The next day, as the first rays of dawn fell upon Shiligou, Gu Qingshan went out to the village head's house.
Now, Chen Sheng was quite happy to see Qin Sanniang and the others. Since these families came to Shiligou, the villagers' income has increased a lot, and there are far fewer quarrels and arguments at the village entrance over trivial matters.
There's no other reason than that everyone has been helping with house construction since the beginning of the year! The sound of coins clinking in your pocket can really lift your spirits!
"What did you say? Those wild apricots on the back hill can be sold for money?" Chen Sheng tapped his water pipe in disbelief.
He knew of the wild apricot grove on the back hill, and that it bore many apricots, though they were incredibly sour! But they were still fruits, and many children liked to pick and eat them, which satisfied their cravings. But this young man said he could harvest them? That was hard for him to believe!
"Yes, please tell the villagers that we plan to buy. It's three catties for one coin. Anyone who wants to do this business can come to our house to exchange money anytime. However, the fruit must be of good quality, without any rotten ones or overripe ones," Gu Qingshan said again, and explained the quality requirements of the fruit.
Chen Sheng raised his eyebrows, thinking to himself that this was a good thing. It was the off-season for farming, and the villagers would have another source of income! What a great thing! Who cares what they use it for! As long as they can make money, it's a good thing!
“Alright, I’ll go and notify each household right now. I wonder how much you plan to collect?” Chen Sheng said as he put on his straw sandals. It wasn’t that his family didn’t have cloth shoes, but the weather was getting warmer, and they didn’t go out much, so straw sandals were cool to wear.
"Currently, there's no limit on the quantity; at least for our villagers, we plan to buy as much as we can. My sister plans to make some dried apricots at home and sell them to shops in the city. I'll trouble you, village head, to tell them. I'll be waiting at home this afternoon." After saying this, Gu Qingshan bid farewell to the village head, as he still needed to order custom-made wine jars!
After seeing Gu Qingshan off, Chen Sheng hurriedly went inside to get the gong and drum, thinking that since it was such a good thing, he didn't need to notify each household individually. He figured that if he beat the gong and drum, everyone would know.
Startled, Wang was shocked. This old man was banging a gong so early in the morning. Wasn't he afraid people would find him annoying?
She was cooking in the kitchen just now, and she didn't know what Gu Qingshan had said. But then she thought, it's probably good news! Getting involved with those new families, it would be strange if it weren't good! Wang hurriedly called her eldest son out, and they went after him together!
When the gongs and drums sound, there will be an echo!
As soon as the villagers heard the village head's gong and drum, they all had to run. In no time, the village roads were crowded with people.
"Oh dear, what's going on? It's so early in the morning, and I still have rice warming on the stove! The men in the fields haven't come back yet; it'll be time for breakfast soon!"
"My family is the same, but what is the village head planning to do? They haven't been beating drums and gongs in ages! I was scared, I thought bandits were coming again!"
"Pah, don't say that! Those bandits have all been wiped out by the prefectural government, they won't come back! Oh, those damned bandits!"
Quite a few people came over, and seeing that there was nothing urgent or important, they knew it couldn't be anything urgent or urgent, so they started chatting in groups of three or five.
Some impatient people couldn't wait any longer and started shouting questions.
"Uncle Village Head, what's the matter? Why did you call everyone over so early in the morning?" The man who spoke looked sleepy, as if he had just gotten out of bed.
"You'll find out soon enough! Why are you up so late? The early bird catches the worm, didn't your ancestors teach you that?" Chen Sheng roared unhappily.
Thinking to himself that Chen Zhuzi was incredibly lazy, if he were his own son, he would definitely grab a broom and give him a good beating! Luckily, his eldest son was diligent, and although his second son was lazy in bed, he was good at studying, so how could they be the same?! Studying at night is too much brainpower!
Despite being scolded for nothing, Chen Zhuzi wasn't angry; he just smiled and nodded!
Seeing that most people had gathered, Chen Sheng struck the gong again, "Quiet down, everyone! What's all the noise about? Shut your mouths! I have something to tell you all. Isn't there an apricot grove on the back hill? You all know that, right?"
"Ugh, I know, I know, it's so sour! My little rascal picked some yesterday, and wow, it was so sour, I can't eat it!"
"Yeah, it's really sour! But why is the village head bringing this up?"
...
Chen Sheng, his head throbbing from the commotion, shouted, "Quiet! I'm talking about this wild apricot grove, that's all that matters! The apricots are almost ripe now, and Da Wa's mother is going to buy them. Three catties for one coin. If you want to do this business, hurry up! Da Wa's mother said that as long as they're from our village, there's no limit to the quantity, she'll buy as many as you have!"
However, I must warn you upfront: the fruit you send to others cannot be ugly or rotten, or they will refuse to accept it. Even I, Chen Sheng, will slap you across the face! Chen Sheng emphasized.
It's not that he doesn't trust his villagers; in fact, most villagers are very honest and simple, with only a few being cunning and deceitful, who need to be taught a lesson.
For the villagers, this was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue; most of them couldn't believe it.
"What? Village head, are you drunk? You should be sober by now. Those wild apricots? They're sour and tasteless, what good are they? And people are even paying copper coins to buy them?" Someone immediately questioned him, and even suspected he had been drinking! This was intolerable!
"You little brat! If they can collect them, they must be useful. Otherwise, how could they make money? Why are you still here struggling? If you want to make money, hurry up!" Chen Sheng roared. He had just seen his wife glare at him fiercely, probably angry that he hadn't told them about this sooner and couldn't get the first mover! Sigh, he was the village head, he had to maintain a certain level of composure, even though he really wanted to go pick apricots!
“Emma, hurry up and go! This must be true,” a woman said.
"Okay, let's hurry over there. I need to go home and take care of the kids!" The kids can climb trees and pick fruit better than them; they're a great help!
"Tch, can this really make money? Who's stupid enough to want this stuff? What if we pick it and they won't buy it? Wouldn't that be a waste of our time?" The woman who spoke, Caihua Niang, was in cahoots with Chen Erjun's wife, Zhao Shi, and Liu Meixiang. These gossipy women were always chatting about this and that.
However, this cauliflower mother was even lazier than the other two; she was the kind who couldn't even move her butt.
Upon hearing that Qin San Niang's family was harvesting sour apricots, her first reaction was disbelief, thinking that the village head must have misheard, or that the Qin family had a problem with their tastes. Besides, she didn't want to work; she had just finished transplanting rice seedlings a few days ago, which had nearly killed her, and she hadn't recovered yet!
Before she could even turn around, she received a slap on the back of the head. "You lazy woman, I must have been blind to have let you into this family! If you don't pick fifty pounds of fruit today, you're not eating!"
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