Chapter 207 - 207 Baili
207 Baili
With an idea in mind, Ning Yue happily brought the two of them to the plantation ground. “Come, Grandmother, Auntie, I’ll bring you here to get to know the land.”
Ning Yue pointed at the mud under her feet. “The land here is one of the more fertile areas in Laifu Village.”
“Why is the land fertile?” the empress dowager asked Ning Yue.
“Mother, this soil is black. It’s obvious that it’s very fertile. Think about it. Is the soil in the imperial garden black? Are the flowers growing from the soil in the imperial garden bigger than elsewhere?” Xin Xin asked the Empress Dowager.
The empress dowager nodded as if she understood. She didn’t understand either. In any case, Ning Yue said that black soil was good, so she would believe it.
“What should we do if the land isn’t so fertile? What happens after we choose the land?” The Empress Dowager asked two questions in a row.
“Grandmother, if the land isn’t so fertile, then we should fertilize it. Like this.” Ning Yue pointed at a black mound not far away.
“What’s that? Isn’t that also dirt?” the Empress Dowager asked again.
“Let’s not talk about it for now. We’ll know when we go up and take a look.” Ning Yue led the Empress Dowager and Xin Xin forward.
Before they approached, the empress dowager and Xin Xin did not know what it was. As soon as they approached, the unpleasant smell instantly entered their noses.
The Empress Dowager and Xin Xin almost vomited when they smelled this.
However, Xin Xin was better off. She was prepared and covered her nose. She knew that fertilizer smelled bad.
Looking at the empress dowager, Ning Yue couldn’t help but laugh in her heart.
She thought that the pampered Empress Dowager would not follow her out again after smelling such an unpleasant smell, right?
“What exactly is this? Why does it smell so bad?” the Empress Dowager asked.
“This is fertilizer!” Xin Xin replied for Ning Yue.
“Why does fertilizer smell so bad?” The empress dowager frowned tightly.
“Mother, the raw materials for fertilizer include feces, burned wood, ash, grass, and so on. It smells very bad when mixed together. If it ferments, the smell will be even more pungent,” Xin Xin said with a smile.
“What? You’ll get nutrients just by giving this to the soil?” The Empress Dowager looked at the inconspicuous pile of fertilizer in shock.
“Human intelligence is great. These things can indeed fertilize the soil, but I don’t know the principle,” Xin Xin replied with a smile.
The Empress Dowager nodded in surprise. Indeed, people’s wisdom was great.
This was the first time she had heard such a powerful statement.
At this moment, a person dressed as a farmer walked over from not far away. Ning Yue’s guard instantly became nervous and raised her hand to stop the person.
He hurriedly explained, “I just heard the three of you talking about fertilizer and wanted to ask for guidance.”
Hearing that person’s words, Ning Yue turned around and sized him up. She realized that he looked like an ordinary farmer with a smile in his eyes. He did not look like a bad person.
“I wonder what you want to ask?” Ning Yue asked him.
“I just want to know if there’s anything else about fertilizer other than feces and plant ash. The soil at my house isn’t as fertile as yours. I want to spread fertilizer using this method, but I can’t improve this soil.”
At this point, the man sighed wistfully.
If Yuan Hui were here, he would definitely not be able to help but laugh. Why hadn’t he realized that Baili was so good at acting?
So that was what he was asking. The soil was fertile not only because it was mixed with fertilizer, but she had also mixed some ancient well water into it.
Therefore, the soil here looked more than ten times more fertile than in other places, so the things planted could naturally have a great harvest.
However, the ancient well water was her secret weapon. She could not tell anyone.
“It’s like this. From harvest to planting, there will always be seven days that are empty. In these seven days, we specialize in using fertilizer to improve the soil. Of course, other than the few things we just mentioned, there’s also peanut shells that have been squeezed for oil. That thing is amazing,” Ning Yue said.
The Empress Dowager and Xin Xin were even more surprised. Peanut shells could actually be used as nourishment. She and Jiang Huan had farmed at the border, but they had never known that peanut shells could be used as nourishment.
“I discovered it by accident. The oil press on the street throws out a lot of crushed peanut shells every day. It’s a pity. I took them back to see if they were useful.”