In a grove of woods beside Qifengling Mountain Road.

When Zhao Maoer heard the footsteps, he hurriedly put the tiger's head on his back and picked up a wooden stick, his whole body tense.

"Don't panic, it's me."

Then, Chen Chu walked out from behind the tree.

Mao'er then dropped the stick, took two steps forward and said nervously: "How is Fugitive Village?"

"It's okay. There's a woman, a child, and a dog."

Having women and children represents "stability" in a sense. Having food and raising dogs also means that the villagers have enough to eat and will never go to the point of cannibalism.

If the escape village was full of young and strong men, Chen Chu would never make any plans to flee here.

This was also the reason why he didn't let Zhao Mao'er go up with him. If Hu Village was not a good place, it would be easier for him to escape alone.

What happened last night was like a living education lesson in troubled times, and he couldn't help but be careless.

"Give me the baggage." Chen Chu pointed to the baggage that Maoer had been carrying on his shoulder.

Mao'er just hesitated for a moment and handed it over. There were those coins in the bag.

Chen Chu dug a hole under a crooked-neck pine tree, buried the baggage, and carved a mark on the tree with a screwdriver. Then he said: "Remember this place. If we can settle down in the refugee village, we can come back to pick it up in a few days."

."

Mao'er was smart and immediately guessed Chen Chu's worries, and couldn't help but said: "Aren't the people in Fugong Village kind people?"

"That's not necessarily the case." Chen Chu shook his head and said, "But we are not familiar with them now. If we are carrying this money to invest, we are like a child carrying a heavy treasure, so it is better to be careful."

"Well, I understand. It's up to you to arrange it." Mao'er said softly.

Afternoon sunlight shines through the treetops, dappled, swaying into clusters of little suns on the cat’s charming face.

Chen Chu admired it for a while, then suddenly shook his head and muttered: "You can't do this."

Cat, who felt a little uncomfortable being stared at, heard this and subconsciously said: "What's wrong?"

Chen Chu grabbed a handful of slush and raised his hand to smear the cat's face.

"..." The cat blinked its peach blossom eyes and was stunned for a while, then said in a sullen voice: "What are you doing!"

She was not angry that her face was stained, but that Chen Chu touched her face...

Although Neo-Confucianism was not yet popular at this time, it was still a big deal for a woman to touch her face.

But then Zhao Mao'er quickly realized that he couldn't offend Chen Chu now, so he immediately suppressed his anger and lowered his head, murmuring like a child who made a mistake: "Don't be anxious. As long as you can protect our sisters, Mao'er is willing to

Being a slave and serving as a maid... It's just that my mother has just passed away. The greatest thing in the world is the word 'filial piety', otherwise it is no different from pigs and dogs... Cats need to observe filial piety for their mother for three years.

Only then...can I get close to you..."

"...."

This girl is really all set.

In the current situation, she must rely on Chen Chu, but the only bargaining chip she can offer is herself.

So he first hinted to Chen Chu, "Sooner or later, I will be yours," and then added a three-year period of "you can only see but not touch," otherwise it would be "worse than a pig or a dog."

Not only did he draw a big cake, he also stymied Chen Chu, and he also took the moral high ground...

Originally, Chen Chu smeared Zhao Mao'er just to avoid trouble, but after listening to her words, he smiled and took a step forward: "What if I have to do it now?"

At the same time, he stretched out his hand again and wiped the mud evenly on the cat's face.

"..." Zhao Maoer stood there blankly, a little at a loss.

Last night, Chen Chu didn't steal her money, and he didn't take advantage of others' danger to do anything wrong to her. Mao'er has already decided that he is a 'gentleman'. This is one of the reasons why she decided to follow Chen Chu.

Although she had never heard the saying "a gentleman can be bullied in any way", this was essentially what she meant by using "filial piety" to restrain Chen Chu.

But I didn’t expect that the ‘gentleman’ would change his face as soon as he said so!

In the wilderness, Zhao Maoer was so frightened that he backed away repeatedly.

But Chen Chu shrugged, took out two cards from his schoolbag with his backhand, and waved them in front of Zhao Maoer's eyes: "Don't think about those things that are there and not all day long. Did you see that these two are my friends in Dongsheng God?"

The eldest lady and the second lady in the continent, one is called Fukada and the other is Momono. Aren’t they much better than you, a firewood girl?”

"..." Zhao Maoer.

After a quick glance, she didn't see clearly what the women in the painting looked like, but she noticed that the two young ladies in the painting were wearing very little, with only two pieces of cloth as big as a palm tied on their chests.

Come to think of it, she is also the daughter of a poor family.

I can’t even afford to wear coarse clothes. How pitiful!

......

The application time is the same.

Yang Youtian and his son led a boy, a girl and a child into the escape village.

The busy villagers stood up and looked around, and some bold children ran around the three strangers.

Zhao Maoer, whose face was painted dirty, lowered his head and stared at Chen Chu's heels in front of him.

The family suffered a huge change last night, and now we are in a completely unfamiliar environment. The only familiar person is Chen Chu, who calls her "Chai He Niu"...

Thinking of this, my little face pursed unconsciously.

"Ouch~"

Zhao Mao'er, who was thinking about something, didn't pay attention and bumped into the back of Chen Chu who suddenly stopped.

"Is there money on the ground?" Chen Chu turned around and said to Zhao Mao'er, then turned to Yang Youtian and said: "Uncle Yang, this place is good. The wind is in the back and the sun is rising. I will settle down here."

The gentle slope on the mountainside of Qifengling is more than a hundred feet wide. Chen Chu picked a place not far from Yang Youtian's house and prepared to build a shack.

The underground shack is half underground and half above ground, which is good for heat preservation and relatively labor-saving to build.

When Chen Chu went to Western Xinjiang with his teacher to study watermelon breeding, he lived in a shack with fellow villagers who looked at the melon fields, and the experience was pretty good.

"Brother Chen, come over here and talk to the old man about the art of marrying evil spirits. Just let them do the work."

As soon as Chen Chu swung his hoe a few times, he was pulled aside by Yang Youtian.

The 'they' in Old Man Yang's mouth naturally refers to his son Yang Zhen and other juniors.

"Brother Chen, please~" Yang Youtian led Chen Chu to sit down in a sunny position.

"Uncle Yang, don't call me brother. You are about the same age as my father. Just call me Chen Chu or Xiao Chen."

"The old man is too shy to be polite, so I'll call you 'Brother Chu'."

"...."

Brother Chu? Your whole family is Brother Chu!

"Brother Chu, what is the difference between the technique of 'evil connection' and the technique of 'binding' that you are talking about?" Yang Youtian didn't realize there was something wrong with this title.

"Uh... uncle knows about 'binding'?"

Chen Chu put aside the title issue for the time being and asked curiously.

As mentioned in the crop history class, "Jiebu" was the name for "grafting" in the Song and Yuan Dynasties.

The origin of grafting in China can be traced back to the Qin and Han Dynasties. By the time of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the book "Qi Min Yao Shu" written by Jia Sixie had already introduced the method of grafting Du Li.

However, the grafting technology at this time was limited to the experience of certain specific varieties, such as gourds and pears. Since there was no scientific subdivision of "family" and "genus", the survival rate of grafting was extremely low, and it has not been popularized.<

/p>

In the minds of ordinary people, these skills are closer to magical powers such as ‘secret techniques’.

Yang Youtian shook his head and said: "The old man doesn't know how. But I have heard that although grafted fruit trees can increase their yield, the grafted grafts often do not survive, and only one or two grafts out of ten can survive."

"Grafting not only increases yield, but also has stress resistance, ensuring that the excellent characteristics of the fruit tree are passed on, and it quickly enters the fruiting period. As for the survival rate of the scion...that is, what the uncle said is that the survival rate of the grafting is low, probably

Improper treatment of the wound connecting the rootstock and scion results in the evaporation of water in the fruit tree and the invasion of miscellaneous bacteria... Well, it is the invasion of dirt invisible to the naked eye, which leads to the extremely low survival rate of the scion."

Although he didn't quite understand what he heard, Yang Youtian looked eagerly at Chen Chu, his eyes even more eager than when he saw Mei Jiao Niang.

In an era where information dissemination is extremely slow, the significance of a certain advanced farming technology to farmers is beyond the understanding of modern people.

"If you want to increase the survival rate..." Chen Chu thought for a while.

In fact, in terms of grafting technology, there is not much difference between modern and ancient techniques. The reason for the difference in survival rate is also the material problem.

For example, the ‘plastic film’ that is common to modern people.

With the plastic film wrapped and sealed, the interface between the rootstock and the scion can not only retain water and prevent seepage, but also prevent bacteria and dust from contaminating the fruit tree's wounds.

Chen Chu thought about it carefully and said: "You can use the wax sealing method, which will increase the survival rate of the scion."

"Is this the wax sealing method?"

"After mixing and melting rosin, yellow wax, and oil... Oh, I can't explain a sentence or two. I will give a demonstration in the spring, and uncle will understand after watching it twice..."

"Are you willing to teach me?" Yang Youtian grabbed Chen Chu's hand, quite excited.

"Why not?" Chen Chu said matter-of-factly.
To be continued...