Chapter 5 — The Farming Diary of Thien Kim Trillion

The more I spoke, the more enthusiastic I became: "I know, maybe everyone thinks that young lady is weak and can't stand the hardship. Then I will prove it with actions! Tomorrow! Tomorrow I will go to the fields! Mrs. Tuy, if you don't feel secure, just supervise me! If I don't do well, you can scold me freely!"

“My daughter… understands things so well!” Ms. Vuong Que Phan's eyes were red again.

“Do you hear me? My daughter has spirit!” Comrade Lam Bao Quoc puffed his chest proudly.

Most of the villagers also began to look at me with more gentle eyes. Mrs. Tuy was surprised by my counterattack, her face changed slightly, and she snorted: "Who can say it? You have to do it to know!"

“You are so right!” I immediately responded, my attitude was extremely good.

"Practice is the only standard to verify the truth! So, Mrs. Tuy, have you had any work in the fields recently? Or... let me help you first? You teach directly, if I do something wrong, you point it out on the spot!"

“Phew ——” I don't know who laughed first.

I'm a bit confused, what's funny? Later I learned that Mrs. Tuy's house only had more than a dozen acres of land. I don't know but I thought I was making fun of her... but I really didn't mean it that way! Mrs. Tuy's face turned red and white. Her daughter - the girl who had been playing on the phone - also raised her head and mumbled:

"Mom, looking at me, I know that Ms. Nguyet is highly educated and knowledgeable, maybe she knows more about farming than you do. Our family has a few acres of land, stop making fun of us..."

“Shut up!” Mrs. Tuy glared at her daughter.

At the critical moment, my grandfather was still able to maintain the situation. He coughed lightly: "Okay! Nguyet has a good heart! We Lam family descendants, there's nothing we can't learn! Bao Quoc, in a few days, take Nguyet out to our greenhouses and teach her each thing!"

“Yes, Dad!” Lam Bao Quoc replied loudly.

07

Farming studies are officially included in the schedule. But my mother thought she should first let me introduce myself to the neighbors. The next day, there was a house holding a wedding in the village. My mother took me to "open my eyes". There is a custom called wedding cake wrapping. I found it interesting so I rolled up my sleeves and tried it out right away. Although the workmanship is still clumsy, the study is very serious and the package is not too bad. Ly Tuy was also present. She kneaded the dough and glanced sideways at me: "Nguyet Nguyet, kneading the dough is a lot of work, your skin is so soft, don't complain about your hand hurting." I just smiled and didn't answer. On the third day, the village cooperative's accountant suddenly had an incident and the books did not match. I heard my dad complaining, so I curiously stopped by to take a look.

“Or… let me try?” I said in a low voice.

Half an hour later, I had rearranged all the items in order and clearly. The head of the cooperative patted my shoulder and praised me profusely: "Bao Quoc's daughter is so good! Truly a well-educated person!" Ly Tuy stood in the crowd, his voice cold: "What's the use of knowing how to calculate numbers? Do you know how to farm? Don't get to the point of ruining thousands of acres of Mr. Bao Quoc's fields." Since she was the superior, I did not respond. Maybe she found me easy to bully, her words became more and more harsh. While I was washing vegetables at the well, she said: "The well water is very cold, don't let your hands freeze." Seeing me feeding the chickens, she sarcastically said: "Be careful so the chickens don't peck at your precious hands." Even when I sit in the yard, using my laptop to look up documents carefully She also did not spare the technique of growing in a greenhouse.

“Look, you can tell if a computer is a genuine product, don't let the dust of your hometown get caught in it.”

"That's fair, she's a city girl, so how can she live as miserable as me? It's just that she feels strange so she stays for a few days, then flies away."

That day, it was extremely sunny. I was helping my dad process a new batch of organic fertilizer orders when Ly Tuy approached again.

"Mr. Bao Quoc, I'm serious, you pamper your child too much. How can he do these things?"

“Don't worry about mixing the fertilizer formula before completing the books, it will cause huge damage.”

“In my opinion, she can just sit at home and watch TV, play on the computer, and be a guest.”

My father frowned, not having time to say anything. I closed my laptop and stood up.

“Sir,” I walked up to her, my voice calm, “you're right, I've never really worked as a farmer before.”

Ly Tuy's face clearly showed the expression "see, I said it".

“But,” I changed my tone, pointing toward the greenhouses in the distance.

“The third support bar on the west side of greenhouse No. 3 is misaligned, so it should be reinforced in the next two days, otherwise there will be problems when the wind is strong.”

“The tomatoes in greenhouse No. 5 are showing early signs of downy mildew, so the humidity should be lowered to 5% and sprayed with Maneb.”

“As for the Emerald cucumber variety that the cooperative imported last year, with the day-night temperature difference here, the fruit-setting rate is lower than that of the native flower with stems, so a partial conversion can be considered.”

I said it all at once, but without realizing it, the surroundings suddenly became silent. Ly Tuy opened his mouth, but his throat was speechless. My father was stunned for two seconds then slapped his thigh: "That's right! Nguyet once told me that bar! I keep seeing it askew without knowing why! Daughter, how did you find out that the tomato was sick?"

“The underside of the leaf has small brown spots, I have compared the documents.”