A small plot of land in a mountain village

Chapter 19 Little Wild Turtle

Zhang Niu ostentatiously named this wasteland "Happy Abode," but the name itself wasn't exactly flattering. It was neither good nor bad.

The wasteland is now showing signs of life. Two newly dug ponds are side by side, but water hasn't been pumped in yet. They haven't even been bought yet. The wasteland is almost fully cleared. Once the fruit seedlings are delivered, they can be planted.

I checked my phone and called the fruit seedling supplier to ask him to deliver the seedlings. I also asked him to bring back a water pump and hoses for him, and I'd pay him for them all at once.

After hanging up, I called the aquatic products institute again and asked them to help me find more eel and loach fry. I also asked them to see if they had any snakehead fry, and if so, I could let them know.

After hanging up the phone, all that's left is to wait for them to arrive. It's not too busy, really.

I haven't checked my space for a few days. The fruit saplings by the pond, which should be fruit trees now, are all budding. The pink buds are emitting a faint fragrance that permeates the area around the pond.

Just as I was about to take a closer look at the flower buds, I noticed something unusual at my feet. Looking down, I saw a small group of little turtles wearing tiny hats crawling out from under the fruit tree and surrounding Zhang Niu's feet.

It had only been a few days. The eighteen turtle eggs from that day had now hatched into eighteen baby turtles. If they hadn't crawled to his feet, Zhang Niu definitely wouldn't have seen them. Even a rough, uncultured man wouldn't have noticed. He squatted down, watching the baby turtles frantically crawling towards his feet, picked one up, and placed it in his palm. Perhaps it was just hatched! The baby turtle was only a quarter the size of his palm, but it was very intelligent and not as timid as people said. He gently stroked the baby turtle's head, and it kept rubbing its little head against his hand.

I originally thought these turtle eggs wouldn't hatch if they were kept in the space, but it turns out they hatched in less time than outside. I wonder if their turtle parents would be shocked if they knew.

Looking closely at the baby turtles, I noticed that their shells all have different patterns. They somewhat resemble ancient Chinese characters, but they're too small to see clearly yet. They should be clearer when they get bigger!

The little turtles kept crawling up Zhang Niu's body. They were small, so they only crawled on his feet. Some even fell flat on their backs. The other little turtles were quite clever; they would often use their little heads to flip the fallen turtles back onto their feet.

Zhang Niu was completely stunned. This was too much! Newborn turtles were already helping their kind. Their intelligence was like that of a young child.

This space has truly nurtured many spiritual creatures. "Little Dot" is one such creature, and the "King Kong" that stayed there also possesses a certain spirituality. And the little turtles now are the same.

The baby turtles are still being raised here, and the eel and loach fry I bought last time have also been released into the pond. Standing on the edge of the pond, you can see various fish constantly leaping out of the water. You can also see the small holes that the loaches have made along the edge of the pond.

One by one, the little turtles crawled into the pond. They were very orderly, playing and frolicking in the water.

Zhang Niu thought that if there were a sun in the space, it would be perfect.

After leaving the space, I saw a missed call. It turned out to be from the fisheries institute. After calling back, they told me they didn't have any snakehead fry there. However, they had plenty in Guangdong, but they were quite expensive; a palm-sized snakehead fry cost three to four yuan. They also had a good breeding stock called forkedtail, which had no scales and was easy to raise as a bottom-dwelling fish, costing only a few cents each.

Hearing this, Zhang Niu realized that black carp fry were not just expensive. He had heard before that forktail fish were a type of fish that specifically ate other fish and usually needed to be raised for a year before they could be sold.

Worried about making them wait too long, I asked them to help me buy 2,500 snakehead fish. 30,000 forkedtail fish seem like a lot. The survival rate is at most around 50%.

The fruit seedlings didn't arrive. However, the seedling supplier did send a water pump. Now, cars can drive directly up the mountain road. The supplier is very happy. Last time, walking up the mountain was quite exhausting for him.

When we got off the car, we saw that the landscape of the wasteland had completely changed. There were even two empty ponds.

Before Zhang Niu even arrived, he spoke up, "Your place has really changed so much! Look, it's become Happy Cottage." His sharp eyes had already spotted the words written on the board.

"Hehe. It's just a joke, it's not even really set in stone yet, so how can there be any changes? It's just two more ponds, I'm planning to raise some fish in them, so I can fish when I'm bored."

The fruit seedling owner became interested after hearing this. "I quite enjoy fishing, and I often go to fishponds in the suburbs, but those fish are very clever. They only eat the bait and don't take the bait, or they simply don't bite."

Zhang Niu had heard about this from his friends. The fish were usually fed in the morning, and people who fished there all day would catch a few.

"Once I fill this fishpond with water and raise fish, you can come here. We'll just use nets. One net and we'll catch all kinds of fish," said the owner of the fruit seedling shop.

"You can catch some fish in one net, but that would take away some of the fun. But when you open your fishing spot, I'll definitely come and patronize you, and introduce you to some old friends," he paused and then added. "This time, I've also brought a technician with me to check if there are any problems with the fruit seedlings you planted."

"That's too much trouble." Zhang Niu didn't know much about planting fruit seedlings, but fortunately, he had the magic of the spatial water. Zhang Niu didn't manage them much, just weeded and such.

The technician walked around and found that the fruit seedlings in this area were growing very well, even better than the same batch from their own orchard. However, the soil looked rather ordinary, which puzzled the technician. He asked Zhang Niu if he had applied any fertilizer.

Zhang Niu dared not say it was watering the space; he only said he had put some pig manure there some time ago. He didn't know anything else.

After the technician examined the saplings, he simply said they were very good, and then returned to his car.

After chatting for a while, the fruit seedling owner went home. Zhang Niu took out some oranges from the house and told him to take them home and try them.

After they left, I ran an electric wire from the house to the large irrigation ditch and pumped some water up while no one was using it. It took me a long time to connect the switch. I turned it on, and water gushed out of the pipe, flowing towards the pond.

While the water was being pumped, Zhang Niu stood by the irrigation ditch, worried that something like grass roots might get stuck inside, which would cause trouble. As the sun set, the earth turned golden, making Zhang Niu's shadow appear exceptionally long.

I cooked something simple for dinner and went back to keep watch. Don't let the small size of the pond fool you; it holds quite a bit of water.

When the pond was full of water, I checked my phone and it was already past midnight.

Exhausted and sleepy, Zhang Niu went back inside and collapsed into bed. He didn't even bring back the water pump from outside. But with "King Kong" around, he wasn't worried about anyone coming up to steal at night.

Second update! Please recommend and favorite this book, don't just leave it untouched, give it all to Corn! Someone was refreshing the book reviews non-stop at noon and into the evening, which really puzzles Corn.