Chapter 186: The Vicious Habit of Overtime...

When I finished telling my older sister all of this, it was almost time to knock off for the day.

I had created the opportunity for her; how far she could grow depended entirely on her own efforts. Additionally, Zhong Di had been thinking about having her upgrade her educational background, perhaps by enrolling in a correspondence course. It was not that such a credential was desperately needed. To be honest, given how long my sister had been working, having or not having this degree hardly mattered, especially since she was working with me and didn't need to look for employment elsewhere. The diploma was even less relevant.

Zhong Di's real intention was to give her a chance to seriously study something new. Correspondence courses required spending a bit of time on study during ordinary days, and the contents within them were actually very useful. Those who dismissed them as useless were usually the ones who approached learning solely for the sake of acquiring a qualification; naturally, they would never learn anything meaningful, especially when they didn't even know the purpose of their studies.

Zhong Di planned to bring up these plans only after his sister had achieved some tangible progress in her studies; that would be the most appropriate time.

Before he knew it, quitting time had arrived. One task Zhong Di performed without fail every day was urging everyone to hurry up and go home, whether it was his sister, Zacher, or the uncles doing the physical labor.

It was genuinely vexing—why on earth did these people dislike finishing work? This completely contradicted his understanding. They would always linger instead of leaving, insisting on continuing to work.

This was precisely why Zhong Di had to chase them off.

"Zhong Di, about that detailed plan for returning farmland to forests—I've already sent you the questions I wanted to ask via WeChat. Remember to reply to me!"

Right as she was about to leave, Zhong Hui brought this up again.

Good grief, the workday was already over, and she was still thinking about talking shop. Zhong Di felt utterly helpless.

"Alright, alright, hurry up and go home! I'll send you the materials tomorrow morning."

"Why? Send them to me tonight, I'm in a rush to finish the plan." Zhong Hui, who had just been about to leave, stopped in her tracks.

Are you kidding? Letting anyone delay her progress—was that even possible?

"No particular reason, just to put a stop to your overtime. Go home tonight and spend some quality time with little Xi. Don't think I don't know that you're always secretly working overtime at home. Starting today, that's banned. Work is not that urgent; take your time, and clear up that schedule to keep Xiao Xi company."

"Look at you, I always tell you not to lose your life over work, yet here you are, working overtime after overtime."

Zhong Di had long been aware of his sister's bad habit of working overtime, and since he hadn't found a suitable opportunity to address it before, today felt like the right moment.

"This is passion, not overtime," Zhong Hui argued defensively.

"Passion or not, you need to have a life. Get on back now. Make sure to pay more attention to Xiao Xi; she's at an age where she really needs you. Have her brother-in-law spend more time with her too."

"Children who lack companionship will develop personality flaws. You might not notice these flaws now, but you'll see them when she gets older."

Zhong Di knew this all too well from personal experience.

"Alright, alright, stop nagging. I'm heading back." Seeing that her younger brother had gone this far, Zhong Hui stopped pressing the issue.

On second thought, she really hadn't given Xiao Xi enough companionship. Xiao Xi was the kind of child who only showed her innocent, childlike side when her uncle was around. On normal days, when she or her husband were busy working, the girl would be exceptionally obedient and well-behaved, watching cartoons quietly by herself while turning the volume down to a bare whisper.

That kind of sensibility and maturity often tugged at her heartstrings.

It was just that previously, she and her husband had been too busy making a living; how could they have had so much time for Xiao Xi? As a result, even now that she had time, she hadn't invested it in accompanying her child. It was something worth deep reflection.

After his sister left, Zhong Di began looking through the questions she had sent over.

He had just told others not to work overtime, yet here he was doing it himself. Fortunately, this was only a one-time thing; once this matter was sorted out, he wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. The thought was rather comforting.

Well, most of these questions were professional inquiries, such as the stress resistance of introduced plant varieties. No wonder his sister had felt the need to compile this document of questions.

To put it simply, this was in his sister's blind spot of knowledge. Lacking this area of expertise would lead to numerous minor loopholes when drafting detailed plans.

You could say that if you were writing a computer program and had a small bug, you could just patch it up promptly. But in agriculture, how on earth do you patch a living ecosystem?

Suppose you made a small oversight in your plan, estimating that the introduced plants could tolerate a minimum temperature of minus twenty degrees Celsius, but the local historical record showed a low of minus thirty degrees, and that exact minimum temperature happened to hit that year.

Well, before anything could even get started, the trees would freeze to death, and a whole year's effort would go down the drain.

In agriculture, even minor loopholes must be patched, especially regarding data, which must be treated with absolute rigor. Factors like soil temperature, air temperature, and temperature differentials all had to be factored into calculations.

These elements heavily influenced the final outcome; a single careless error could result in massive losses.

This was an issue that could not be overlooked.

By the time he finished answering all his sister's questions, it was already very late. Shao Hong had already prepared dinner, and the two of them casually ate a bite before going to bed.

Early the next morning, Zhong Di woke up promptly and set off with Shao Hong.

Today marked the commencement of the returning farmland to forest project, and come what may, he had to go over and take a look.

The reason for leaving so early was to pick up his dad along the way.

There was no way he could wait until Zhong Di woke up naturally!

The pickup truck maintained a steady speed of fifty to sixty kilometers per hour. Before long, they arrived at the house in Lingjing Village, loaded up his dad, and conveniently picked up two of the uncles who were going to work on the reforestation project.

As soon as they arrived at the site, Zhong Di saw that some people had already gathered. Most of them were familiar faces, and they kept greeting Zhong Di, who returned every single salutation.

He glanced at his phone—good grief, it was only a little past eight o'clock, yet these people had already arrived. Keep in mind that in mid-September, the sky at eight in the morning was barely beginning to brighten!

Just how enthusiastic were these people?

Well, they definitely had to be treated to a nice lunch, and their wages should be raised. With people showing this much enthusiasm and working this hard, they deserved a higher payout no matter what.

The farm's ability to develop so steadily was closely tied to the two-hundred-percent effort put in by these uncles.

Up to this point, none of the various tasks they had undertaken had suffered any major flaws. Otherwise, a few shoddy projects here and there could easily disgust someone to no end.

For instance, take the fencing around the fish ponds. If it wasn't installed properly and a customer accidentally fell in, that would be a nightmare!

Zhong Di came purely to take a look and had no intention of micro-managing anything. His dad was keeping an eye on all these tasks anyway. It was just basic land preparation—rough manual labor, what could possibly go wrong?

First, they had to clear away the dead trees, deal with any deceased shelterbelts, and clean up overgrown shrubs and weeds. All of that needed to be cleared out.

Once the clearing was done, they would level the ground. Following the leveling came watering; once the soil dried out slightly, they would dig the pits, ready to plant directly come the following spring, followed by watering. It was a straightforward process.

To put it simply, it was something that could be accomplished with money, requiring zero technical skill.

After taking a stroll around, Zhong Di and Shao Hong left the area. He didn't even dare to look at the condition of the surrounding trees; the sight would likely evoke a wave of sorrow, and Zhong Di genuinely found that hard to bear.

Although the shelterbelts had been supplied with supplemental water in time, those trees could not recover overnight.