The rejuvenation of a great nation: from educated youth to national treasure scientist

Chapter 35: Thoughts open up a new world

But Xiao Lijuan was obviously very excited.

She looked at the large cornfield in front of her and said happily, "Wow! We finally have our own large field."

Wang Haoran shrugged and said, "The crops here are not in very good condition!"

"Look at these weeds, they are so dense. It takes a lot of labor just to weed them. Weeding in a cornfield is not a pleasant experience."

Nowadays, corns are more than one meter tall. Not only is it stuffy and hot to stay in a cornfield, but the corn leaves may also cut your skin, which is so painful.

Xiao Lijuan smiled and said, "What are you afraid of? Don't we have the tools for weeding?"

"It was more than three acres of land, and we finished it in one afternoon."

"Don't worry, I can remove the grass myself."

Wang Haoran shook his head and said, "No, don't worry about the work in the fields. Just take care of the things at home. Your main task is to study hard, understand?"

It was already the end of August 1977, and although the notice on the resumption of the college entrance examination had not yet been issued, the news had already spread widely.

Moreover, Wang Haoran didn't want Xiao Lijuan to do farm work. As a man, he should take more responsibility.

Xiao Lijuan said: "You are so busy in the factory every day, you don't have time to work in the fields!"

"I know you feel sorry for me and are afraid that I'm too tired."

"Don't worry, I'm a strong laborer after all! There is no farm work that can be difficult for me."

Wang Haoran smiled and touched her head, saying, "You can never cut all the weeds! Once you cut one, another will grow."

"I'm thinking about developing a herbicide that only needs to be applied once, and within a month or two, no more grass will grow in the field."

Xiao Lijuan was very surprised. She had never heard of such a thing as herbicide.

In fact, the current agriculture in Longguo is basically pure green.

No pesticides, no herbicides, no chemical fertilizers or plant growth regulators.

But it takes too much effort.

Farmers work in the fields almost all year round, weeding over and over again, watering the fields, applying organic fertilizer, and catching insects manually.

There is always work to be done.

The key point is: the crop yields are not high, the farmers' income is extremely low, and they don't even have much time to do side jobs.

Now, the trend of contracting land to individual households in rural areas will surely sweep across the country soon.

After the land contract responsibility system was implemented, with the development of the rural economy, herbicides, pesticides, etc. were bound to appear.

It's like a Pandora's box.

It will open sooner or later.

So, let me open it myself.

"Is there really such a thing as herbicide?" Xiao Lijuan said.

Wang Haoran nodded and said, "Really? I'll give it a try. If I can come up with a low-toxic herbicide, it will reduce a lot of labor."

Wang Haoran went to check the condition of the corn cobs in the cornfield that had been allocated to him. He thought that judging from the appearance of the corn cobs, the harvest of 3 to kilograms of corn from the more than three mu of land this year would be considered quite good.

Perhaps, you can spray some plant growth hormone or amino acid medicine.

Xiao Lijuan smiled and said, "In that case, does that mean the grass in the field can no longer be used to feed livestock?"

Wang Haoran nodded and said, "That's for sure!"

"After I develop herbicides and use them on our fields, I will tell the villagers not to cut grass on our fields to feed livestock."

"Also, let's take care of those pigs and chickens we feed. Don't take up too much of your time."

"We, after all, don't belong here in the future, right?"

Xiao Lijuan said: "The pig only weighs more than 100 kilograms. It would be a pity to dispose of it now." "It doesn't matter. It won't take me much time."

The two were talking here when Li Gang and his wife came over.

The land contracted by Li Gang's family is just to the right of the land divided by Wang Haoran and Xiao Lijuan.

"What are you two doing here?" Li Gang asked.

Wang Haoran smiled and handed over a cigarette: "Look at our land. I have to think of a way to remove the grass in the land."

Li Gang took the cigarette and lit it with the match in Wang Haoran's hand. He said, "Do we still need to think of a way to weed?"

"Why not just get down to work?"

"Haoran, if you don't have time, let me help you weed your field!"

Wang Haoran waved his hand and said, "How can I feel comfortable with that?"

"Uncle Gang, I want to invent a herbicide that will kill all the grasses with just one spray."

Li Gang's eyes widened as big as copper bells: "Is there still such a thing?"

"But I don't think it's necessary!"

"We can pull up the grass in the field and feed the animals in the team at the same time. It's the best of both worlds."

Wang Haoran smiled and said, "If we rely solely on manual labor to weed the fields, it would take a lot of effort, over and over again without a break."

Li Gang said, "So what? Isn't that what farmers do?"

Wang Haoran said: "Uncle Gang, you have to think like this, time is money!"

"Wouldn't it be better if you could use the time you save to do more side jobs, earn more money, and make your life more prosperous?"

Li Gang nodded thoughtfully and said, "That makes sense!"

"Have the higher-ups relaxed their control over small vendors?"

Wang Haoran said: "It is indeed liberalized, so farmers can do small business in addition to farming."

Li Gang said: "In that case, I can grind some tofu and sell it."

Wang Haoran smiled and said, "The world is wide open to us. Congratulations, Uncle Gang!"

Li Gang's wife was a little impatient at this time: "Hurry up and start working! From now on, you will work for yourself."

"It's no fun to dawdle."

Li Gang turned around and scolded with a smile: "You are just urging people to pluck feathers! It's just a few words, can it delay the work?"

Li Gang and his wife plunged into the sultry cornfield to weed.

Wang Haoran dragged Xiao Lijuan back home.

He asked Xiao Lijuan to study hard at home.

He rode his bike straight to Mafang Commune and went to find Ma Tao, the director of Mafang Commune.

When Ma Tao saw Wang Haoran, he smiled and said, "What brought Comrade Haoran here today?"

Wang Haoran said, "Director Ma, I want to develop a new type of herbicide. Do you think the commune is willing to support me?"

Today's communes have many subordinate factories.

Mafang Commune has agricultural machinery stations, machinery factories, paper mills, garment factories, printing factories and other factories.

Wang Haoran's original intention was to help Mafang Commune build another pesticide factory.

Ma Tao was very interested and asked, "Really? What kind of help do you need from us?"

(End of this chapter)