Male Lead's Canon Fodder Wife - Chapter 1187

Chapter 1187: Family’s Secret
After she injured her leg, Mother Zhang always felt like a burden to her son. Now, seeing him finally get what his heart desired made her truly happy.

Noticing her son’s tiredness, she said, “Alright, you should rest now. We will talk about this tomorrow.”

Zhang Ermu nodded and helped his mother to her bedroom. Afterward, he returned to his own room and lay on the bed. Though his body was tired, he was too excited to sleep. His mind raced all night before he finally drifted off just before dawn.

Early the next morning, Li Chenmo and his family woke up before dawn to begin their usual morning routine. Since they had nearly harvested all the vegetables in the garden, Dong Li accompanied his father to the pigpen.

Today, their plan was to till their garden’s soil and fertilize it.

When they arrived in the pigpen, Li Chenze, Li Lingyun, Chen Jianmin, and Chen Jianguo were already there.

Seeing his uncles, Dong Li greeted them, “Eldest Uncle, Second Uncle.”

Chen Jianmin and Chen Jianguo also greeted Li Chenmo, “Good morning, Uncle Li.”

Li Chenmo nodded at them, then turned to his brothers and asked, “Eldest Brother, if you are free today, can you come to my house to help me build the greenhouse?”

Hearing this, Li Chenze nodded and replied. “Second Brother mentioned you were building a greenhouse. I will come over later.”

“Uncle Li, can I come over to help after school?” Chen Jianmin asked.

Li Chenmo glanced at him, recognizing the boy’s eagerness to learn how to build a greenhouse. Since Jianmin was his son’s good friend, he didn’t mind teaching him.

“It would be great if you could help. I plan to finish the greenhouse before autumn so I can plant crops,” Li Chenmo said with a nod.

Delighted with his words, Chen Jianmin said, “Uncle Li, I will come with Jianguo.”

“Good.”

When they were done chatting, everyone turned their focus to their work. After they filled up the cart, Li Chenmo brought Dong Li to the mountain pit to bring back some fertilizer.

At the pit, Li Chenmo poured the pig manure into an empty pit and pulled a small package of herbal powder from his pocket. He showed it to Dong Li and said, “Xiao Li, this is a herbal powder your mother made. It’s part of our family’s secret recipe for mixing fertilizer.”

Dong Li nodded silently and said nothing. For his father to share this secret showed trust, and he resolved to keep it without asking unnecessary questions.

Seeing his son’s silence, Li Chenmo raised an eyebrow and asked, “Xiao Li, don’t you have any questions?”

Shaking his head, Dong Li replied, “Father, I won’t ask.”

Smiling at his words, Li Chenmo said, “Xiao Li, you are my son. You can ask anything you want. Your mother and I trust that you wouldn’t do anything to harm our family.”

When he heard his father’s words, Dong Li felt warmth in his heart. After hesitating for a moment, he finally asked, “Father, where did we get this herbal powder?”

“Your mother found the herb in the mountains some time ago,” Li Chenmo explained.

“There isn’t much of it, so we plan to grow it in the greenhouse. If we can cultivate it successfully, we won’t need to worry about running out of the medicinal herb in the future.”

A realization flashed in Dong Li’s mind the moment he heard this and asked, “Father, is that why we are building so many greenhouses?”

Li Chenmo nodded and lowered his voice, “Your mother’s tonic wine is very popular in the market, but its main ingredient is ginseng, which is rare and hard to find. Besides this herb, your mother wants to grow ginseng at home.”

Dong Li’s eyes widened in shock at his words and asked in a low voice, “Father, are we allowed to grow ginseng? What if someone reports us to the authorities?”

“Most people grow food crops, but it doesn’t mean we can’t grow medicinal plants. There is no regulation against it. If anyone reports us, Father will have a way to handle it,” Li Chenmo said confidently.

Reassured by his father’s confidence, Dong Li felt his worries ease. Deep down, he always believed his father could handle anything.

“Father, I understand. I will learn from Mother how to grow herbs and ginseng,” Dong Li said with a nod.

Li Chenmo nodded and began teaching him how to mix the fertilizer. He explained that the water they used to mix the fertilizer was their drinking water.

From now on, Dong Li’s responsibility would be mixing the fertilizer using the herb powder from his mother.

As he watched his father work, Dong Li marveled at the magical properties of the herb powder. The stench of the manure lessened immediately after the powder was mixed in. When they added water, the smell disappeared entirely.

He also noticed his father adding rotten leaves to the mixture. Although he didn’t yet understand the reason for that, he made a mental note to include them when preparing the fertilizer in the future.

After they finished mixing the fertilizer, Li Chenmo filled the buckets he had brought from home and prepared to return to the pigpen.

With Dong Li’s help pushing the cart, they transported the manure to the mountain pit much faster than usual. Once their work was done, Li Chenze said, “Third Brother, I will go back to check on your sister-in-law first, then I will head to your house.”

Li Chenmo nodded and replied, “Brother, there is no need to rush.”

Before the Chen siblings left the pigpen, Dong Li pulled his friend aside and whispered, “Jianmin, did you kill the boarlet you caught in the mountains?”

Chen Jianmin shook his head and replied, “I’m planning to raise it before slaughtering it. Why do you ask?”

“Can you manage the pig feed?” Dong Li asked again.

“I should be able to. I already asked Jianyan and Jianbai to gather pigweeds,” Chen Jianmin said.