Gou Sheng and Xiao Ye had just come out of Zhang Xiucai's house when they saw Lu Cijian and immediately ran over to him, curious about Song Er.
Several children chattered excitedly, making quite a scene.
Although Lu Cijian remained aloof, he would occasionally respond with a few words, creating an eerie harmony with the chattering Gou Sheng and the others.
Jiang Yimian stared at the tall, long-legged man standing in the middle for a while before looking at the four children clinging to him.
She vaguely realized that whether it was her or the others in the small depression, their relationship with Lu Cijian seemed to be more complex than simply being someone who had escaped into the mountains together.
*
The next morning, Jiang Yimian went down the mountain.
The village chief has already gone door-to-door to notify everyone to go to the drying ground.
Jiang Yimian went with Xiao Zhangshi.
She was still a little confused. Seeing many people heading towards the threshing ground, she asked curiously, "Yimian, why is the village chief calling us to the threshing ground so early in the morning? I haven't even eaten yet!"
She had planned to go to the Jiang family's house to work after dinner, but unexpectedly, the village chief suddenly notified them to gather at the threshing ground, saying that he had something important to say. She wondered if it would delay her work.
Before Jiang Yimian could speak, Madam Wen ran over from the other side, smiling, and said, "I heard from the villagers a few days ago that the village chief wants everyone to clear land and grow crops. I guess that's what it is. Will you agree to it?"
As she spoke, she looked at Jiang Yimian as if trying to see right through her.
She saw Jiang Yatou come out of the village chief's house yesterday, so he must know the inside story.
She'll remember this time: she'll definitely follow Jiang Yatou's lead. If the other party agrees, she'll agree too; if they disagree, she won't agree either.
Xiao Zhang frowned at her and said irritably, "You're talking nonsense. There are more than a hundred acres of wasteland in the village. If we really wanted to reclaim it, it would take the whole village quite a while to work together. Who would agree to that?"
Leaving aside the final harvest from the wasteland, it's not easy to mobilize the whole village to reclaim the wasteland. Without money or benefits, who would be willing to do such a thankless task?
Wen looked directly at Jiang Yimian, feeling that with Jiang Yimian involved, things wouldn't be so simple. Just as she was about to ask a few questions, they arrived at the drying ground.
A number of people were already standing on the spacious threshing ground, whispering among themselves, curious about what the village chief wanted to say to them.
Within fifteen minutes, villagers began to arrive one after another. Apart from those who had family matters to attend to, each family sent one person.
Li Yishi also stood in the center of the threshing ground and said loudly, "I've called you all here today, and some of you probably already know that it's about the more than one hundred acres of wasteland in the village."
These words immediately sparked a flurry of discussion among the previously quiet crowd.
"Are we really going to have to clear the wasteland? I didn't believe it when I heard the village chief wanted everyone to clear the wasteland a few days ago. Now we're doomed. How long will we have to work on these 100-plus acres of wasteland!"
“Yes, my family still has a lot of land. There’s only a little over a month left before spring planting. We’re clearing the land now, and we’ll definitely plant it together later. We’re going to be exhausted.”
"Being tired is a minor issue; the key is that the harvest from planting crops on barren land is uncertain. If you're lucky, you might be able to grow some, but if you're unlucky, you might lose all the seeds."
"Who says otherwise? Isn't this just a waste of effort?"
Seeing the crowd's agitated state, Li Yishi quickly signaled for them to quiet down.
Once the crowd quieted down again, he continued, "The wasteland will indeed be cleared, but I don't plan to grow crops there; I plan to grow medicinal herbs."
Jiang Yatou has already reached an agreement with Huichuntang. Once the medicinal herbs are ripe, they can be sent directly to Huichuntang to sell, and the profits will be split among everyone.
As he spoke, he beckoned Jiang Yimian to come forward.
Everyone was stunned for a moment, and only when they saw Jiang Yimian standing in the middle of the village chief did they come to their senses, their faces showing both curiosity and joy.
"Really? If the medicinal herbs you grow are bought up directly by Huichuntang, that would be great. A pound of medicinal herbs is much more expensive than a pound of grain."
"That's right, the grain won't be easy to sell then. Not only will the price be driven down, but it's also not certain that you can find a buyer."
"Jiang family girl is indeed amazing. She can get Huichuntang to agree to buy the village's medicinal herbs with just a few words. But are these medicinal herbs easy to grow?"
"What if it's as difficult to grow as crops, and the harvest is poor? Wouldn't all our efforts have been in vain?"
Seeing that everyone had changed their previous skepticism and were now looking forward to it, Li Yishi breathed a sigh of relief.
It was his foresight to ask Jiang Yatou's opinion early on; otherwise, the idea of clearing the land would have been opposed by everyone before it even spread throughout the village.
Just as Jiang Yimian was about to explain the specifics of planting medicinal herbs, a voice of dissatisfaction arose from the crowd.
"That sounds nice, but who knows if the Jiang family has other motives with Huichuntang? Sharing money like that, are they just trying to trick us into being their laborers?"
Chen Guixiang already disliked Jiang Yimian because of the vandalism that had occurred to her home. Hearing the village chief's words, she immediately suspected that Jiang Yimian was up to something.
Zhang Wulai's mother chimed in, "That's right, village chief, don't be fooled just because the Jiang family's business is doing well. Beware of unscrupulous merchants."
Li Yishi frowned, about to explain, when he heard Jiang Yimian say slowly and deliberately, "Planting medicinal herbs is voluntary. Neither the village chief nor I will force anyone. Whether you contribute labor or money to buy seeds, we will keep a record. When the herbs mature and are sold, the profits will be distributed according to the amount of labor and money contributed."
Those who don't want to put in the effort or pay should leave now.
Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.
"Well said. It's fair to distribute the money according to the amount of effort each person puts in, rather than according to the number of people."
“Yes, if it’s really as Jiang girl says, it’s a good thing for the village to grow medicinal herbs. Everyone can get a share of the profits. We can’t let it all fall apart.”
"That's right, dividing the money according to the amount of labor is a good method, it prevents some people from wanting to get a share of the money without doing any work."
"Yes, this was clearly a method that Jiang Yatou and the village chief came up with to help the village. How come it's become a bad thing in some people's mouths? I don't know what they're thinking."
Seeing that everyone was on Jiang Yimian's side, Chen Guixiang immediately sneered and raised her voice, "Fine, I'll just say it directly, I'm not involved. Do you think growing medicinal herbs is an easy thing?"
Is there anyone in the village who knows about medicine? We don't want it to all come to nothing.
Anyway, she just didn't want to go along with the Jiang family. They weren't good people either, and they were dreaming if they thought she was free labor.
Jiang Yimian simply wanted to take the opportunity to win people's hearts, but she was determined not to let her succeed.
Zhang Wulai's mother rolled her eyes and after a while, she agreed, "Chen Guixiang is right. Jiang girl, no one in our village knows anything about medicinal herbs, so how are we going to grow them?"
"Besides, you were the one who introduced us to this business. Who knows what price you negotiated with Huichuntang for the medicinal herbs? If you were secretly making money in the middle, we wouldn't even know!"
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