When Village Chief Shi arrived at the Si family's house, he saw the father and his two sons preparing to leave the village with him, so he quickly ran over.
"Village Chief Si, it's a rare treat to come all this way, why don't you stay a little longer? Accountant Si, what are you planning to do here?"
His question and answer made the three members of the Si family feel a little uncomfortable, after all, they hadn't even been offered a seat or a glass of water since arriving in Xin San Village from Sicheng.
“Village Chief Shi, there are still many things to do at home, and I’m planning to take my dad and the others to the back mountain to carry some limestone back.”
"Are they planning to build a house?" Village Chief Shi glanced at Si Zhengwei and felt a pang of sadness. Everyone else was still struggling to make ends meet, while the Si family was already preparing to build a house.
"No, we don't have the energy to do that right now." Si Zhengwei sensed the sourness in Village Chief Shi's tone and quickly explained. After all, his family still needed to survive in Xin San Village, so he couldn't be too unconventional.
“Ah Cheng saw that we were living a hard life and thought we could raise some chickens to supplement our income. We only need to dig up some earthworms and weeds to feed them. We plan to go to Pinghe Village to bring back some limestone to build a chicken coop first.”
"Raising chickens! Raising chickens is great!" When Village Chief Shi heard this, his eyes lit up, especially when he heard that raising chickens didn't require much grain, which seemed like an extremely profitable business.
"Hey! Village Chief Si, if there's anything good, give your brothers a hand. Life is really tough these days. I wonder if there are any extra chickens in our village? We won't take them for free. We can borrow them first, and we can discuss returning two chickens after borrowing one."
When Xin San Village elected Shi Jingchong as its village chief, it was absolutely the right decision. Look at his words; they all show consideration for the villagers of Xin San Village.
Si Zhengwei felt a little ashamed after hearing what Village Chief Shi said. As a member of Xinsan Village, he hadn't expected that the entire Xinshan Village could raise chickens together when he first heard about it.
"I'll ask you about this when we get back. If it's just Village Chief Shi who wants to raise them, I can give you a few. But I really can't afford to support the whole village. I'll discuss it with the villagers when we get back. But, Village Chief Shi, why don't you ask the villagers in your village first?"
"That's for sure. I'll discuss it with them tonight. After all, it's a good thing, and everyone should agree. I'll definitely need to trouble you then." Village Chief Shi is quite optimistic about raising chickens as a side business, since it doesn't require too much effort.
"Then we'll wait for your news. If it's confirmed that they need it, I'll discuss it with the villagers. We'll head over now, otherwise it'll be difficult for them to travel after dark." Si Cheng had no objection to lending chickens to Xin San Village. As for the villagers of Pinghe Village, it would depend on what conditions Xin Shan Village offered. After all, every household in Pinghe Village raises quite a few chickens now, so lending out even one or two from each household would be acceptable.
Village Chief Shi acted swiftly, arriving at Pinghe Village early the next morning to discuss with Sicheng how to borrow money.
Village Chief Shi was quite honest; he had previously mentioned a way to borrow one dog and return two in the future, and he used this condition to inquire with Si Cheng.
Si Cheng glanced around and saw that most of the villagers were working in the fields. He then led Village Chief Shi and the others to the square, where the village elders were chatting.
"Life here is so much more comfortable. The elderly and children are all taken good care of." Before Village Chief Shi and his group even reached the square, they could hear the lively sounds coming from there.
"Things will get better in the future," Si Cheng could only comfort them in this way.
"I'm really looking forward to it," said Village Chief Shi, before greeting the village elders with a smile.
"I'm sorry to trouble you all again this time." Having learned from the experience of borrowing grain seeds last time, Village Chief Shi greeted the village elders with familiarity.
"Didn't we just lend you the seeds? Why are you here again?" Grandpa Qi smiled as he looked at the group of people.
"We came here to learn from the chickens raised in our village, and also to see if we can borrow some more. We certainly won't lend them for nothing. Once the first batch of chickens is raised, we'll borrow one and return two." Village Chief Shi didn't dare underestimate these smiling old men in front of him and got straight to the point.
"Okay, but there's an old saying that goes, 'A fortune doesn't count if it's not alive.' If you don't manage to raise these chickens, you can't renege on your debt."
Actually, Si Cheng had already told them about it when he came back yesterday. Although the land had been lent out before and hadn't been taken back yet, the village had been keeping an eye on the Xin San Village across the street. The whole village was quite harmonious, and they had taken good care of the wasteland. Now the seedlings were starting to grow. The village elders didn't mind building good relationships with them, because as long as the surrounding area was better, Pinghe Village could be more stable.
"No, even if they weren't raised properly, it must be because of us. We'll make up for it with grain." This time, Village Chief Shi didn't even consult with his villagers before making the decision.
"You have a grand vision and great leadership. With you as the village chief of Xin San Village, things are bound to get better in the future."
"You guys set up the chicken coop first, then come and choose your hens. Don't worry, you can choose for yourselves, they're sure to be good."
Since it had already been agreed upon yesterday to lend the hen to Xin San Village, no one made things difficult for them and readily agreed.
Village Chief Shi was surprised that things were settled so quickly, and he quickly took out the agreement he had written earlier from his bag. "Here is the agreement we have drafted. I will fill it in after I have tallied the quantities. Please take a look at this copy first and see if there is anything that needs to be modified."
He handed the agreement to Si Cheng. These were agreements that several village officials had negotiated overnight, and they were similar to the agreements signed last time for borrowing grain seeds.
"Alright, we'll all be neighbors from now on, so we'll definitely trust each other. You guys should hurry up and go to the back hill to fetch limestone. After all, the chicken coop needs to be built more sturdily, and we don't even know if there are any weasels around here."
Although no cases have been found in Pinghe Village yet, it's still necessary to issue a warning. Otherwise, if they do encounter such a situation, the losses could be enormous, a heavy blow to newly established families like theirs.
"Thank you for the reminder. We'll need your help again when we come to the village. We'll have the villagers come and carry some limestone in a bit. The village will also supervise them to make sure they don't slack off."
Village Chief Shi knew this was a well-intentioned reminder. Moreover, he had talked with Si Cheng about the scale of chicken farming in the village along the way and knew that every household had more eggs than they could eat. Considering that even eating an egg was a luxury in his village, he was even more excited about chicken farming as a side business.
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