When he arrived at the foot of Xishan Mountain, Cheng Xiaofan saw Tang Guihua sitting in the area where the fruit ginseng was planted, her eyes red and vacant, as if her soul had been lost.
He glanced at the field again. Half of the cherry blossoms of the fruit ginseng were close to wilting.
This made him secretly startled. How could this happen?
"Xiaofan, you're here just in time, just in time!"
Seeing Cheng Xiaofan approaching, Tang Guihua quickly went to meet him.
Cheng Xiaofan nodded and asked, "When did this happen?"
Tang Guihua said, "I came to see this morning, and they were fine. I ate at your house at noon and checked the field again, and then I found this."
"I suspect someone stole our fruit ginseng, and to avoid suspicion, they replanted the cherry blossoms in the ground to create this false impression!"
Speaking of which, she bent down, grabbed a wilted cherry blossom, and gently pulled it out of the ground, but there was no fruit ginseng underneath.
He dug a pit in the soil, but found nothing.
Cheng Xiaofan took the cherry blossom and examined it carefully. He found that the cherry blossom seemed to have been bitten off at the root by some animal, with distinct small tooth marks.
He said to Tang Guihua, "Sister Guihua, no one stole our fruit ginseng. It was animals that ate our fruit ginseng underground."
"If it were a human, after stealing the fruit ginseng, there would be no need to go to such lengths as to replant the cherry blossoms in the soil."
Upon hearing this, Tang Guihua exclaimed in surprise, "What kind of animal could eat so much fruit ginseng underground, and eat it so neatly?"
After a moment of thought, Cheng Xiaofan said, "I can't tell what animal is causing trouble yet, but I will catch these animals!"
He activated his clairvoyant vision, but found no trace of any animals underground.
Cheng Xiaofan was certain of one thing: this kind of animal was adept at earth escape techniques.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to find no trace of them.
As his clairvoyant vision swept over the fruit ginseng that had not yet been damaged, he was startled again. He found that the fruit growing underground was half the size of normal fruit ginseng. 138 Reading Network
Cheng Xiaofan walked over, dug up a fruit ginseng from the soil. It looked similar to a regular radish, and its skin was slightly black.
He pulled up some grass nearby, wiped off the dirt, took a bite, and chewed a few times. The taste was passable, but far inferior to authentic fruit ginseng.
This was the second crop of fruit ginseng planted, and it had degenerated to this extent.
At the time of cultivating the fruit ginseng seeds, the feedback Cheng Xiaofan received indicated that this fruit ginseng could be planted three times a year.
It seemed that was not feasible now, as it violated the seasons.
In the countryside, radishes are generally planted in winter.
After all, fruit ginseng evolved from radishes in the spatial dimension.
They had the same limitations in terms of planting seasons.
This was unlike in the Shennong Space, where any plant or fruit could be grown year-round, and genetically, it would only develop for the better, never degenerate.
It was like thousand-year-old ginseng; if placed outside the space, no matter what technology was used to cultivate it, it would certainly not revive.
"Sister Guihua, tomorrow you can gather people to pull up all this fruit ginseng. We can divide it among ourselves and eat it as vegetables. Braised pork with radish tastes very good!"
Cheng Xiaofan said to Tang Guihua, "This fruit ginseng has degenerated. Let's plant it at the end of the year instead."
Tang Guihua quickly said, "Then how will we explain it to the people from Pinweixuan when they come tomorrow?"
Cheng Xiaofan smiled and said, "We still have Chinese cabbages this year. As long as we have goods for them, that's fine."
"Let's turn over this empty plot of land and plant chili peppers, green beans, eggplants, and the like."
"I happen to have a batch of seeds cultivated here. Tomorrow morning, you go to the back mountain, and I'll give you the seeds."
"From now on, we will plant high-quality vegetables according to the season. As for the price, it will be the same as the super nutritious Chinese cabbage."
"Okay, Xiaofan, I'll listen to you," Tang Guihua replied.
Cheng Xiaofan did have some vegetable seeds, but not many. He had to buy some from the market and soak them in spiritual energy in his space.
After seeing Tang Guihua off, Cheng Xiaofan did not leave immediately. Instead, he picked up a branch and used the dragon energy within him to draw a grand Dao pattern around the area.
With this grand Dao pattern, those small animals adept at earth escape techniques would not be able to escape using their earth escape techniques once they entered this vegetable patch.
Then, Cheng Xiaofan rode his motorcycle to the town's Agricultural Technology Station.
Lin Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up when she saw Cheng Xiaofan arrive. "Xiaofan, you're here! My mom said she wants to treat you to a meal one of these days. Why don't you come to my house for dinner tonight?"
Cheng Xiaofan smiled and said, "Xiaoxiao, I can't tonight. I need to process the seeds I buy here after I get back. We can discuss dinner later; I'll come to your house specifically to eat another time!"
"Then you have to keep your word!" Lin Xiaoxiao said, her eyes full of alluring charm.
Ever since Cheng Xiaofan saved her mother last time, Lin Xiaoxiao had made up her mind. She would not marry anyone else, and she would give herself to Cheng Xiaofan.
Even though Cheng Xiaofan already had Bai Yiling, it didn't stop her from being his woman.
Cheng Xiaofan smiled and said, "Xiaoxiao, I will definitely keep my word!"
He then took out a bag of tea from his motorcycle. "Here are two pounds of tea I've recently cultivated. It tastes good and is also good for your health. Take it back and drink it with your mom!"
"Thank you, Xiaofan!" Lin Xiaoxiao said, taking the golden tea with excitement.
"We're old classmates; there's really no need to be so polite!"
After purchasing the seeds from her, Cheng Xiaofan hurried back.
In fact, Cheng Xiaofan could see Lin Xiaoxiao's feelings for him clearly, but he could never accept her. In his heart, a girl her age should have her own happy family.
He thought that if he had the right opportunity, he would properly advise her not to get stuck in a rut, and that he was not the kind of man she imagined him to be.
Back in the back mountain, Cheng Xiaofan placed the seeds in his space and spread them out to absorb the spiritual energy of the space.
Cheng Xiaofan checked the status of the other three thousand-year-old ginseng plants and found that the germination rate was very high. The green sprouts were wrapped in layers of spiritual energy, displaying vigorous vitality.
They would be ready for division and planting in a couple of days.
As the sun was about to set, Cheng Xiaofan returned home for dinner.
Since he still had to catch the animals that were harming the fruit ginseng, as it grew dark, he went out and headed directly to the foot of Xishan Mountain.
When he activated his clairvoyant vision and scanned the field, he was suddenly stunned!
Cheng Xiaofan discovered nine animals resembling rats, lined up in an orderly horizontal row, diligently gnawing on the fruit ginseng underground.
Crunch!
Crunch!
Crunch…
They had fiery red fur all over their bodies, and even their sounds seemed particularly synchronized as they gnawed on the fruit ginseng, with a captivating rhythm.
At that moment, Cheng Xiaofan's eyes widened.
It turned out that these animals were the legendary drill rats!