Chapter 22: A Surprise

Hua Yuanyuan counted the money in her pouch twice. There was a total of 1494 yuan.

This meant she had spent about 600 yuan in the past period.

Two bicycles and two watches cost nearly 400 yuan, train tickets were also a large expense, and other things cost over 100 yuan.

She had enough money left to buy materials for building the greenhouse: bamboo, plastic sheeting, rope, etc., wouldn’t cost much.

If the three of them couldn’t manage it themselves, hiring help wouldn’t cost money, only meals would need to be provided.

After careful consideration, she had enough money and was still a little rich woman.

When her father and younger brother returned, Hua Yuanyuan happily announced that she still had quite a lot of money.

Hua Youcai calculated that, excluding train tickets, they had spent over 500 yuan.

His daughter thought 500 yuan wasn’t much…

She still had 1500 yuan left, which seemed like quite a lot of money.

“Dad, big things cost a lot of money, it can’t be helped. We won’t spend so much in the future, don’t worry,” she said.

Hua Youcai thought about how his daughter bought socks by the dozen and didn’t know what to say.

He suddenly felt pressured. What would happen when his daughter ran out of money? He had to earn money quickly.

Hua Fangfang was counting the money; this time, he had to count it correctly.

The feel of the money was so good; the more he touched it, the more comfortable he felt…

On the afternoon of the sixth day and the morning of the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, Hua Youcai and his son fenced the chicken coop and pigpen by the south wall.

It was a little early to raise animals; waiting another month, around the beginning of March in the Gregorian calendar, would be the right time.

After lunch, the family of three rode their bicycles to buy bamboo.

It was quite easy to find. There was a small stall by the road in the town center. The person manning the stall looked exactly like his son, like they were cast from the same mold.

Hua Youcai explained his needs, and the stall owner’s son understood.

He pointed them in the right direction: the second house down the alley.

Zhang Guanghui and his wife had gone to market in the morning. They had just finished lunch when the people they had arranged to meet arrived.

After a few pleasantries, they got straight to the point.

Hua Yuanyuan stated her requirements: “They need to be strong, not easily broken. Ones that break with a single bend definitely won’t do… they need sufficient support…”

“As for length, ideally they should be as tall as me, so I can stand inside…”

Zhang Guanghui’s yard had many kinds of raw materials for weaving. He happened to have the kind of moso bamboo that Hua Yuanyuan needed.

They tested a short section; it was indeed not easily broken.

They finally settled on this type. It needed rough processing, about eight centimeters wide and six meters long.

They only ordered a portion, not the whole amount, as Hua Youcai wanted to try building the greenhouse himself first.

They paid a deposit, and it was agreed that Zhang Guanghui would deliver the bamboo quickly.

The Hua family’s house was easy to find: Shili Village, next to the military base, the tile-roofed house in the southwest corner.

After seeing off the customers, Zhang Guanghui asked his wife to bring their son back to work.

This deal was profitable. They didn’t earn a lot of money, but the work was easy.

The Hua family didn’t leave immediately. They visited several shops in town and found plastic sheeting in a store selling farm tools.

So, Hua Yuanyuan bought a whole roll of plastic sheeting.

Thin sheeting wouldn’t do; she bought the most expensive one. Their conditions were limited; if it didn’t work, they would just make do.

Hua Youcai went back to Zhang Guanghui’s house to ask for help hiring an ox-cart.

Zhang Guanghui asked his older brother to help with the delivery and refused to accept any payment, making Hua Youcai feel very embarrassed.

When they left, they were given a bag of peanuts.

Having spent the money, Hua Youcai asked his daughter to explain in detail what kind of greenhouse they needed, the more detailed the better.

Hua Yuanyuan started drawing on paper, explaining as she went, “…simply put, it’s a frame made of bamboo strips and wood, supporting the plastic sheeting. The final product is a sealed greenhouse.”

“It should be tall enough for a person to stand in, so it’s not tiring to work inside. If it’s too low, you have to bend over or squat, which is very tiring!”

“If one bamboo strip isn’t strong enough, use two bundled together. Dad, you decide the distance between them; it needs to be strong enough. The top needs to be covered with a warming straw mat or old quilts…”

It couldn’t be flimsy; it couldn’t collapse under pressure.

Enough wood needs to be used for support in the middle. There’s also the issue of heating in cold weather…

“Dad, you decide,” “Dad, you decide…” Hua Yuanyuan repeated this phrase in her father’s ear.

After going over the theory on paper, the three of them went to the yard.

Hua Yuanyuan continued explaining while her father and brother listened, though it was unclear how much they understood.

“If we build one in this yard, it would be too big and difficult to manage. Since it’s our first time, a smaller one is easier to handle.”

“Leave a walkway in the middle, paved with bricks or stones. Build one on each side, how does that sound?”

“Leave a path on the south side too, it doesn’t need to be too wide, but leave more space on the north side…”

“Starting from the south side of the well…”

She talked her father and brother into a daze. Then, Hua Yuanyuan went to cook.

The braised cabbage for dinner was special; they splurged a bit, adding two drops of spatial spring water and half a bowl of fried pork.

The taste was excellent; each person ate a large bowl, gobbling it down.

After a satisfying meal, they forgot their worries, and the greenhouse issue wasn’t a concern anymore; they would deal with it when the time came.

While her father and brother slept soundly, Hua Yuanyuan worked hard in her space.

The first batch of vegetables would be ready to harvest in two days; she couldn’t wait.

After clearing the land, she planned to plant a batch of wheat.

Bright red tomatoes, green cucumbers, emerald green celery… peppers, string beans, eggplant, chives, bitter greens, garlic sprouts, etc. Hua Yuanyuan planted common vegetables from their home garden.

She cleared a plot of land and planted on it.

First, she harvested the tomatoes, pulled up the vines, leveled the ground, and planted the wheat.

She simply scattered the wheat seeds evenly on the ground. In this fertile land, even a dog could grow a crop.

The vines were put into the machine next to the wooden house and turned into fertilizer.

Hua Yuanyuan gave this machine an appropriate name: “All-Purpose Machine.”

The system screen had various options, and she could operate it by voice control.

It could produce fertilizer and various types of pesticides, such as fungicides and herbicides.

There were many other options that she hadn’t yet fully explored.

She had a feeling that she could get whatever she needed, but it wasn’t free; she had to work for it.

For example, each use consumed three hours of labor.

It wasn’t expensive; she could earn that much in a day.

After planting the first round of vegetables, she had gained some experience.

She only needed to plant the seeds; weeding, watering, pruning, and pest control could be completely ignored, and the vegetables grew very well.

Weeds grew in the field, but not wildly; she ignored them, and they remained as they were.

Watering wasn’t regular either. Some plots were watered twice, while others weren’t watered at all, and the vegetables didn’t die…

Hua Yuanyuan concluded that she could be appropriately lazy and not be too meticulous.

Life was the same; perfectionism only tired oneself.

In this life, one just lives.

Think positively about everything, don’t be too hard on yourself.

Oh, and the system gave her a super big surprise.

She could exchange labor for sanitary tampons.