Daily Life in the Countryside After Being Reborn-Chapter 21 - 20 Little Buns Enter the City to Share Pears (Part 5)

By the end of the nineties, to be exact, in 1996, China had not yet joined the World Trade Organization, and imported goods were scarce in the domestic market.

The most commonly seen foreign items were mostly brought back by overseas Chinese when they visited their homeland. In Bai Family Ancient Town's grain station, the middle-aged women could only tell the difference between wheat and millet, let alone distinguish between Thai and Indian Fragrant Rice.

But Zhu Shijun was different. When he was in Beijing, out of interest, he got quite close to a retired official from the Ministry of Agriculture. Thai Fragrant Rice seemed to be more easily accepted by the general public than Indian Fragrant Rice, but actually, that wasn't the case.

"Xiao Xian, was what you just said true?"

The piping hot fish melted as soon as it entered his mouth, and Xiao Xian's tongue got burnt to the point of blistering, "The more you say, the more mistakes you make," Xiao Xian really wanted to give himself a smack with the chopsticks, revealing everything as soon as he got a little excited.

"Grandpa, what did I just say? I just saw the jar labeled 1980, and you taught me how to count, didn't you? Isn't it exactly sixteen years until this year, 1996?" Zhu Xiaoxian turned the tea jar around to reveal its bottom, which indeed had a label marking 1980.

As for India and Thailand, Xiao Xian really didn't know, and was adamant that he hadn't said anything.

Zhu Shijun believed that the rice variety was seven to eight years old, but it turned out to be twice as old as he thought. The old cadre, who was quite knowledgeable about Indian Fragrant Rice, would have been able to identify whether this was genuine Indian rice or not; unfortunately, Bai Family Ancient Town was as far away from Beijing as mountains and rivers can be, and someone like Zhu Shijun, burdened with past faults, might never return to Beijing in his lifetime.

"Grandpa, what did you just say about 'extraditing' fragrant rice?" Zhu Xiaoxian deliberately pronounced the word in an odd way.

"Xiao Xian, it's India, not extraditing. Indian Fragrant Rice, especially the Basmati kind produced there, is some of the highest quality fragrant rice in the world. Normal fragrant rice would increase in size by two to three times after cooking. Basmati rice could swell more than five times in size. However, this kind of rice cannot be directly bought and sold in China. When I was in Beijing, only a few high-end restaurants would place orders directly to India, and after confirming the quantity, it would be imported through special channels. Ordinary people's dining tables would never see this kind of rice, let alone in such an inconspicuous grain station in Bai Family Ancient Town." Zhu Shijun said while picking up a piece of fish, reminding Xiao Xian to watch out for bones before he started eating.

Halfway through the meal, more customers started coming into Miao Family Restaurant, and with a generous portion of grass carp plus rice noodles added to the soup last, grandfather and granddaughter hardly dared to burp for fear an accident might spill out of them.

Zhu Shijun advocated walking a hundred steps after meals, but he didn't know where the town's bookstore was located and had to stop a red tricycle and ask for directions.

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The pedicab driver was a warm-hearted person, except that he had an accent when he spoke. Worried that Zhu Shijun wouldn't understand, he patiently drew a map to make it clear before he was reassured.

Zhu Shijun offered two yuan for his help with directions, but the driver refused, saying it was just a bit of talking and there was no reason to take money. As they haggled, Xiao Xian smartly took out a white pear from her backpack, which she had brought for quenching her thirst on the way down the mountain. But now her stomach couldn't fit anything else.

Only then did the driver accept the fruit. Zhu Shijun was quite pleased with his granddaughter's performance that day; seeing toys and snacks, she didn't cry or make a fuss, and really didn't seem like a six-year-old child.

Following the hand-drawn map, Zhu Shijun didn't need to spend much effort to find the Xinhua Bookstore, which was the size of two storefronts.

"Xiao Xian, Grandpa wants to discuss something with you. When we get back, I'll have to teach you how to read, write, and do arithmetic." After moving to Ge Village, Zhu Shijun had asked around, and to get to an official government school would take a hike of an hour and a half over the mountains. Back then, Xiao Xian couldn't walk because of her leg condition.

Now that her leg is healed, the old man still felt uneasy about her walking such a long way alone. The village chief said that after next summer, the village will pave a concrete road, and the town cars would be able to reach the village, allowing Xiao Xian to attend school normally. It was normal even for city kids to start school at the age of seven, and Zhu Shijun thought that if Xiao Xian could learn some lessons in advance, it would be easier for her when she started school.

Xiao Xian looked at the various bound books in the bookstore, some of which even had lifelike color pages, "Grandpa, I'll learn, but you have to promise me something too. I want to plant those jars of rice seeds."

Zhu Shijun probably didn't believe that Xiao Xian had gotten Indian Fragrant Rice, but Xiao Xian knew very well that it was definitely the Basmati from India, potentially yielding more than one thousand and five hundred pounds per acre. Even if the production dropped by a hundred or eighty pounds due to soil incompatibility or climate conditions, it was still better than the high-yield rice varieties that Zhu Shijun had selected. One shouldn't keep a golden phoenix and treat it as a common chicken.

"Xiao Xian, you like planting things now?" Zhu Shijun chuckled, he

"Didn't Uncle San Gouzi just say on the road that his Da Ya, who is only a year older than me, understood how to deliver rice baskets to the fields during the autumn harvest? And Xiao Hua from next door invited me to eat the tomatoes she had planted not too long ago, so I want to invite her to taste the rice I grow," Louzi rice refers to meals during autumn harvest, which, after being prepared, are placed in bamboo baskets for children and the elderly to deliver to the eaters at the field ridge.

Zhu Shijun originally wanted to tell his granddaughter that the tomatoes Xiao Hua invited her to eat were planted by her grandma, and Xiao Hua at most had only pulled weeds a few times, but now that the idea arose, he believed hands-on practice should be encouraged.

"Xiao Xian, planting rice is different from planting tomatoes. Rice planting is..." Zhu Shijun explained that everything from winter preparation to next year's seedling selection and transplanting was essential. Besides, the Zhu family only had that one acre of land behind their house; there wasn't extra space for Xiao Xian to plant as she pleased.

"Grandpa, please agree with me. If you do, I will definitely study hard. I'll even remember everything including 'India,' 'Thailand,' and 'Beijing' (it says writing Beijing might get sensitive so I had to use a non-sensitive Mei character instead)," Zhu Xiao shook Zhu Shijun's sleeve.

"There's really no arguing with you. Later I will discuss it with your Uncle, the village chief, and see if there is any unclaimed land in the village. But when you go to the fields, Sister-in-law Lian must accompany you, and you can't work under the hot sun. Also, if it's windy or raining, you can't go down to the fields." Zhu Shijun, worn down by Xiao Xian, reluctantly agreed.

Zhu Shijun then picked a few agriculture-related books and books for Xiao Xian's early education, and as he went over to check out, he happened to meet a foreigner gesturing with the saleswoman, both struggling to understand each other's words.