Chapter 615: Little Tea-Planting Expert

There are generally two methods for planting tea trees. One is to plant the seeds directly, and the other is to first cultivate seedlings before transplanting them. But no matter which method is used, the first step is always to grow the seedlings. Typically, the tea seeds have to be screened and then soaked in warm water for three to five days to induce germination.

But with Maphario, things were much simpler. First of all, back on Junshan Island, Maphario had only collected the finest tea seeds, completely ignoring any inferior ones. Upon returning to Yunzhong City, he could immediately begin inducing germination. Using his special nutrient solution, the process was finished in just a single day. The tea seeds he brought back had almost all sprouted radicles and were ready for planting.

"Come on, I’ll help you carry them out!" A creature as small as Maphario couldn’t possibly carry so many tea seeds by himself, so Shen Yibin had to lend a hand. He carefully carried the seeds out into the garden.

Over the past two days, in addition to sprouting the seeds, Maphario had also led Hah’Er in clearing a patch of land in the garden for the tea trees. He mixed sandy loam with sawdust that had been soaked in nutrient solution, then spread a three-centimeter-thick layer. This seemed different from conventional tea cultivation methods, but Shen Yibin was confident that since it was Maphario’s idea, it had to be better than the methods used on tea plantations.

"Hmph!" Seeing Shen Yibin come out with Maphario, Hah’Er came over to help. The Turtle Immortal slowly followed behind, apparently quite interested in the goings-on. It was no wonder. First, he was quite fond of Junshan Silver Needle Chicken Slices. Second, drinking tea was a traditional method for maintaining one’s health in ancient times, so the Turtle Immortal must have done his own research on the subject.

"I was just about to call for you. Perfect timing, come and help." Shen Yibin looked back and saw Xiaoliu squatting on a tree branch, curiously watching them, seemingly trying to figure out what they were up to.

"SQUEAK! SQUEAK!" Maphario climbed down from Shen Yibin and scampered over to the prepared plot of land. He seemed to survey the area, as if measuring the distance for the rows, then chose a spot and started to dig. He dug a hole of just the right depth and size, then hopped back onto Shen Yibin. He took four or five sprouted tea seeds from the box and carefully placed them in the hole. There was a certain art to this planting, it seemed. Shen Yibin noticed that the radicles of the tea seeds were all deliberately pointed in the same direction.

’This should help them sprout better, right?’ Shen Yibin muttered to himself. He set down the box of tea seeds and started helping Maphario dig more holes. "Just tell us where to dig, and we’ll handle it!" The plot wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t small either. It would take Maphario a long time to finish it all by himself.

"Hmph! Hmph!" Hah’Er nodded in agreement. Seeing Maphario start to paw at the ground, Hah’Er gently nudged him aside. The panda sat down, stretched out its own paws, and started digging. Its paws were much larger than Maphario’s, and it dug the hole in just a few swipes. Shen Yibin took out four or five seeds and, mimicking Maphario, arranged the radicles to face the same direction before covering them with a thin layer of soil.

"SQUEAK! SQUEAK!" Maphario nodded, as if praising them. He immediately moved to another spot and pointed at the ground at his feet, presumably telling Hah’Er to dig the next hole there.

"The next one should go here, right?" Shen Yibin visually estimated the distance between the first two holes to be about twenty centimeters. Having a rough idea now, he pointed to a spot twenty centimeters away from Hah’Er and asked.

"SQUEAK! SQUEAK!" Maphario nodded again. He scampered over to a spot twenty centimeters to Shen Yibin’s right, preparing to dig the hole himself. But before he could start, a bamboo stick fell from the sky, and Xiaoliu jumped down from the tree. He didn’t use his paws; instead, he simply jabbed the ground twice with the stick. A new hole was formed, not too big, not too small, not too deep, not too shallow—it was an exact replica of the first one Maphario had dug.

’Tsk, tsk. It’s a good thing Sakai Kaori’s Mr. Liu Sheng isn’t here to see this. He’d probably have a heart attack! Is a Swordsmanship Master’s sword really meant for digging holes?’

"Xiaoliu, nice one!" Shen Yibin gave him a thumbs-up, then took some seeds from the box and planted them in the hole Xiaoliu had just made. Just then, the Turtle Immortal slowly ambled over and used his own claws to cover the seeds with a thin layer of soil.

After that initial period of adjustment, the work went much more smoothly. Maphario led the way, indicating where Xiaoliu and Hah’Er should dig the holes. Shen Yibin was in charge of placing the seeds in the holes, and the Turtle Immortal would cover them back up with soil. With a clear division of labor and perfect coordination, the work progressed rapidly.

Shen Yibin even noticed that after the Turtle Immortal covered a hole, he would crawl right over it. The plastron on his belly would scrape across the earth, smoothing the surface so perfectly flat that you couldn’t tell a seed had just been buried there unless you looked very closely.

There weren’t many tea seeds to begin with from Jun Mountain. In less than half an hour, the whole crew had buried every last one. It was just the right amount to fill the entire prepared plot of land, no more, no less.

"Alright, we’re finally done! You guys go take a break for a bit." Shen Yibin clapped the dirt off his hands and looked at Maphario. "Should we water them now? Do we just use regular stream water, or do we need to add anything?"

"SQUEAK! SQUEAK!" Maphario pointed to the nearby bucket, then to the pond where Bald Qiang and his partner lived. He seemed to be saying they could just get water from there and use it directly.

"Alrighty, leave it to me! You all go rest." After eating the Turtle Immortal’s medicinal porridge, Shen Yibin felt full of energy. He had barely broken a sweat doing all this work.

He went over to Bald Qiang’s "villa," filled a bucket with water, and gave a shout for them to come to the house for dinner. He had just gotten back and was watering the tea seeds when he saw Wen Yuan and his wife arrive with their child.

For some reason, Wen Yuan’s wife, Meihong, seemed to be walking a little unsteadily, and her posture looked a bit awkward. Shen Yibin couldn’t help but ask with concern, "Mr. Wen, is your wife feeling alright? If she’s sick, you should take her to a doctor soon!"

"No, no, she’s not sick. She’s perfectly healthy, perfectly healthy." Both Wen Yuan and Meihong blushed.

’Is there some hidden story here?’ Seeing their reaction, Shen Yibin knew not to press the issue. "Oh, well, go on in and make yourselves comfortable. I just planted some Junshan Silver Needle Tea seeds. I’ll head in to make dinner as soon as I’m done watering."

"Bin, I know a little about tea myself," Wen Yuan reminded him. "The reason Junshan Silver Needle Tea is so exceptional isn’t just because of the plant itself. It has a lot to do with the unique water and soil of Jun Mountain. I’m afraid you won’t be able to grow tea of that quality here, will you?"