Chapter 184 Zhou Hansheng Arrives

"This year's persimmons from our village can be sold to workshops, right?"

"Oh, right! There are quite a few persimmon trees in our village! We have several at home!"

"We have some too! Miss Zhao, how do we harvest these persimmons?"

“.”

Zhao Liya wanted to laugh when she heard this, but she still patiently explained, "The workshop will be open soon. Persimmon cakes are easy to make, and everyone can learn how to make them. Yes, they are very easy to learn. As for the wages, I can't confirm them right now, but don't worry, we will definitely not let you suffer any loss! Well, it will be available this year. Only persimmons that meet the standards will be purchased from everyone. It's not convenient for you to pick them yourself. The workshop said that you can pick them as many as you want, and the damaged ones will be rejected."

After answering questions for a long time, including but not limited to answering questions like "Are our persimmons sweeter than others and therefore more expensive?", half a day had already passed.

Zhao Liya felt dry in the mouth, so she quickly drank a large bowl of tea after the meeting.

This tea is made from tea leaves picked in the mountains and roasted in an iron pot on a clay stove at home. It's not a famous brand, but it's exceptionally sweet and delicious. So Zhao Liya shamelessly asked Bai Lizheng's wife for some.

Bai Lizheng's wife was overjoyed to see that Miss Zhao liked her things. She smiled and nodded, "Yes, yes, this thing is just a wild tea tree from the mountains. It's not worth much. Miss Zhao likes it and asked my son to bring a big sack when he goes into the mountains to pick more! I'll stir-fry it and it will be enough to eat for a year!"

Zhao Liya laughed heartily: "Thank you, Auntie. There's no need to pick them specially. I'll just take some back!"

Bai Lizheng's wife waved her hand and said, "Miss Zhao, you're welcome."

Zhao Liya had a simple lunch at Bai Lizheng's house. In the afternoon, she and Bai Lizheng went to watch everyone reclaiming wasteland and brought some ropes with them.

She planned to walk around the mountain and tie ropes to some big trees so that the villagers who were clearing the land would leave them alone and not cut them down.

That day, she and Hu Ling were both exhausted. It was just the beginning of the film, so they were naturally a little tired. The next day, they still came over.

Hu Ling planned to follow everyone into the mountains to look for wild persimmon trees. Once they all knew which ones to choose, how to prune and cut them, and what to pay attention to when digging, he would go and reclaim the land.

The land reclamation has achieved some success. While continuing the reclamation, it will be time to dig tree pits and plant the wild persimmon trees that we brought back in the next day.

Zhao Liya asked Bai Lizheng to lead her to find a good persimmon tree, tie a red rope on it to indicate that it was selected, and wait until the wild persimmon trees were planted and survived, then take branches from the selected persimmon tree for grafting.

Zhao Liya was not only looking for grafted branches in Baijia Village, but also went to other villages after hearing that there were persimmon trees with particularly large and sweet fruits.

You can't take things from other villages for free, you have to pay for them. Even persimmon tree branches are only worth a penny, and someone will buy them. The money comes from the public treasury of their village.

After the persimmons were planted, how the village divided up the vast orchard was their own business. Zhao Liya could see that the villages were very united and had their own way of dividing the profits, so there was no need for outsiders to worry about it.

The news that Baijia Village was going to reclaim land and plant persimmons soon spread.

Everyone was stunned: This Zhao family is incredible! Who is the boss behind this? With all the troubles he's been involved in, he must have made all the money.

After three or four days of hard work, everything was basically sorted out. The villagers of Baijia Village carried out the work of reclaiming land, digging holes, and transplanting wild persimmon trees in an orderly manner.

The grafting will have to wait for a few days until the transplanted wild persimmon trees come back to life. Once this work begins, even if we cannot plant tens of thousands of acres of persimmon forest this year, the number will definitely be quite large.

This is a technical job. Zhao Liya feels that there won't be many people in Baijia Village who can learn it quickly. Basically, it depends on her, Hu Ling, Yu Xiaofang, Qu Yutao and others. Once they get busy, it will be really busy.

Take advantage of these few days to rest.

Seeing that she and Hu Ling were busy going out early and coming back late every day, Mrs. Deng felt very distressed and agreed that they should take a rest at home.

"You've lost weight. Let's make some nutritious soup these days to replenish your body."

"That's right!"

Widow Qu and Aunt Li Shiyi both agreed with this.

So Shu Yan showed off her cooking skills again, and the delicious aroma wafted from the kitchen at home every day, making the children passing by the door cry with envy.

When Zhao Liya, Hu Ling and others had rested at home for two or three days, Zhou Hansheng came that night.

It was already dark when Zhou Hansheng arrived at the Zhao family. The six of them, including the master, servants and a child, were all exhausted when they arrived.

The Zhao family was very happy to see them and hurriedly welcomed them into the house. Some poured tea and some led the horses. Knowing that they must not have had dinner yet, Shu Yan, Aunt Li Shiyi and Widow Qu hurried to the kitchen to cook.

Zhou Hansheng walked into the house with a boy of about six or seven years old. Zhao Liya and the others were puzzled. "Brother Zhao, who is this child--"

Zhou Hansheng hugged the child and said, "This is my nephew, Zhou Nian, he's seven years old. Ah Nian, come here, call them. This is Uncle Zhao, Aunt Zhao, and this is Aunt Xiaoya. These are all uncles and aunts."

Zhou Nian's eyes were a little dull, as if they had no focus. He stared blankly ahead, ignoring Zhou Hansheng's words.

He was dazed for a while, then suddenly turned around and threw himself into Zhou Hansheng's arms, his little hands tightly clutching Zhou Hansheng's clothes, his thin body trembling slightly.

Zhou Hansheng quickly embraced him, patting his back and offering soothing words. After a while, Zhou Nian's trembling body slowly regained its composure, but his hands were still tightly gripping Zhou Hansheng's shirt, and he remained motionless on top of him.

Something must have happened to this child. It's so pitiful.

Deng couldn't stand this, so she said softly, "This is..."

Zhao Liya's heart had been pounding when she saw Zhou Hansheng so affectionately leading a child in. She was a little nervous, wondering what if it was Zhou Hansheng's son. Although she knew the possibility was slim, and even if it was, it wouldn't have much to do with her, she couldn't help the inexplicable throbbing of her heart.

When she heard Zhou Hansheng say that this was his nephew, she subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing the child in this state, he felt even more sympathetic. Hearing his mother's question, he also looked at Zhou Hansheng.

Zhou Hansheng smiled bitterly and whispered, "Something unexpected happened at home. I'll tell you guys in detail later. I'd like to leave the child at the Zhao family for a while. I wonder if Uncle Zhao and Aunt Zhao could help take care of him?"

Mrs. Deng said hurriedly, "Of course, as long as the child is willing. Poor thing."

Zhao Liya smiled and said, "We'll think of a way to keep him here and take good care of him. Let's not talk about this in front of the child for now. Come on, sit down and eat later."

"Yes, yes! Sit down!"

(End of this chapter)