Chapter 89: 89. Tobacco and Shaken Honey_1
Song Sancheng still felt a bit sorry for the milk vetch, “Are we in such a hurry? If we don’t turn it over and let it dry out, won’t the milk vetch sprout again in the field? And won’t we have to pull it out?”
“And isn’t it in full bloom right now? I see the bees buzzing around so happily. I don’t even know how much honey they’ve made. Even if we can’t sell the greens, it’s still good for the bees to have them.”
Cherishing anything that can be put into one’s mouth is the natural instinct of a farmer. Song Tan wasn’t in a hurry either, so she slowly persuaded:
“It’s alright, Dad, I’m planning to plant water spinach, green onions, ginger, and garlic in that plot. If we plant now, we’ll be able to start harvesting in a month. When we have time, we can weed a bit… Let’s focus on making money first!”
The spiritual energy acting on the new crops made them stronger and better at absorbing nutrients, which naturally left no room for the weeds to grow.
“As for the bees… Dad, the flowers have only bloomed for a day or two. That small plot of land has to support the bees that were originally responsible for fifteen acres of flowering crops—how could that be enough?”
Initially, we bought five boxes of bees, and after some time of feeding, there must be more than twenty thousand of them by now. I’m afraid that by the end of the day, the pollen in the field would be depleted.
“But don’t worry, our fields are staggered. I see the fields higher up starting to bloom too; they won’t go hungry.”
With Song Tan having arranged everything, Song Sancheng simply had to agree.
Then, after giving her a look and hesitating for a while, he asked in a low voice, “Is it possible to plant two rows of tobacco in that corner just for your grandpa?”
“The soil in our fields is fertile this year, so the tobacco grows well. Your grandpa really enjoys it, and you see how busy he’s been helping around the house…”
Indeed, despite being busy all the time, he never cut down on smoking—like father, like son.
If she didn’t grow tobacco, her grandpa would just plant it by the doorway…
Song Tan thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled with a profound meaning, “Sure!”
Zhang Yanping numbly watched his fair-skinned and delicate-looking little cousin make so many plans over the course of a meal and could only put on a mask of pain:
“I finally understand why Tao Yuanming wrote, ‘Grains were planted beneath the southern hills, but where the growth was lush, the bean sprouts were sparse’…”
Because farming is not something just anyone can do.
Brother Yanping’s painful reform was still continuing. Grandpa Song Youde went with Song Sancheng to help build a kennel, while Grandma Wang Lifan kept up her relentless pace of earning money, crossing the basket and heading to the mountains after lunch!
Wu Lan watched with anxiousness. Right after finishing her meal, she pushed aside her bowl and hurriedly instructed Qiaoqiao to wash the dishes.
Song Tan didn’t sit idle either.
A flock of ducklings and chicks took over a corner of the yard, chirping and quacking noisily, each day bathed in the lingering spiritual energy of the courtyard, becoming both nimble and lively, impossible to ignore.
Only now, as they ate more and grew faster, they were gradually losing their endearing yellow down, and their cuteness factor was decreasing.
Song Tan called over Da Wang and affectionately stroked his head:
“Come here, Da Wang, watch over them. From tomorrow on, start moving the chicks and ducklings to the mountain. Make sure they are all in the fence, and you need to keep a close eye on them, okay?”
“This is your job. If you do your work, you’ll be rewarded; you’ll be able to eat your fill.”
In the two days since Da Wang’s return, he had been well-behaved, and his appetite seemed not too big, leading Wu Lan to mumble that he was eating too little…
Actually, dogs have their sensitivities too.
He knew he had been given away by his previous owner for consuming too much and being too expensive to keep, so he hadn’t yet returned to his real portion sizes.
Hearing this, he shifted his front paws, readjusting his posture. His thick tail wagged subconsciously on the ground, and then, fixing his eyes intently on the circle of chicks and ducklings, he let out a low bark from his throat:
“Don’t worry about a dog being lonely either. Once these three puppies grow a bit bigger, we’ll assign them to you guys to look after—be sure to train them well.”
The tail suddenly felt a heavy, soft weight drop onto it, and when the King looked back, he saw that it was one of the five, six, or seven treasures—Qibao. At that moment, it was vigorously scratching at the tip of its tail, shaking its head and desperately batting at something.
By the time Qiaoqiao had finished tidying up the kitchen, Song Tan had already brought out a cylindrical barrel from the room.
The barrel was brand new and shiny, with a crank handle on the side. In her other hand, she held a basin containing two layers of filters, a brush, and a thin, sharp knife.
She then handed the basin to Qiaoqiao:
“Let’s go, Qiaoqiao, we’re going to harvest some honey.”
Qiaoqiao immediately cheered, eagerly taking the basin and halfway through her walk suddenly asked, “What does ‘harvesting honey’ mean? Does it mean we have to cut the bees?”
Song Tan: …If only I had said ‘to extract honey’.
But this also reminded her, “Wait a moment.”
She went back into the room and brought out a netted head cover and a pair of rubber gloves.
“Here, put on the head cover and the gloves so you don’t get stung by the bees again.”
With the painful memory of last time still vivid, Qiaoqiao promptly put them on, tying the mesh of the head cover tightly around her neck, afraid that a single bee might sneak through.
The beehives were on the mountain path behind the house, placed in a staircase arrangement every five meters.
At this moment, the milk vetch in the fields was still enough for their consumption, so there weren’t many bees around here.
However, this was all relative.
Still, many bees were buzzing around the hives, and Qiaoqiao hesitated before following.
“Come, pay attention and learn. Once you get the hang of it, this task will be your responsibility in the future.”
Everyone in the family had chores to do. Although Qiaoqiao was doing a lot, she lacked a specialized task, which always seemed a bit insufficient.
Extracting honey, with proper protection, wasn’t too dangerous and seemed quite suitable for Qiaoqiao.
Qiaoqiao was indeed excited and thrilled, nodding vigorously: “Got it!”
The two went up the mountain and first found a flat stone to set the basin on, then they positioned the big barrel to one side.
Lifting the asbestos tiles that covered the top of the beehive to shield it from wind and rain, they opened the lid, and in the next instant, Qiaoqiao let out a startled “Ah!”
Then she looked at Song Tan, “Sister, don’t you need a hat?”
Song Tan shook her head: “Sister is the most incredible in the world, I don’t need one.”
The beekeeper had provided a detailed instructional video before, so although it was Song Tan’s first time, she handled it like a pro.
It helped that she wasn’t particularly afraid of bees, and now, working with bare hands, her movements were at ease and casual.
Inside each beehive were five wooden frames, on which the bees had built their honeycombs.
She first took out one frame and then instructed Qiaoqiao to take the brush: “Gently brush off the bees from these honeycombs.”
The combs were shades of deep and light yellow.
The creamy shade was the layer of beeswax on top, beneath which a white layer housed the larvae, and the deeper shades of yellow were the unique color of the honey itself—there weren’t enough larvae yet.
The air was instantly filled with the unique sweet scent of honey, refreshing to the soul.
However, many bees were still clinging on to the edges of the combs, not flying away. It required a very soft brush to gently sweep them off.
Qiaoqiao hesitated: “Is this their home? Are we going to drive them out?”