Chapter Twenty-One: Around 50,000
An Jianping hadn't expected his wife to be so observant, and he had intended to offer a brief, evasive explanation.
He then noticed a rare seriousness in his wife's eyes.
He couldn't say what he wanted to say for a moment.
Seeing that there was no one else around, An Jianping could only honestly confess: "The total contract fee was about 50,000 yuan."
"Around 50,000?" Bi Lizhu was somewhat incredulous.
Based on the area she just saw, it shouldn't be priced like that.
“The mulberry orchards and fishponds didn’t cost much, and no one has been willing to take them over for many years.”
“I agreed to contract 400 mu at once, at a price of 50 yuan per mu, which would only amount to 20,000 yuan in total,” An Jianping explained in great detail.
It's not that he's arrogant.
Instead, it was the neighboring Lin Village that was demolished two years ago.
Even for short-term crops like rice paddies and vegetable fields, losses have exceeded 500 yuan per mu.
The compensation for fruit trees was even calculated on a per-tree basis.
I heard that the village chief there had a longan tree that had been there for decades, and he lost a full two thousand yuan for just one tree.
Lin Village has always been primarily a grain-growing area.
There are very few large orchards, so An Jianping has no reference point.
"As for the fruit trees here, apart from the papaya and banana trees in the corners, they have all been planted for nearly ten years."
"They are mostly in their peak fruiting period, so the contract price is a bit higher, calculated at 80 yuan per mu."
"A total of 400 mu were contracted, for a total of 32,000 yuan."
"So the total is exactly 52,000."
Fifty-two thousand is acceptable, but...
Bi Lizhu looked at An Jianping suspiciously: "Where did you get so much money?"
"Didn't you apply for land for both Ayu and Axiang? How much will it cost to build four houses together?"
“This, about 40,000 per building.” An Jianping’s voice became even softer.
He was afraid that if his wife asked any more questions, she would find out that he had taken his two daughters to apply for loans.
I imagine that would be a million times angrier than discovering that he had also applied for land for his two daughters and built houses there!
This is why An Jianping didn't hesitate at all and brought Bi Lizhu into the village today.
Anyway, the fact that the house has already been rebuilt can't be kept secret any longer.
Perhaps it's better to let her watch it when she's supposed to.
However, An Jianping did not expect that his heart was completely different from his daughter's.
The wife looked at the houses under construction, though she didn't look well.
But instead of getting angry, she turned and walked away.
She continued to follow him, and they toured the mulberry fields and orchards.
This exposed everything that he hadn't yet figured out how to explain.
Bi Lizhu indeed noticed that her husband's expression was off.
After all, how could Bi Lizhu not know how much wealth her family had?
These four houses alone have almost emptied their savings.
The rest is for the down payment on the new house for my son.
Before today, An Jianping would not have been inclined to touch this money.
So, where did he get the money to contract these mulberry-fish ponds and orchards?
"It's just... I took out a loan!" An Jianping felt even more guilty.
At this moment, not only Bi Lizhu, but also An Songlin and An Songxiang next to him were watching him intently.
We await his more detailed explanation.
“It’s just…” An Jianping glanced at his future daughter-in-law subtly, signaling his wife not to ask any more questions.
Bi Lizhu pursed her lips, forced to suppress her eagerness.
After leaving Jiangcun, An Songlin first took Xuan Ying home.
On the way, Xuan Ying asked somewhat uneasily:
“Songlin, Uncle… isn’t this a bit too reckless?”
Xuan Ying was aware that the money they had used to buy a house outright was intended for the development of Jiangcun.
But now I hear that my future father-in-law not only invested that money, but also took out a loan.
Xuan Ying became somewhat uneasy.
An Songlin thought for a moment before answering, "I don't think so."
"I just heard my grandparents say that the silkworms will hatch in about a week."
"Silkworms can be harvested in about forty days."
"In a year, we can raise them up to four times."
"Each time, calculated per mu, I can earn one or two thousand yuan."
“We actually have a lot of mulberry fields here. Even those mulberry trees that are not managed can still be used to pick mulberry leaves to feed silkworms.”
"It's just that the mulberry leaves grow well in unmanaged mulberry fields, making them easy to pick."
"I just don't know how big the silkworm house my dad built is."
"One or two thousand yuan can be earned from one mu per season?" Xuan Ying stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
Uncle An just mentioned that he contracted 400 mu of mulberry fields.
Well, that...
"That's not how it's calculated." An Songlin chuckled and flicked his fiancée's forehead. Her greedy little face was really cute.
"Not to mention the investment in building silkworm rearing facilities and managing mulberry fields and fish ponds this time."
"Even the 400 mu that were contracted at the time were not all mulberry fields."
“In our village, the mulberry-fish ponds are contracted out together, and the pure mulberry forests probably make up less than half of the area.”
"It all depends on the location my dad chose; I didn't get a better look at it today."
"But even if it's only half, or even if we have to invest in building silkworm houses and managing mulberry fields, we can earn it back very quickly!"
Xuan Ying felt that no matter how she calculated it, she couldn't figure out that she would lose money.
"So, why is it that no one in your village is raising silkworms anymore?"
"Because it's too hard!" An Songlin said with a helpless sigh, rubbing his fiancée's hair.
This matter is far more complicated than she imagines.
He then explained in detail: "Don't underestimate the silkworm just because it's small; it can really eat a lot."
"When they are small, it's fine, but when they grow to their largest size, a single silkworm can eat more than 200 catties of mulberry leaves a day."
"If one acre of mulberry trees can raise five or six batches of silkworms, do you think you'd have to pick a lot of mulberry leaves every day?"
Xuan Ying did a quick calculation and couldn't help but swallow hard: "At least a thousand catties?"
The mulberry leaves in Xuan Ying's eyes have not been picked.
But just thinking about the weight, with her limited strength, she probably couldn't move it from the mulberry field to the silkworm house even if she worked from dawn till dusk all day.
It seems this is hard-earned money!
No wonder Jiangcun has so many mulberry fields, which ultimately end up being left idle.
However, after An Songlin said that, Xuan Ying no longer felt that her father-in-law's future loan for contracting was reckless.
I wonder how he'll manage things in the future?
And then there's Songlin, whom I heard my future father-in-law say last night.
Even if they put the down payment for their wedding home into it, it would all end up in Songlin's name.
I don't know if Songlin is responsible for managing these things.
However, after returning home, Xuan Ying thought about it again and again but still didn't tell her family about what happened today.
She cannot yet fully determine whether the contracted mulberry orchards, as well as silkworm farming, will ultimately generate sufficient profits.
But think about the worries she had when she first found out.
Xuan Ying didn't think she could understand the situation as well as An Songlin could, or explain all the family's worries clearly.
It would be better to just keep it from them.
This will save them from worrying unnecessarily.
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