Even the heavens were on your side.
After the Lantern Festival, the rainy and snowy weather gradually warmed up. Although it was still chilly in early spring, the daytime sunshine was still very energizing.
After the start of spring, it is the time to plant trees vigorously. In the forest farm near Fengshan, probably due to the heavy snow in the first month of the lunar calendar, the newly harvested batch of Phoebe zhennan trees were either broken or died, so a new batch of trees needs to be brought in.
Last year, Shen Wuqiu only went there briefly. This year, after sweeping around the entire forest farm, he discovered that the forest farm he had contracted also contained more than ten acres of farmland and a vacant lawn, which stretched all the way to the few households in Linjiawan.
Without a doubt, these abandoned fields should belong to these households; it's just unclear whether they're included in their contracted forest farm.
After returning from the inspection, Shen Wuqiu asked her father.
Mr. Shen wasn't entirely sure either, because these few acres of land and the open grassland were surrounded by the forest farm on three sides. "When the land was divided up, this area wasn't specifically marked. Why are you asking? Do you need it?"
Shen Wuqiu nodded. "There are also more than ten acres of land, and there is a small reservoir down there. I took a look and although this land is surrounded on three sides, the terrain of the woodland to the west is lower and the lighting is quite good. It should be a good place to grow something."
Fengshan Mountain belongs to Jingrong Village, but it stretches to the two neighboring villages. The part closest to Jingrong Village has a cemetery in the middle. Centered on the cemetery, the surrounding forests are becoming increasingly barren. The large trees planted by the ancestors have been cut down by villagers to build houses in the last ten years or so. No one maintains them. The once beautiful forest is now covered by low shrubs, making it look dense, but in reality, there are not many large trees.
Mr. Shen was heartbroken when he saw this, which is why he told the village that he wanted to contract this mountain forest to plant trees.
The village was having a headache over this mountain forest, and since Mr. Shen was willing to contract it to plant trees, the village was naturally happy and readily allocated the entire large area of Fengshan Mountain to Mr. Shen.
The village was generous, and Mr. Shen never thought about getting rich from the mountains and forests. He only wanted to benefit his descendants. In the first few years, he only cared about picking trees and didn't pay attention to the dozen or so acres of fields and empty grasslands.
Now that he heard that Shen Wuqiu had an idea, he naturally supported it. "Then I'll ask the village for you later. It shouldn't be a big problem. Only two or three households in Linjiawan still live in that area. These fields have been abandoned for a long time."
"It's better to ask first, so as not to work for nothing." Shen Wuqiu was much more cautious. She didn't necessarily need this land, but she thought that if it was her own territory, it would be a waste to leave it there.
"You're right," Mr. Shen thought for a moment, "So what are you planning to plant in that area?"
“Peach trees.” Shen Wuqiu walked around that area and saw the peach blossoms blooming near those few houses, which gave her this idea. “We should be able to grow more peaches here.”
“It can be grown.” Mr. Chen nodded. “If I hadn’t fallen ill, I would have liked to plant peach trees there after selling the osmanthus trees in Xishan. Nowadays, the government strongly supports fruit tree planting in rural areas. In your uncle’s area, the wasteland was given yellow peach tree seedlings. I heard that it was just to pass the government’s inspection. Many trees survived and bore fruit in two years.”
Hearing her father say that, Shen Wuqiu felt even more confident. "I looked at the land over there. The grassy area is a bit higher up and it's also very dry, so you can raise chickens and ducks there."
"So, are you planning to start this year, or are you just keeping it as a plan for now? If you're in a hurry to start construction, I'll go see Secretary Cao today."
Shen Wuqiu thought for a moment. If she hadn't gone to Fengshan, her plans for the first half of the year would have focused on the Bashang Reservoir area, which she had already discussed with the village.
After a long while, she said, "Then you can go and ask for me first. Anyway, this piece of land isn't very big, and it won't take much effort. If it belongs to us, we shouldn't leave it uncultivated."
"OK."
Mr. Shen was a man of action; he got the matter sorted out for her that very night, and she could do whatever she wanted with the empty meadow and wasteland.
Shen Wuqiu put aside the matter of the dam reservoir and focused all his attention on developing this wasteland.
When Uncle Zheng heard that she wanted to start peach orchard farming again, his eyes lit up. "I've always wanted to start mulberry farming, but my little brat wouldn't let me. Now that's great, I can finally have my wish fulfilled again."
"It seems Uncle Zheng is good at everything."
"I dare not say I'm good at it." Like Mr. Shen, Uncle Zheng also has a deep love for this land. "I'm not a very ambitious person, and I don't want any city life. I just want to face the yellow earth and turn my back to the earth, live a leisurely life of working at sunrise and resting at sunset, plant some trees and fruit trees, and feel a great sense of accomplishment when I see them bloom and bear fruit."
"My dear niece, I'm not trying to flatter you, but you're much more thoughtful than your father. Your father just leases out all that unwanted land and mountains, completely failing to realize their full potential. It's fortunate that the government's policies are good these days; otherwise, with your father's overbearing approach, he'd be bankrupt."
Despite being insulted like that, Mr. Shen didn't show any displeasure. Instead, he was quite pleased with himself. "What's it to you? My daughter is capable, isn't that enough?"
Uncle Zheng clicked his tongue, too lazy to talk to him, and looked at the newly produced design drawings again. "This piece of land is just a bit small, otherwise it would have been very promising."
Shen Wuqiu disagreed, saying, "More than ten acres, plus that open space, isn't small. Peach trees aren't like bayberry trees, with wide gaps between them."
Uncle Zheng hadn't visited the site yet, so he asked her, "Have you tested the soil conditions there? Is it suitable for planting peach trees? Peach trees mostly like sunlight. Looking at this picture, this open space is surrounded by mountains on three sides. How is the sunlight?"
Shen Wuqiu pointed to the design drawings and analyzed for him, "The soil environment is not yet available, but the lighting should be good. The western side of this land is low-lying mountainous area, while the eastern side has several hundred meters of lawn for transition, so the sunlight should be sufficient."
Uncle Zheng became interested after hearing her analysis and said he would bring people over to take a look tomorrow.
After investigation and discussion, Shen Wuqiu decided to plant yellow peach trees in this area.
After Shen Wuqiu made up her mind, Uncle Zheng took care of all the work, including planting the tree seeds.
Shen Wuqiu was happy to have some free time. She had been running around outside all this time, and her pets at home were starting to complain.
To increase their interaction with their mother, the babies have all become like little babies, wanting only kisses and hugs from their mother. They also don't want anyone else to take care of them at night, insisting on sharing a bed with their mother.
Because of this, the cat often got angry with the kittens.
Shen Wuqiu has been so busy lately that she hasn't been able to take care of the kids. She already feels guilty towards them, and whenever the kids come to her and act cute, she softens as easily as if she's made up. So, she always comforts the kittens first and then comforts the older one in the middle of the night.
Ah, what a sweet torture.
Now that she has some free time, and it's the beautiful spring month of March, she's thinking about whether she should take the kittens out for some fresh air. She feels that keeping the children cooped up on this mountain all day is quite boring, but she's also very worried—if she takes a whole family of cats out, people will misunderstand and wonder where the kittens are; but if she takes a few babies out, she's worried that they might transform.
After thinking it over, she still couldn't make up her mind, so she asked a certain cat, "Don't you think the kittens will get bored if they're kept at home jumping around all day? Should we take them out to play occasionally and let them see the outside world?"
"I'm never bored. As long as you're here, I'm never bored anywhere."
Shen Wuqiu slapped her groping hand away. "I'm talking to you seriously, stop with this nonsense."
"I'm being serious with you too," the cat said, sounding aggrieved.
"I didn't ask you if you were bored, I was asking about the kids. I've been too busy lately and haven't spent much time with them. The weather's been nice these past few days, and I haven't had much to do, so I thought I'd take them out for a walk."
“Of course they want to go, our clan is naturally curious.” Gu Miaomiao said, then her face fell again. “Whenever you have free time, you only care about the kids, you don’t care about me at all.”
How could I not care about you?
"You've been so busy lately that you've forgotten about me. I haven't seen you have a moment to spare. How are you going to make it up to me?"
"You jealous little thing." Shen Wuqiu pinched her nose and chuckled, "Then tell me how you're going to make it up to me."
Gu Miaomiao immediately perked up, "Then you can show me how to play first."
Where shall I take you to have fun?
“I don’t care where I am. I can do it on the bed, the sofa, the stairs, or the coffee table.”
"..." Shen Wuqiu gave her a cute eye roll.
Gu Miaomiao leaned closer, "Sister, spring is here..."
Shen Wuqiu replied with a reserved expression, "Well, so what?"
Meow~
That meow was so sweet, it was incredibly soothing and ticklish.
"Be normal." Shen Wuqiu pursed her lips, deliberately avoiding her gaze. "What are you doing in broad daylight?"
Gu Miaomiao pouted, "As an adult cat, without the nourishment of a mate in the spring, I'll dry out."
"..." Shen Wuqiu's lips twitched. This cat has such a skill: to say dirty things in a serious manner without making people feel vulgar.
Why are you looking at me like that? I'm serious...
"Let's see just how thick-skinned you really are!" Shen Wuqiu pinched her cheek.
Gu Miaomiao pretended to be in pain, putting on a worried and distressed expression.
Shen Wuqiu knew she was faking it, but she still couldn't bring herself to use force. In the end, she gave in first and said in a tone that was both annoyed and low, "Alright, the kids have been sticking to us and sleeping with us every day lately. Let's talk about it after we've calmed them down."
Gu Miaomiao's face immediately lit up with joy, "Then let's go and comfort them quickly."
"..."
With the assurance and protection of the three big cats in the Gu family, Shen Wuqiu felt at ease taking her kittens out.
Considering that the child was still young and the time constraints, Shen Wuqiu decided not to go far. After discussing it with Zhao Jiujiu, the whole family decided to go to Miaomiao Mountain to see the azaleas.
Miaomiao Mountain is the only 4A scenic spot in this small, third-tier county town, and also the only tourist attraction that the city can boast about.
The reason this scenic spot is so remarkable is not because of its beautiful scenery, but purely because of its cultural heritage. It is said that this place was once the hometown of a certain figure from ancient times.
Despite being rated a 4A-level scenic spot because of its rich cultural heritage, there isn't much to showcase culture in this area, except for a few temples and Buddhist halls.
In short, to use a phrase from the tourism industry to describe this attraction, it's like saying, "You'll regret not going, but you'll regret going even more."
However, Shen Wuqiu and the others didn't need to think about so much. Whether the attractions were worth it or not didn't matter; they were just bringing their little one out to see the sights.
She had visited Miaomiao Mountain with her classmates back in high school. At that time, tourism was still an emerging industry, and Miaomiao Mountain had not yet been developed as a tourist destination. However, her deskmate at the time was from Miaomiao Mountain and said that you could see giant salamanders in the streams there. She was curious about what giant salamanders looked like, so she took advantage of her monthly break to visit Miaomiao Mountain.
So many years have passed, and Shen Wuqiu has no recollection of what's on Miaomiao Mountain except that the path was particularly difficult to traverse.
Of course, the status of Miaomiao Mountain has risen with the times. The rugged paths of the past have been replaced by wide and clean cement roads. If it weren't for the need to increase tourists' stay time and boost the scenic area's economy, tourists' private cars could easily drive all the way to the summit.
However, the scenic area has set up parking spaces halfway up the mountain, where all tour buses and private cars can only park. The road leading up can only be reached by walking or taking a special sightseeing bus from the scenic area.
"It's been years, and Miaomiao Mountain is still the same as before." Zhao Jiujiu started complaining as soon as she got out of the car. "They even want to upgrade this scenic area to 5A. I don't know where they get their confidence. I think 4A is already a huge achievement for this place."
"Aunt, it's a good thing you suggested coming," Shen Wuqiu teased her. "If we had forced you to come, you would have been even more resentful."
"It's just that there's not much to see in our small county town," Zhao Jiujiu scolded her. "The only things worth seeing in this scenic area are the azaleas at this time of year and the rime ice on the mountaintop in winter. At other times, it's just a place to escape the summer heat and get some fresh air."
Mr. Shen started making a typical straight-male statement: "Isn't that how scenic spots are?"
Zhao Jiujiu was taken aback and, too lazy to argue with him, ordered Gu Lingyu to move the baby stroller.
The family had come with their child to get some fresh air, so they pushed the child up the roadside in a stroller.
Although everyone says that Miaomiao Mountain isn't much to see, there are still quite a lot of people on the mountain.
Shen Wuqiu and his companions pushed four children along the road, attracting many people who stopped to chat with them:
"Hey, you guys aren't quadruplets, are you?"
"They really are quadruplets? That's amazing."
"Your child is so pretty! How old is she?"
"Not even seven months old? Hey, my niece's baby, who's ten months old, doesn't seem as well-behaved as yours?"
...
Hearing the envious tones of passersby, Mr. Shen felt incredibly proud, and he answered all their questions with great enthusiasm.
The little furry ones were also very well behaved, not shy at all. No matter who came up to tease them, they would wave their little hands, grin and babble, which was incredibly cute.
Er Mao and San Mao were full of energy and cooperated with the adults the whole way.
However, Si Mao, the lazy pig, wouldn't have it. When they arrived at the azalea scenic spot, no matter who came to tease him, he would just purse his little lips and stare at them expressionlessly with his big black eyes, looking like a serious little adult.
Human babies are cute in their own way; some are lively and adorable, but the contrast between their cuteness and their offspring, like Simao, is quite endearing.
The less she could amuse herself, the more young girls would try to tease her.
A little girl with pigtails came over and held out a piece of candy to her, saying, "Call me 'sister,' and I'll give you candy..."
Simao, who had no expression, finally made a sound at her.