flstandardbreds Chapter 139 Old Hand
Chapter 139 Old Hand
"How much?! Five yuan a pack?!"
Li Mu clicked his tongue in amazement: "How much land can one bag of land cultivate?"
The older sister glanced at him and said, "A packet of seeds can plant a few acres, but it depends on how you plant them. If you plant them well, the yield can be high."
Li Mu considered it in his mind and felt that the price was reasonable. Li Jianjun peeked out and asked, "Is this really rice? It doesn't look like it."
The older woman was somewhat displeased: "What are you talking about? I've been in this business for so many years, would I lie to you? Of course these are rice seeds, don't worry, they will definitely grow into rice."
Seeing this, Li Mu quickly tried to smooth things over: "Big sister, don't mind him, he's just not good with words. We trust you, we'll buy the seeds."
As he spoke, Li Mu took out some money from his pocket and handed it to her. Suddenly, three men entered from outside. They were covered in dust and dirt, as if they had just come back from working in the fields.
As soon as they entered, they started clamoring to buy seeds.
Upon seeing this, the older sister quickly went to greet him: "Oh, isn't this Old Wang? What brings you here today?"
The man called Old Wang wiped the sweat from his face and laughed, "We heard you had rice seeds here, so we came to take a look and plan to buy some to plant."
Upon hearing this, Li Mu thought to himself that these rice seeds were indeed in high demand, with even experienced farmers coming specifically to buy them.
It seems that this choice was indeed the right one.
He turned to look at Li Jianjun and the others, winked at them, and signaled them not to leave yet, but to listen to what kind of seeds Lao Wang and the others wanted to buy, perhaps they could get some inspiration from it.
The older woman took out another packet of rice seeds from the counter and handed it to Old Wang, saying, "You've come at the right time. I only have a few packets left. If you want them, take them quickly."
Old Wang took the seeds and glanced at them.
"Aren't you just trying to fool people?"
"How could you say I'm fooling people? These are legitimate rice seeds; they can actually grow rice," the older woman said, sounding somewhat aggrieved.
Old Wang shook his head: "We've planted these seeds before, but they don't produce anything good at all. The yield is pitifully low, and it's not even worth the effort."
Li Mu asked curiously, "So how did you plant them before?"
Old Wang sighed, "What else could I do? I planted them the usual way. But who knew these seeds would be so uncooperative, no matter how I planted them, they wouldn't work."
The older woman scoffed, "You're planting the wrong ones! It's not that my seeds are the problem. These seeds were imported through legitimate channels. If others can't grow them, it's because you don't know how. Don't talk nonsense."
Old Wang tossed the seeds on the counter and glanced at Li Mu's hand.
"You grow this too?"
Li Mu smiled and said, "Yes, we also plan to plant this. Are you all doing the same, brothers?"
"Hey! The three of us have been farming for years, what kind of seeds haven't we planted? We really don't recommend you buy these seeds, it's a waste of money."
Seeing him disrupting her business, the older woman grabbed a broom and was about to swing it at Old Wang and his group: "You guys, don't cause trouble here! This is a legitimate business of mine, don't ruin my reputation."
"You old woman, you won't let me say anything! Last year, because we bought your seeds, the harvest was terrible, we didn't even break even. Tell me, isn't that cheating people?"
The older woman got angry: "How dare you talk like that? I got these seeds from legitimate channels. They've worked perfectly for other people, so why can't they work for you? You don't know how to grow them, and you're blaming my seeds? Are you even being reasonable?"
Old Wang retorted, "The three of us are seasoned farmers who've been farming for years. What kind of seeds haven't we seen? Your seeds are obviously no good. You think you can fool us? No way!"
As he spoke, Old Wang pulled the two people who were with him toward leaving.
Li Mu quickly stopped them: "Brothers, don't rush off. We're all here to buy seeds, let's talk things over."
Old Wang stopped and looked at Li Mu: "Young man, take my advice, don't buy her seeds. It's a waste of money. We're all farmers, and it's not easy for us to earn money. We have to spend it wisely."
“I tried these seeds last year, and the crops that grew were small and shriveled, with a pitifully low yield. I was just following someone else’s recommendation, and I ended up losing a lot of money.”
Li Jianjun pulled Li Mu away.
"Let's go, let's go to another store! If the seeds here really aren't good, we can go to another store and see if we can find something suitable."
The older woman cursed and chased everyone out: "What do you people know? This is a superior variety that I imported from elsewhere. If you can't grow it well, that's your own problem, don't blame me!"
"A bunch of country bumpkins who've never seen the world, do they even know what a good seed is and what a bad seed is? All they do is spout nonsense!"
After being kicked out, the three brothers discussed whether they should go to other stores to see if they could find better rice seeds.
Tian Xiaohu patted the dust off his clothes: "Brother Mu, let's not buy from this store, so as not to waste time and money."
"But where else in the city can we find rice seeds? Let's look around some more; maybe we can find some more suitable seeds."
Li Mu frowned, a hint of doubt creeping into his mind. It seemed that finding rice seeds really wasn't so easy.
Old Wang, who was standing nearby, heard their conversation and turned to greet them.
"Young men, you also grow rice?"
"Yes, brother, we're also planning to grow rice. We're looking for seeds right now."
"Oh, that's unusual. You guys look so young, why are you thinking of growing rice?"
Rice is rarely grown in Northeast China; corn and soybeans are the most common crops. Rice is difficult to cultivate, requiring a lot of water and fertilizer, and it needs to be monitored constantly, otherwise the harvest can be wiped out.
Li Mu sighed, "Ah, brother, we know rice is hard to grow, but we have no other choice. Nothing grows on that piece of land in the village, so we thought we'd try growing rice to see if we could get a good harvest."
"Which area are you from?"
"The Greater Khingan Mountains area, brother, where are you from?"
"Oh dear, I'm also from Northeast China, but it's quite far from the Greater Khingan Mountains. I've heard about your area; the environment is indeed quite harsh, and you can't harvest rice even once a year. It won't be easy for you to grow it."
Upon hearing that these three men were all experienced rice growers, and since it was lunchtime, Li Mu decided to treat them to a meal at a restaurant and ask them for their advice on rice cultivation.
The group arrived at a small restaurant, ordered a few dishes, and chatted while eating.
Li Mu spoke first: "Brothers, you are all experienced rice growers. We would like to ask you for your advice. How exactly should rice be grown?"