The Attractive Figs

My uncle from the countryside called and asked us to go pick ripe figs. My uncle's elder sister, my mother, was a bit deaf and put down the phone to urge us to prepare some more money and things, maybe my uncle is in trouble again.

Speaking of which, my uncle was originally a good vegetable grower. In earlier years, he ran the land very well, and the vegetables were still in the ground when they were purchased by an influx of foreign merchants. Uncle used the income from vegetable farming to marry a daughter-in-law and build a tiled house, a small life to be envied. But unexpectedly in recent years due to the convenience of logistics, foreign vegetables to seize the market, directly leading to low prices of local vegetables products stagnant. And the house leak and encounter the night rain, uncle's only daughter two years ago suddenly suffered from kidney failure, the family saved in the bank all the money hitched in, but the condition is getting worse. Finally, the aunt, despite her advanced age, gave a kidney transplant to her daughter to bring her back from the ghostly gate. But this torment hurt the vitality of the uncle's family, planting and selling vegetables can no longer be motivated.

The year my cousin became seriously ill, my mother asked me to drive her to the countryside to visit. The aunt and uncle had a sad face, the glory of the former vegetable grower had long since faded, and they were sighing from the beginning to the end. Looking at the weeds in the fields and the sad faces of her uncle's family, my mother was particularly distressed, and she remitted most of her monthly salary to him, hoping that they would have a slightly more decent life. Once my uncle got choked up and cried on the phone, remembering his sister's love but not knowing when he could pay it back; my mother also cried on the phone because she couldn't see the future of my brother's family.

Last year, my mother sent money to my uncle again, but he returned it. My uncle said that his family's land was all planted with figs, and now the harvest could fully satisfy the family's food and clothing, so he would not need my sister's financial support anymore. My mother muttered at that time, a few figs can solve the sustenance, 80% is not want to drag sister it.

This year, because of the epidemic, the siblings agreed to the Spring Festival reunion fell through, but I never thought that just in June, my uncle's phone call, my uncle's voice hid a long-lost excitement, he said this year is a bumper year, the first batch of early figs will soon be on the market, he wanted us to go to taste a fresh.

The call of affection made my mother excited and doubtful, and walking through the fig trees full of fruit made my mother's doubtful frown relaxed. My brother, who had come to greet my sister, broke open the figs on the tree with his hands, which were used to growing vegetables, and pointed to the red flesh for my sister to taste the fruit of his labor. Mother took a sip and a big bite, and couldn't help but cry out, "Sweet!"

Uncle grinned. Uncle said, at first he did not expect to have hope in this life, but in the desperate situation really looked forward to hope. The county's Agricultural Development Bureau to help the poor, the technical staff sent to know the uncle's family's situation, decided to use his home as a demonstration site to guide the planting of figs. The technician said, now an acre of vegetables, a year down may earn more than 10,000 yuan, while an acre of figs, the year of seedlings, the year of results, income is three to five times the vegetables, to be two or three years after the figs grow prosperous, the harvest will be better.

The technician also helped the uncle's family to calculate an account. Uncle's family has more than three acres of land, an acre of land can be planted about 110 fig seedlings, seedlings planted in the spring of the year can be harvested in the summer and autumn two seasons, each plant produces about 30 kg to 40 kg of fruit, the market price per kilogram is about 12 yuan to 16 yuan. Each seedling cost is about 5 yuan, three acres of land seedling costs no more than 2,000 yuan, plus pest control and fertilizer, the net profit of the year will not be less than 100,000 yuan.

With little input and technical support, all my uncle had to do was to fertilize the land and raise seedlings to prevent pests and diseases, and he regained his self-confidence as a capable vegetable grower. In the summer, uncle's hard work was rewarded, those who had disappeared customers sniffed keenly again to rush to buy. With money in his pocket, my uncle did not stay idle, he listened to the technical staff's advice to help mobilize the village vegetable growers to switch to figs, set up a company to operate, run farm caravans, rural tourism, the formation of industrial economy, not only to strengthen the collective economy of the village, but also to further increase the villagers' pockets.

The mother was finally relieved. She took her brother's hand, as if a few years younger, head into the tempting fig forest. Looking around, the land is green, the harvest is in sight, a new rural scene in full view.