Thanks to the advice of the Jiang siblings, many villagers in Sanyang Village had enough to eat and wear. Even though a small percentage of the villagers did not believe their advice and did not grow greenhouse vegetables or corn, the majority of the villagers in Sanyang Village were from the Yun family, and everyone was related to each other, so they helped each other out and got by.

Zhou smiled and gave Jiang Youchen a nudge, "Of course! It has to be our knowledgeable Chen-ge'er from Dingzhou who has a solution!"

The clan chief asked, "Brother Chen, I have a few more questions. Our corn is already half a person tall, and it looks like it won't be ready for harvest until April or May. After that, can we plant rice? Will it be ready for the autumn harvest?"

Jiang Youchen had asked Xiao Youran about this before, and she answered with great confidence and composure, "There's still time. As long as we find a paddy field to get the rice seedlings planted in advance, and transplant them immediately after the corn harvest in early May, and take good care of them, the autumn harvest will be fine."

As Xiao Youran listened, she secretly thought about the planting time of late-season rice in the south that she would see many years later, and nodded slightly in agreement.

The clan chief then rubbed his hands together, looking somewhat troubled. "Brother Chen," he said, "a small group of villagers were worried that planting corn would affect the spring planting. The land is still empty. Will we have time to plant the potatoes you mentioned earlier?"

He knew that these villagers were seeing their greenhouse vegetables selling for money and their corn growing well, while their land was still empty. They felt not only empty inside, but also secretly anxious, and had pleaded with the clan chief many times, both openly and secretly.

So when Jiang Youchen mentioned planting potatoes, the clan chief took the opportunity to ask about it.

Jiang Youchen, having received his sister's fervent suggestion, nodded and said, "In a couple of days, please ask the clan leader to gather the villagers who want to plant it, and I will explain the planting method to them together."

Then came the last thing. The clan leader looked at Xiao Youran with a fawning expression and asked, "Xiao Youran, you said last time that you wanted to build an instant noodle factory. When will you start building it?"

Xiao Youran said decisively, "We can do it when the uncles and elders have free time after they finish planting the fruit trees!"

Da Shan couldn't bear it any longer and said with difficulty, "Tian Kuang's mother, Xiao Fu Bao, I'm very willing to help. But I haven't even started making any of the many furniture orders I received before the New Year. If this continues, I won't be able to deliver the goods."

I originally thought that building a house and making some doors, windows, and furniture would be enough to repay the life-saving debt. I never imagined they'd have to clear the mountain and plant trees; who knows what else might happen...

Xiao Youran chuckled and said, "Uncle Dashan, go ahead and do your own thing!"

Da Shan looked at them with even greater difficulty, "Although I'm not an expert in planting fruit trees on the mountain, I promised you before that I would do my best to help..."

Xiao Youran smiled and said, "Everyone has their own expertise. Uncle Dashan has already helped us a lot. For professional matters, we should find professionals to do them. You are good at carpentry, so just focus on carpentry!"

She said to the clan chief, "Grandpa Clan Chief, there is no one in our village who is skilled in planting fruit trees. Are there any in the neighboring villages? We can hire them to plant trees."

Reminded of this, Zhou quickly nodded and said, "Yes, yes, planting trees isn't just about planting them and that's it. You also need to take care of them daily, fertilizing and watering them. It's a long-term job. How about we pay to hire a few people to look after them together?"

The clan chief's eyes lit up immediately. "That's great!"

His wife, Zhao, came from the neighboring Zhao Village, and they were having a hard time. Zhao had to help them out.

Zhao Family Village has a lot of mountains, and although they don't have much experience in planting fruit trees, they are much more experienced in dealing with the mountainous terrain than the villagers of Sanyang Village.

He slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Great! I'll go ask the people in Zhao Village right away!"

Da Shan nodded, "They have lots of good trees on their mountains, and I was just thinking of asking them to buy some solid wood to make furniture!"

Xiao You Ran: ……

Can planting trees and planting fruit trees be the same thing?

But... never mind, she has her all-purpose notebook, she can just ask for a book on planting fruit trees later.

The clan chief grew increasingly excited as he thought about it, "If we ask the people from Zhao Family Village for help, we can start building the instant noodle factory right away!"

In this way, the construction of the instant noodle workshop will not have to wait until the mountain land is cleared. More people from Zhao Family Village can be found to help build it as soon as possible.

He really wanted to taste what the instant noodles that Doctor Gu had been dreaming about tasted like.

Xiao Youran nodded, "Yes, after it's finished, the workshop will need to hire some aunts and uncles to help make instant noodles, and they'll be paid!"

The clan chief's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets; he felt he had never been so excited in his life! This was about leading the entire clan, no, the entire village, onto the road to prosperity!

After reaching an agreement, the group left the clan chief's house.

Xiao Youran suddenly asked, "Uncle Dashan, if you can't keep up with your furniture orders, why don't you take on a few apprentices?"

Da Shan quickly waved his hand, "How dare I teach this carpentry skill? Haven't you heard the saying 'teaching an apprentice can starve the master'? I'll wait until Xiao Shan is a few years older, and then I'll teach him properly, step by step."

Xiao Youran shook her head, "No, how could you teach your apprentice to starve you? Uncle Dashan, if you can make a piece of furniture in ten days, and you have two apprentices, wouldn't you be able to make a piece of furniture in five or six days?"

"But where will all these orders come from? If no one places an order, even if we make them, nobody will buy them!" Furniture is a durable luxury item, and most people can't afford it. Even wealthy people might buy it and use it for a lifetime.

Xiao Youran shook her head again, "No one's buying in Wufeng County, but someone's buying in Taizhou Prefecture? No one's buying in Taizhou Prefecture, but someone's buying in the Great Zhou! Someone's buying in the capital!"

Da Shan chuckled, "You little brat, you're so young, but you've got quite the ambition. We're just country bumpkins, we can only make a few pieces of furniture, how could we possibly sell them to the capital, or even the entire Great Zhou?"

Hearing this, Zhou's heart stirred. "Uncle, you can't say that. I saw the doors and windows you made for us; they're very sturdy. And those new-style furniture pieces you've placed in your brother's yard are all very modern and convenient to use. Even the houses of high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital don't have such convenient new-style furniture. If they could be sold in the capital, they would definitely sell without any trouble; in fact, people might be scrambling to buy them."

Da Shan chuckled, said a few more words, then parted ways with them and went back to his house.

To prioritize the construction of Tian Kuang's house, his own house hadn't even started construction yet, and he was still living in his younger brother's house. Looking at the various parts scattered all over the yard, he recalled the conversation he had just had, and his heart started pounding.

How about we try hiring two apprentices first?

We have too many orders piling up, and it's too late to finish them all!

...