Chapter 482 Total Revenue of Dahe Village
By the time the cotton harvest was completely finished, it was already mid-to-late September.
As autumn deepens, the harvested peanuts, sesame seeds, beans, and other crops are gradually being stored in the warehouse. However, not many of these crops are planted, and the harvest can be completed in just three to five days.
Cheng Wanwan had something important to do: harvesting chili peppers.
In late autumn, the chili peppers hang on the seedlings, fiery red and very tempting.
Whether making chili sauce or chili powder, it had to be made with red chilies. People were arranged to collect them all, some were dried to make chili powder, and some were chopped and mixed with salt or beans to make sauce... For a time, the entire mansion was filled with the pungent smell of chilies.
During this slightly less busy time, the village head convened a meeting of all the villagers.
The area around the old locust tree has become increasingly flat and has become a meeting place for the village. Some people have also placed many stones of different heights along the side so that the elderly or pregnant women can sit and attend the meetings.
"I called everyone here today to talk about the market." The village head cleared his throat and said loudly, "At the beginning of the year, we raised funds and jointly established the Dahe Village Market. After half a year, everyone can see how well the market has developed. All twenty shops have been rented out. It's very convenient for everyone to buy whatever they want. They no longer need to get up early in the morning to go to the city. It's convenient for us, not to mention that we've made money!"
Upon hearing about money, the villagers became even more serious.
When they were raising money at the beginning of the year, many of them were just following the crowd. Because Dashan's mother had contributed money, the village head had contributed money, and some refugees had contributed money. If they didn't contribute, it would seem like they were out of place with the rest of Dahe Village. So they gritted their teeth and contributed whatever they could. The least they contributed was half a tael of silver, and that's how they raised enough money to build the market.
Will they break even after six months?
"Tiezhu, come up here and give everyone a breakdown of the accounts."
As soon as the village head finished speaking, Zhao Tiezhu grabbed the account book and jumped onto the big rock.
"Hello everyone, I'm Tiezhu. I've been recording all the village's income and expenditure for the past six months." He spoke calmly. "Let's start with the village's income, which includes three parts: income from the market and inns, income from shop rentals, and income from receiving tourists. The inn income is 421 taels..."
The villagers gasped in shock.
They weren't good at accounting, but they knew that because of the soap workshop, there were merchants coming to the village almost every day. Each merchant would bring at least six or seven attendants and stay overnight in the village. They thought it wouldn't cost much, but they didn't expect to earn 421 taels in half a year.
"There are twenty shops in total. The price is cheaper for the first three months, two hundred cash a month. Then it rises to five hundred cash a month. The income for half a year is more than seventeen taels."
"We officially started receiving tourists in June, and it has been three months so far. On average, we receive tourists for twenty days each month, and our daily income is between twenty and fifty taels, totaling more than 1,853 taels."
"The total income from the three items amounted to 2,291 taels and 1,223 cash."
After he finished speaking, the entire room fell silent.
The next moment, it erupted into a frenzy, with an astonishingly loud commotion.
"My God, more than two thousand taels of silver?! Really?!"
"I only knew that people in the village were making money, and I thought that two hundred taels was the most I could earn. I never expected it to be two thousand taels!"
"Our Dahe Village is going to get rich! My God!"
"Old man, how much money did our family raise back then? How much of it should we get in the end?"
"..."
"Quiet! Quiet down!" the village head shouted. "This is revenue before deducting costs. If you deduct costs, it won't be this much!"
The crowd suddenly fell silent.
Zhao Tiezhu continued, "The cost mainly consists of material costs plus labor costs. The materials include the pleasure boat on the river, which was ordered from the Cao family and cost two hundred taels of silver. In addition, there are some tea and water utensils, etc. The material cost is three hundred and fifty-two coins. The labor cost includes the people who manage the shop, the people who receive tourists, and the people who protect the safety of tourists, which costs two hundred and sixty-six coins. In total, it is five hundred and sixty-eight."
"After deducting costs, the profit was more than 1,723 taels."
The elderly people in the village raised their hands in celebration.
“Seventeen hundred taels is a lot of money. I’ve never seen so much money in my life.”
"Our family raised half a tael of silver initially. Judging from this, shouldn't we have broken even?"
"Hahaha, my wife Zhu paid fifty taels of silver back then, and now she's got her money back with interest!"
Seeing everyone's happy expressions, the village head promptly spoke up: "I called everyone here today not to distribute dividends, but to solicit your opinions."
"Everyone has seen the prosperity of the market. After discussing with Da Shan's mother, we believe that we should expand the market as soon as possible. If we expand it, we will inevitably have to use the money we just earned. This is everyone's dividend. The market belongs to everyone. This is a matter for all of us in Dahe Village, and we need everyone's opinions."
The crowd suddenly fell silent.
The money hasn't even arrived yet, and it's already being spent immediately. Anyone would be unhappy in that situation.
However, they did see the market's earning potential; it could recoup its investment in just six months, and with expansion, the profits would only increase. Those who had raised funds would naturally receive even more dividends. It was a sure-fire way to make money.
Standing in the crowd, Cheng Wanwan looked at everyone's thoughtful faces and knew that most people would choose to expand the market.
It's not because everyone has a high level of awareness, but because they have indeed seen how quickly the market can make money, and so far, everyone is not really short of money, so it's okay to receive dividends later.
Just as everyone was making a decision, a discordant voice rang out.
"Village head, I have something I may not like to hear, and I know I shouldn't say it, but I have to," the Xu family patriarch stepped forward. "Our Dahe Village has over a thousand people, two hundred households... oh no, after the migrants were incorporated into the village last year, it's about three hundred households. A large portion of these households are surnamed Zhao, so our village head is Zhao Village Head..."
The village head frowned: "Old Xu, what exactly are you trying to say?"
"What I'm trying to say is that whether it's the market or the inn, these are all in the hands of your Zhao family. How much income, how much cost, how much profit—it's all up to you Zhao family," Chief Xu cut to the chase. "How do we know these ledgers are genuine? How do we know if the Zhao family has embezzled any of it? After all, money is a powerful motivator. I don't think anyone would remain unmoved by having several thousand taels of silver in their home..."
The village head was furious, as if a fire had been lit around him.
He worked tirelessly for these things every day, and his whole family helped him without expecting anything in return. He didn't ask the villagers to be grateful; he just hoped that everyone could make money and live a good life. He never dreamed that anyone would have such thoughts!
It's as if he did all these things to embezzle money!
I swear to God, he has never thought about it this way, let alone done it!
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