Sun Danhua noticed Jiang Mian’s confusion and said:
“Jiang Mian, Director Qi and I came to discuss your experience with winter strawberry insulation. How did you ensure the seeds germinated, were pollinated, and bore fruit under such extreme cold? Do you know how remarkable that is? Many agricultural universities haven’t figured out how to maintain warmth in such harsh conditions—but you did.”
Jiang Mian felt a little embarrassed from the praise:
“It’s nothing high-tech, really—just some simple, rustic methods.”
Professor Qi asked:
“What kind of methods? Could you tell us about them?”
Jiang Mian found it hard to believe that her crude, unsophisticated techniques had actually drawn the head of Huaqing University’s agriculture department to personally “seek advice.”
Who would believe that if she told them?
Director Qi asked seriously:
“Did you build a greenhouse at your farm?”
“No. I don’t really know what a greenhouse looks like, but the materials Aunt Sun gave me mentioned that it requires a lot of glass and steel. It sounded very expensive—our farm simply couldn’t afford to build something like that.”
“No greenhouse? Then where did you plant the strawberries?”
“Inside the house, on the heated brick bed.”
“……”
Director Qi, Sun Danhua, and even Lu Heng—all three university lecturers—now wore expressions of keen interest.
They listened attentively as a young woman with only elementary school education explained her experience.
Under their focused gazes, Jiang Mian appeared calm and confident, without the slightest trace of timidity:
“Our farm has a lot of empty houses. In recent years, many educated youths have returned to the city. About half of our workers were educated youths, so when they left, they left behind many vacant houses.”
“So I applied to the farm manager for two rows of unused dormitories, and I grew the strawberries there.”
“I see…”
So the farm had a unique advantage—
Plenty of empty houses.
“And what about insulation? When it gets cold, you don’t use the heated bed, do you?”
Jiang Mian smiled:
“Of course not. If you heat the bed, you’d burn the strawberry seedlings.”
“Then what did you use?”
“Cow dung and horse dung.”
“……”
“Our farm has a lot of cattle and horses. Their manure naturally ferments and generates heat.
“I spread a layer of horse dung on the brick bed, then cover it with a layer of sand, and on top of that, a layer of soil suitable for growing strawberries.
“In this way, throughout the winter, the horse dung slowly ferments and continuously produces heat. The heat passes through the sand layer and reaches the planting soil.
“That way, the strawberry seedlings can grow in relatively warm soil.”
“However, the heat generated by manure fermentation alone isn’t enough to last through the entire winter.
“If there’s a snowstorm and the temperature drops too much, then we have no choice but to use a stove to maintain the indoor temperature.”
Director Qi nodded repeatedly:
“Excellent, excellent!”
Even Lu Heng was surprised by Jiang Mian’s professionalism and the calm confidence with which she spoke.
Where was the shy young wife who used to blush whenever she spoke?
When it came to planting techniques, she was practically on par with an agricultural expert!
Sun Danhua couldn’t help but boast to Director Qi:
“Well, Director Qi? Comrade Jiang Mian is truly perceptive. I only sent her some reference materials, but she studied them while experimenting based on actual conditions and developed her own methods. She’s really talented. Someone with this kind of talent—if she could get into university and receive formal training—could become an agricultural expert and make great contributions to our country’s agriculture.”
Those words startled Jiang Mian, and she quickly waved her hands modestly:
“No, no, Aunt Sun, you’re overpraising me.”
University entrance exams?
She didn’t even dare to think about it!
At their farm, there was an educated youth from the older generation who had taken the university entrance exam three years in a row and still hadn’t passed.
How could someone like her—a so-called “illiterate” with only elementary school education—compete with that?
Sun Danhua sighed:
“Jiang Mian, it’s just a pity your foundation is a bit weak. Otherwise, I would truly want you to apply to our university’s agriculture department and become my student. You really have talent in this field, along with practical farm experience.”
University entrance exams.
Jiang Mian’s thoughts began to stir.
If she could really go to university…
Of course that would be wonderful.
In the story, wasn’t the reason this cannon-fodder ex-wife was disliked precisely because she was uneducated?
Of course, it wasn’t just because of the plot that she thought going to university was a good thing.
She had personally experienced the power of knowledge.
Her ex-husband, Professor Lu, was the best example.
Jiang Mian had witnessed with her own eyes how Lu Heng used a pile of scrap materials to build a hunting rifle by hand—one that could actually be used for hunting.
That rifle had greatly improved their young couple’s meals.
While others ate radish and cabbage three times a day, their household had meat almost every day.
Even the neighbor’s children were so envious they cried.
And it wasn’t just the rifle.
Lu Heng even spent his own money on parts to assemble a radio!
That radio had an incredibly strong signal—it could even pick up broadcasts from the Soviet Union in the north.
A stream of incomprehensible chatter that Jiang Mian couldn’t understand.
But since listening to foreign broadcasts was illegal and could land someone in prison if discovered, Lu Heng quickly cut off that signal.
Also, Lu Heng made two flashlights by hand.
They were unbelievably bright!
Much brighter than a fifteen-watt light bulb.
Every time he turned one on, the neighbors thought it was lightning.
Lu Heng also made her an electric water heater.
He had a high demand for hot water, and they used a lot every night.
That heater could boil water while being used at the same time.
Extremely convenient.
The only downside was the soaring electricity bill, which made Jiang Mian’s heart ache.
Lu Heng had even promised to make her a television.
But then they returned to the city.
Otherwise, Jiang Mian might already have been watching TV by now.
She had seen Lu Heng’s capabilities firsthand.
Truly—give him some materials, and he could probably even build airplanes or missiles.
So Jiang Mian understood better than anyone how valuable “knowledge” was.
But just as Sun Danhua had said, she only had an elementary school education. Her foundation was too weak—how could she compete with those who had gone to middle or high school?
So she could only envy from afar.
Even Director Qi felt it was a pity that he couldn’t accept a student like Jiang Mian.
Many of Director Qi’s students went to university just to get a diploma and secure a job in the future.
Very few genuinely wanted to do research or contribute to agricultural development.
“What a pity! What a pity!”
Lu Heng, who had been silent the whole time, leisurely observed the three of them.
Seeing that Director Qi and Sun Danhua both regretted not being able to take Jiang Mian as a student, he finally spoke:
“Comrade Jiang Mian doesn’t necessarily have to take the college entrance exam to enter university and become your student.”
“???”
Huh?
Jiang Mian suddenly felt her stomach tighten.
A bad premonition rose within her.
Sure enough, that jerk finally revealed his true intention:
“Since Director Qi and Teacher Sun want to take Jiang Mian as their student, I have a way to let Comrade Jiang Mian stay.”
Jiang Mian: “No need, Professor Lu!”
“What, Comrade Jiang Mian, you don’t want to become a student of Director Qi and Teacher Sun?”
“……”
Jiang Mian really wanted to spit a mouthful of Beibingyang soda right at that jerk!