Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Trilogy

From the moment he finished pruning the first tree, Zhong Di seemed to become a master at tree pruning, swiftly and precisely trimming every tree he came into contact with. In the end, Uncle Zhang and the other two simply assisted him, learning Zhong Di’s pruning methods as they worked.

“All right, it’s done,” Zhong Di said, putting down the pruning shears and looking with satisfaction at the last tree he had trimmed. This tree should have been pruned early in the day, but because it was more difficult, he left it for last. Its upper branches were numerous, while the lower branches were barren. If he controlled the crown, there would be no branches below; if he didn’t, the fruit-bearing area would shift outward, increasing management difficulty. The overall shape was unattractive, the branches tangled and messy.

In the end, he solved the problem with a combination of bud carving and slight crown control.

“Zhong Di, if we run into anything we don’t understand in the future, we’ll have to come ask you,” Uncle Zhang said emotionally. He’d witnessed Zhong Di transform from a novice into a true expert, and couldn’t help but be amazed.

“Sure, Uncle Zhang. The trees are all done now. I’ll send you your wages in a bit—why don’t you all head back first?” With the pruning finished, one worry was set aside.

For jujube trees, fruit-setting generally occurs from mid-June to early July. Around mid-July, it’s no longer suitable for fruit-setting; even if fruit does form, most of it will be yellow-skinned and won’t fetch a good price, nor sell well. Pruning was only done to catch this last batch of late jujubes, using his abilities to give the best management and hopefully get a good yield.

“All right, we’ll head back first. Zhong Di, in a few days, once you see the flowers blooming, it’s best to spray the trees, girdle them, and remove the fruit tips,” Uncle Zhang advised, noticing many jujube trees flowering nearby.

Zhong Di had a talent for pruning, but that didn’t mean he was gifted at fruit-setting. The natural pollination rate of jujube trees is low, requiring human intervention. Fruit-setting involves three steps: spraying, girdling, and removing fruit tips. Missing any of these steps can have a big impact on yield.

Spraying means applying hormones and fertilizers like gibberellin, brassin, and amino acid fertilizers to the leaves, boosting fruit-set rate. Girdling involves stripping a centimeter of bark about twenty centimeters above the base—either entirely or partially—which is also called “opening the armor.”

This controls the nutrients produced by the leaves, preventing them from flowing to the roots and increasing the fruit-set rate. Finally, removing the fruit tips means plucking off the tips from the fruit clusters, weakening the tree’s growth so it shifts from vegetative to reproductive growth. Except for the first three batches, where three or four tips can be kept, the rest should be removed entirely.

Only by doing all three steps together, without delay, can the fruit set properly. And even then, the process isn’t finished; you have to keep the small fruit, making the whole process quite complex—far from simple as people imagine.

“I know, I’ll do it in time. By the way, Uncle Zhang, why don’t you three come back tomorrow for another day’s work—mowing and raking the grass, is that all right?” Zhong Di looked at the overgrown ground and preferred not to do it himself. For big jobs, it was easier to hire help.

After these days of work, Zhong Di was beginning to reconsider his life—this was far more exhausting than a regular job. He just wanted to work leisurely, not mindlessly toil.

“All right, the current rate outside is two hundred a day. Let me be clear: if we agree, we’ll do it; if not, no problem,” Uncle Zhang said, making the terms plain. Friendship was one thing, but work needed clear agreement.

It was much better to discuss terms before the work started than to argue afterward—it would save a lot of trouble.

“No problem, two hundred a day, ten hours, and lunch included,” Zhong Di replied. He felt nothing about this—having clear terms made things easier for everyone.

Mowing was obviously more tiring than pruning, but pruning was skilled work, while mowing was just labor. The nature of the work was different, so the price had to be as well.

After Uncle Zhang and his companions left, Zhong Di wandered around the jujube orchard alone, mainly to figure out how to manage the trees to ensure fruit-setting.

He couldn’t use the standard methods here—the three-step process wasn’t suitable. He wanted to practice green cultivation, and couldn’t break the rules just to boost yield. Besides, even if he produced three or five extra tons of jujubes, so what?

Last year’s purchase price was four to five yuan for bulk fruit—at most nearly thirty thousand yuan. Ruining his reputation for a few tens of thousands wasn’t worth it.

Using hormones wasn’t particularly harmful—it was standard practice. Hormones are derived from plants themselves, as plant behavior signals. He simply didn’t want to use them because most hormones nowadays are chemically synthesized, and any harm wouldn’t be visible in the short term. Zhong Di preferred not to use them.

After making his rounds and assessing the situation, Zhong Di had answers.

“I’ll change spraying to spraying organic liquid fertilizer mixed with water.”

Organic liquid fertilizer has no side effects. As for water, there’s a traditional practice with jujube trees of three sprays during the summer—just spraying water. Jujube flowers are small, making pollination difficult, especially during the dry summers of the northwest, where the stigma’s mucus dries quickly and can’t hold pollen, making pollination hard. Spraying water is meant to address this.

“I’ll replace girdling with ring-cutting—just two cuts.”

This was a well-considered move. The orchard hadn’t been properly managed for two years, and the trees were weak. If he girdled them, the trees might not survive. Girdling means stripping bark; ring-cutting is just two cuts. The effects aren’t as good as girdling, but it offers some protection.

“I’ll remove all fruit tips.”

He wouldn’t allow branching this year; in the autumn, he’d replace the trees that needed it. That was his plan.

Once he settled on his management approach, the feed supplier arrived. The total was nineteen hundred yuan, but seeing how many chickens Zhong Di was feeding, the supplier knocked off two hundred and took seventeen hundred.

The meaning was clear: from now on, all bran and corn would be bought from him, at the lowest price.

Zhong Di disliked complications—if the price was right, he’d naturally choose this supplier. After a pleasant negotiation, Zhong Di began feeding the chickens.

Just tending to these little animals kept him busy enough. He still had to water the wild sand immortelle sprouts, bucket after bucket—it was exhausting.

Before he realized it, night had fallen. After dinner, Zhong Di excitedly took out his phone and started playing the battle royale game. Yesterday was just bad luck; today he aimed to break his sixty-eighth place record.

After two hours of fierce fighting, he finally reached seventy-sixth place. Unwilling to accept defeat, he put away his phone.

He’d hoped for sixty-seventh, but settled for seventy-sixth. Well, at least his ranking was stable for now.