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Chapter 649: Chapter 639: You Say How to Do It, We’ll Do It That Way
Shen Yunfang finally signed a contract with Master Yang. The contract stipulated that within one month, a double bed, fifteen single beds, one four-door wardrobe, and fifteen three-door wardrobes were to be crafted for her, along with sixteen sets of tables; the remaining pieces were to be completed before November.
After returning to the farm, Yunfang announced to everyone that they could now move into the dormitory building. Of course, anyone with time on their hands could now go and choose their room, give it a clean, and then move straight in once the furniture arrived.
In fact, after the house was built, these folks had sneakily toured the building. Now hearing from their sister-in-law that these beautiful buildings were genuinely meant for them to live in, everyone was ecstatic. 𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝒃.𝙘𝒐𝒎
It took less than three days for Yunfang to realize, upon her visit to the dormitory, that all the rooms across the five floors had been thoroughly cleaned. She suddenly felt she had underestimated their combat power. They had heavy manual labor during the daytime, from clearing fields to planting vegetables, and in between, they had to find time to water and weed the soybeans and corn. Although this didn’t require daily attention, the workload was undoubtedly significant. And still, they found time to come here and clean. She had indeed underestimated them.
Yunfang couldn’t truly understand the Chinese people’s attachment to their home and house. Although they earned a lot of money each month, that didn’t completely provide them with a sense of security. Only by having their own home, a place of their own to take root, did they feel truly at peace and a sense of belonging.
A month later, the furniture was ready, and everyone moved into the eagerly awaited new dormitory with great joy and delight.
Since Chen Jing was the only one who had brought his wife, the couple chose a two-bedroom apartment on the second floor, in the middle. The rest of the people moved into the single rooms on the fourth floor.
Of course, Ma Huilan was still the one cooking meals, as everyone was too busy with farm work to manage cooking on their own, which would have been a big waste of time.
Luckily, the two simple stoves at the straw-shed had not been dismantled. Ma Huilan continued to cook there, and everyone began to regard that place as a temporary canteen.
That evening, Yunfang and Huilan organized a dinner gathering, as a celebration of everyone moving into their new homes.
It still took place at the straw-shed, without any tables and due to the number of people, everyone held a large bowl with rice on the bottom and vegetables on top. Of course, alcohol was also essential. Each person had a cup of Shen’s homemade white spirit, and they squatted in a circle, eating and drinking, as lively as during Chinese New Year.
"Sister-in-law, why don’t we use chemical fertilizers in our fields? When we farmed back home, that stuff was great. The yield was much higher than usual. Why don’t you use it?" Teng Yingda happily grabbed a piece of braised pork and threw it into his mouth.
"Yeah, sister-in-law, we’re cultivating so much land now. If we don’t fertilize in time, relying solely on the soil’s strength won’t yield much in the end." Li Zhongqi chimed in from the side.
Nowadays, most farmers use chemical fertilizers to farm, which truly has increased the yields significantly, leading many to believe it is good.
However, Yunfang was aware of the drawbacks of using chemical fertilizers.
Shen Yunfang listened to their chattering and only after they finished did she leisurely pick up some greens from her bowl and took a bite. She said, "Chemical fertilizers can indeed increase yield, and that’s their advantage. But they also have drawbacks. If used excessively or over the long term, they can pollute the surrounding environment and damage crops. I plan to farm here for the long term, so I won’t use something that carries such significant risks later on."
"Sister-in-law, what do you mean? How does using chemical fertilizer pollute the environment and harm crops? Back in our hometown, we’ve used it for several years and nothing’s happened," Zhao Erkui asked blankly.
"Hehe, I’ve already researched this in college. You should know that chemical fertilizers are composed of various salts; thus, using these fertilizers extensively and over a long period allows them to enter the soil and increase the soil solution concentration, creating varying degrees of osmotic pressure..."
"Sister-in-law, sister-in-law, can you simplify it? I don’t understand," Miao Shan said with a pained expression, really wanting to request that she talk in layman’s terms.
This time Shen Yunfang was momentarily speechless and chuckled before saying, "To put it simply, using too much chemical fertilizer on crops can lead to ’scorching’ the seedlings. Also, using pesticides on the land can leave residues or seep into groundwater, contaminating nearby water sources..." Shen Yunfang saw everyone still looked confused as she was speaking and gave up midway, "Let’s just say that scientific research has proven the cons of using chemical fertilizers outweigh the pros. I don’t want to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, so we don’t use chemical fertilizers on my farm."
"But you all don’t need to worry. After the breeding farm is built next year, we should have enough fertilizer here. Even if we don’t, we can think of other solutions," she added.
"Hehe, okay, as long as sister-in-law decides, that’s fine with us," they replied.
"So, sister-in-law, I see that the greenhouses over there have already been erected. When do we start planting?" one of the comrades cleverly changed the subject.
"Ah, that’s also something I wanted to talk to you about. Six greenhouses have been built over there, and starting tomorrow, each team will assign three people to start planting in the greenhouses. We will plant a different vegetable in each one. I’ve decided on green beans, eggplants, hot peppers, persimmons, cucumbers, and celery, with half of the peppers being hot and the other half being milder varieties. Each team will take two greenhouses. We can draw lots to decide who plants what, alright?" Shen Yunfang informed them about her next plan.
"There’s no need for that trouble, whatever we plant is fine. We don’t need to draw lots," Zheng Hao said somewhat dismissively. What does it matter what they plant? Sister-in-law should just tell them what to plant.
"Hehe, it’s not the same, you know. Each team planting in the greenhouses will have a bonus," she explained. "When it’s time to harvest, we’ll take ten percent of the total revenue from your own greenhouses as a bonus and divide it equally within each team. This was something I had thought out well in advance; there must always be some kind of incentive, so that people keep working hard with an active spirit."
After hearing her words, everyone fell silent. Even though they would have worked hard without a bonus, knowing sister-in-law’s consistent way of handling things made them extra determined to work hard and earn more money.
They all had families to support; nobody was out here for fun. Nobody would turn down money, biting the hand wouldn’t make sense. They’d been working here for three months, and each month they could make roughly seventy to eighty yuan, which was more than what they would make in a year back home. If they followed sister-in-law’s plan, the final bonus would be significant.
"Alright, we’ll go by what Yunfang says. However you say we should work, we’ll follow," Li Dabao, a very steady man, spoke up, indicating his agreement with Shen Yunfang’s approach.
