little baby with small arms and legs and were standing there looking chubby, energetic and cute.

"Who wouldn't agree? After so many years of planting crops, I didn't want to leave when I saw it for the first time; I'm willing to stay here and watch. Look at those two sturdy plants, they're even helping the little seedlings behind them block the wind. Let's not go back yet, let's have a look at the Ge Manor."

At this time, Housekeeper Wang felt that the strong winds were so cool and refreshing and this improved his spirits by a fair amount. After he spoke, he walked in the direction of the Ge Manor. .

When the two arrived at the Ge Manor, they saw their own residents there helping out. When they got closer, both of them shook their heads at the same time. The seedlings were too poor and it was incomparable to the ones in their own fields. Once the wind blew them over, they would stay stuck in the water. Quite a few of the seedlings were floating and spinning in circles in the water.

The farmers on the Ge Manor were looking forward to a good harvest during the fall, and as they were busy sticking the seedlings back into the soil, they were wiping away their tears. The little kids were also being sensible and were busy helping. They copied what the adults were doing and made jerky movements like a robot. Their eyes were full of confusion and bewilderment, making people feel sad when they look at them.

The residents of the Zhang and Wang Manors that were helping had calm expressions on their faces. After all, it was not in their own fields. They can give some help if they can help, but as for the harvest, they couldn't give more care nor did they have the ability to care if they wanted to. At the same time, they were rejoiced that their own Master was extremely capable since the seedlings were able tostand upright and not fall over in the strong wind.

Someone saw the master's housekeeper had come over and thought that they came here to tell them to go back so the resident came forward to explain, "Housekeeper Zhang, there was nothing wrong in our field. Once the windstorm passes, we will go fix the seedlings that fell over and it will be fine. They are also pitiful here. "

"Yeah, don't rush to go back, it's a pity..." Housekeeper Zhang was not as hard to talk to as he used to be. He didn't tell them to go back. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know how to speak. He couldn't tell the resident that it was a pity that the Ge Manor didn't have people like the Young Master and Young Miss.

Ge Ying'xi also brought the housekeeper with him to have a look. Looking at the situation in the paddies, the expression on his face became ugly. He pursed his lips together tightly, frowned his eyebrows, and he tightly clenched the fists on both sides of his body. He was the most distressed one.

With less grains, he would not dare to collect too much rent since he couldn't watch his residents die in front of him due to starvation. If the government allowed him to reduce the rent, it would be okay, but if they didn't, then he would have to pull money out of his own pocket.

"Old Master, quickly come up with a plan. It's useless to just try to fix it like this. If there is a heavy rain coming down later, some seedlings with broken roots will be washed away by the water when the water is released. If there's no other way, then we have to rush to replant another round."

Housekeeper Ge also looked sad. He looked up at the sky, and said worriedly.

"We still have to help the seedlings up. Quickly return back and get all of the servants in the Master's courtyard to come help. A little bit of help contributed is still better than nothing. Are these people the Zhang and Wang Manors' residents? How come they aren't working on their own fields, but instead they're here helping us?"

Ge Ying'xi still didn't want to give up. Seeing that the manpower that was distributed was not enough, he even called the servants at the Master's family. At the same time, he was puzzled by the residents of the Zhang and Wang Manors coming here.

"Village Chief Ge is here too? If nothing can be done, then don't plant more. When I go back, I will discuss my Master. We can grow some seedlings, and rush to plant it and it might work out." Housekeeper Wang saw Ge Ying'xi and walked over and said.

Only then did Ge Ying'xi discover that the two housekeepers had also arrived. He had been so concerned about the things in the field just now that he hadn't looked to the sides at all.

"What? The seedlings on Zhang and Wang Manors are better than the ones here?" Ge Ying'xi felt that he was able to afford more seeds, but the residents could not.

"It's not much better; it's just that they don't fall over when blown by the strong wind. Of course, the help won't come for free. You just have to give back three times the cost of the seeds." Housekeeper Wang's face was indifferent. He thought it was fine to speak like that because their seedlings were good so he had the confidence.

Ge Ying'xi was dumbfounded, and suddenly said, "I don't believe it, I'll go and see for myself."

As he spoke, he didn't care about the fields anymore and hurried across the small bridge and went to the lands in the Wang Manor. He stood there and looked at it carefully. He was speechless. Comparing the rice seedlings on both sides, he felt that his seedlings were like babies that weren't fed milk and had thin arms and legs, while theirs were strong like calves.

"No wonder they all went to my Manor to help. It turns out that they don't have to take care of their own seedlings. What happened to the Zhang and Wang Manors in less than a year? Not to mention that they had ways to make money, but their seedlings were like this too. This was too unfair. It's obviously the same rice seedling, and not a new species."

After he murmured a few words, Ge Ying'xi finally made up his mind. He turned around and ran back, and saw Housekeeper Zhang and Housekeeper Wang who were still standing there in a daze. With a begging tone, he spoke, "Just now, I was not acting sensible. I'll pay three times the cost. I ask that Housekeeper Wang help me deliver the message."