Her Cultivation Diary-Chapter 165 - . Planting rice seedlings the water underneath

Chapter 165: 165. Planting rice seedlings, the water underneath feels cold_1

Chapter 165: 165. Planting rice seedlings, the water underneath feels cold_1

The early morning in early April still carried a hint of chill.

Early in the morning, Old Li led his ox to the edge of the paddy field.

The ox wandered off to graze on its own in the abandoned field nearby, while he deftly rolled up his pant legs.

His rough feet, marked with black scars, stepped into the soft, squishy mud; despite feeling strong this year, Old Li couldn’t help but shiver—

“Aiyo, this is really cold!”

As he was saying this, he saw Song Tan approaching with a shoulder pole, the baskets brimming with robust rice seedlings tied neatly into bundles, stacked and overflowing.

Yet she carried them on one shoulder, her hand resting lightly on the pole, her practiced pose and effortless movements as if she were a brawny man, not the delicate girl in front of him!

Seeing this, Old Li couldn’t help but exclaim, “Aiyo”—

This girl, she’s really cut out for farming!

Song Tan stood at the edge of the field looking at him: “Grandpa Li, why are you getting into the field? The water is so cold!”

Honestly, having stepped into it for a while now, Old Li’s feet, sunk into the mud, felt somewhat warm and cozy.

And since he was wearing thick clothes, he didn’t feel cold anymore.

It made him recall the passion he felt when he worked up a sweat in the rice fields years ago, and he exclaimed loudly:

“No worries, you can’t match me in planting rice seedlings!”

Song Tan stiffened—that was certainly true if it was about manually planting seedlings.

If it was about using magic, well…

Her fingertips twitched, trying to lift the bundles of seedlings in the baskets a little—

Alas!

The scant Spiritual Energy was particularly ineffective; she could only manage a slight lift. To plant each cluster of seedlings neatly into the field with a snap of the fingers—that splendid scene might never be witnessed in her lifetime…

But however well the seedlings were planted, it couldn’t make up for the fact that Old Li was getting on in years.

Song Tan grew a little anxious: “I’m planting early because of the coolness of the water. I really didn’t plan on making you work in the field today.”

Hearing this, Old Li became even more determined:

“What’s the matter, you think I’m too old and can’t do the work, right? Throw down those seedlings, I’ll plant them for you right now! Let’s see who does it better!”

“I’ll tell you, even your father can’t beat me.”

Song Sancheng, who was allegedly outmatched, also arrived just then and, seeing Old Li in the field, he immediately felt cheerful:

“Uncle Li, you sure got here early!”

With that, he took off his rubber shoes without hesitation, rolled up his pant legs, and stepped into the field, immediately exclaiming—

“Aiyo, this water is really cold!”

How could it not be cold? Song Tan was on the verge of irritation.

Even Song Youde, who arrived later, scolded from the bank: “You two! How many years has it been since you last farmed? Have you forgotten what month it is? Tantan said to plant and you just followed suit?!”

“If I hadn’t seen her pulling up seedlings early in the morning, I wouldn’t even have known it was time to plant rice.”

Here, no one grew double-cropped rice, so planting normally waited until the end of April or early May.

His own granddaughter, Tantan, had never been made to plant rice seedlings in the fields growing up, but now she had cultivated some seedlings and was eager to plant them in early April.

How can things grow well if the season isn’t right?

Song Tan, too, felt awkward.

This time, it really was her mistake; after all, when one cultivates the land in pursuit of immortality, who pays attention to the seasons?

Forget about two harvests a year—if variety and taste weren’t a concern, even two harvests a month wouldn’t be a problem.

She took a step back in embarrassment, exposing the seedlings: “Look, Grandpa, how strong my seedlings are. If I don’t plant them soon, they might start growing poorly.”

Song Youde looked down and saw—indeed, these were unusually robust seedlings, so green they almost dripped with vigor.

He muttered disgruntledly to himself:

“This is just bizarre, why didn’t our breeding efforts yield such good results before?”

He had to admit it, though.

After all, the seedlings had already been uprooted; there was no turning back now – they had to plant them!

As for experience… he had plenty when it came to planting rice.

Standing on the bank now, he vigorously rubbed his legs a few times before stepping down into the field.

It was indeed a bit chilly.

But it was bearable, although glancing at his own son who was still acting foolish for his age, and then at Old Li comparing himself to a young man, he huffed again, “Tantan, when you go back, tell Seventh Uncle to drink some more ginger tea at noon.”

“Sure,” Song Tan promptly agreed, “Grandpa Li, you take it easy too. Drink more at noon, and in the evening I’ll brew a whole bucket and carry it back for you and grandpa to soak your feet and drive out the chill.”

“You can’t be too careful with your health!”

Old Li, however, was visibly impatient: “Oh, come on, what’s with all the fuss? In the cold days past, we used to fish for lotus roots in the lake — throw down those seedlings!”

Song Tan had no choice but to stand on the bank, grabbing bunches of seedlings and scattering them into the paddy field below.

Before long, a whole load of them had been tossed down, leaving the two paddies fairly evenly covered.

She followed suit, rolling up the legs of her trousers, and stepped onto the grass with her pale feet, which made Song Youde scowl:

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, girl?!”

“If you catch a chill from going into the field, you’re going to suffer!”

“No worries, grandpa,” replied Song Tan confidently. “I’m really not afraid of the cold.”

But there’s a kind of fear called your elders thinking you’re afraid.

Even Song Sancheng had a frosty expression as he scolded, “Stay there, don’t come down! Can’t the three of us finish planting these two paddies? Go back.”

Go back to what?

He hadn’t actually thought that through, instead he changed the subject abruptly, “Go to the city and buy me a small three-wheeler.”

Song Tan: …

Fine, if I’m not to enter the water, so be it.

As they said, with half a day’s work, these two paddies should be done, they won’t be missing me.

Just as she was about to move away, she asked Song Youde, “Grandpa, I see other people have little three-wheeler carts. How about we get you one too?”

Song Youde instantly beamed with joy: “You child, spending money recklessly with the little you have, what do I need that for at my age?”

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Just as Song Tan was about to agree, he quickly added, “Well maybe buy one, grandpa’s got money, I’ll give it to you.”

Song Tan turned and walked away: “No need, no need, my dad has money. He said he’s going to save money by quitting smoking this year.”

That statement really did it!

Song Sancheng immediately started jogging, struggling a few steps forward through the mud:

“I didn’t say that, I didn’t say it! Tantan, have you planted that tobacco?”

While turning to toothily smile at Song Youde: “Dad, I know you like smoking this dry tobacco, so this year I specially had Tantan plant a row of the stuff for you by the fields.”

“If we dry and roll our own, it’ll definitely be strong enough.”

No sooner had he finished speaking, than Song Youde skillfully pulled out the smooth, polished smoking pipe tucked at his waist and thumped it heavily onto his son’s arm—

“What’s this? You smoke cigarettes, and I should be content with those worthless tobacco leaves?”

“Is it so hard to spend money on a vehicle for me? As soon as Tantan mentioned it, look how anxious you got…”

“Isn’t it just money? I’ve got it! I’ll give it to you when we go back.”

Song Sancheng: …

Dad, I really didn’t mean it like that!