Chapter 29

"Ah! We need to send him to the health center right away! Let's use my motorized tricycle, this can't be delayed, we need to hurry," Liu Mingxing said.

"Alright, thank you!" Xiao Yang gratefully looked at Liu Mingxing and quickly thanked him.

He was extremely anxious, his legs were trembling.

"Tsk! What are you being so polite for, we're brothers!" Liu Mingxing waved his hand and went to get his motorized tricycle.

This summer, more than ten people in the village had been poisoned by pesticides, one of whom died due to severe poisoning and delayed rescue.

Although Xiao Fei remembered that in the 96th year of his previous life, his father had also been poisoned by pesticides but later recovered, he was now extremely worried.

Xiao Fei and the other person left their bicycle at Liu Mingxing's house, and drove his motorized tricycle to the field to pick up their father, speeding to the township health center.

At this point, his father's condition was very poor.

He was already unconscious, with a continuous flow of white foam coming from his mouth.

Upon arriving at the township health center, the two brothers quickly carried their father into the treatment room, where the doctor was already waiting. The doctor quickly administered emergency treatment, which included enemas, induced vomiting, and intravenous detoxification.

After a series of treatments, the symptoms of his father's poisoning were alleviated, and he regained consciousness, but he was still weak, pale, and breathless.

The doctor told the two brothers, "It's a good thing you brought him in time. He's fine now, but he needs to stay in the hospital for observation for a while and receive follow-up treatment. Go to the billing office to pay the fees."

Only then did Xiao Fei and the other person breathe a sigh of relief.

They quickly paid the fees and sent their father to the ward, placing him on the bed.

Even lying in bed, barely breathing, his father was still concerned about the cotton in the field, saying to Xiao Yang, "Yang, the pesticide hasn't been fully sprayed yet, go home and finish the spraying!"

"Dad, at this point, why bother with the spraying!" Xiao Yang grumbled, somewhat unwilling.

His father used all his strength to pat the bed, "Why are you all just standing around? I won't die! If the cotton is all destroyed by the bollworms, what will we eat, drink, and spend on in the future? Go quickly!"

Xiao Yang dared not disobey and turned to leave.

Xiao Fei held him back and said to his father, "Dad, this year's cotton is beyond saving, give it up! No matter how many times you spray, it won't help! It's better to save your strength and the cost of the pesticide! Besides, won't we have money if we sell the tortoises?"

"What do you know?! Have you ever farmed? How can it be beyond saving? As long as the pesticide is sprayed in time, the cotton won't be beyond saving! The money from selling the tortoises needs to be saved for building a house! Don't waste it! Look at you two, as soon as you have a little money, you start spending it recklessly. Are you not afraid of being struck by lightning?"

His father roared from the bed, his voice low and angry.

He noticed the change in the clothing of Xiao Fei and Xiao Yang, which made him even angrier.

This was the first time in Xiao Fei's memory that his father had ever lost his temper with him.

Xiao Yan tugged at Xiao Fei and Xiao Yang's sleeves, "Let's go out, don't upset Dad." She pushed the two out of the ward. By then, the sun had set, and dusk was falling.

There were many people in the township health center. Women were chatting, men were smoking, and their faces were filled with worry. They were all family members of the patients.

In a township with dozens of villages, how many people were not poisoned by pesticides and sent here every day?

Now, this dilapidated health center was full of people.

All because of the bollworms!

Xiao Fei secretly made up his mind. He couldn't hesitate any longer. He needed to act quickly. While his father was in the hospital, he would pull out all the cotton tonight, quickly prepare the land, and plant corn.

He took out a pack of cigarettes and offered one to his brother.

Xiao Yang took it, lit it, and said in a low voice, "I'll go back first, you take care of Dad."

"What are you going to do?" Xiao Fei asked.

"I'm going to spray the pesticide! It's cool now, and I can still see. The dew hasn't come down yet, so I'll finish it quickly, and there won't be any problems," Xiao Yang said, turning to leave.

Xiao Fei grabbed him, "Brother, tell me, do you think this year's cotton has any hope?"

Xiao Yang stopped, smiled bitterly, and shook his head, "I don't think there's much hope. It's the peak flowering period, and the bollworms have almost eaten all the flowers."

"Then what's the point of spraying more pesticides and putting in more effort?" Xiao Fei said in a deep voice.

Xiao Yang took a few puffs of his cigarette and said, "What can we do? Just let it go? Then we won't have any harvest at all."

"Brother, how about this: tonight, we call a few people to help us pull out all the cotton in the field, prepare the land, and plant some corn. What do you think?" Xiao Fei shared his idea.

Xiao Yang shook his head without hesitation, "It's already mid-July. Planting anything now is a waste. Haven't you heard? If you don't plant by the summer solstice, it's too late! Whatever you plant now won't mature by the time the wheat is harvested, it's just a waste of effort!"

"Who said that? It's not that absolute. There are still more than three months until the wheat harvest. As long as the soil is good, planting some sweet corn can still work!" Xiao Fei countered.

"Sweet corn?" Xiao Yang raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, sweet corn!" Xiao Fei affirmed.

"We haven't planted it here before, do you know about it?" Xiao Yang was very skeptical.

It was understandable that he was skeptical. As the youngest child in the family, Xiao Fei had hardly ever worked in the fields. What did he know?

"No one in our village has planted it, but many people in the county have. This sweet corn is sweet and glutinous, with thick flesh and a thin skin, soft and delicate, and very fragrant. It's best for boiling. It has a short maturation period. If planted now, it will be fully mature in 90 days. If you sell fresh corn cobs, they will be ready in about 80 days. You can plant about 4,000 plants per acre, and most of them will produce two ears each. At a wholesale price of 20 cents per ear, you can earn more than 1,000 yuan per acre, which is more profitable than planting cotton!" Xiao Fei explained.

This was all information he had read in his previous life.

Writing novels requires a lot of knowledge in various fields. Before his rebirth, Xiao Fei's favorite thing to do was to systematically learn about different areas of information.

He never thought it would come in handy now.

The sweet corn Xiao Fei knew about was called Su Yu Nuo 1, a fresh corn variety developed and promoted by the Jiangsu Yangtze River Agricultural Research Institute in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

H Province was also relatively suitable for its cultivation. Based on what Xiao Fei knew, the county agricultural supply station probably still had seeds of Su Yu Nuo 1.

That's why he was so confident in what he told Xiao Yang.

Xiao Fei's words left Xiao Yang speechless. This was not scientific. His brother had always been in school, how did he know all this?

"How do you know this?" Xiao Yang asked.

"I learned it from the county agricultural supply station. I have a classmate whose father works there, and I've been there before," Xiao Fei lied.

"Really, it will mature in 90 days?"

"Of course!"

"Can each ear sell for 20 cents?"

"This is the wholesale price. When the time comes, we can hire a large truck to take it to the wholesale market in X City. I believe it will sell quickly!"

Xiao Yang was moved. He took a puff of his cigarette, threw the butt on the ground, and stomped it out, saying fiercely, "Let's do it!"