The cave of Cheng Dafu's house was filled with noise and bustle.

Everyone's face was filled with joy, comparable to the Chinese New Year.

"Five hundred pounds!"

Someone in the crowd shouted a number, which made the whole crowd boil even more like water in a soup pot.

"Each household will receive 13.5 catties of seeds. Each family will send one person to receive the seeds. We can measure the land and divide it up as soon as possible so that we can sow the seeds as soon as possible."

"Oh, divide the seeds, divide the seeds!"

The children sensed the adults' joy and jumped and danced among the crowd, clapping their hands.

After dividing the seeds, Cheng Dafu led everyone to the valley. The entire valley was covered with a thick layer of silt. The flood had washed down all the leaf mold from the mountain.

Leaf mold is a natural organic fertilizer and is most suitable for growing crops.

At this time, there is still a layer of water about ten centimeters thick on the silt, which is not very suitable for sowing seeds and is not convenient for measuring the area.

Cheng Dafu was worrying about what to do when Cheng Zeli came over.

"Uncle, the water in the valley is still too deep. If we sow the seeds rashly, they will be washed away."

"Yes, I am worried about this. We have already missed the best time to plant late rice. If we wait until the water completely recedes before planting, it will be too late. I am worried that there will be no harvest."

"My nephew once read a method in a book that might work. Would you like to give it a try?"

"What's the solution? Let me tell you."

Cheng Zeli glanced at the crowd and saw that everyone was looking at him seriously. He cleared his throat and spoke slowly.

"I read in a book that an old man was so hungry that he ate half of the rice seeds he had saved for planting.

When it is time to sow, if there are not enough seeds, the densely packed seedlings will be moved away, with one foot between rows and eight inches between vertical spaces.

Guess what?

"What? It must be that there is no harvest."

"I'm afraid his family's harvest is not even enough to collect the tax."

"Isn't everyone in their family starving to death?"

.......

Everyone expressed their opinions.

Master Li knew that his son-in-law was not the kind of person who made random comments, so he lowered his head and thought for a moment.

"I think the old farmer's harvest should be no less than in previous years."

When Cheng Zeli heard the satisfactory answer, his eyes lit up with surprise, and he looked at his mentor with burning eyes.

"Hey, Zeli, stop keeping us in suspense and tell us now."

Cheng Laoer was so excited by the questions raised by his younger brother that he was eager to know the answers.

“My father-in-law was right. One month after planting the rice, the old man discovered that his rice plants were strong, with one seedling having more than ten or even twenty branches.

When the rice matured, the ears were six or seven inches long, and the grains were full and round. One acre of land yielded 200 kilograms more rice than others."

"What's the logic behind this? How come the thinner the seeds are planted, the higher the yield will be?"

"In my opinion, it should be because the plants are spaced far apart and have sufficient nutrients, which makes the seedlings grow stronger and therefore the yield is higher."

After saying this, he looked to his son-in-law for an answer.

"Yes, just like the trees in the forest, the denser the area, the thinner the branches. The sparser the area, the faster the trees grow and the thicker they are."

"Then what are you waiting for? As long as it can be grown, you might as well give it a try."

"Yes, Zeli, you tell us what to do, and we'll do it."

"I'll get the hoe..."

...........

Cheng Xingwan was held by Zhang and joined in the fun outside the crowd. She was relieved that everyone was not stubborn. It was really beyond her expectation that they could accept her father's advice so quickly.

Looking at everyone's pale and skinny faces, she suddenly had an idea and moved the densely packed big fish in the small river in the space to the pool under the waterfall.

The big fish were swimming happily in the sweet and clear stream, but suddenly they found themselves in turbid yellow mud water. They were unable to adapt for a while and began to rush out, but ended up getting stuck in the mud and unable to move.

The children who were squatting on the shore playing in the mud heard the noise, looked towards the pool, and found densely packed fish.

She screamed excitedly, "Ah! Fish! There are fish, so many big fish!"

When the adults heard the sound, they looked down and saw, sure enough, countless large fish in the pond were desperately trying to dive into the mud.

Zhang looked at the fish that suddenly appeared, and for some reason looked at the pink ball in her arms.

But she was just waving her limbs excitedly, babbling and drooling at the fish in the valley.

"Oh, there are so many big guys!" Boss Cheng came first, rolled up his trousers, and tried to go down into the mud. He turned around and said to Cheng Jinwen and the others, "Stay on the shore and don't come down."

The mud was not higher than the boss's knees. Seeing that the mud was not deep, everyone took out their scoop nets to pull it down.

Boss Cheng took the scoop net and scooped it towards a fish. Half of the fish's body was in the scoop net. It struggled hard and escaped back into the mud.

"Brother, the scoop net is not big enough and we can't catch them." Cheng Laowu was so anxious that he jumped up and down.

"........, this fish is too big and hard to catch." Boss Cheng was also helpless.

Feeling something moving under his feet, Cheng Laoer quickly pounced down and picked up a turtle as big as a washbasin. He saw it shaking its head left and right and struggling hard. Seeing that it could not break free, it opened its mouth and bit Cheng Laoer's hand.

"Oh, it hurts so much!" Blood gushed out, and Cheng Laoer hurriedly let go in pain, but the turtle bit his hand tightly and refused to let go.

"Quick, put your hands in the water!"

Boss Cheng came over hurriedly and pulled his arm and the turtle into the water. The turtle then let go and quickly ran away.

"Oh! Oh!" Cheng Laoer wanted to continue chasing unwillingly.

"Brother, take it!" Cheng Zeli came down at some point and brought two baskets filled with rice.

Cheng Lao Da and the others' eyes lit up, and they took the basket and said to Cheng Lao Er, "Lao Er, stop chasing. Go back and let your uncle bandage you up."

The wound was still bleeding and had to be stopped first. Cheng Laoer had no choice but to return to the shore to find Cheng Erfu.

After his hand was bandaged, he was ordered not to go into the water. He squatted on the shore and watched pitifully as his brothers were busy catching fish.

Cheng Zeli held the basket and followed Cheng Lao Da. Cheng Lao Si and Cheng Lao Wu cooperated with each other, one catching the fish and the other passing the basket.

"Third brother, I caught the fish's tail, hurry up and grab the fish's head!"

Cheng Zeli hurriedly pushed the basket in his hand under the fish head. When the fish head was in the basket, Cheng Lao Da pushed it hard. Cheng Zeli hurriedly put the basket straight. The big fish jumped a few times in the basket, and seeing that there was no hope of escape, it resigned itself to its fate and lay down.

"Oh my god, this fish is really big, it must be thirty kilograms!"

Boss Cheng raised his hand to wipe the sweat off his forehead, and his face turned into a calico cat, causing everyone to laugh.

"Laugh, laugh, laugh, what are you laughing at? Come and catch some fish!"

After saying that, he grabbed some mud and threw it at the men.

Not willing to be outdone, the crowd fought back with mud. The valley was filled with laughter and joy, sweeping away the melancholy that had shrouded everyone's hearts for months.

Every household took out their own baskets and duck cages and everyone worked together, some catching fish, some carrying the fish. The women worked together to carry more than 20 big fish back to the cave.

Fried fish, fish head soup, braised fish, steamed fish, boiled fish..........

Inside and outside, there were thunderous cheers, and the scene was full of vitality and prosperity.

We worked until the sun set and had basically caught all the fish in the mud.

There were still many big fish in the pond, ready to move. They watched helplessly as their escaped companions all fell into the hands of humans. They were so scared that they trembled and sank to the bottom of the pond.

The men were still not satisfied and jumped into the pool to pursue the victory.

"Okay, keep it. The fish we caught today are enough for everyone to eat for a while."

"There is water in the pond all year round, so the fish can't escape. If you want to eat them, just come back and catch them. They are fresh and tasty."

"It's time to eat, it's time to eat, the meal is ready, everyone come back and eat!"

A group of children ran out of the cave, clapping and cheering as they ran.

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