I am a Primitive Man
Chapter 932: Cultivating Seedlings
Han Cheng, drawing on his experience with soaking soybean sprouts, scooped the rice grains from the water tank using a sieve. He then placed them into the prepared long, rectangular wicker trays.
At the bottom of the wicker tray, he laid a coarse layer of burlap to prevent the soaked rice grains from falling through.
The layer of soaked rice in the tray wasn’t very thick—about one centimeter.
After soaking, Han Cheng lifted the tray and placed it over a basin of water.
There was water in the basin, but not much—just enough to slightly moisten the rice grains in the tray.
Next, Han Cheng took a piece of coarse burlap, soaked it in water, wrung it slightly, and then covered the rice grains in the tray with it. With this, the initial preparation work was complete.
The reason for this procedure was that rice submerged in water for extended periods would easily lack oxygen, which would hinder germination.
Of course, Han Cheng didn’t know everything about planting rice—many things still required trial and error.
Cultivating seedlings was one of those things.
Of the two tanks of rice that had been soaked in water, only one tank received this treatment. The other tank was scooped out and placed directly into a tray, which Han Cheng then carried over to the leveled land he had prepared earlier.
He scattered the soaked rice evenly over the soft soil by hand.
Once it was evenly spread, he used a copper spade to scoop finely crushed soil from the sides and cover the soaked rice seeds.
The soil layer wasn’t very thick—around one centimeter—so the seeds could sprout through it.
After covering the seeds, Han Cheng instructed his second elder brother to bring over water cans.
One of the water cans had a ladle made from a gourd floating on top.
The second elder brother placed the water cans at the edge of the nursery. Han Cheng picked up the ladle, scooped water, and poured it over the seeds.
He watered generously, pouring around ten cans of water over this relatively small area.
After watering and pausing briefly, he and the second elder brother covered the seeds with straw mats woven from dried wild grass collected in winter.
Covering them with straw mats helped reduce water loss and retain warmth.
Han Cheng hadn’t planted rice seedlings before, but he was familiar with growing vegetables and watermelons.
At home, when planting vegetables early, similar methods were often used.
When planting watermelons early and wanting them to sprout sooner, plastic sheeting would be laid on the ground.
Since Han Cheng couldn’t produce plastic sheeting or plastic covers, he had to make do with straw mats. Covering the seedlings with this was much better than leaving them uncovered.
Whether planting chili, tomato, or eggplant seedlings—or rice seedlings—the key was to allow the seeds to germinate. So applying his vegetable-growing methods to rice seedlings wasn’t much different.
As for the finer differences, those would have to be discovered through continued practice to find the best methods for rice seedlings.
With this done, Han Cheng and his second elder brother stood for a while before returning to the inner courtyard of Jinguan City with their tools.
After a while, they came out again.
Looking out from the inner courtyard, the large body of water near it had changed dramatically since before.
The water that had previously covered the entire area had collected in the channels, leaving the remaining land dry.
Earthen ridges divided the area into irregular plots, each of which had been plowed once.
The people of the Green Sparrow Tribe were working within these plots, most trying to level and refine the plowed soil.
Others, farther from the inner courtyard, continued plowing previously enclosed land that hadn’t yet been completed.
After observing for a while, Han Cheng held his frequently used copper spade and, with the second elder brother, left the courtyard to go to the prepared land.
He called seven or eight people, telling them to stop their current work, and led them to the land that had already been harrowed.
After giving a few brief instructions, everyone began to work.
The embankments of the rice paddies near the water channels were opened up, and small ditches were dug to guide water from the main channels into the fields.
After some excavation, water flowed into the fields, filling the plots through the openings in the embankments.
The previously dry soil gradually became wet, and over time, more and more land was soaked.
A few somewhat transparent small fish flowed along with the water into the paddies.
At first, they seemed cramped, but as the water level rose, they calmed down, swishing their tiny tails along the muddy bottom.
With Han Cheng and the others’ efforts, more embankments were opened, and clear water joyfully flowed into the fields.
Over time, the previously dry land gradually reverted to watery paddies.
In the newly submerged fields, small bubbles occasionally rose to the surface, trembling.
From the inner courtyard of Jinguan City, the sun reflected off the water, making it appear as bright, mirror-like patches.
The rice grains in the wicker trays, slightly water-soaked, had sprouted tiny green shoots. Some of the more eager ones had even developed thin roots.
The roots were white and tender, with fine, fuzzy little root hairs.
Once the seeds sprouted, they were no longer suitable for this kind of soaking method.
Han Cheng, with a few others from the tribe, carefully took the sprouted seeds from the baskets and densely scattered them onto the prepared warm bed.
They then carefully covered the seedlings with a thin layer of finely crushed soil.
After covering them with soil, they watered them again.
When Han Cheng lifted the straw mats covering the ground, he saw that some of the seeds had sprouted and broken through the soil, with tender shoots that looked very pleasing.
Han Cheng smiled broadly, even happier than if he had dreamt of Mei.
These seedlings were clearly not enough for planting, so seeing results and gaining confidence, Han Cheng returned to the inner courtyard with the others and took more rice grains from the storage jars, soaking them for the next large-scale seedling planting.
Time quietly passed in the busy work, and the sun’s direct rays began to shift northward.
At some point, the wind no longer felt as cold, and sunlight began to feel warm on the skin.
Spring was not only a season of restlessness but also a time for all things to grow—a good season for sowing.
In the inner courtyard of Jinguan City, Han Cheng, holding a hoe, dug the ground around a constructed shed.
He hadn’t finished digging everything, just creating three roughly fifty-centimeter-diameter plots in the middle of the three sides of the shed.
He finely broke up the soil clumps, loosened more soil, added some fertilizer, and then covered it with another layer of soil.
After this, Han Cheng took some seeds from his pocket and placed three or four in each plot.
These were fairly large seeds, some still covered with a thin membrane.
They were gourd seeds that Han Cheng had obtained from the older female primitive.
Gourds were very useful, and it was important for the tribe to plant more of them.
Once the gourd seeds sprouted, they would climb over the shed.
When the vines grew lush, white gourd flowers would bloom, and gourds of various sizes would hang from the gaps.
Lying beneath the vine-covered shed, feeling a gentle breeze, and taking a short nap would be pure bliss.
If he dreamed of barefoot gourd children shouting “Grandpa” endlessly, it would be even more delightful.
Of course, such dreams would likely be exclusive to Han Cheng.
After planting the gourds in the shed, Han Cheng planted more outside in the courtyard.
There were still many undeveloped open spaces on the east side of Jinguan City, providing enough space for the vines to climb.
Han Cheng didn’t plant all the gourd seeds, leaving some to take back to the main tribe.
After finishing this, he also scattered another type of seed nearby.
These were orange seeds saved from previous oranges he had eaten. Most had been discarded, but some were kept for planting today.
The weather in Jinguan City gradually warmed day by day. The Green Sparrow main tribe, the Copper Mountain residential area, and the nearby Qinling mountain area also soon felt the signs of spring.
Walking on the newly melted snow, Third Senior Brother carried tools, seeds, and food, along with the people who had helped build the Qinling sub-tribe, to the partially developed land there.
The houses they built before the new year were still intact—no one had taken over while they were away.
After settling their supplies in the Qinling area, Third Senior Brother quickly began organizing the land.
As the weather warmed, days passed quickly, and there was always a sense that much remained unprepared. Spring plowing could begin soon.
Hence, Third Senior Brother worked diligently, trying to clear as much land as possible and plant more grain before spring plowing.
The furnaces in the Copper Mountain residential area, which smelted copper and tin ingots, were silent again. Under Shang’s leadership, the people there also began preparing for spring plowing.
The Green Sparrow Tribe did the same, with even more people mobilized.
On some fields, small piles of manure, each about the size of two fists, were stacked.
Hei Wa, holding a copper spade, scooped some manure and threw it around to spread it evenly.
Many others helped with this, but Hei Wa seemed somewhat sullen.
It wasn’t because he felt it beneath his skill as a master craftsman in pottery and porcelain. In the Green Sparrow Tribe, no one looked down on food-producing work.
During spring plowing and autumn harvest, unless something truly urgent arose, even Han Cheng himself would work in the fields.
Hei Wa’s mood wasn’t due to farming—it was about porcelain.
After successfully firing porcelain, the tribe was ecstatic to see the exquisitely beautiful objects, almost otherworldly.
As the one who made them, Hei Wa had been exhilarated and, for a long time, had been in a highly charged state.
Thanks to him and the pottery workshop team, the Green Sparrow Tribe had produced a substantial amount of porcelain.
As porcelain became more common, people were less astonished but still admired its beauty.
Hei Wa’s sullen mood, however, wasn’t due to this. It was about how outsiders reacted to the porcelain.
The Green Sparrow Alliance no longer needed specialized trade teams for external tribes; these tribes came directly to exchange goods such as salt and soft furs.
This freed Green Sparrow labor and eliminated travel risks—tribes simply brought goods to Green Sparrow.
Every year after the snow melted, some tribes came to trade, and this year was no exception.
Hei Wa had been eagerly waiting to trade the newly fired porcelain for goods from these tribes.
Pottery had been valuable enough; porcelain, being far superior, would fetch even more.
As expected, when outsiders saw the porcelain, they were stunned, unable to look away.
When Han Cheng’s tribe offered to exchange porcelain for food or furs, Hei Wa clearly saw the excitement and desire in their eyes—but what happened next completely exceeded his expectations…
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