Song Xia had no time to argue with those spreading gossip. Having worked so hard to prepare for this, the time to sow the wheat seeds had finally arrived.
Standing at the edge of the field and looking up at the clear, azure sky, Song Xia felt completely refreshed.
Over the past two days, Song Xia had compacted the soil twice more to prevent it from being too loose, which could cause the wheat roots to hang or suffer from frost damage.
Seeing that the villagers had already started sowing their wheat one after another, and after repeatedly checking and tending to her own plot, Song Xia finally felt the time was right.
Song Xia squatted down and squeezed the soil in the field. The soil easily formed a clump in her hands, but did not stick together when she let go. A wave of joy washed over her—the soil moisture was finally at its optimal level!
With the soil moisture ready, Song Xia began preparing the seeds.
Since the quality of the wheat seeds was not high enough, Song Xia had to make up for it elsewhere.
In modern society, before wheat seeds are sown, they must be treated with seed coating agents to prevent underground pests and diseases like take-all or sheath blight.
Looking at her own seeds, Song Xia began to get a headache again. This era completely lacked those kinds of fully stocked chemical agents! No wonder wheat had been grown for thousands of years, yet it was only in modern society that wheat yields per mu began to scale up massively once various excellent wheat varieties were developed. Truly, knowledge changes life!
After grumbling in her heart, she still had to find another way.
Song Xia knew the formulas for various coating dosages by heart. After all, what she had studied and cultivated in her past life were various cold-resistant and disease-resistant high-quality wheat seeds. But now, without any chemically synthesized biological agents to process the wheat seeds, Song Xia just wanted to beg for a bottle of Difenoconazole.
Things that she could casually buy online were now out-of-reach white moonlight. Song Xia wept tears of sorrow. Had she known she would end up in this day and age, she would have insisted on attending a couple of chemistry classes, just in case she could pick up a trick or two. Anything would have been better than being completely in the dark like now.
Unfortunately, being given a second chance at life by the heavens was already a supreme blessing. If they were also to send her a few bottles of Difenoconazole, wouldn’t she be the heavens’ favorite daughter?
Song Xia chuckled at her own thoughts. Knowing that her idea was completely unrealistic, she could only rack her brain day in and day out, trying to recall if there were any seed-coating techniques taught in class that could be implemented here.
And indeed, she managed to dredge up a few from her memory.
While studying the history of wheat cultivation, Song Xia remembered a professor once mentioning that ancient people also possessed their own wisdom regarding wheat cultivation. In the Western Han dynasty text Fan Shengzhi Shu (Book of Fan Shengzhi), there was a clear record: more than twenty days before sowing, bone broth, various animal manures, and aconite were mixed together, and the seeds were soaked in this mixture. During this period, the seeds were continuously stirred and sun-dried so that they were thoroughly wrapped in the liquid, forming a “dung shell”—the rudimentary predecessor of modern seed coating. This method was called the “soaking seed method.” The coating formed in this way not only prevented pests and droughts, but also provided nutrients for the wheat. It was truly ingenious.
However, Song Xia made the tragic discovery that in this small village, it was utterly impossible to find suitable manure, let alone bone broth and aconite.
Helplessly, Song Xia temporarily abandoned the seed-soaking method and had to resort to the clumsiest method she could think of: soaking in lime water.
Song Xia weighed her wheat seeds, then prepared a solution using quicklime and water at a 1% ratio. After letting it settle, she used the clarified liquid on top, poured all the wheat seeds in to soak completely, making sure the solution rose about four to five fingers above the seeds, and left it to sit for two days.
Two days later, the seeds were scooped out, thoroughly rinsed, and dried. Only then was the preparation of the wheat seeds considered complete.
Just as Song Xia was finishing up all these preparations, she happened to run into Shen Hu, who had come to express his gratitude in person.
When Shen Hu’s family entered the door, Song Xia was in the midst of preparing the lime water.
She was holding a large water ladle containing more than half a ladle of quicklime, pouring it directly into the prepared water vat.
As soon as the quicklime touched the water, it began a violent reaction, releasing a large amount of heat. The water instantly began to boil and splatter wildly, startling everyone in the courtyard.
“What on earth are you doing?” Shen Hu pulled his wife and child behind him, shouting in shock at Song Xia.
Song Xia hadn’t expected the chemical reaction to be so fierce, especially since she was standing closest to the water vat. Dropping the ladle, she covered her face and ducked backward, screaming internally like a prairie dog.
Ahhhhh! It’s burning hot, burning hot! Chemistry teacher, I am sorry!
Boiling water splatters without eyes. Although Song Xia had some precautions in mind, clearly it wasn’t enough.
However, someone quickly grabbed her and pulled her tightly into his chest. The splashing boiling water was completely blocked by this person, and not a single drop landed on Song Xia.
It was Shen Huaijing.
Shen Huaijing had been watching Song Xia’s actions from the side just moments before. He started frowning the moment he saw her dump quicklime into the water, and when the white smoke billowed up, he rushed forward, pulling the flustered Song Xia into his arms while using his own back to block all the splashing boiling water.
Before she could even react, Song Xia was enveloped in a embrace carrying a faint scent of ink.
Song Xia couldn’t see what was happening with the water vat in front of her, but her ears could hear the crackling sound of the lime releasing heat, and her heart began to beat wildly—whether because of the embrace before her or the terrifying sound.
Throwing such a large scoop of quicklime straight into the water was like dropping a bomb, Song Xia muttered to herself; she had severely underestimated the intensity of the reaction.
“Alright, it’s fine now.” Shen Huaijing’s attention was entirely focused on the movement behind him. Hearing no further commotion, he still pressed Song Xia securely in his arms, turned his head to look behind him first, and only after confirming there was no more danger did he let her go.
Song Xia kept her head lowered, her face slightly flushed. “Thank you.”
“It’s nothing. You didn’t get burned, did you?”
“No. Hiss, that kick was too strong though!” Song Xia muttered softly while rubbing her hand.
“Young Mistress Song, what… what are you doing?” A somewhat familiar female voice came from the doorway at that moment.
Only then did Song Xia notice that Shen Hu had brought A-Li and his wife with him.
“Pouring quicklime like that is so dangerous!” Shen Hu frowned as he looked at Song Xia and Shen Huaijing. He wanted to scold Song Xia for messing around with inexplicable things, but the woman beside him gave him a hard pinch behind his back, forcing him to swallow the words back down and start over.
“You really shouldn’t throw quicklime in like that, it’ll explode! It’s extremely dangerous.” His tone was much gentler this time.
Song Xia’s hair was all disheveled from the commotion. She scratched her head, looking somewhat embarrassed at the three people in front of her. “I didn’t expect the reaction to be so big. I won’t dare do it next time.”
She then asked the couple with some confusion, “Why did you guys come over? A-Li, are you feeling better?”
“Mm-hmm, Sister Song, I’m already better. My dad brought me here to thank you.” Looking at A-Li, although his complexion still looked a bit pale, his entire mental state had fully recovered. His eyes were bright, completely different from the ashen look when he was lying in bed the other day.
“As long as you’re better! A-Ming is right inside the room. Do you want to go find him to play?” Seeing that A-Li had recovered well, Song Xia was also very happy. She fetched two pieces of sour pastry for A-Li and let him go inside to find Shen Chunming.
Right before mixing the solution earlier, Song Xia had been afraid that Shen Chunming wouldn’t listen and would end up getting hurt, so she had locked him in the room. As it turned out, she was the one who ended up getting hurt instead.
“Mm-hmm!” A-Li had never seen such a pretty pastry and held it in his hands, reluctant to eat it. Turning his head to see that his parents weren’t stopping him from finding Shen Chunming, he tucked one piece of sour pastry into his chest pocket, held the other piece in his hand, and happily went into the inner room to find A-Ming.
“You should go in too. Were you burned just now?” Song Xia said to Shen Huaijing, who was standing beside her.
Song Xia felt a pang of guilt. Shen Huaijing had protected her thoroughly just now, but his entire back had been exposed to the outside, so he must have been scalded.
However, with guests present, she had no way to check his injuries.
“It’s nothing.” Seeing the worry in Song Xia’s eyes, Shen Huaijing gave a light chuckle. After greeting Shen Hu, he returned to the inner chambers first.
Only then did Song Xia invite the couple into the front hall for pleasantries and pour them tea.
“What are you making this lime water for? Are you building a house?” Once inside the room, Shen Hu still couldn’t suppress his curiosity and asked Song Xia.
“Oh, no. I’m soaking seeds,” Song Xia replied honestly.
“Soaking seeds?” Shen Hu truly didn’t understand this. Seeds needed to be soaked in lime water? He had never heard of such a thing.
“Young Mistress Song, did you hear wrong? People use plant ash to soak seeds, not lime water.” Shen Hu furrowed his brows deeply.
“No, these are two completely different methods,” Song Xia replied with a smile. “Seeds soaked in lime water like this are much better at sterilizing and preventing pests.”
Shen Hu didn’t understand Song Xia’s words and instinctively wanted to retort, but Wang Xiuli cut him off with a loud exclamation.
“Oh my! As expected of someone from the city, your knowledge is different! Shen Hu, if you don’t understand, don’t talk nonsense!” Wang Xiuli said to Song Xia with a face full of smiles.
“No, no. I just read it from an ancient book and wanted to try it out.” Seeing Wang Xiuli’s somewhat flattering smile, Song Xia wasn’t arrogant and attributed all the reasons to an ancient book.
She hadn’t forgotten how Wang Xiuli had cursed her out back then! Deep down, Song Xia didn’t really like Wang Xiuli.
Sensing Song Xia’s indifference, Wang Xiuli’s smile faltered for a second before she poked Shen Hu again. “Look at her! You should learn to read characters and read more books in the future!”
“Stop poking me!” Being poked like that by his wife right under Song Xia’s nose made Shen Hu lose some face. He gently patted Wang Xiuli’s hand, wanting her to behave.
Song Xia couldn’t help but chuckle at their little interaction, pretending not to see it. A man as fiery and unreasonable as Shen Hu acted just like a child in front of Wang Xiuli—truly, every creature has its conqueror.
Wang Xiuli sat on the stool, her eyes darting left and right. She praised everything about Song Xia’s home and Song Xia herself from head to toe, repeating words of gratitude over and over again, recycling the same praises in endless circles.
Song Xia simply watched Wang Xiuli quietly without chiming in, wanting to see what on earth Wang Xiuli was driving at.
Wang Xiuli was truly formidable; even without anyone egging her on, she managed to chatter on by herself until her throat grew dry and she finally stopped.
“Xiao Song, thank you so much for saving A-Li the other day. You are truly this child’s savior!” Wang Xiuli started repeating the words of gratitude to Song Xia once again.
“No need to thank me. We’re all from the same village; helping each other is only right.” Song Xia continued with the polite pleasantries, making herself somewhat drowsy in the process.
What on earth do they want? My lime water hasn’t even been mixed yet! Song Xia suppressed a yawn internally.
“You saved A-Li’s life, and we are extremely grateful, but that medicine was precious stuff after all. We’re afraid that…” It was only now that Wang Xiuli stated her true purpose, her previously sharp voice gradually dropping lower.
Only then did Song Xia understand the purpose of their visit today—they were afraid she would ask them to pay for the medicine!
Yet she had never thought of asking them for money at all! Song Xia was dumbfounded.
Song Xia hadn’t even considered that angle herself. When she fetched the medicine back then, she only thought about how to save a life, never once imagining that she would need the other party to reimburse her for those scraps.
However, after calming down, Song Xia hesitated a bit. Medicinal herbs were truly not cheap in this era. A large portion of Shen Huaijing’s medicine had been used up by her, and she would soon have to go to the county town to restock some. If Shen Hu was willing to pay back a portion, her financial pressure would indeed be much smaller. After all, the family had spent a lot of money on making the curved-beam plow and buying daily necessities; saving wherever possible was for the best.
Furthermore, the relationship between their two families wasn’t close enough for her to play the saint. Song Xia understood that in a place like this, once people considered you an easy-going “saint,” trouble would follow endlessly.
Therefore, after listening to Wang Xiuli, Song Xia lowered her head and put on a troubled look. “But after all, that medicine was specially brought back by us from the county town. You saw it yourselves—my husband’s health isn’t good either, and he needs to take medicine continuously.”
Wang Xiuli’s expression froze, and her somewhat flattering smile turned bitter. “Xiao Song, we went to the county town to have A-Li checked a couple of days ago. He had dysentery, and the doctor prescribed a lot of medicine. All the savings our family had went into buying that medicine. Right now, we really don’t have anything extra.”
Listening to Wang Xiuli’s words, Shen Hu’s face grew increasingly ugly. Being somewhat arrogant by nature and fancying himself the village chief’s son, seeing his wife humble herself so abjectly to beg their benefactor for continued charity made him feel utterly humiliated.
Through this medical treatment and prescription-filling, Shen Hu had clearly learned how precious the medicine was. Therefore, when Song Xia brought the medicine without hesitation to save A-Li, everyone present marveled at Young Mistress Song’s kind heart. Now, for his family to try and shirk this debt was truly unseemly.
“Young Mistress Song, don’t be troubled. I, Shen Hu, will definitely pay you back for this medicine!” Shen Hu interrupted Wang Xiuli, slapping his chest and saying to Song Xia.
Hearing Shen Hu say this, Wang Xiuli’s eyes widened, and her voice instantly sharpened into a shriek, “Shen Hu, where are you going to get the money?! How many copper coins do we even have left at home right now?! How are we supposed to afford to pay this back?!”
“Mind your own business! When winter comes, I’ll go to the county town to find odd jobs. I’ll definitely be able to pay the money back!” Shen Hu muttered stubbornly.
Watching this couple bickering in front of her, Song Xia’s head buzzed with noise: Are you guys specifically here to extort me?!