Li Kaishan thought that although the price of 500 coins was a bit high, it was still acceptable, since the yield of this crop was high. Moreover, Yan Qingqing had said that the county magistrate might collect the crop for seed this year, which would make the price even higher.
Li Kaishan quickly calculated his own plans in his mind, and Yan Qingqing didn't urge him.
Finally, Li Kaishan spoke up, saying, "Alright, then Uncle will take the seedlings from four mu of land. I'll have Da Kui bring the money to you later."
Yan Qingqing: ......
Didn't we agree that two acres of land would be enough? How come you suddenly asked for double that amount?
Li Kaishan left in a hurry without waiting for Yan Qingqing's consent. He wanted to tell the villagers that such a good thing should definitely be implemented in their village. After this year, once it is promoted, it may become an ordinary high-yield grain.
It must be said that Li Kaishan was very farsighted. Whether the villagers of Canghe Village had such foresight was beyond his expectations.
Meanwhile, Yan Qingqing chatted with Old Madam Yan, repeating what she had just said to Li Kaishan. Old Madam Yan held Yan Qingqing's hand and said, "It's because you're so generous that you still think of your relatives and neighbors when there's such a good thing. I appreciate your kindness. You don't need to discuss this with your father. Last winter, your father cleared several acres of wasteland and planted sweet potatoes and potatoes on them."
Even if the county magistrate doesn't accept it for our own consumption, or we sell it at the market, it's perfectly fine. I especially love those sweet potatoes; they're soft, sweet, and, most importantly, easy to chew.
Grandma Yan really liked it. If she hadn't known that her daughter would use these things so much, she would have refrained from asking her daughter to make them for her.
Grandma Yan was a decisive person. She immediately asked Li Xiangping to hitch up a car and take her back to Yan Family Village. She wanted to go back and tell the old man not to let him plant anything else.
Knowing Old Madam Yan's temperament, Yan Qingqing immediately asked Yuan Huiniang to select some gifts from the storeroom for Old Madam Yan to take back.
Old Mrs. Yan taught embroidery at the embroidery workshop but refused to accept wages, so Yan Qingqing could only make up for it in this way. Yuan Huiniang was now very skilled at managing the household and immediately agreed. She quickly led people to the storeroom to retrieve some practical items. Old Mrs. Yan knew that this was her daughter's good intention, so she did not refuse.
Meanwhile, Li Kaishan convened a meeting of the entire village, with each family sending at least one representative. The meeting was quite lively, with everyone gathered at the village entrance.
They hadn't held a large meeting in their village for a long time, and everyone wondered if something big was about to happen. Small groups of people began to whisper among themselves.
Seeing that most of the people had arrived, Li Kaishan tapped the broken gong in his hand and said, "Everyone, please be quiet. I have called you all here today to announce something important."
As you all know, last year Xiang Ping's mother planted two acres of a rare crop, and the yield was quite high. That stuff can be used as food; although I've never eaten it, I know it must taste pretty good.
I shamelessly went to ask her, hoping to plant some together. It was because of Xiang Pingniang's kindness that she knew we all made a living from farming and wanted to help us get rich. So anyone who wanted to plant could buy seedlings from Xiang Pingniang.
Xiang Pingniang said that the seedlings would fetch five hundred copper coins per mu (unit of land area), and this was only because we were all neighbors.
As soon as Li Kaishan said this, another discussion broke out in the crowd. Five hundred coins was not a small amount for most villagers, but they also thought that Yan Qingqing was a capable person. Many people in the village had worked for Yan Qingqing's family, and their wages were basically enough for a month. So most people thought about buying seedlings for one or two acres of land.
However, some people who dislike Yan Qingqing don't think so. For example, Li Erdan's wife, Chen Damei, said, "What kind of treasure dares to ask for 500 coins per mu of land for seedlings? Our family has seven or eight mu of land and we can't even earn two taels of silver a year."
This is just a way of ripping us off. Yan Qingqing is already so rich, why would she still try to cheat us? She's treating us like suckers.
Besides Chen Damei, Yan Qingqing's family had also chimed in after failing to get hired several times. Chen Damei felt even more smug and then said, "If she really cares about us, she can give us these seedlings to plant for free, or we can pay her for the seedlings after we have a harvest."
Li Kaishan was almost laughing with anger. He truly never expected that there would be such a shameless person in Canghe Village. He felt ashamed to be the village chief.
Before the village chief could speak, Aunt Wang retorted sarcastically, "Oh, I've seen shameless people, but I've never seen anyone as shameless as you. What kind of talk is this? When Li Erdan married you, did he not give you any dowry, or did he give you the dowry after you had a child?"
Everyone burst into laughter upon hearing Aunt Wang's words.
Women in this era valued their reputation highly. Chen Damei was furious when she heard Aunt Wang say that. Her eyes were red as she looked at her and said, "Wang, what nonsense are you spouting, you black-hearted wretch? Everyone knows you follow Yan Qingqing around like a lackey. Don't you even look at her properly?"
To everyone's surprise, Aunt Wang wasn't angry at all. Instead, she smiled and said, "Oh dear, now that you mention it, I feel like I'm not a lackey enough. Qingqing looks down on me, but I still made several dozen taels of silver by following her."
I've built a big brick house and married a daughter-in-law. If I were to be a bit more of a sycophant, the money would just be flowing into my pocket.
After saying that, Aunt Wang laughed heartily twice, looking extremely smug.
Let alone others, even the village chief wanted to become Yan Qingqing's lackey after hearing this. He hadn't earned even a few dozen taels of silver or a big brick house by following Yan Qingqing all this time.
However, he did manage to become a village head, and the county government gave him an annual salary of two taels of silver. Of course, the benefits of being a village head went far beyond that. This was all thanks to his good relationship with Yan Qingqing.
Aunt Wang ignored Chen Damei and said, "Anyway, I know Qingqing won't harm anyone."
I don't care about others; my family needs five mu of land, and I'm going home right now to get the money.
Seeing that Aunt Wang wanted so much land all at once, everyone was eager to follow suit and started to report their numbers. Most of them wanted one or two acres. It wasn't that they didn't want to plant more land; firstly, they weren't as wealthy as Aunt Wang, and secondly, they didn't have that much land.
Fortunately, one or two acres of land can be obtained by squeezing it together in one's own yard or yard.
Li Kaishan was very happy to see that everyone was so cooperative. As the village chief, he was also proud to be able to lead everyone to make money.
Soon, Li Kaishan handed the compiled list to Yan Qingqing. Yan Qingqing calculated that it was over 400 mu, more than she had expected.
Fortunately, he later had Li Xiangping and the others cultivate two more acres of seedlings, which should be enough.
Yan Qingqing earned more than two hundred taels of silver from the sweet potato and potato seedlings, which greatly excited Li Xiangping. He had never known that farming could be so profitable.
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