The next morning, Chen Changyuan went up the back mountain with dry food on his back.
He stood on the top of the mountain, his eyes sweeping across the undulating mountains, and the growth environments of various medicinal herbs he had seen in his previous life emerged in his mind.
"This sunny hillside is suitable for growing angelica. The soil is loose and has good drainage..."
He wrote in his notebook as he walked, "This low-lying area is suitable for growing astragalus. There is plenty of water..."
Just as he was concentrating on surveying the terrain, a familiar voice came from behind him: "Changyuan, are you going up the mountain so early?"
Looking back, I saw Old Yuantou walking slowly towards me with a cane.
"Uncle Yuan, why are you here too?"
Chen Changyuan went forward with a smile.
"I heard that you contracted the back hill to grow medicinal herbs, so I thought of coming to see it."
Old Yuan squinted his eyes and looked around. "But do you know anything about medicinal herbs? Don't let your efforts go to waste."
Chen Changyuan's heart moved: "Uncle Yuan, do you know anyone who knows about medicinal herbs?"
"Oh, speaking of this..."
Old Yuan's eyes lit up. "There's an old Chinese medicine doctor named Zheng in the county town. He was the director of the county hospital for decades before he retired. He's an expert on medicinal herbs."
"Really? That's great!"
Chen Changyuan said excitedly, "Uncle Yuan, can you introduce me to someone?"
"That's not difficult."
Old Yuantou said with a smile, "I'm going to the county town tomorrow, so I'll take you to meet Old Zheng."
The next morning, Chen Changyuan followed Lao Yuantou and boarded the bus to the county town.
Mr. Zheng’s home is a bungalow with a small courtyard, which is full of various medicinal herbs.
As soon as you enter the door, you can smell the strong aroma of medicine.
"Old Zheng, I'll bring you a young man."
Old Yuantou greeted him familiarly, "This is Chen Changyuan from Qingshui Village. I'd like to ask you for advice on growing medicinal herbs."
Mr. Zheng is a thin old man with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and his gaze is bright and sharp.
He looked Chen Changyuan up and down and asked, "What kind of medicinal herbs do you want to grow?"
"Danggui, Astragalus, Codonopsis..."
Chen Changyuan answered truthfully.
Old Zheng frowned. "These are all valuable medicinal herbs that are difficult to grow. Do you have any experience?"
Chen Changyuan said frankly: "This is my first time planting, so I want to ask you for advice."
Mr. Zheng pondered for a moment and suddenly asked, "Do you know what Danggui is most afraid of?"
"Water."
Chen Changyuan answered without hesitation, "So you have to choose a slope with good drainage and loose soil..."
Mr. Zheng's eyes lit up and he asked several professional questions in succession.
Chen Changyuan answered fluently based on his experience from his previous life.
"interesting."
Mr. Zheng stroked his beard and smiled, "Young man, you say you have no experience, but you know all these tricks very well."
"I... usually like to read."
Chen Changyuan said vaguely.
"Just reading books is not enough, growing medicinal herbs requires practice."
Mr. Zheng stood up and said, "Come, I'll show you my medicine garden."
In the medicine garden, Mr. Zheng explained in detail the characteristics and planting points of various medicinal herbs.
Chen Changyuan took careful notes and raised his own questions from time to time.
Before leaving, Mr. Zheng took the initiative to take out a packet of seeds: "These are the angelica seeds I saved for myself. They are of good quality. I'm giving them to you to try. Remember, soak them in warm water before planting..."
Mr. Zheng not only gave me seeds, but also carefully instructed me on many planting tips.
Before leaving, he patted Chen Changyuan on the shoulder and said, "Young man, it's good that you have this thought. Growing medicinal herbs is not easy, so be prepared to endure hardships."
After returning to the village, Chen Changyuan immediately began to prepare for land reclamation.
He first found a few strong laborers in the village, agreed on the wages, and prepared to start preparing the land the next day.
Zhou Dazhu was chatting with a few villagers under the old locust tree at the entrance of the village.
"Heh, you're only a little old and you want to monopolize the mountain? I don't know where you got the money from."
"that is."
A villager echoed, "The mountain behind this belongs to the whole village. Why should he be the only one to contract it?"
Zhou Dazhu was secretly delighted to see someone respond, and continued to exaggerate: "I heard that the contract fee is quite high. How can he come up with so much money? Could he be trying to cheat the village out of its land?"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present began to talk about it.
Seeing that the situation was getting heated, Zhou Dazhu added, "If you ask me, we should ask the village chief to judge this matter."
The next morning, just as Chen Changyuan was leading his men up the mountain, he heard someone shouting behind him, "Stop!"
Looking back, I saw Zhou Dazhu coming towards me with a few villagers in a menacing manner.
"What do you want to do? This mountain behind the village belongs to the whole village. Why are you reclaiming it without permission?"
Zhou Dazhu asked with his hands on his hips.
Chen Changxian said calmly, "I have already signed the contract with the village chief, and all the formalities are complete."
"Contract?" Zhou Dazhu sneered.
"Can you afford the contract fee?"
"That's my business."
Chen Changyuan didn't want to explain more.
Zhou Dazhu turned to the other villagers and said, "Listen, what kind of attitude is this? Why should he be the only one occupying our Qingshui Village's land?"
"that is,"
Someone echoed, "We used to be able to come up to this back mountain to pick herbs, but now he has contracted it out, and we won't be able to even enter from now on."
Chen Changyuan looked at the instigating Zhou Dazhui, then looked at the instigating villagers, and sneered in his heart.
These people probably don’t know that in the previous life, this barren mountain eventually became a cash cow for the Zhou family, and they didn’t even have a chance to enter the mountain.
"Uncles,"
Chen Changyuan raised his voice and said, "I contracted this mountain to grow medicinal herbs, and I need to hire people to work. As long as the price is right, I will definitely give priority to people from our village."
As soon as these words were spoken, the attitudes of several villagers were obviously shaken.
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