Joe's Farming

Now that the water source has been found, the Gu family no longer cares about the canal. After all, their family uses their own water source.

Next, their most important thing is to dig potatoes!

Ever since she came here last year and got lucky enough to get a bag of potatoes, Qiao Yu has been waiting for two whole crops!

Qiao Yu can't wait any longer and must make a potato feast for dinner tonight!

When the news came out that Qiao Yu was going to prepare a potato banquet, the Gu family was very much looking forward to it.

The new servant had never heard of potatoes and asked Bai Lan and the others in confusion.

"It's very delicious. Most importantly, it's easy to grow, and the harvest is quick and productive! The owner said that if every household grew it, no one would starve to death in winter."

"This thing is so good, how did the boss get it?"

"Of course the owner bought it from a foreigner at a high price."

"If the boss has a good harvest, he will definitely sell it at a high price. Wouldn't our family make a fortune?"

"Hush! The boss said that we will use the first batch for our own consumption and try to sell it to poor families for seed. It seems that the price won't be too high."

"The boss is such a good person."

"The Dong family is all good people."

-

The news that the Gu family was digging potatoes quickly spread throughout Shangtian Village.

Before they started digging, a group of onlookers slowly gathered around the Gu family's potato field, including Wang Xuan and Kang Ping who were staying at the villa.

Then even the county magistrate arrived.

Now everyone was very curious about what the potato looked like. They had thought it looked beautiful when it bloomed from afar, but they didn't expect that after the harvest, it would even attract the county magistrate.

Almost all the free people in the Gu family were present. Even Ling Lie, who was busy looking for his brothers, was called by Dazhuang to dig potatoes together.

Qiao Yu first asked people to clear away the withered potato leaves and stems on the ground, and then dug one row at a time.

At this time, a brave villager came over to ask for potato leaves and stalks: "Qiao Ge'er, if you don't want the leaves, can you give them to my family to feed the pigs?"

Qiao Yu decisively refused: "No, potato leaves and stems are poisonous. It's not good for pigs to eat them. Sorry."

The man quickly waved his hands and said it was okay.

Gu Feng asked Qiao Yu how to deal with it.

"Dry it in the sun and burn it."

Soon everyone cleared away the potato leaves and stems from an acre of land. When raking with a spike rake, occasionally one or two small yellow potatoes would be brought out from the stems.

At this time, the crowd would shout "Wow", making Qiao Yu laugh and cry, and ask people to quickly put the potatoes into the bamboo basket.

Qiao Yu asked Xie Changyu: "Sir, do you want to do the first hoeing of this potato harvest?"

Xie Changyu's eyes were full of excitement: "Is it okay?"

Qiao Yu nodded: "Of course, you are the parent official of Taoyuan, and you came here today for the poor people of Taoyuan. The first hoe is of great significance to you."

Xie Changyu smiled and nodded, and with the help of the yamen runners and Gu Feng, he successfully went down to the field.

Gu Feng had harvested potatoes once before, so he shared his experience with Xie Changyu: "First estimate the location of the potato nest, and use force when you dig with the hoe, starting from the edge and digging inwards, so as to avoid the hoe digging into the potatoes and damaging them."

Xie Changyu responded seriously, then dug hard with the hoe, turned it over, and found nothing.

Gu Feng encouraged him to try again and pointed out a location for him.

When he dug with the hoe, he turned out two or three large potatoes, and he could see that there were more potatoes underneath!

"Brother Qiao, these potatoes look much bigger than the ones we dug last time!" Hongxiu exclaimed.

Qiao Yu nodded: "This time the planting time is just right, and there is so much fertilizer in the soil, and the sun is sufficient, so it won't be a waste of Zhang Shan and his son who take care of it every day."

"That's great. This way I don't have to worry about not having enough to eat."

When Xie Changyu saw the two big potatoes, he was so excited that he squatted down and weighed them in his hands.

He said happily, "Gu Hunter, this one should weigh about half a pound, right?"

Gu Feng weighed it with his hand and said, "Almost. But the nest has not been dug out yet. There may be some fish as big as half a pound."

Xie Changyu looked at the yamen runners who were watching the show and shouted, "What are you standing there for? Come and help Hunter Gu harvest potatoes!"

The bailiffs immediately rolled up their sleeves and trouser legs.

"Okay! Sir, please take a rest on the side!"

"Yes, yes! Look at us!"

Xie Changyu's first hoe gave everyone confidence that there would be a good potato harvest, and everyone in the potato field started digging potatoes enthusiastically.

The villagers near the fields sighed from time to time.

"Wow, that's a lot! At least ten!"

"That guy over there has dug a lot! Look, the basket next to him is almost full."

"When did the Gu family hire so many long-term workers? There are also several boys and girls."

"I heard that not only were they hired, many were purchased directly."

"Ah! Is the Gu family so rich now?"

"Isn't it? The Gu family is now the richest family in our Shangtian Village."

Qiao Yu silently listened to others gossiping about her family. No matter how low-key she was, her family was growing in number and recruiting more and more people.

Following the principle of joining if you can’t beat them, Qiao Yu sighed and said, “My family may have the most, but my family doesn’t dare to acknowledge this as the richest.

Investing money in this villa is a bottomless pit. It costs money to open up the land and hire people to plant trees. To be honest, I don't know when I can get my money back.

Let alone potatoes. I paid a lot of money to buy seeds, but I only planted two acres. Half of them have to be kept for seeds, and I don’t know if the rest is enough for my family to eat, and I can’t make much money either.”

The surroundings suddenly became quiet.

Some people think that what Qiao Yu said makes sense. It is indeed too expensive to hire people to open up the mountain and reclaim the wasteland. The Gu Family Villa has been open for several days, but the business is just so-so, and there are not many customers every day.

There were also smart people like Wang Xuan and Kang Ping, who covered their mouths with fans and laughed.

This Boss Joe is really funny.

Wang Xuan walked up to Qiao Yu and said, "Boss Qiao, can Kang Ping and I order this potato dish later?"

Qiao Yu nodded: "Of course, Bai Lan can cook, you can ask her to order the dishes later."

Wang Xuan said with some regret: "I want to eat what you cook." He glanced at Qiao Yu's body, "But it's really inconvenient for you now, let's eat it later when we have a chance."

"Boss Wang, don't worry. Sister Lan's cooking tastes just as good as mine. The dishes I cook are fresh only when people eat them for the first time. Ling Lie's dishes are also delicious."

Wang Xuan naturally knew that this was a tactful refusal, but after they stayed there for a few days, they found that the food they ate every day was indeed delicious, and the cooking method was completely different from that in the capital.

"Well, it's not that I'm dissatisfied with what they cook. I just admire Boss Qiao's cooking skills."

Qiao Yu was always soft-hearted, so she smiled and said, "Then I'll give you a dish of stir-fried potato shreds and fried potatoes tonight."

Wang Xuan immediately said happily: "Thank you, Boss Qiao!"

Kang Ping was more interested in the potatoes themselves: "Boss Qiao, I just heard that you want to keep half of these potatoes for seeds. Are potatoes grown the same way as sweet potatoes?"

Qiao Yu didn't expect that Kang Ping also knew about farming. He remembered that Kang Ping's family ran a cloth shop in the provincial capital, so he couldn't help but look at him with some admiration.

"Yes, potatoes and sweet potatoes are grown in similar ways."

Kang Ping asked hurriedly: "Can you sell me some? I also want to take some back to plant on the farm."