He also got some powerful connections.

Qin Renjie was pleasantly surprised to learn that Lili had helped the villagers of Xinghua Village cultivate so many large and beautiful potatoes.

Surprised, Qin Renjie also felt it was expected. Who else but this person could have such great abilities?

This was something that both Shen Jialu and Qin Renjie felt they had gotten the better deal.

One person provided assistance, while the other saw the rising hope for Nanlin County in the future.

Manager Zhao really couldn't believe that Xinghua Village could actually produce two hundred shi of potatoes in just one month!

But he couldn't help but believe it. He had already gone to Xinghua Village with these people and saw that the land hadn't been completely cleaned up yet, and traces were still visible.

"This, this can't be... How can potatoes grow this big?" Manager Zhao squatted on the ground, his fine clothes covered in dust.

"Believe it or not, I've brought it all to you, and you still don't believe me?"

Shen Jialu was speechless, and then took Manager Zhao to the commune's granary.

It was called a granary, but it was actually the Li family's house.

The Li family consisted of only a few people. Now, the father and son have been exiled to the north with Aunt Li, and they will never have the chance to return in this lifetime.

So the house was left empty, and Village Chief Ma had it cleaned up and used as the commune's granary to store surplus potatoes.

This time, not many potatoes were planted. After the two hundred shi of potatoes that were handed over, only about thirty shi were left.

Manager Zhao had already seen the potatoes that morning. Now, the potatoes in the granary were exactly the same as those sold in Xinghua Village, so Manager Zhao naturally had nothing to say.

Shen Jialu raised an imaginary little tail, acting like a little adult: "Well, Manager Zhao, our Xinghua Village values ​​treating people with sincerity. You've seen our quality for yourself. I wonder if we have the honor of establishing a long-term partnership with Ruigutang?"

The days are getting colder and colder. This year seems to be particularly cold. It's only the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, and we're already wearing heavy coats.

Southland County has a mild climate, and usually only reaches this temperature around the New Year.

It could be later, around the Lunar New Year.

It looks like this year is going to be a tough winter.

The more unusual the weather, the more precious this grain tax becomes.

First came a severe drought, then a bitter cold; everyone realized the gravity of the situation.

Not only wealthy merchants and officials, but also ordinary people tried every means to hoard grain.

Otherwise, something big might happen this winter.

At this time, the sudden increase in grain in Xinghua Village is undoubtedly very necessary.

Manager Zhao pondered for a moment. At present, the only grain shop in Liucheng that could still produce grain was Ruigutang. If he could establish a long-term cooperative relationship with Xinghua Village, he would definitely make a fortune.

More importantly, these potatoes might come in very handy when there's really no food left to eat.

Manager Zhao asked, "Is that all you have? Nothing else?"

Manager Zhao is a shrewd man; the origin of these potatoes... must be somewhat special.

Whose potatoes are so good that they can be harvested in just one month?

It was also evident from the government's questioning that Xinghua Village must be something special.

If you can grow potatoes, you should be able to grow other things too, right?

Lili shook her head: "Right now, we only have potatoes, nothing else."

"ah."

Manager Zhao sighed regretfully.

However, having potatoes is good enough; it's better than having nothing at all.

If things get urgent, there might not even be any potatoes left to eat.

“Alright!” Manager Zhao nodded. “Judging from the situation, this year is probably going to be tough. Everything will be more expensive, and who knows, even a potato might be worth a fortune.”

Shopkeeper Zhao thought for a moment and quoted a price: "Ten coins per catty, how about that?"

This is already quite high, and Manager Zhao doesn't think it's too expensive, since the potatoes in his shop are now priced at 15 yuan per jin.

The potatoes from Xinghua Village are of good quality and plentiful. Perhaps it's an extraordinary village with some connections, so it's understandable that the price is a bit high.

Anyway, he can still earn five coins.

"No."

Unexpectedly, Shen Jialu refused without even thinking.

"Still not enough?" Manager Zhao hesitated for a moment, just about to add a copper coin, when he heard Lili, who was standing next to him, object.

"No, from now on, potatoes in our village will be sold for seven coins per pound. Similarly, you cannot sell them for more than ten coins per pound."

Manager Zhao stared at Shen Jialu in surprise. Shen Jialu nodded again, indicating that Lili was not joking.

Ten coins? That's not the going rate!

If your price is low, fine, but why are you dragging me into this?

Lili said, "The people are struggling and don't have much money to begin with. If the price is too high, some people won't be able to afford it."

Of course, Manager Zhao didn't want to earn less. Why should he earn less when he could earn more?

In his experience, no matter how expensive it is, people will still buy it!

"No, this is too cheap," Manager Zhao refused.

"But what about those who are struggling to make a living? If the famine really comes to Nanlin County, ten coins will be a luxury for some families."

Manager Zhao was stunned.

He naturally understood this principle, but he had never imagined hearing such words from an official, let alone from a child.

Shopkeeper Zhao's wife runs a shop in town. Unlike the city, many people in the town take their own vegetables out to sell every day.

Among those people were elderly people in their sixties and seventies with full heads of white hair, and young children under ten years old who already knew how to share the burden of their families.

They themselves were starving, yet they had no choice but to sell most of the only vegetables they had at home.

Because if you don't sell, you won't have money, and without money, you can't survive.

Food can be eaten sparingly, but money won't magically appear in your pocket.

Manager Zhao was filled with mixed feelings.

He thought for a long time, and in the end, he didn't know why. He knew he was a businessman and should be more detached, but when he saw those two innocent and pure eyes in front of him, he couldn't help but nod.

“Alright,” Manager Zhao said in a deep voice, “I promise you, you can never earn all the money in the world, but you can save many lives with grain.”

If the goal is simply to make food affordable for the poor, Lili could sell her products separately at a lower price.

However, these potatoes belong to everyone in Xinghua Village, and she still wants to find a more stable grain shop to cooperate with.

She's still too young; some things can only be done step by step.

After discussing the cooperation with Manager Zhao and personally seeing him off, Village Chief Ma finally felt a great weight lifted off his shoulders.

This means that Xinghua Village will have a guarantee of livelihood in the future!

Village Chief Ma was full of energy and thanked Lili profusely, saying he would treat her to a meal.

Lili smiled and said, "Okay, there's plenty of time later. Uncle Village Chief, go and distribute the money to everyone first."

"Okay, I'll go settle the accounts now!"

All the silver has been handed over to Village Chief Ma, and the villagers are all looking forward to receiving their share of the profits.

Village Chief Ma worked through the night, wearing out the ledgers, but still couldn't finish calculating the dividends for each household. He couldn't take it anymore, so he borrowed Elder Shen's money for a day to finally figure out the dividends for each family.

One hundred and sixty-eight taels! He earned a full one hundred and sixty-eight taels in just over a month!

The money was distributed to each household according to their share. The smallest household received half a tael, while the largest received four or five taels!

The Shen family also received three taels of silver. Although three taels of silver was not much in the eyes of the Shen family now, the Shen family was still very happy.

This is all earned through everyone's hard work, and we're happy even if it's just three coins!

Not to mention that this silver was of extraordinary significance, signifying the prosperity and progress of the entire Xinghua Village.

That evening, every household in Xinghua Village spontaneously brought a lot of things to the Shen family.

There are eggs laid by our own hens, and other vegetables from our own fields...

Some even took the silver to town and bought wine and meat, then handed it all over to Lili without a second thought.

This kept the three sisters-in-law very busy, politely declining one woman's egg while pouring tea for another.

Lili had lost count of how many gifts she had politely declined today, only saying, "Lili doesn't need these, Auntie can take them home for my little sister to eat."

As soon as Lili finished speaking, everyone looked at her with confusion.

The woman who came was Mr. Zhao's young wife. She had been married to Mr. Zhao's son for two or three years, but she had not gotten pregnant.

Although the Zhao family wasn't in a hurry to have a grandson, they couldn't help feeling guilty about the young woman's situation.

Upon hearing this, the young wife naturally felt a pang of embarrassment.

Grandpa Zhao's young wife was taken aback, and pinched Lili's chubby cheeks: "Look at you, child, you must be exhausted these days. These maltose candies were specially bought by your Grandpa Zhao from town, you must take them and eat them."

Yang also thought that Lili had misremembered. After all, there were so many families in the village, it was impossible for Lili to remember every single one of them clearly.

Madam Yang smiled and changed the subject: "This maltose is not cheap these days. I went to town the other day and even the price of sweet potatoes has doubled, let alone this maltose. You should keep it for yourself."

"That won't do." The other person shoved the candy into Lili's hand. "This was specially bought for Lili by my father. No matter how much money this is, it's all earned by Lili for us. Lili has been kind to all of us. What is a piece of candy?"

Among so many people, Lili had never accepted any gifts from anyone, always politely declining them. So, Madam Yang was about to refuse again.

To everyone's surprise, Lili surprisingly accepted the candy and smiled, "Thank you, Auntie. Lili has accepted the candy, so Lili wants to give Auntie a gift in return!"

A look of confusion flashed in Yang's eyes, but she didn't ask. Instead, she followed up on Lili's words and said, "Would you like Mother to bring out a purse?"

Since Lili developed the habit of giving sachets to everyone, Madam Yang felt that giving sachets all the time was too monotonous, so she sewed many purses, handkerchiefs and the like, specifically for giving as gifts in case of need.

After all, the Shen family all knew that what Lili gave was not just a sachet, but a talisman.

"Okay, thank you for your hard work, Mom."

Lili handed the purse to the other person, then tiptoed slightly closer and said, "We're going to have a little sister."

This auntie has a different scent, and she can smell it!

"ah?"

Zhao's young wife, who had been happily holding the purse with great affection, was stunned when she saw Lili's expression.

Once might be a mistake, but what about twice?

Pear is such a lucky star!

"Lili, what did you say? Say it again to your auntie?"

"That's right, Auntie has a little sister, younger than Lili, so isn't that Lili's little sister?" Lili blinked, pretending not to understand.

Everyone realized what was happening, and Madam Yang was the first to react, quickly supporting her: "Oh dear, this is terrible, she's pregnant!"

Chen and Liu, their faces beaming with joy, surrounded her. One said she would go and call Doctor Zhu to take her pulse, while the other said she would go to the fields to inform her husband.

Zhao's young wife touched her belly in disbelief: "Lili, you really didn't lie to your aunt?"

She's been married into the family for so long, and she's been hoping and hoping for a child, but now she's finally going to have one.

With her hands behind her back, Lili resumed her pretentious, adult-like demeanor: "Yes, Auntie, let's go home soon~"

The woman clutched the purse Lili had given her tightly, letting Yang help her home, repeatedly thanking God.

Old Mrs. Shen was stunned. How come Lili has the ability to tell if someone is pregnant?

Shen Jiaqing looked at Lili with admiration, his mouth agape: "Lili, you also know medicine? Your medical skills are so advanced that you can tell just by looking at them!?"

Lili was both amused and exasperated: "Lili doesn't know any medicine, it's just that that aunt has a different smell."

Just like a puppy can sense a person's state by smell.

Shen Jialuo immediately leaned over and put his hand under her nose: "Then smell me, little sister! Do I have that kind of smell?"

Lili: "?"

Helpless, Shen Laosan picked up his son and said with a headache, "Jialuo, you're still young, and boys don't know how to..."

Shen Laosan seemed unsure of what to say, so he simply changed the subject: "Come on, Dad will take you to school."

"Huh? I don't want to! I don't want to!"

Shen Jialu struggled and was caught by Shen Laosan.

A short while later, the three sisters-in-law returned from the Zhao family home. Zhao Daqing's wife was indeed pregnant, but she was not yet two months along. Her pulse was somewhat weak, and Daqing's wife herself did not feel any discomfort, which is why they did not discover it.

Grandpa Zhao and his family were very happy, and they gave another basket of eggs to Chen to take back.

Chen put the eggs down and teased, "Looks like our Lili has gained another skill."

The family gathered together, having a lively time, with one person teasing Lili and another making fun of her.

Lili nestled happily in Yang's arms, giggling with contentment.

She was an orphan who grew up with government assistance, which is why she was so determined to dedicate herself to serving the country.

She had never felt so warm.

This is what she wanted.

She will always cherish this warmth.

Days passed, and Lili's coat grew thicker and thicker until she really felt like she had become a ball. That's when the day came when the new house was completed.

This day was three days before Lunar New Year's Eve, and thanks to everyone's efforts, the Shen family's new house was officially completed.

On the day the project was completed, Mrs. Shen was overjoyed and gave all the workers a large red envelope as a token of the Shen family's gratitude.

The Shen family members held hands and looked at their new house, their eyes filled with tears.