Ji Chenghe replied: There is no one selling saplings in the entire Tianshui Town, but he will ask someone to inquire in the county town.
Bai Sheng was not surprised. After such a long drought, no normal person would think of planting trees.
She looked for Ji Chenghe simply because she thought local saplings were more adapted to the local environment and had a higher survival rate.
Lu Ye, fearing she might be disappointed, told her that the original Qinghuang Kingdom was full of green mountains and clear waters, and there were quite a few places selling saplings. He suggested she could try, but although the Qinghuang Kingdom had been destroyed, it was still very chaotic.
The Great Xia Kingdom and the Northern Qiang Kingdom were constantly at war to seize the territory of Qinghuang, and there were still many remnants of the Qinghuang Kingdom's old forces who occasionally retaliated against both countries. In short, a country that was once full of green mountains and clear waters was now in ruins.
It was not worth the risk of going abroad for a few saplings, and moreover, many trees might not be suitable for survival in the desert.
Bai Sheng decided to enter the space to see if there were any saplings she could transplant outside.
The stumps of the trees that had been cut down had grown many new branches. Bai Sheng had a flash of inspiration: if she could graft these small branches in the space and they survived, then transplanting them outside would also yield good tree species.
Whether they could grow or not, she would try first.
Bai Sheng immediately found some cutting tools and cut the branches on the tree roots at an angle, then grafted them into the forest.
In addition, many flowers and plants in the flower garden had produced seeds, and Bai Sheng carefully collected them all, intending to try planting them outside later.
To her immense excitement, she actually found a cotton plant in the flower garden, and the cotton plant had three or four open cotton bolls!
Heaven truly helps me!
Bai Sheng had searched for cotton seeds in the county town for a long time without success, but she didn't expect to find them in the space's flower garden.
Cotton, cotton, after all, it's also a flower.
Although there were only a few cotton bolls, given the growth rate of plants in the space, she would soon be able to cultivate many seedlings, and cotton cultivation was no longer a dream!
Bai Sheng took out all the cotton seeds, a total of 35 seeds.
Actually, Bai Sheng didn't know how to grow cotton, but the plants in her space could grow anywhere, and she never had to worry about them dying.
It was very difficult for them to die.
Bai Sheng used her mind to create a small cotton field and planted all 35 cotton seeds. If everything went as expected, within a week, the cotton seeds she harvested would multiply a thousandfold.
Bai Sheng took a small tree dug from the space and wanted to transplant it behind the house to see if it could survive.
Lu Ye suggested that if they were to plant trees, they should start with those that were adapted to desert survival, such as desert willows and poplars. After gaining experience, they could try other tree species.
"How are desert willows propagated? Can they be grafted?" Yes, Bai Sheng's tree planting experience was indeed lacking, and she was currently just groping her way forward.
However, she was a postgraduate student in the modern world and had a strong "research" spirit. In time, she would surely become a master planter.
Lu Ye smiled and nodded, "They can be grafted. Let's graft some in the space first, and after they survive, we can try transplanting them outside."
"That's great! Desert willows are very beautiful. I'll plant them on the left side of the house, and poplars are also beautiful, so they can be planted on the right side." Bai Sheng could already imagine her house surrounded by trees of different colors.
Lu Ye took a basket and a machete and extended his hand to Bai Sheng, "Let's go. I'll accompany you to cut some desert willows. As for the poplars, they should be available in the county town, so we'll talk about it next time we go."
"Okay, okay," Bai Sheng happily placed her hand in Lu Ye's palm. She didn't expect Lu Ye to be so supportive of her plan to plant trees in the arid desert, and he didn't think she was being whimsical at all.
Bai Sheng climbed onto Lu Ye's neck, hugged his face, and kissed him fiercely.
Being kissed in broad daylight, Lu Ye's heart pounded violently.
He raised his hand and pinched Bai Sheng's nose, thinking to himself: My darling, my troublesome little vixen, you're teasing me again! When we get home, I'll deal with you properly!
After teasing him, Bai Sheng obediently took Lu Ye's hand again, completely unaware that her passionate and unrestrained actions had ignited a hot-blooded, repressed ancient man.
There were many desert willows along the road leading to the town. After Lu Ye cut the branches, Bai Sheng would secretly water them with spiritual spring water.
The desert willows, having absorbed the spiritual spring water, immediately perked up.
On the way, they encountered many people from Huangsha Village.
When they saw Bai Sheng, they didn't recognize her at all, thinking that Lu Ye had abandoned his ugly slave wife and gotten involved with some beautiful young lady.
After all, Lu Ye's face was truly captivating to young ladies, no, to women of all ages.
"Lu Ye, what are you doing cutting these desert willows?" a tall, thin peasant woman carrying a shoulder pole passed by. Although she was talking to Lu Ye, her eyes couldn't help but glance at Bai Sheng.
Lu Ye turned his head and saw that the speaker was Li Xuanyi's mother, Aunt Hu.
Lu Ye and Li Xuanyi had grown up together and were good friends. In the past, Aunt Hu had treated Lu Ye's family with a semblance of respect because of her son. Later, as more people in the village bullied Lu Ye's family, Aunt Hu stopped bothering with appearances and even colluded with other villagers to bully his parents.
Therefore, at this moment, Lu Ye could not pretend to be enthusiastic and merely nodded faintly, "See if they can be grafted."
Aunt Hu showed great surprise, "Oh my! Little Ye, I'm not trying to lecture you, but aren't you busy with nothing? The weather is so dry, and people are about to die of thirst. Can these branches still live?"
"We'll try," Lu Ye said coldly.
Aunt Hu naturally noticed Lu Ye's deliberate distance, but she couldn't suppress her inner gossip. Moreover, Lu Ye's family was different now...
She looked at Bai Sheng and, with some uncertainty, asked, "Who is this young lady?"
"My wife," Lu Ye's face lit up with a smile when he saw Bai Sheng.
"Your... your wife?" Aunt Hu's eyes widened in shock, "Little Ye, you wouldn't have changed your wife, would you? Your sl—"
"My husband hasn't changed his wife, I am the slave wife assigned by the county," Bai Sheng felt that Lu Ye could still talk to this woman, implying that their relationship was not yet at its worst, so her tone was relatively gentle.
Lu Ye said proudly, "My wife's face has been healed."
"This... this change is too great! She's not the same person at all," Aunt Hu stared at Bai Sheng motionlessly, still looking incredulous.
Back then, Lu Ye's slave wife was supposed to be assigned to her son Li Xuanyi. After all, Xuanyi was several months older than Lu Ye and had priority. However, Xuanyi rejected her, calling her dirty and ugly, and got angry on the spot. Moreover, Xuanyi liked Zhang Lanlan, the village beauty, and would never accept a slave wife who looked like a dilapidated animal.