Chapter 184: Sowing and Watering

Professional, extremely professional!
Zhong Di began to read carefully. Not to mention, this document was put together much better than the ones his older sister made—truly the work of a professional.
Just think about it, for a project spanning twenty thousand mu of land, anyone capable of serving as an assistant is definitely no ordinary character.
Once he finished chatting with Uncle Qian, he would show this document to his sister so she could learn from it, or perhaps have her go to Qian Weining's place to learn directly from his assistant.
Of course, that was something to discuss later. He himself was content to be a lazy slacker, but his sister wanted to get ahead in life. Creating opportunities for her to improve herself was a pretty good idea.
The entire document was well-structured and, above all, very straightforward. At first glance, it gave a sense of comfort that aided understanding. Considerable time and effort must have gone into it!
At this level, it couldn't be forged without years of tempering; many people wouldn't know how to do this even after working for a lifetime.
Overall, the land preparation phase had concluded. They were currently using dry grass to form sand barriers to enclose the land, and had planted some hardy Elaeagnus angustifolia, commonly known as Russian olive trees.
This stuff was tough and resilient.
Despite the many days that had passed, twenty thousand mu of land was a massive engineering feat, and reaching this stage already was no small achievement.
Various kinds of data lay before Zhong Di. Ah, the development was still progressing very well.
Just as Qian Weining had said, it was orderly and systematic.
No kidding, with the boss personally keeping an eye on it—a boss who had already achieved a certain level of success—such capability and vision meant things were bound to be handled well.
"I've finished reading it, Uncle Qian. What do you want to discuss with me?" Zhong Di asked after carefully reading through the entire project and putting the documents down.
"What do you think of it?" Qian Weining smiled.
"Good, exceptionally good. An industry benchmark," Zhong Di replied cooperatively.
In fact, he was telling the truth. In addition to data, the document also contained pictures—color ones at that. Zhong Di had looked at them, and they were very good.
Even distant landscape views and aerial photographs were included. While it couldn't be turned into green land overnight, at least the shape and form were taking shape.
Especially the method of using dry grass to enclose plots, paired with the newly planted Russian olive trees, made it look truly impressive.
Fairly speaking, if Zhong Di were left to handle it, he could never achieve this state in such a short amount of time.
"Mm, indeed good. Any suggestions?"
Zhong Di...
Could this guy not be even slightly modest? Just like that? Just like that? Just like that he accepted his casual remark?
"What suggestions could I possibly give? Right now it's just bare land. If I really have to suggest something, I suggest you just scatter seeds and run the drip irrigation."
Regarding Qian Weining's question, Zhong Di answered decisively and swiftly.
"Good, that's the answer!" Qian Weining's eyes lit up as he slapped his thigh.
Zhong Di???
Was something wrong with him today, or was something wrong with Qian Weining? How did it become *that* answer? How was it adopted just like that? He had only mentioned scattering seeds and drip irrigation without explaining anything else yet.
Normally, wouldn't they first clarify the train of thought, then discuss it, and finally finalize the plan? Why did it go like this today?
"I haven't even finished saying anything."
"It's fine, I already understand," Qian Weining said unconcernedly.
"Then tell me what you've understood," Zhong Di decided to probe a little.
"The ecosystem is fragile right now and already difficult to restore. Whether it's planting poplars in shelterbelts or planting dogbane inside, it's basically unfeasible since winter is fast approaching."
"Instead of that, it's better to directly scatter some fast-growing weed seeds, then apply drip irrigation to let them grow and slowly improve the ecological environment."
"When next spring arrives, it will be much easier to plant trees and dogbane." Qian Weining spoke very slowly, occasionally glancing at Zhong Di's expression as he finished.
Good grief, had he really just said all that? No, he hadn't! If you don't believe it, check what was said earlier.
However, that actually *was* what he meant.
"What's with that look? Actually, the reason I came to talk with you was to confirm the idea in my mind. I asked the technician about this approach, and the technician didn't recommend it, but I think it's very good."
"My technician said that once weed seeds are scattered, it will be very difficult to manage them in the later stages."
"It wasn't until you also agreed with this viewpoint that I decided to implement this plan."
There was complete relaxation between Qian Weining's brows. This was why he had come to find Zhong Di; he had pondered this issue for a long time and checked a lot of data before making this decision.
It was just that because of the technician's reservation, he had been hesitating all along. Just as the technician said, later-stage management really would be difficult.
"Mm, what your technician said makes sense. It truly is difficult."
When you are sowing grass, you don't feel anything, but the moment you want to manage and control it, you realize just how hard it is to handle.
If you spray glyphosate, a root-killing herbicide, it will very easily kill the dogbane you planted. If you spray paraquat, aside from being difficult to apply, it only works temporarily. When weeds grow everywhere by then, how are you supposed to handle it?
"What do you mean?"
Qian Weining caught the implication in Zhong Di's words; Zhong Di hadn't figured out a solution for the later-stage problem either.
"It's fine, just scatter the seeds directly! The ecosystem hasn't even recovered yet, so what's the point of talking about weed control?" Zhong Di thought for a brief moment before making this decision.
Just as he said, the ecosystem hadn't even been restored yet; what meaning was there in worrying about later-stage management?
It was like a middle school student who hadn't even managed to pass the high school entrance exams yet starting to worry about taking college entrance exams. There was no point to that. If you couldn't even get into high school, no amount of wishful thinking would help.
"Right, that's exactly what I mean. As soon as I finish eating here and go back, I'll implement it. Scattering them now will still allow a wave of weeds to grow."
"Don't hold too high of hopes. By now, I reckon even if you plant them, the weeds won't grow into much. They'll probably grow a bit, go to seed, and then the frost will descend."
"It's fine. Anyway, the stuff is low cost. Besides, if this year doesn't work out, won't they just continue to sprout and grow next spring?"
Qian Weining had done plenty of homework and understood this area quite well, otherwise he would never have had these insights.
"That's true too."
...
"The charcoal-grilled oysters are ready." At this moment, Zacker served the oysters.
Zhong Di took a look—good grief, after chatting for just a little while, the food was almost all prepared.
Charcoal-grilled oysters, freshly grilled, were a novelty for the farmhouse, but not uncommon for Qian Weining.
Zacker and the others had simply cleaned them and placed them on a plate; if they actually wanted to eat them, they still needed to do the cooking themselves by placing these prepped oysters onto the charcoal fire.
Charcoal-grilled oysters were literally just that: opening the oysters, adding minced garlic and seasonings on top, and then placing them over charcoal fire to cook until done before eating.
To Zhong Di, eating oysters this way was far less delicious than simply steaming them.
However...
"Charcoal-grilled oysters? That's not a fresh novelty, I have plenty of those," Qian Weining waved his hand.
"Try them first before you judge. Are you going to sentence them to life or death right now?" Zhong Di said with a mysterious smile afterwards.
"Oh? Could there be some special trick to this?" Qian Weining instantly grew interested; perhaps there really was something interesting to it.
Charcoal-grilled oysters could very well differ from one place to another. Moreover, with the small farmhouse's reputation backing it up, how could it be bad?
Given his deliberate request, if it wasn't something he hadn't tasted before, Zhong Di wouldn't have arranged it.