The flame from the pipe almost burned his eyebrows, and the old man took two steps back in panic.
Ouch, that’s so scary!
Chen Changyuan was quick and skillful, and had spread the quicklime into neat furrows.
The grayish-white powder oxidized on the dry land, making crackling sounds.
"What's the matter, boy? Are you afraid of dying?"
Old Yuantou shook off the dust on his blue cloth jacket with a look of disgust.
"Last time, Xuemei's husband spread coal ash and poisoned half the eels in the ditch!"
"Uncle Yuan, don't panic."
Chen Changyuan grabbed a handful of red soil and drew a line on the edge of the lime with his index finger.
"He Shou Wu is most afraid of root rot. Once quicklime is sprinkled on it, all the insect eggs in the ground will be destroyed."
The sunlight shone brightly on his wheat-colored arms. "When the seedlings emerge, I'll give you 20%. I'll make sure you save enough money for the tiger bone plaster!"
"Oh, bragging is tax-free, right? Just like Boss Qian!"
The old man complained, but the smile lines at the corners of his eyes were like flowers. "If it really works, if you need firewood, just come to the back slope to cut it."
In the distance, yellow dust was rolling on the mountain road. Five men were walking towards us, grunting and carrying hoes. The one leading them was Ershuanzi from Baishuigou.
Old Yuan narrowed his eyes and said, "A few days ago, Wang Fugui got Old Han drunk and said he wanted to build a pig farm in the south of the village."
Chen Changyuan paused.
Memories of his past life flooded back to his mind - Wang Fugui used this to defraud the commune subsidies, causing the entire village to take the blame.
"Before Laba Festival, they said they would give every family ten kilograms of lard coupons."
Old Yuan knocked the ash off his foot and said, "I don't know what he's up to. I saw him pushing a cart covered with tarpaulin to the Party Secretary's house the other day."
A gust of dust blew in his face, and Chen Changyuan choked and started coughing.
He put the bamboo tube back into the backpack and said, "Uncle Fugui really cares about the people. I'll have to ask him for advice on our medicinal material base someday."
The sun is scorching and people are sweating.
Er Shuanzi led his men to the edge of the field and looked at the tools with a confused look on his face: "Brother Changyuan, this medicinal herb is more valuable than corn. What should we do?"
"Turning the soil three inches, leaving a distance of one and a half feet between ridges."
Chen Changyuan threw away the hemp rope and said, "At noon, we'll provide mung bean soup. After finishing the work, each person will receive 30 cents."
Twenty acres of dry land are in full swing.
The old man was commanding from the high slope: "Second Donkey, how are you digging? The furrow is crooked like an earthworm!"
Chen Changyuan, who was drawing a blueprint in the shade, suddenly heard the sound of an axe and a chisel from the southeast.
He walked quickly towards the sound and saw Wang Fugui directing several strong men to cut down trees and move barbed wire.
"Uncle Fugui, what's going on?"
Chen Changyuan shouted while looking around.
The positions of the barbed wire and wooden stakes looked odd at first glance, as if they had been deliberately used to mark out an area.
Chen Changyuan stood by the tree and suddenly felt alert.
As soon as he heard footsteps, Wang Fugui came over with a smile on his face: "Hey, Changyuan! What brings you here?"
He nodded slightly, leaned his hand against the tree trunk, and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "After hearing the rumbling noise, I thought something was wrong, so I ran over to take a look. Uncle Fugui, what's going on with all that noise?"
Wang Fugui held his pipe in place, tapped the ash lightly on the sole of his shoe, and smiled even more attentively, deliberately lowering his voice: "I was just about to chat with you about business! Our commune has set a hard target, requiring our village to develop industries to promote poverty alleviation. I was thinking of enclosing a piece of land to raise some pigs, so that everyone can have some meat!"
"Raising pigs?"
Chen Changyuan raised his eyebrows and said with a half-smile, "Uncle Fugui has a long-term vision. If he really wants to buy this piece of land, I'm afraid it will cost a lot, right?"
"ha!"
Wang Fugui waved his hand, as if he had already taken on this responsibility lightly.
"It's all for the folks, so spending a little money is nothing. We're paving the way for the whole village. When the time comes, everyone, young and old, will benefit. I'm sure the pig farm will be a blessing!"
Chen Changyuan pretended to be hot, raised his hands to fan himself, and finally managed to squeeze out two perfunctory "hmm".
His face was full of admiration, but he sneered in his heart: This fox, although he seems to be so powerful on the surface, is planning for the village, but I'm afraid that the two abacus beads in his stomach have already started clattering.
"Uncle Fugui, is this farming business run by the entire village, or did you take the lead?"
There was a hint of tentativeness in his words.
"Hey, even the toughest scalp needs a smart person to take charge. Well, I'll be the backbone, sitting in a row and sharing the fruits!"
Wang Fugui laughed so hard that his eyebrows trembled. "When the piglets grow up, we can share them equally. This is true common prosperity!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Changyuan hurriedly forced a smile and flattered him, "I'll have to rely on you to lead the way. If you need help, just give me a shout. I can still spare some time to lend a hand!"
Wang Fugui showed a bit of pride, patted Chen Changyuan on the shoulder, and praised him repeatedly: "You are useful and sensible!"
After a few pleasantries, Chen Changyuan took the opportunity to say goodbye. When he turned back to the field, a wave of hot memories surged in his mind.
In his previous life, Wang Fugui made a fortune thanks to this so-called poverty alleviation pig farm.
The villagers suffered a lot - the swine fever spread, the stench was terrible, and not only did everyone have to take the blame, but they almost suffered a disaster!
When he arrived at the field, he glanced sideways and saw Lao Yuantou shaking his pipe and hitting the hoe in Ershuanzi's hand.
"Can you dig a little more gently? What's wrong with you and the clod of earth?"
Chen Changyuan put down the backpack and said hello: "Uncle Yuan, Dazhuzi, come here, let's talk."
He started, unable to hide the joking tone in his voice.
"Just now, Uncle Fugui was enclosing some land in the woods to the east. He said the pig farm will be issuing oil coupons in the twelfth lunar month, and the whole village will benefit from it!"
Er Shuanzi almost jumped up after hearing this, his mouth grinning so hard that it almost reached his ears. "Oh, so we can still look forward to the aroma of oil during this drought?"
However, the old man on the other end of the table held his pipe, frowned, and said nothing. After a while, he said, "Poverty alleviation sounds good, but if you really do it, it will probably be a waste of time. You have to be careful."
Chen Changyuan scooped up the rising smoke and was thinking secretly in his heart.
"Well, Uncle Yuan is right. The key is that raising pigs is not something you can do just by saying it. It's okay if you don't have the right skills, but if there's a swine fever, all the unlucky people in our village will be blamed!"
Several people were stunned. Old Yuantou twisted the ash in his cigarette and said, "When you are afraid of raising pigs, go to Old Lintou for advice. His family is a member of our village and was well-known for its pig farming back then."
Chen Changyuan nodded and agreed: "Okay, you can help me with this matter. I will go to the village chief this afternoon to find a reason and prepare a precautionary plan for the village first."
Now that the situation has been set, there is no room for ambiguity.
After finishing the cleanup, Chen Changyuan stayed alone and squatted under the pergola to draw a planting plan.
His brows were furrowed, but his thoughts had long since left the paper.
Wang Fugui's move is probably a bigger trick to deceive people.
In order to stabilize the situation, Chen Changyuan needs to open up sales channels for medicinal herb cultivation more quickly.
Suddenly, a familiar name emerged from the depths of his memory - Uncle Ma San, the merchant from the neighboring village who made his fortune by selling mountain products.
Chen Changyuan remembered that in his previous life he had seen his third uncle selling goods in the commune and had also inquired about his business methods.
Perhaps, this is the path that takes a different approach...
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