The Lucky Farm Girl-Chapter 42 - Buying a Field_1
Chapter 42: Chapter 42 Buying a Field_1
Chapter 42 -42 Buying a Field_1
At dusk, Jiujiu and her two brothers returned home. Yang Chengrong had already learned to drive the carriage, so Du Zhong stayed at Apricot Forest Hall to engage in his former work.
Handing over one thousand taels of silver notes to Yang Chaowen, Yang Mengchen said with a smile, “Uncle, this is your payment for making the boxes.”
“This, this is too much, isn’t it?” His hands trembling slightly as he accepted the silver notes, Yang Chaowen could hardly believe it, as it was the first time he had earned so much money.
“It’s not a lot,” Yang Mengchen said with a beaming smile. “Once Uncle’s leg is healed, I’m going to open a furniture factory specifically for him to make new-style furniture that will be sold all over the country. By then, I guarantee that Uncle will be counting money until his hands cramp.”
Yang Chaowen immediately broke into a wide grin, “Uncle can’t wait for Jiujiu to open the furniture factory for me, hehe.”
After the second acupuncture treatment, he was already able to walk on the ground, but Jiujiu cautioned him against being overeager, allowing him only a half-incense stick’s worth of activity each day. He believed he would be completely recovered before long.
Everyone was pleased to hear this.
“Jiujiu, exactly how much are zongzi and preserved eggs worth?” Old Master Yang asked.
In the morning, Chengrong took people to transport away all the zongzi and preserved eggs without telling them how much money they made, leaving them without a clue.
Yang Mengchen held up a finger: “One tael of silver each.”
“That expensive?” Everyone was shocked.
“Young Master Nangong will sell them for at least five to over ten taels of silver in The Capital, but we are not envious,” Yang Mengchen said with a smile. “Young Master Nangong paid an advance of ten thousand taels, so we need to hurry up and make more. Also, I plan to teach my maternal family how to make zongzi and preserved eggs, so they can supplement the household a bit. Grandpa, Grandma, what do you think?”
Old Master Yang and his wife nodded in agreement, relieved that Jiujiu had thought of her maternal family when good fortune came her way.
“I won’t go to town tomorrow; my aunts and mother should go to pick up the three members of my maternal family. I will teach them then,” Yang Mengchen instructed.
Shen Qiulan and her sisters-in-law agreed happily, feeling moved and proud.
After dinner, Yang Mengchen, Old Master Yang, and Yang Chaoyi went to the village chief’s house, with Xiao Guai running and jumping joyfully around Yang Mengchen.
To avoid dulling Xiao Guai’s tiger-like nature, Yang Mengchen had her brothers take it back to the mountains every few days, and being busy lately, she seldom had time to be together with Xiao Guai. As a result, Xiao Guai clung to her whenever it saw her.
Yang Mengchen knocked on the courtyard door.
“Who is it?” Chen Sijing asked as she opened the door and warmly greeted upon seeing Yang Mengchen and the others, “Grandpa Yang, Uncle Yang, Sister Mengchen, you’re here, and so is Xiao Guai.”
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“Sister Sijing, are Grandpa Lizheng and Grandma Chen at home?” Yang Mengchen asked politely.
“They are both at home.” Leading the three inside the courtyard, Chen Sijing called out loudly, “Grandpa, Grandma, come out quickly, Sister Mengchen and the others are here.”
The village chief and his wife, their son Chen Lisong and daughter-in-law Madam Chen Lin, heard the voices and quickly appeared at the door: “Please come inside and sit down to talk.”
The three entered the room, and Yang Mengchen greeted everyone with a smile, while Xiao Guai greeted everyone with a woof, his silly demeanor making everyone laugh.
“Are you here for something?” the village chief asked Old Master Yang.
“Grandpa Village Chief, Grandma Chen, my Seventh Brother has taken Uncle Luo from Apricot Forest Hall as his master,” Yang Mengchen explained warmly, “The apprenticeship ceremony will be held in town the day after tomorrow. Uncle Luo has invited Grandpa Village Chief and Grandpa Lizheng, as well as the two grandmas to attend the ceremony. I wonder if the two grandfathers and grandmothers are available?”
The Chen family was all happy for Yang Cheng’an, and the village chief said with a joyful face, “This is a happy occasion, we must certainly attend.”
“Uncle Luo said it’s fine for people to come, but please don’t bring any gifts, or else Uncle Luo will be angry,” Yang Mengchen reminded them.
The village chief expressed with a smile, “We won’t bring any gifts.”
Although it’s the thought that counts, the village chief knew Doctor Luo well enough to understand that if he didn’t want gifts, they would respect his wishes.
“Then, the morning after tomorrow, my elder brother will come with the horse-drawn carriage to take the two grandfathers and grandmothers to town,” Yang Mengchen said with a smile, “I also want to discuss two matters with Grandpa Village Chief this time.
First, in a few days, the villagers will be harvesting wheat and rapeseeds, and I would like to ask Grandpa Village Chief and Grandpa Lizheng to help me purchase the rapeseeds at a rate of twenty wen per catty, as much as possible;
Second, there are many neglected dry fields in the village, and I’m willing to pay for the villagers to help fix them up. Then, by the headcount, allocate a plot to each household. I will teach the villagers to grow greenhouse vegetables, which we can sell to Drunken Immortal Tavern, providing another source of income for the villagers to improve their lives.”
After listening, the village chief stood up excitedly, looking at Yang Mengchen with a jumble of words, “Jiujiu, thank you, I thank you on behalf of the villagers, thank you!”
Previously, the cultivation of medicinal herbs had enabled the villagers to earn as much as five or six taels of silver in less than a month, with the least earning more than one tael. Doctor Luo also provided free medicinal herbs to those who had bought the wasteland, and Jiujiu had enthusiastically taught the villagers how to plant and manage them. Following that, the villagers made some money by selling eggs and glutinous rice at high prices.
Now, Jiujiu was paying for the villagers to fix up the dry fields, preparing to divide them among the families for planting greenhouse vegetables, and she had already secured a sales outlet—Jiujiu truly was a lucky star for the villagers.
“The villagers have been very good to me and my family; naturally, I will do everything I can to give back to the villagers,” Yang Mengchen said, making light of it with a wave of her hand.
The village chief was visibly moved, “No matter what, we have to thank you. Without your relentless efforts to help everyone, our lives wouldn’t have improved.”
“Jiujiu, rapeseeds aren’t useful; the villagers only grow some to feed pigs or sell at five wen each to others for feeding cattle and horses.” Chen Lisong didn’t want to see her at a loss as Jiujiu weighed everything for the villagers, “What are you doing with rapeseeds, Jiujiu? Moreover, twenty wen per catty is too expensive.”
Yang Mengchen smiled mysteriously, “Once my experiment succeeds, Uncle Chen will know that rapeseed is a great thing. Next year, we should encourage the villagers to plant more of it; then, there will be another source of income.”
“Jiujiu is smart and capable; we believe you will definitely succeed in your experiment!” Madam Chen Yang praised her generously.
Everyone else also expressed agreement and support.
Yang Mengchen graciously accepted, knowing well the methods and machinery for extracting oil from seeds, “By the way, Grandpa Village Chief, when you and Grandpa Lizheng speak to the villagers, you’ll have them sign an agreement that the greenhouse vegetables can only be sold to the Drunken Immortal Tavern. If anyone sells them privately, they must pay me ten times the loss in compensation, and I will also take back the dry fields and greenhouses. After all, I’m providing the money, seeds, and technology, and we can’t let outsiders benefit.”
“I will go find Lizheng in a moment. Maybe we should just transfer those dry fields to your name, then you can divide them among the villagers. This way, everyone will also remember your kindness,” the village chief said after thinking it over.
Yang Mengchen felt that the village chief’s suggestion was reasonable and agreed to purchase the dry fields at a fair price.
