Of course I will go.

　　Li Zhouzhou was happy. He was always efficient at work and didn’t like to put down the pots and bowls. So he didn’t clean up today. He just left the pots and bowls piled up and would deal with it when he came back.

　　”okay.”

　　After locking the gate, the family of three went to the dam. Every village has such a place, no matter what it is called, a large piece of flat land, an old tree, which can be used as a grain drying ground, and the whole village can hold a meeting here when there is any major event.

　　The one in Xiping Village is called Damaba, which is located slightly upwards from the center of the village.

　　When the Li family arrived, quite a few people had already gathered on the dam, even children had come, running around and shouting. The women and uncles brought small stools and rushed to occupy the corners under the shade of the trees, so that when it got hotter, they could find two spots to avoid the sun.

　　Some people were carrying large kettles filled with melon seeds and peanuts, obviously coming to watch the fun.

　　As soon as the Li family arrived, the villagers looked over and greeted them enthusiastically, calling them Uncle Li, Uncle Li, and asking Zhou Zhou if they wanted some melon seeds. Without waiting for Li Zhou Zhou to reply, they grabbed a handful and stuffed them into Li Zhou Zhou’s hands. Everyone was enthusiastic towards Li Da and his son, and their enthusiasm towards Gu Shulang was also a bit respectful.

　　No one dared to do something like stuffing a handful of melon seeds into Gu Shulang’s hands.

　　Gu Shulang’s demeanor makes people afraid to act recklessly and disrespectfully.

　　After waiting for a while, every household in the village who could come came, and it became much more lively. The village chief also arrived, holding a gong in his hand, struck it with a hammer, and stood in front and shouted at the top of his voice: “Stop talking, be quiet for a while.”

　　Those who were chatting and talking suddenly became quiet, even the children who were running and screaming just now were now quiet and did not dare to make any noise.

　　At that time, there were also naughty kids in the village. Some of them were brave, but they were basically able to read people’s expressions. They knew when to make a fuss and ask their mothers for candies and meat, and when to be obedient and keep their tails between their legs, otherwise they would be beaten.

　　Normally, everyone could still joke about the village chief, but for such a big event, when the gong was sounded on the dam, it was a serious matter.

　　It was quiet quickly. The village chief cleared his throat and said without any nonsense. “Everyone in the village knows how to fertilize dry fields. If you don’t know, ask more. If you don’t understand, let Gu Shulang explain it later. Today I will talk about how to fertilize paddy fields.”

　　”Hello, Mr. Li, you are very generous. I tell you this for free without charging you any money. No matter if you do it or not, or if the harvest is good or bad, you should remember this. If someone doesn’t do it this year, and someone else’s field has a good harvest next year, and they take the opportunity to mess with Mr. Li’s field, don’t blame me for using the village law.”

　　”Of course, no one in our village has used this method yet, and there is no guarantee whether it will work or not. If someone does something wrong and dares to cause trouble to the Li family, I’ll put it here and punish them as well!”

　　The village chief said loudly and seriously, “No one forced you to do it. You have to bear the consequences yourself. The Li family didn’t charge you a penny. If it goes wrong, don’t make a fuss. If it goes well, just remember the kindness of the Li family.”

　　”Okay, let Gu Shulang tell us about it.”

　　Gu Zhao walked out of the crowd and stood beside the village chief. He stopped talking politely. Everyone was eager to hear him. He said loudly and directly, “There are two materials needed to fertilize paddy fields. One is urine. It doesn’t matter if it’s human urine or pig urine. Any urine will do. The other is gypsum. This gypsum is stone powder with water added.”

　　”The urine needs to be heated, that is, burned. Once heated and concentrated, gypsum can be added. I am still figuring out the ratio, how much urine and gypsum to put in, but it’s just like adding manure. It’s better to dilute it than to put too much in, for fear of burning the crops. The uncles and aunts in this village who work on crops know more about it than I do.”

　　The obedient people standing in front nodded, of course, it is better to be thin than to burn the seedlings. Even if it is thin, it is useless, the paddy field harvest will remain the same as in previous years. If you are greedy and put too much, it will ruin the vegetables.

　　”We understand. We understand this. What Gu Shulang said makes sense.”

　　”How is this plaster made, and what is stone powder?”

　　”Yes, what is stone powder and where can I buy it?”

　　The villagers were now asking questions about things he had never heard of. They were crowded with people asking questions, one after another, and after a while the noise got louder, the village chief struck the gong twice, and then everything went quiet again.

　　”I saw stone powder when I went to the pharmacy in town last time. Stone powder is mixed with water to kill insects and avoid dirt – this dirt is not that thing.” Gu Zhao was afraid that everyone would understand it as a ghost, but he couldn’t think of how to explain bacteria, so he simply skipped it and said directly: “A bag of half stone of stone powder, the pharmacy needs to order three to four bags a year, so it’s cheap at 230 wen per bag.”