Chapter 65: Chapter 60 Calling Qin Niu Brother with Every Wordi

Translator: 549690339

“The two of us, we complement each other. You provide the technology, helping me grow top-quality tea leaves, and you’ve been honored as the Yan Family’s superior farmer, with an annual salary exceeding ten pieces of silver money. As for me, I’ve gained the lord’s appreciation, leaving Steward Yan Qi far behind, and my position has become even more secure. Master Hu, the yield and quality of the third batch of tea leaves entirely depend on you. You must put in all your effort to keep it stable. Naturally, it would be even better if we could take it to the next level,”

Steward Yan Er said with a smile.

“Rest assured, I will definitely do my best to repay your kindness in recognizing my talents. After being recognized as a superior farmer, my family has finally started to live comfortably; when I visit my father-in-law, I’m now greeted as a good son-in-law, which wasn’t the case before,”

Master Hu was very satisfied with his current life.

Free from past poverty, what he ate, wore, and used were all of quality. His wife no longer scorned him for being incompetent; instead, she worried he might divorce her to marry a younger woman.

Now, she attended to him in every way, greeted him with smiles, making him feel a glory and comfort he’d never experienced before as a man.

An ordinary farmer would earn just three pieces of silver money a year, and with all the benefits, they’d net three pieces and six coins. But a superior farmer could earn a high annual salary of ten pieces of silver money, earning more than double that of an ordinary farmer.

With several years of saving, one could even buy a house in the city.

Qin Niu, carrying fertilizer, arrived at the Yan Family’s second tea garden.

It was still a large slope that had been cleared and planted with tea trees.

It seemed to cover a smaller area than the first tea garden, and many of the tea tree leaves were yellowing, with the tips of their branches tangled and weak, like people who were poorly nourished.

In the distance among the tea trees, a farmer could be seen bending over tilling the soil and weeding.

“Big brother! May I ask where Steward Yan Qi is?”

Qin Niu shouted at the top of his lungs.

The farmer, hearing the voice, stood up straight and lifted the straw hat on his head a bit to look in the direction of the sound.

“It’s Qin Niu!”

When the farmer saw him, he immediately walked over to him.

At first, Qin Niu only felt the man looked somewhat familiar. The other party was wearing a bamboo hat, and his full face was not visible.

Upon hearing the other man’s voice, he recognized him at once.

“Yan, Steward Yan Qi, I never expected to see you personally laboring in the fields!”

Qin Niu was indeed exceedingly shocked.

“Haha, why can’t 1 work the fields? 1 started following the others to mow pig grass at the age of six, learned to herd cattle at seven, and by eight, 1 was learning tilling and weeding among other planting skills. By the age of ten, I could already independently grow millet or wheat. Although I was only entrusted with one acre of inferior land for practice, 1 still harvested over three hundred pounds of millet and more than two hundred pounds of wheat that year,”

Steward Yan Qi came over laughing.

And he introduced his childhood growth with great pride.

The Yan Family certainly wouldn’t raise servants for nothing; from a young age, they were taught various agricultural tasks.

Those with talents would also learn writing and arithmetic, and later handle the Yan Family’s business matters. For example, working as a clerk in the Yan Family’s city shops or staying with the family to oversee the labor of the workers.

“No wonder you understand so much about cultivation!”

Qin Niu felt this Steward Yan Qi was different from the other Yan Family stewards who only knew how to lord it over people.

Steward Yan Qi was not only amiable but also hardworking and down-to-earth, personally engaging in farm work, which was truly admirable.

Seeing the look of admiration on Qin Niu’s face, Steward Yan Qi couldn’t help but show a smug smile once again.

“Can this basket of compost be used for growing tea trees?”

“Absolutely no problem. About a bowl’s worth per plant. If you want to see quick results, it needs to be buried around the root area. It can help the tea trees grow fresh and tender new leaves, and it also has some effect on improving the yellowing of the leaves,”

Before preparing the compost, Qin Niu specifically enhanced the effects of the leaf fertilizer and reduced its impact on flowering and fruiting, while appropriately strengthening the root system’s growth effects.

“That’s great! Dump them here, and if the results are good, 1’11 buy more from you next time,”

Steward Yan Qi said, his face showing delight.

“No problem!”

Qin Niu dumped the compost into the designated fertilizer vat.

This was a pottery vat buried in the ground, excellent for preserving fertilizers.

After emptying the fertilizer, Qin Niu took a look around the slope.

Noticed by Steward Yan Qi, he immediately said with a laugh.

“Qin Niu, I know your planting techniques are very clever. I’m rather a layman when it comes to fertilization techniques. If you have any good suggestions, feel free to enlighten me. As long as it’s truly useful, 1 will make sure to reward you.”

Upon hearing this, Qin Niu pointed towards the ridge above the slope.

“This slope used for planting tea trees faces the sun and has a flat terrain, which is excellent. However, the ridge above is quite steep, and since the oil tea trees were planted, the workers, being diligent, have cleared all the undergrowth and ferns beneath the trees. Whenever there’s a downpour, a large amount of water washes down from above, causing not only some soil erosion but also likely leading to flooding on this slope beneath.

Tea trees prefer dry and loose soil.

Spring is the peak season for picking tea leaves and is also the season with plenty of rain. During this time, the tea trees suffer root damage due to flooding, turning the leaves yellow and roots rot, making any amount of fertilizer useless. Moreover, the quality of the tea leaves will be greatly reduced.”

Having listened to Qin Niu’s advice, Steward Yan Qi’s eyes shone like bright lamps.

“What profound insights! Listening to Brother Qin Niu’s analysis is better than reading ten years of books. When spring comes, the soil on this slope becomes particularly moist, something I had not paid much attention to before. Now that I think about it, such conditions can indeed lead to flooding disasters. Compared to a real flood, this one drowns the roots, while a flood drowns the entire tree. Today, I’ve truly learned something.”

Steward Yan Qi reached into his breast pocket and drew out a piece of Silver Money.

It must have weighed about five qian.

“Here’s a little token of my appreciation, please accept it, Brother Qin Niu!”

His way of addressing Qin Niu had also changed.

Now it was Brother Qin Niu this, Brother Qin Niu that.

Keep in mind, he was the Yan Family’s steward, practically a member of the upper management.

His status and identity were at least four levels above that of an ordinary farmer.

Yet he took the initiative to lower his status, calling himself Qin Niu’s brother, clearly showing that Qin Niu’s agricultural expertise had won him over.

“I accept your kindness, Steward Yan Qi. It’s just a few words, not worth much. If you use my fertilizer and it proves effective, please keep me in mind for the future.”

“Haha, no problem, no problem at all.”

“I’ve got work to do in the fields, so 1 must be going now.”

After giving his advice, Qin Niu took his leave.

Not accepting that half-liang of Silver Money was precisely where his cleverness lay.

For Qin Niu at the moment, half a liang of Silver Money was nothing. He could earn more than that from a single hunt.

By not taking the money, he essentially had Yan Qi owing him a favor.

In the future, Yan Qi would certainly take good care of any concerns Qin Niu might have.

And that very evening, Qin Niu continued to remove insects from the millet field with his termites goes without saying.

The next day, Qin Niu slept until the sun was high in the sky before getting up.

Having spent two whole nights clearing the millet field of pests, not only did his insect control skill greatly improve, but he also harvested a bounty of insect eggs. These were precious treasures that could help the Ant Queen rapidly enhance her Breeding Skill.

Although the benefits of such dietary supplementation couldn’t continue indefinitely, as the effects would weaken over time, for Qin Niu at the moment, enhancing the Ant Queen’s Breeding Skill by one level would be sufficient.

He took out the Treasured Sword and carefully inspected it, noticing indeed that the green glow within the blade had begun to fade again.

This sword was now temperamental.

It demanded a drink of Ancient Banyan Tree Blood every day, or else it would fall sick’.

Just right, he planned to head up to the mountain to see if the termites had evolved. Today he intended to send a few termites into the coverage area of the Ancient Banyan Tree to test it out.

After eating three jin of bear meat, he hurriedly packed several jars and set off for the mountain.

Since he hadn’t practiced the Everlasting Spring Technique the past two nights, his appetite had dropped by half. Eating three jin of bear meat a day was enough, but were he to practice the Everlasting Spring Technique, even six jin a day would leave him feeling hungry.

All these jars he was carrying were for collecting Banyan Tree Blood.

If that Ancient Banyan Tree had consciousness and could see him, it would probably die of anger.

This human youth escaped by luck last time and, far from repenting, he returned with so many jars to draw its blood.

Utterly detestable.

Upon reaching the mountain, Qin Niu headed straight for the Ant Nest.

“My children, come forth!”

He called out to the ant swarm like a demon lord..