When purchasing sweet potato seedlings, the enthusiastic grandmother, upon hearing that the couple specifically came to Yanqing to farm, sympathized and liked them so much that she picked some excellent sugarcane seedlings and even gave them ten kilograms of sweet potatoes.
After buying the seedlings for planting, the couple checked various materials to identify the types of sweet potato seedlings they had on hand. It turns out they were quite lucky; the sweet potatoes they bought were good varieties.
The sweet potato seedlings they bought from the old lady who roasts sweet potatoes were an early-maturing variety, a new kind of roasting potato developed by a domestic agricultural science university, including Japan’s golden white potato, which has an amazing yield per mu. The last type was a short-vine purple sweet potato, a rare kind among sweet potatoes.
Back home, Zhuo Feng emptied out the gifted sweet potatoes. Upon close examination, they were indeed specifically meant for roasting, not very large, about slightly bigger than a human palm, with a jujube red skin. Upon cutting it open and tasting the flesh, which was thick despite the thin skin, even after being stored for a whole winter, the flavor was still excellent, sweet, truly as good as the genuine Red Fuji apples.
"In the farm, we have about three acres of land dedicated to experimental purposes. The three types of sweet potato seedlings can be planted when the weather is right. We’ve divided the land into three parts, with the largest area allotted to the roasting potato seedlings. We’ve also planted some of the Japanese golden white potatoes and short-vine purple potatoes," Zhuo Feng cleaned some sweet potatoes and started boiling them in a pot.
Before Bai Juyi’s house was renovated, there was a stove, but Zhuo Feng wasn’t used to using it, so he moved a gas stove back.
Feng Xing measured the land that day and had someone draw a detailed topographical map showing the surrounding rivers and passable roads. Overall, Bai Juyi’s farm was well-situated, facing north to south, though the nearest river was a bit distant, making water sources for irrigation a minor issue.
However, Feng Xing planned to clean up the farm’s abandoned pond of mud and dead leaves soon, making water storage more convenient, which would also greatly facilitate watering the seedlings.
Planting sweet potatoes differs from other crops; they must be planted on rainy and cloudy days, fearing that the young plants might be scorched by the sun.
The couple cut the sweet potato seedlings into segments about 30 centimeters long, planting them half an arm’s length apart in soil enriched with farm manure.
It took two or three days to plant all the seedlings, and after watering them a couple of times over the next few days, they took root.
While Zhuo Feng and his wife were busy on the farm, Huang Tengchong from Huang’s Breeding also contacted someone.
"Miss Aisha, yes, it’s Teng Chong. I was the Huang who interpreted for you during your last visit to China. The thing is, I heard you work for a renowned biotech company in the United States. I’m facing some issues with my breeding operations and need some leaf-falling agents to manage the weeds. I considered sourcing domestically, but the quality isn’t guaranteed. I know it’s a bit more expensive, but it works better, so I thought of you. Could you help me with this?" Huang Tengchong was really into his explanation.
Far across the ocean, Aisha was waiting at the airport, and after receiving this trivial call, she couldn’t help but curse. It was that careless interpreter; just accompanying Aisha on a trip to Yunnan was enough for him to start pulling strings.
Aisha was about to angrily hang up, but then recalled her mother mentioning that Huang Tengchong was quite a significant breeder in China. Given China’s booming development, it was an essential market for the Roster family to capture. Doing a favor now seemed wise. "Mr. Huang, it’s about the leaf-falling agent, right? No problem, how much do you need? I’ll arrange to send it to you." The leaf-falling agent was a solution that couldn’t normally be transported by air and had to be sent through special channels.
"Thank you so much, Miss Aisha," After that call, within just one week, Huang Tengchong received the prepared leaf-falling agent, weighing about one hundred kilograms.
After hanging up, Aisha waited in the airport’s VIP lounge for a while and saw no one coming out. Checking the flight arrival information, the airplane from Beijing, China, had already landed.
Stepping out of the VIP lounge, Aisha immediately spotted Zhou Ziang, dressed in a light gray thin sweater.
"Ang, you didn’t take the first-class seat booked by the company; why did you come out from business class?" Aisha was wearing a pink wool coat today, and her freshly styled hair attracted quite a few glances.