Chapter 271 The Newcomers to Dahe Village
Shopkeeper Yan was delighted to see an acquaintance.
He jumped down from the oxcart and walked to the horse-drawn carriage: "Are you also going to Dahe Village?"
Cheng Wanwan lifted the carriage curtain and said with a smile, "We are from Dahe Village. Manager Yan, what are you going to do?"
"That's a long story."
As they strolled leisurely towards Dahe Village, Manager Yan began to speak.
After selling his family's teahouse, he suddenly had an extra thousand taels of silver and started looking for a small business to start.
I tried to buy a batch of goods to sell in Ping'an County, but I couldn't sell them and they all became unsellable. In the end, I sold them to another shopkeeper at half price.
Undeterred, he tried two other businesses, but still lost money.
He squandered over 300 taels of his 1,000 taels of silver in less than half a month, and he dared not waste the rest.
Cheng Wanwan fell silent.
It turns out there really are people in this world who are terrible at business.
Others worry about not having enough capital to start a business, but this Manager Yan simply doesn't have the talent. If he were to start a business again, he'd probably lose everything.
"I ruined the family business, and I can't afford to squander this little bit of money too. I'd better quit as soon as possible." Manager Yan sighed. "If I can't do business, I'll try farming. I'll follow the example of others and even bought a cow. I can't be the only one with no harvest. I asked around and heard that there is a lot of farmland in Dahe Village, and I won't have any trouble buying land. So I'm here to try my luck."
Zhao Ergou laughed: "Manager Yan has really come to the right place. The land in our Dahe Village was all bestowed by the government, totaling three or four thousand acres, but it's all wasteland that needs to be reclaimed."
Shopkeeper Yan's eyes lit up: "Is the price of that wasteland expensive? I have about four hundred taels of silver on hand. How much land can I buy with that?"
Zhao Ergou: "..."
Four hundred taels of silver could buy more than four hundred acres of wasteland. But the Yan family only has a few people; can they manage to cultivate it all?
Cheng Wanwan said, "We've arrived at Dahe Village. Er Gou, take Manager Yan to find the village head. Buy the land as soon as possible, clear the wasteland in winter, and we can start planting next spring. We can't afford to waste any time."
Manager Yan parked the oxcart by the field and let the ox graze on its own. Then he followed Zhao Ergou to the village head's house.
The village head has been worried lately about not having anyone to buy land. It's not good for more than 3,000 mu of land to be left lying idle. He's thinking about whether he should find some people to farm the land and just pay the land rent to the village. But he still needs to think carefully about where to find people.
Just as I was worrying, Manager Yan walked in.
After Zhao Ergou introduced the two parties, they began to discuss business.
When the village head asked about the budget, he was speechless. Why would someone with so much money come to settle down in the village?
Everyone is eager to make money to buy a house in the city, but this guy is different. He sold his house in the city and came to the village to learn how to farm.
However, Dahe Village has a large area but not enough villagers, so it is a good thing that people come to settle down.
The village head showed great enthusiasm: "Four hundred taels of silver can buy more than two hundred mu of wasteland, and the remaining two hundred taels can be used to build a brick house in the village, which is no worse than the one in the city. However, two hundred mu of land will require at least ten laborers to take care of it. May I ask if Manager Yan has that many sons?"
Manager Yan was a little flustered. He only had three sons, which meant that he was no longer even qualified to farm.
He asked, "What else can we do with this land besides farming?"
Li Zheng could tell that this person knew absolutely nothing about farming; he probably couldn't even tell the difference between rice seedlings and weeds.
The village head didn't want to turn away a big client who could buy 200 acres of land, so he seriously started to help him think about it.
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the village head slapped his thigh and said, "Da Shan's family's soap workshop is getting bigger and bigger, and they need more and more things every day. For example, honey is extremely expensive and very inconvenient to buy. If Manager Yan knew how to raise bees and specialize in selling honey, there would be no need to worry about finding a market in the future."
Shopkeeper Yan gave an awkward yet polite smile: "I don't know how to keep bees."
“Nobody here has ever raised these before, so it’s normal that you don’t know how,” the village head said with a smile. “You know how to raise goats, right? A ewe produces milk for eight months after giving birth. If you raise ten or so ewes, you’ll have milk all year round. A pound of goat milk is quite valuable. You can sell it all to Da Shan Mama, and you definitely won’t lose money. Tsk tsk, it makes me want to raise ewes, but unfortunately, I don’t have enough space at home…”
Manager Yan really wanted to say that he didn't know how to raise goats either.
However, under the village head's confident gaze, he silently took back his words.
Regardless of whether he knows how to raise them, he'll give it a try first. If it really doesn't work out, he'll raise pigs; he's heard that raising pigs is the easiest thing to do.
Shopkeeper Yan nodded: "Alright, then I'll buy two hundred acres of land first. Next, I'll build a house. I hope Uncle Village Head can find some people to help."
"That's easy to discuss!"
The village head happily agreed.
The soap workshop at Da Shan's house had just been completed, and a large group of men were worried about not being able to find work. Well, job opportunities were being offered right to their doorstep.
That same day, he had someone measure the land, write the land deed, and went to the county office with Manager Yan to put their fingerprints on it. The matter was settled extremely quickly.
The villagers were talking about it.
"I heard that some wealthy people from the city have come to our Dahe Village to buy estates."
"They bought two hundred acres of land in one go and are going to build a house on it. I heard it will be a brick and tile house."
"Oh my, our Dahe Village must be blessed with good fortune! A rich person has actually settled here. This is going to be amazing in the future."
“With the Ninth-Rank Lady in the village, it will definitely attract many people. The village head was worried that the wasteland wouldn’t sell. In my opinion, if we wait a while longer, there might not be enough wasteland to sell.”
“I was planning to buy a few acres of land after the New Year, but what if I can’t buy it? No, I have to go to Uncle Village Head and reserve three acres of land first, so it won’t be taken away from me.”
"Then I'll reserve five acres of land too, and write the land deed when I have more money later."
"..."
A land-buying frenzy has inexplicably swept through Dahe Village.
The villagers could buy land for half a tael of silver per mu of wasteland. They could afford to buy a mu of land by working in Cheng Wanwan's workshop for a month. It didn't matter if the villagers couldn't afford it right away. They could have Cheng Wanwan write a list and give it to the village head. When they got paid, Cheng Wanwan would pay the village head directly for the land. It was a kind of advance consumption.
For several days in a row, the village head was extremely busy.
Meanwhile, the shopkeeper also delivered the blueprints for building the house, and a large number of blue bricks were transported to the village. Construction officially began on the first blue brick house in Dahe Village.
The land owned by Manager Yan is not far from Cheng Wanwan's house. Standing on the stone roller at the door, you can see the bustling activity taking place there.
The villagers watched the spectacle for a while, then went about their own business.
At this moment, Old Mrs. Zhao stepped into the courtyard: "Eldest daughter-in-law, the seven-day trial period you mentioned last time is the last day. Should I call Yu'er and Erniu over to ask about the situation?"
Cheng Wanwan said, "These past few days, Mother has been inspecting the workshop, so she should have a basic understanding of the two of them. Why don't you tell me about them first?"
"Both children are quite capable and sensible. If I could only keep one, it would be really hard for me to choose," said Mrs. Zhao frankly. "It's not good for family members to comment. I'll ask a few of my wives for their opinions."
Chen Erniu was in charge of filtering wood ash, while Lin Yu'er was later switched to the casting process. Old Mrs. Zhao called over the people in charge of both processes.
Both managers were veteran employees who had been working in the workshop for more than half a month. If they performed well for the next half month, they would be promoted to team leaders. The team leader's monthly salary would increase by 200 coins. These two worked overtime for more than half an hour every day and did not leave until dark. They had become known as the kings of involution in the workshop.
"Sister Xiu'e, Sister Shuiyan, please sit down." Cheng Wanwan now addressed them by their names directly. She smiled and said, "I called you over to ask how Yu'er and Erniu are doing in the workshop. Just tell me the truth."
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