Chapter Thirty-two: The Problem of Farming

  As he walked home, Zhao Fei got angrier and angrier. Thinking of the woman's arrogant attitude, his anger couldn't be contained. What kind of person was she? Did she think her family owned the whole world? He kicked a stone on the ground hard, venting his frustration. "Dad is really something, why did he have to act like that, as if he were really their servant?" Thinking of his dad's hardships, Zhao Fei couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache again and again.

  "Feng Ge is gone, going home is boring, what's the point of going?" Standing at the village entrance, Zhao Fei felt aimless and didn't know what to do.

  "Little Fei, you're back!" A surprised and excited voice came from not far away. Zhao Fei heard the sound and turned his head to look over, discovering that it was Zhao Feng walking towards him from a distance. Seeing Zhao Feng, Zhao Fei's mood also became extremely happy. He hurriedly ran towards Zhao Feng.

  "You're finally back! How was your month?" Zhao Feng asked with delight, seeing Zhao Fei return safely. Not having seen his little brother for a month, Zhao Feng had been thinking about him a lot.

  "I just got back yesterday, and since it was late, I didn't go disturb you, Brother Feng. By the way, where did you just come from? How come you're coming from outside the village?" Seeing Zhao Feng, Zhao Fei's mood also became very happy. But upon discovering that Zhao Feng was wearing plain clothes and wasn't carrying any weapons, he should not have gone hunting, so he asked.

  "Hehe." Zhao Feng chuckled. "While you were away, I went to take a look at the fields back home. We can't just leave them unattended, after all, autumn harvest is almost here. I'm still counting on getting some extra grain from it." Zhao Feng patted Zhao Fei's shoulder and then said: "Alright, let's head back home first. We'll talk more about everything when we get there, brother."

  "Hmm." Zhao Fei nodded and then Zhao Feng put his arm around Zhao Fei's shoulder, the two of them happily heading towards Zhao Feng's home.

  Arrived at Zhao Feng's home, Zhao Feng opened the big door and walked in, Zhao Fei also followed closely behind him.

  Following Zhao Feng into the house and sitting down, Zhao Fei asked eagerly: "Feng Ge, does your family still have land? Why haven't I seen you working in the fields before?"

  "Is there anything else to do besides spring plowing and autumn harvesting?" Zhao Feng asked with a puzzled tone, as if he had heard something strange.

  Zhao Fei was taken aback by Zhao Feng's words and thought he was joking. However, looking at Zhao Feng's serious expression, it didn't seem like a joke.

  "Brother Feng, don't you need to weed, kill insects or fertilize when farming?" Zhao Fei asked in confusion.

  "Occasionally just weeding is enough. Then just wait for the autumn harvest. What's this about pest control and fertilization? How do you control pests? And what's this thing called fertilization? Is fertilization good for crops?" A string of questions poured out from Zhao Feng's mouth, leaving Zhao Fei at a loss for words.

  "It's like that, Wind Brother." Zhao Fei calmed himself down, sorted out his thoughts, and then said to Zhao Feng: "You should know that the success or failure of a harvest doesn't depend on heaven, but on human effort."

  "What did you say?" Zhao Feng was somewhat taken aback, his tone also a bit heavy. His expression looked extremely shocked. You know that the peasants have been relying on heaven for food generation after generation. If the old man in heaven opens his eyes, the wind and rain are favorable, and there is no disaster or harm, then this year's harvest will be fine. Can't help but eat enough this year, maybe even leave some surplus grain. But if the old man in heaven doesn't open his eyes, and there are some natural disasters or human calamities, then this year may have a poor harvest, or even no harvest at all. How could Zhao Feng not be shocked by Zhao Fei's sudden words? Zhao Feng came back to himself, looking at Zhao Fei with an extremely strange gaze. "Little Fei, why did you suddenly come up with such a sentence? Are you sick and talking nonsense?" As he spoke, Zhao Feng also stretched out his hand to touch Zhao Fei's forehead.

  "You're the one who's sick and talking nonsense, I'm perfectly fine." He brushed away Zhao Feng's hands that were reaching for his forehead and looked at him with great dissatisfaction. "Do I look like someone who's ill to you? I'm being serious."

  "Hehe, it's not that I suspect you, brother, but your words are really shocking. Looking at Zhao Fei's appearance, Zhao Feng found it somewhat amusing. He thought he was just like a spoiled child. "Then tell me about your method, let me see how you rely on others."

  When Zhao Feng said that, he really didn't know what to say. How could he explain it to his brother? Zhao Fei was a bit conflicted in his heart. If he explained modern things to his brother, how would he look at him? Forget it, it wasn't the first time anyway, might as well just die. Zhao Fei summarized his words and cleared his throat. "It's like this, Brother Feng, I think crops are just like people, they also need to eat and drink water. They also need a place to live. You know that if the wind and rain are favorable, the crops will have a good harvest. This is because God gives them enough water and nutrients, otherwise, they'll wither away. You should understand this, Brother Feng."

  "Hmm." Zhao Feng nodded, seeming to understand yet not quite understanding. Although Zhao Fei had tried his best to explain it in simple terms, Zhao Feng still didn't quite get it and asked: "What you said makes sense, but Little Flying, why compare plants to people? Is there a necessary connection between the two?"

  Upon hearing Zhao Feng's question, Zhao Fei couldn't help but feel a surge of anger and looked at Zhao Feng with disdain. "This is just an analogy, people need to eat and drink water to grow, plants do too. If you don't water them, will they still survive?"

  "This is indeed." Zhao Feng nodded. However, seeing Zhao Fei's eyes, he chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "Hehe, you continue, continue."

  Ignoring Zhao Feng's silly smile, Zhao Fei continued to say to him: "So taking care of plants is just like taking care of people. Only when they are well-fed and full can they have energy. Plants are the same way, only when they are well-fed and full can they have a good harvest."

  "But how can we make sure they have enough food and water?" Zhao Feng asked, puzzled. In his opinion, apart from rain, what other way was there?

  "That requires watering and fertilizing." Zhao Fei shook his head, having to say that Zhao Feng's brain wasn't very flexible.

  "Haha." Seeing Zhao Fei like that, Zhao Feng's face turned a bit red, and he could only smile foolishly. "Watering I understand, is it raining? But what about fertilizing? How do you do it?"

  "Heh heh." Zhao Fei smiled mysteriously. "Watering isn't just relying on the heavens to rain, and as for fertilizing..." Zhao Fei intentionally left a cliffhanger, leaving Zhao Feng anxious.

  "Don't be coy, just say it. Don't make Brother anxious." Zhao Feng asked anxiously, then stood up and grabbed Zhao Fei.

  Looking at Zhao Feng's anxious appearance, Zhao Fei found it somewhat amusing. It turned out that Wind Brother also had such an anxious moment, but thinking about it, Zhao Fei didn't stop talking and continued to say: "Okay, look at how anxious you are, I'm not saying it's not easy to solve the problem of watering. We can dig a canal from the nearby river to our village's wheat field. If there is a drought, we can use the river water to irrigate the land, which will avoid the trouble caused by the drought. As for fertilizing, that's even simpler. Moreover, every household has it, and every day each household is increasing it." Zhao Fei looked at Zhao Feng with a bit of mischief.

  Zhao Feng was looked at by Zhao Feng and felt a bit hairy. "Every family has one, and it's increasing every day, what is it?" Zhao Feng was somewhat bewildered.

  "It's... " Zhao Fei suddenly found Zhao Feng was still quite cute, so he deliberately prolonged his voice.

  "Alright, speak up! You're not done yet!" Zhao Feng yelled at Zhao Fei.

  Upon hearing Zhao Feng's angry roar, Zhao Fei immediately wilted and could only say honestly: "It was a big turd."

  "What did you say?" Zhao Feng heard his own words and was stunned. He didn't know what to say next. "Can that stuff be poured on the crops? If the crops are left to eat, you actually want to pour that thing. Are you fooling me, your brother?" Zhao Feng's face turned somewhat heavy, he felt that Zhao Fei was fooling him. Luckily, he still believed himself so much.

  "Brother Yun, how dare I fool Brother Zhao? I'm telling the truth." Seeing Zhao Feng's face change, Zhao Fei also became afraid and put away that set of frivolous smile, turning serious instead.

  Looking at Zhao Fei's expression, Zhao Feng felt that Zhao Fei was not deceiving him. "But can that really work?"

  "Of course, you have to believe me, Wind Brother." Zhao Fei said solemnly to Zhao Feng.