After digging the hole in one day, we started making fertilizer the next day.

　　Ever since his husband mentioned fertilizer, Li Zhouzhou has been piling up all the manure from the pig and chicken pens that he cleaned. He used to spread it on the vegetable patch, but now he keeps it and has accumulated a small pile over the entire New Year, mainly for the pigs to eat and defecate.

　　The manure doesn’t need to be too fine, and it’s okay to throw in the mud from the pig and chicken pens. It’s not like plastic bags can’t be decomposed, and the land that has been absorbed by the manure for many years is also a good thing.

　　Ashes from burnt wheat straw, hay laid on the floor of the pigpen and chicken pen, and manure from family members or pigs and chickens, all were saved and poured in, stirred, and then water was added.

　　Li Zhouzhou and Li Da took turns to fetch water from the river every day. They didn’t have to go upstream, but could fetch water from the downstream near their home. The father and son’s behavior attracted the villagers, but fetching water was nothing special. They guessed it was for washing clothes?

　　The water was poured in, and most of the pit was filled with water.

　　”Is this done, husband?” Li Zhouzhou asked.

　　Li Da looked at the big pit which was full of water. There was not much manure and wood ash, but it looked like a lot. In the end, there was not much left once the water was poured in. So he did not expect a good harvest from the crops in the field.

　　”Let’s ferment for five days.” Gu Zhao couldn’t make up his mind, thinking that since it was cold today, he would ferment it for a few more days. But one thing was certain, that is, the ‘fertilizer’ in the pit could not burn the crops, it was too diluted.

　　The new year has passed early, and it is only the beginning of February now. After all this trouble, it has already reached the middle of February.

　　Gu Zhao didn’t know when to apply fertilizer, so he asked his father when. Li Da said, “No one has done this before. It should be applied before sowing seeds, or once in March or April. If it’s later, the crops will be ready.”

　　Plant in October and harvest in June of the following year. The moisture in the fields in the following months depends entirely on the snowfall during the Chinese New Year or the spring rains. If you fertilize the fields before planting seeds in October, there will be no problem.

　　”Let’s start working on it once it’s done. I’m looking at the ten acres of land. If we work on it back and forth, it will take three or four months to be finished, which is just right.” Li Da made the decision.

　　The Li family began to fertilize the land, with Li Zhouzhou and Li Da as the main laborers. Gu Zhao went to Dongping Village to ask questions at Mr. Zhao’s house on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and usually served as a logistics staff at home, cooking, cleaning the house and sweeping the yard.

　　At first, Li Zhouzhou didn’t agree to let Gu Zhao help with the housework, fearing that his husband would be laughed at. But Gu Zhao said coquettishly and seriously that he was not as strong as his father and Zhou Zhou, and couldn’t help with the farm work, but he couldn’t do nothing. This is how a family is, helping each other in times of trouble, and not just standing by and watching the fun.

　　Do whatever you can.

　　Li Zhouzhou is traditional at heart. After all, he has lived for more than ten years and has been educated this way since childhood. However, he has been living with his husband for less than half a year, and has been influenced by him bit by bit. He thinks what he says is right.

　　He only had to work in the fields, not cooking, chopping wood, carrying water, or doing housework. It was indeed much easier than before. Physical ease was far less important than the peace of mind and happiness in his heart.

　　It was the first time that Gu Zhao carried a basin of clothes to the river to wash clothes. Although he chose the afternoon when there were few people, the whole village was still talking about it. It became a lively event, and both men and women would chat and joke about it. But Gu Zhao didn’t care.

　　The men in the village laughed at Gu Zhao behind his back, saying that he was a live-in son-in-law who lost face for men and was a coward who did the work of a housekeeper. The women in the village laughed at him, but in fact they were still somewhat envious in their hearts, which showed that Gu Shulang was caring.

　　”What a waste of time. I’ve seen that fertilizer. It’s just water mixed with manure. It’s a waste of effort.” The man in the village curled his lips, thinking that Li Da was just making trouble for himself.

　　”That’s right. How much manure can the Li family save with only three people? It’s better to water the vegetable fields so that the cabbages and radishes will grow well next year.”

　　The whole village was watching the Li family father and son getting fat. Some people really watched and came back to learn enthusiastically: “Oh, I ran into Li Zhouzhou today, and the water in the bucket was indeed Xishui.”

　　”What good will that do?”

　　Aunt Wang also liked to hear it. She just found out some time ago that the matter of the stove had been spread, and many people laughed at her behind her back. Aunt Wang was furious at the time and felt disgusted with the Li family. If it wasn’t Li Zhouzhou who told it, who else could it be?

　　Now the villagers are making fun of the Li family father and son applying fertilizer to the fields, and they are looking at them as fools. Aunt Wang is of course happy to join in, saying, “That’s right . It snowed a few times during the New Year, and you are still worried that there won’t be enough rain for the fields?”

　　”That’s right. Everyone knows that manure is good, but what’s the use of water?”