Song Tan’s Chronicle - Chapter 64

Old Li had found a new purpose and was like a rejuvenated man. He no longer napped in the fields but instead walked up and down the ridges, seemingly already planning the layout of the rice fields.

Song Tan, meanwhile, made her way up the back hill, carefully checking on the five boxes of bees she had bought.

After feeding them sugar water for two days, the cherry blossoms had bloomed, clustering in pink and white, creating a lively scene.

The only problem was… there was just one tree.

Without the spiritual energy, it wouldn’t be enough to feed the bees.

The entire tree was being sustained by Song Tan’s spiritual energy, surrounded by buzzing bees, which looked quite intimidating from afar.

However, this situation wouldn’t last long.

As April approached, more flowers were blooming in the wild. Song Tan planned to stimulate a new flower field to bloom each day after April, giving the bees two weeks to gather nectar before turning the soil again.

She aimed to complete the rice transplanting by the end of April and then fully enter the vegetable planting phase.

As for the bumblebee—it was still incubating its young!

The bumblebee had bad luck. Just out of its hole, without tasting any pollen, it was caught by Qiao Qiao.

Initially, it survived on sugar water, but now it was gulping down spiritual energy daily.

The bee larvae in the wax pot hadn’t grown much, but the bumblebee had grown even fatter, now rounder than a thumb.

The only unchanged feature was its fragile wings, which couldn’t support its heavy body. It flapped futilely every day, causing Song Tan to worry—

At this rate, wouldn’t it crush the flowers it was supposed to pollinate?

While concerned, she couldn’t resist patting its plump, furry yellow and black rear again.

The bumblebee, perhaps accustomed to the treatment, barely reacted, even when the wax pot rolled forward. It didn’t even extend its stinger, showing its laid-back nature.

…

Song Sancheng had taken up the yoke and gone to fetch pig feed again.

The five piglets ate continuously, and fortunately, he was strong. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to handle hauling so much feed daily, alongside the noisy chickens and ducks…

It made him both happy and worried.

Happy that the piglets were lively and looked delicious.

Worried that it would be a long time before they grew up, and he would be feeding them for a whole year.

Qiao Qiao was sweating in the vegetable garden, working diligently and honestly. The whole Song family was bustling with activity—

Except for Zhang Yanping.

He was sitting on a stool, feet up, playing on his phone. When he saw Song Tan return with a frown, he teased, “Hey, what’s bothering our little farm girl?”

Song Tan didn’t hide her concerns:

“I’ve set up nets around the hill, and the back hill is manageable, but the chestnut forest has a lot of black fungus and silver fungus logs, only protected by nylon netting. I’m worried we won’t be able to guard it when it’s time to harvest.”

The chestnut forest was on a gentle slope, accessible by paths, but quite a distance from the Song family home. The chestnut trees were just sprouting leaves, and the fungus was in the ventilation stage. The netting was temporarily effective.

But when the fungus matured, it could attract thieves.

After all, anyone who had tasted their produce would crave more.

Telling Zhang Yanping was a way to brainstorm; maybe he could help patrol with the three puppies.

Maybe they could get a big white dog too.

Zhang Yanping wasn’t skilled in farming and didn’t catch on to Song Tan’s extreme idea—using the three puppies for patrol?

Wouldn’t they just deliver themselves to thieves?

Oblivious to this, he had a suggestion:

“Don’t you just want to keep people out? That’s easy! Plant thorny vines around the hill. The thornier, the better—make it impenetrable.”

“Don’t worry about fruit yield; your primary need is protection.”

He raised an eyebrow, looking smug. “Tan Tan, brew me another cup of your tea, and I’ll give you more ideas.”

Song Tan didn’t mind her family drinking their tea, but Zhang Yanping hadn’t worked in the fields yet.

“No way. I can give you a few ounces to take home.”

That was enough! What more could he ask for?

Zhang Yanping, now serious, continued:

“You should watch more online videos.”

“I saw one about golden cherry vines. They’re those thorny vines we used to see along the roads, but now they’re mostly gone.”

“Those things bloom beautifully but are covered in thorns. The fruits are spiky too, and the vines are so tangled they’re impenetrable.”

“And the fruit is edible, can be used as medicine, and can be made into wine. It has economic and medicinal value.”

“Keep your nets, but add sturdy posts at intervals and plant golden cherries inside and outside the perimeter. It’ll keep people out and provide extra income.”

He laughed. “Tan Tan, if the golden cherries have a good harvest and you can’t sell them, I’ll help you find buyers.”

Song Tan eyed him suspiciously and then checked online—

No wonder Zhang Yanping had that strange look!

It turned out the main use for golden cherry fruit was making wine for kidney and sexual health!

She looked thoughtfully at Zhang Yanping. “Brother, no wonder Aunt said you needed to come to the countryside to work. Lying around playing on your phone all day—no wonder you’re weak.”

Zhang Yanping bristled. “Weak? What do you know about that? I know my own body.”

Song Tan snorted. “So what if I’m a girl? I can’t go online or learn? You just got defensive because I hit a sore spot.”

As a cultivator, she’d seen it all!

“Anyway, Brother, since your idea about the golden cherries is decent, I’ll cut some extra chives for you when they’re ready.”

She had just walked around the village and found a neighbor clearing out their overgrown chives, too lazy to tend to them. She traded a black fungus log for a bunch of chive roots and planned to plant them in the field with the Chinese milk vetch.

Zhang Yanping sat there for a moment, then suddenly blushed.

Of course, chives were also famous for their aphrodisiac properties!

As a young man, he couldn’t stand hearing about such things!