C1 (2/2)

”Zi Peng, don't be so competitive. Look at the ginseng field in our troop, isn't it only a matter of time before we make a loss? Besides, you don't have the skills, you don't have the money. Plus, in this land filled with dirt and rocks, not to mention growing ginseng, you grow corn, and you only produce 200 kg per mu. We'll listen to your grandpa, that's right. ” Zi Peng said:

”Mom, just let me try. I don't want to overload, I want to put 5 curtains. ginseng seed used two years old, twenty catties would be enough. Our family has no money, so I'll go and borrow money. Rural Government and the village can support this. No matter if I have to pay or earn money, I will give it a try.

At this point, the two old men had no choice but to say:

”Eldest Brother, please don't blame me. Just let him mess around.”

At this point, he made up his mind to plant ginseng in the dirt and gravel field on the west side of his house.

As he said, he would do it. First, he would borrow 500 yuan from the Rural Government Finance Department. as ginseng seed, and then come back to tidy up the land. It was impossible for ginseng to grow on such yellow soil. What should he do? He went to the supply office and bought a large iron sieve, which he used to dig up the loess with a pick about a foot deep. He used the sieve to sift them one by one, leaving the fine soil behind. He used a carrying pole and an earthen blue stone to pick the stones off one by one. He then went up the mountain to dig the humus soil with a pick, and pulled it back with the ox-cart one after another, bringing back more than fifty carts of humus, and mixing them evenly with the loess. He then broke the sieve after cooking the manure from his own pigsty and raised it on the ground to a thickness of ten centimeters. Then he sprinkled the insecticide on the ground with a sprayer; then he used the pick to dig again and made five ginseng beds that were ten meters long and one and a half meter wide. After all these preparations were done, the next step was to go to the village of Sami Gou in my hometown and buy 20 kilograms of 2 years old ginseng seed. The big ones were as thick as chopsticks, while the small ones were about the same size. After returning home, they divided into one, two, three, and spent a day to plant the 5 curtain ginseng which they had been looking forward to day and night.

The ginseng had been planted, but there was still a lot of work to be done. He needed to cut the artemisia seeds and grasses for the curtain; he needed the 22nd piece of iron wire; he needed the ginseng fork and the crossbeam; he needed the plastic film of the big shed; he needed to cut the wood and the grass for the curtain. All of these things didn't make it difficult for Wang Zipeng. He took advantage of the autumn harvest, the winter and spring seasons, to carry out these work in great order. In 1985, before the Qing Ming Festival, all the work was completed with the help of the Family.

After the summer had ended, new sprouts of ginseng began to sprout from the ground. In just a few days, all the young green ginseng had been dug out from the ground, and the survival rate reached over 90%, which made Wang Zipeng extremely happy and satisfied.

This trial passed without a hitch. However, to be able to make the ginseng grow so lustily in the fields for three to four years, and to be able to raise the sapling protection rate to 80, that was a big problem. What should he do? Difficulties are not difficult. Next, Wang Zipeng went to Xinhua Bookstore to buy some books on ”Ginseng Cultivation Techniques” and ”Controlling Ginseng Diseases and Insect Pests”. But all this is theoretical. True experience comes from practice. Wang Zipeng was not discouraged, nor was he disheartened. He was not scared by the difficulties. Thus, he used his knowledge from the books to apply medicine, water, catch fat, and kill mice for the ginseng.

His hard work was not in vain, and his sweat of wisdom was not in vain. Finally, he overcame one difficult obstacle after another, grasped the growing habit of ginseng, and figured out the rule of ginseng disease and the series of technical measures on how to prevent and treat diseases and insect pests. Make the ginseng grow very lustily. From the 84th year to the 86th year, it was 4 leaves, 5 leaves and 6 leaves, and the protection rate was more than 90.

At this time, Wang Zipeng saw the tall and straight green ginseng that was brimming with vitality. He couldn't help but think of the rough, troubled, and sad memories of his childhood from youth to youth:

On November 9, 1945, Wang Zipeng was born into a poor family of farmers in Liuli Village, Jimu County, Shandong Province. He was the second oldest and his father, Wang Yanqiu, was 27 years old, stood 1.75 meters tall and had a dark face. Unable to pay the landlord's rent, a sudden fire got cataract, because there was no money to treat it, nearly blinding the eyes, only 0.4 degrees of light. Her mother was tall, 1.65 meters tall, had a beautiful figure, beautiful face and feet. She was a housewife, a typical good wife and mother. Even so, she was still raising Zi Peng to death. Not only did she have to do housework, but she also had to help Zi Peng's father, who was almost blind, to do farm work. All day, she was tired to the point where her back ached and her waist ached. That year, Zi Peng's elder brother, Wen Tiancai, was only eight years old. He ate wild vegetables and dried melons all day long, and rarely ate a single meal of cornmeal cake. When Zi Peng was three years old, he had added another sister named Chun Lan. Even so, the two old men were delighted to see another child. Thus, my father and mother became busier and worked even harder for the rich …

On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was established. Wang Zipeng was only 5 years old back then, but during the year of soil reform, his family was given 5 mu of land. In these two grass huts, his life was many times better than before. In 1953, Zi Peng's little brother, Wen Zhan, was born.

Very quickly, six years had passed. By 1959, Wang Zipeng had graduated from primary school for six years. At this time, due to the Great Leap Forward era and the three year natural disaster era, his elder brother Wen Tian was unable to eat his fill and went to rush through Guan Dong by himself. Wang Zipeng, who had graduated from primary school, stayed at home to help the old man do some work because his family situation was difficult. Wang Zipeng, 15 years old, went to work together. The captain thought him small, short, thin and dark, and didn't want anything from him. There was no helping it, the frail and sickly mother could only go and take part in the heavy physical labor …