Jiang Zhi took the money bag and glanced at Li Laoshi. Seeing his feigned composure, she knew he was hiding something.
"Li Laoshi, what are you pretending for in front of me? Speak your mind, or shut up!" Jiang Zhi said impatiently.
Li Laoshi scratched his head: "Hehe, I knew I couldn't hide it! Sister Jiang, I want a piece of land, uh, just for growing medicinal herbs!"
"Grow medicinal herbs? What kind of medicinal herbs? You want to grow Ophiopogon japonicus?" Jiang Zhi asked in surprise.
Li Laoshi settled in Xujia Village, so naturally he, like Tian Guiwu and others, was eligible to lease land at a low price.
But Li Laoshi is lazy. He's too lazy to cook snakes. He won't touch anything as long as there's food. He never even considered planting on those lands. Why is he thinking of planting herbs today?
Could it be that he wanted to plant Ophiopogon japonicus after seeing that I was going to plant it?
Agriculture is never a quiet industry.
Especially during the harvest of Ophiopogon japonicus, the farmers sit in the field and cut off the swollen roots that look like miniature peanuts from the roots of the Ophiopogon japonicus. They cut them off one by one, which is so painful that it makes you feel hopeless!
If Li Laoshi can endure this hardship, then it's a good thing.
Li Laoshi continued to scratch his head: "I don't plant Ophiopogon japonicus because I think that Houttuynia cordata doesn't need to be planted. It can grow as long as it's near water. Although it's everywhere, it can't withstand being harvested by just a few people."
"Hehe, Sister Jiang, let me make this clear first, this business is mine, you can't take it from me."
This is the same as when he worried that Jiang Zhi would steal his money from selling medicine during the New Year.
Jiang Zhi didn't think about it that way at all. She just thought that Li Laoshi was a genius. In order to avoid doing farm work, he was thinking about how to make money.
In the Bajun area, houttuynia cordata grows wherever there is water, and can grow up to one meter tall near the water in summer.
Houttuynia cordata is not yet a popular food. People lack oil and rich seasonings, so even in places where the taste is most acceptable, few people actually like to eat it, and no one deliberately cultivates it.
Li Laoshi continued, "I only need to plant it once, and I can harvest it every year. I don't need to fertilize it, water it, or do anything else. It's like picking up money off the ground..."
Hearing this, Jiang Zhi smiled wryly. Well, she thought it meant carefully planting medicinal herbs, but it turns out it meant letting the grass grow freely.
Houttuynia cordata is a grass, and a wild grass with a well-developed root system and rapid growth.
If Li Laoshi does it this way, those well-managed plots of land will be ruined in less than two years, and the money from selling herbs will not be as much as that from grain.
Jiang Zhi directly rejected his dangerous approach. If Tian Gui and the others saw him wasting such good land, they would definitely be furious.
Upon hearing Jiang Zhi's objection, Li Laoshi became anxious and quickly said, "It's because Xu Genbao doesn't want to work on the land. I just want to use his land to grow houttuynia cordata. Anyway, it won't take up my own farmland."
He also knew that once grass was planted, the land would be ruined if it wasn't properly fertilized with farmyard manure within a few years.
It means that since the land doesn't belong to them, they don't feel bad about wasting it!
Jiang Zhi frowned, sensing something else: "Xu Genbao still isn't going to farm?"
After being beaten this time, Xu Genbao and his wife became much more obedient.
The two went to work in the field and picked all the remaining corn that Xu Genyou had.
Wang Xiaoju also did Liu's laundry and cooked for her, and treated Tian with respect, no longer looking down on her.
Tian was someone who could take a loss. Seeing that her sister-in-law had changed, she stopped holding grudges and helped Wang Xiaoju tidy up the shack.
The two sisters-in-law immediately became affectionate.
Seeing the family in harmony, Liu was so happy that she would both praise and complain to the women in the village behind their backs, saying how wonderful it would have been if they had been this sensible a few years earlier!
Jiang Zhi thought it could be maintained for a while, but she didn't expect that a leopard can't change its spots and what kind of trouble it is now.
Li Laoshi confessed: "Xu Genbao told me secretly that he was not used to farming and still wanted to do his own craft."
He was a cotton carder and needed to stay away from home for several days. Wang Xiaoju wasn't good at farming, but she could help him make connections and do odd jobs.
He wanted to take his wife out to learn a trade, but his family would definitely not agree, so he didn't dare to say anything and wanted to leave quietly.
"The harvested grain should be returned to Xu Genyou. Give me the land; you can plant whatever you want."
Jiang Zhi remained silent.
She could tell that Xu Genbao and Li Laoshi were the same kind of people; they didn't like doing farm work or growing crops, and only wanted to do their craft cleanly and no longer grow grain.
To a typical farming family, being a pure craftsman is seen as somewhat of a frivolous pursuit.
Food is the most important thing for people, and farming is of paramount importance.
Every family works part-time and part-time; they farm during the busy season and only earn money during the off-season.
It would be quite normal for Xu Genbao to take his wife out to earn money in modern times.
But here, the couple found it very difficult to persuade Xu Genyou and Liu.
Xu Genbao has a skill, and Wang Xiaoju is eloquent and has grown up in the town. She is not as timid as ordinary farm girls when she goes out, and she will be a good assistant to Xu Genbao.
The couple was so afraid of being beaten recently that they couldn't hold their heads up in the village anymore. They were afraid of being opposed and beaten again, so they wanted to run away with their child...
Jiang Zhi believes that everyone has their own ambitions, and Xu Genbao's idea is not a bad thing, but she should communicate more with her family.
The idea of giving the land to Li Laoshi was extremely wrong, and if Xu Genyou found out, he would be heartbroken.
She thought for a moment and said, "I'll go down the mountain tomorrow. Li Laoshi, take some cotton down the mountain and have Xu Genbao and Wang Xiaoju wait for me in the warehouse. I have something to say."
Li Laoshi agreed and then used an old mule to carry the cotton that Xiaomanye had collected down the mountain.
Jiang Zhi needs to use this cotton to make cotton quilts.
The next day, when Jiang Zhi appeared at the drying shed, Xu Genbao had already started working.
He was preparing a bamboo curtain for fluffing cotton.
Wang Xiaoju was fiddling with a hand-cranked seed gin to remove cotton seeds.
By rolling and squeezing two adjacent wooden sticks, cotton bolls are pulled through the gap between the sticks, while cotton seeds with hard outer skins are squeezed out from the gap.
Upon seeing Jiang Zhi, the two quickly put down their work and stood up.
Jiang Zhi waved her hand and said directly, "Li Laoshi has already told me about your situation. Your idea is good, but things can't be done this way."
"Then, you should fluff a cotton quilt first."
Xu Genbao also helped people make cotton gins in town. Jiang Zhi didn't see his skills firsthand. Most importantly, Jiang Zhi didn't trust Wang Xiaoju.
If you try to persuade Liu and Xu Genyou to go out and earn money, but Wang Xiaoju is slacking off, then you'll be doing more harm than good.
At this point, Wang Xiaoju was no longer as arrogant and domineering as she had been on previous occasions.
The wound on her face had healed, but the mark left by her sister-in-law pulling out her hair at her temples was still there. Even if she carefully tied her hair up, she couldn't hide the sparse white hair.
Even when looking at Jiang Zhi, he avoided eye contact, trying hard to control his fear and panic.
Xu Genbao also looked nervous. The wounds on his back from being whipped with the thorny branch had long since healed, but the pain in his heart remained, and he trembled slightly as he stood in front of him.
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