Chapter 51: Discovering Talent
Shen Zhiyi did not go home, but instead went into the village chief's house and chatted with Zhou Wanniang for a while. She then learned that Zhou Wanniang was pregnant and therefore did not go to the ancestral hall.
Adding a member to the family is a big deal, and you can never be too careful.
The two sat in the main room, their eyes always on the courtyard gate. As the door opened, revealing a glimpse of her clothes, Shen Zhiyi was about to get up and go over when Zhou Wanniang spoke up, "My in-laws always go to the side room to check on the seedlings first..."
"Maybe we can give them a surprise!" Shen Zhiyi replied, sitting back down.
Sure enough, a moment later, a voice came from the other side: "Wan Niang, the things in the side room..."
"Brother Xuan Yan took them away." Shen Zhiyi quickly answered, afraid that the other side was too anxious, and at the same time, she quickly stepped out of the main room. "I don't need to go out anymore. The remaining seedlings can be moved back to my room."
"So fast?" the village chief asked in surprise, his face relaxed and casual. "Luckily, that thing was taken away, otherwise I would be worried every day about whether it would be stolen."
"Aren't the patrol teams useful?" Shen Zhiyi asked.
"The village doesn't seem very big at first glance, but as you walk around, there are always places you can't cover. We can only be extremely vigilant in every household," the village chief said helplessly.
“They just want chili peppers, so let’s teach them how to grow them!” Shen Zhiyi said calmly, seeing the village chief’s composure. “According to our previous plan at the ancestral hall, Brother Zheng and his group are going out to explore the market, which means the demand for chili peppers will increase. But our village only has so much wasteland. No matter how carefully we take care of it, the yield won’t increase much. It’s better to let those who are interested and have suitable land grow them.”
“Of course, before planting, we must follow our method,” Shen Zhiyi said slowly.
"Girl, tell me your specific requirements?" the village chief asked hurriedly.
Grandma Qin's voice came from the kitchen: "You two stop grumbling and hurry up and wash your hands to eat."
"We can talk about it after we finish eating," the village chief said before Shen Zhiyi could speak. At the same time, Zhou Wanniang took Shen Zhiyi's arm and pulled her into the main room.
"You're all so welcoming, how could I bear to leave?" Shen Zhiyi said with a smile.
The stir-fried dishes made in the countryside have a unique flavor, and more importantly, the appearance of meat dishes on the table indicates that life is gradually getting better.
At the dinner table of family members, there was no such rule as not speaking while eating. Shen Zhiyi explained in detail how to manage the chili pepper farmers. They would take care of everything from seeds to sales. As for selling to outsiders, they would have to abide by the prices set by them.
In reality, when promoting chili peppers, you'll encounter people who steal or break the rules, so initially, you should try to get reputable people involved. Later, once prices adjust, you can relax the restrictions.
Shen Zhiyi's original intention was to let kind and hardworking people get rich first.
Not only was she speaking, but the village chief was also offering his opinions, and Grandma Qin and Zhou Wannian were looking for flaws to address later. Li Shitou's role was simply to listen to the final summary; if he could understand it, then everyone in the village should.
"Let's do it this way!" The village chief slapped his thigh and stood up, glancing at Li Shitou out of the corner of his eye.
"Dad, I'm going to bang the gong!" Li Shitou ran outside. He was still feeling uneasy during the meal, and he felt more at ease doing something familiar.
“Grandpa Village Chief, there’s one more thing. Lord Lu took those things away, but he left behind a hundred taels of silver.” Shen Zhiyi slowly took out the silver notes.
The patterns on the tickets were so brightly lit they made everyone's eyes dizzy. Grandma Qin quickly helped her husband up, and he murmured, "Th-those things are worth...worth one...one hundred..."
“It’s worth it in Lord Lu’s heart,” Shen Zhiyi said, stating the facts.
"Girl, how much would you sell those for at the normal price?" Grandma Qin asked the village chief, who was still recovering from the shock.
After mentally calculating, Shen Zhiyi said, "It adds up to sixty-seven taels. I reckon Lord Lu won't accept the change, so I guess I'll have to..."
Only then did she belatedly realize the meaning behind Lu Jingbai's words. On the surface, he said "personally," but in reality, he was avoiding the issue. If she were to make a fool of herself, she would only annoy the other party.
"We can only have Grandpa Village Chief deliver it to Lord Lu in person when the time comes," Shen Zhiyi said slowly.
The village chief immediately straightened up and said seriously, "In our village, we must be honest in doing business. We cannot accept even a penny more."
As the noisy gong sounds outside gradually subsided, Shen Zhiyi said, "Let's go to the ancestral hall first, so as not to keep them waiting. If it's still early, I'll go to the county to exchange the silver notes."
"There's no need to be in such a hurry," Grandma Qin said gently.
"We need to be in a hurry. Only when everyone has money in their hands can they plan for a better life in the future. They need to feel warm inside so that they can have hope for the future," Shen Zhiyi said with a smile.
"Even if you insist on going, have someone accompany you," the village chief said, knowing that he couldn't persuade them otherwise, so safety should be the priority.
"I know," Shen Zhiyi said with a smile.
The ancestral hall was once again packed with people. No one complained about making two trips a day to the hall. They said they wished they could be there every day, because it meant something very good was about to happen.
Shen Zhiyi's plan had been rehearsed countless times at the dinner table, so reiterating it in front of others was a piece of cake. On this matter, everyone had different opinions, and whispers continued.
"If you teach it to others, someone will definitely sell it secretly. There's no way to prevent that."
"Prices will continue to drop."
"If the price drops to nothing, our village still has so many chili peppers..."
Hearing these increasingly pessimistic comments, Shen Zhiyi couldn't help but cough lightly to shift their attention to herself, and said, "The price of chili peppers will come down sooner or later, so there's no need to worry about it in advance. Even if we don't want it to spread, someone will steal the seeds and plant them. If we're on guard all day long, how can we have the energy to do anything else?"
"Besides, the pickled chili peppers and other products we develop fetch even higher prices, and what we need to do is always seize this opportunity." Seeing their expressions of sudden realization, Shen Zhijian summarized with a witty remark, "After we've eaten the meat, we should let others have some soup too!"
"Can't we let a reliable relative plant it first?" someone couldn't help but ask loudly.
Even without showing their face, one could tell who it was from their voice. However, Shen Zhiyi didn't name them directly, and then smiled and said, "Of course, as long as it meets the requirements, it can be planted!"
After finishing this matter, Shen Zhiyi reassured the group who were about to start chatting and added, "The chilies we used for pickling and grinding were the best ones that everyone gave us, and they've all been sold! I plan to go to the county to exchange them for silver notes later, and everyone should be able to get them before dinner!"
"Hey girl, I'll go with you!"
"I'll go with you!"
"I……"
At this moment, the men in the village stepped forward.
"I'll have to trouble Brother Zheng to accompany me," Shen Zhiyi said. After all, he was going out and needed to get some exercise.
"Brothers, there's nothing I can do about it, I'm just so popular." Zheng San smiled broadly, his expression quite proud, the kind that would make a tail wagging if it had one.
After leading Zheng San away from the crowd, Shen Zhiyi casually handed him a hundred-tael silver note on the way. At first, he thought it was a piece of paper with writing on it, but when he looked down and saw what it said, he was so frightened that he almost knelt down.
Seeing this, Shen Zhiyi helped the man up steadily and said gently, "Third Brother, you'd better hold on tight. In the future, you'll be handling higher denominations and more banknotes, so you'll have to build up your courage first."
"This, I..." Zheng San stammered, then suddenly closed his eyes and made a firm decision to stuff the silver note into his clothes. His back was unusually straight, as if he was afraid that the silver note hidden in his clothes would be wrinkled even a little bit.
This trip to the county town was led by Zheng San, with Shen Zhiyi present mainly to give him confidence.
Realizing that her micro-expressions could affect the other person, Shen Zhiyi tried her best to control her facial expressions, but when she couldn't help it, she turned around and looked into the distance.
Under these circumstances, Zheng San exchanged the money at the bank according to the amount he had figured out in his mind. Although he spoke intermittently, the final amount added up to exactly one hundred taels.
Shen Zhiyi had never taught accounting in the village, which shows that Zheng San was very astute when it came to money.
On the oxcart ride back, Zheng San nervously clutched the sack in his arms. Shen Zhiyi casually asked, "Third Brother, you said a bowl of wontons in the county town costs six coins. How much would it cost if I bought thirteen bowls?"
"Why are you eating so many wontons?" Zheng San asked suspiciously, but finally answered, "Seventy-eight coins."
"What about the thirty-seven bowls?" Shen Zhiyi asked again.
"That'll cost two hundred and twenty-two coins! Sister, let's skip the wontons and buy some meat. We'll make you meat soup when we get back; it'll taste better than wontons!" Zheng San said hurriedly.
"It's alright, I don't eat, I just wanted to ask," Shen Zhiyi said slowly. With a little more systematic training, Zheng San would become a capable accountant.
Back in Xiaba Village, a familiar place, Zheng San ran ahead quickly, carrying a sack. When he saw others on the main road, he even greeted them as he ran: "Remember to come to the ancestral hall to collect your money!"
Without Li Shitou even needing to bang a gong to announce it, the cheerful voice carried far on the wind.
People gathered in front of the ancestral hall again. This time, Zheng San walked confidently to the front of the crowd. When he looked up and saw that all the familiar faces were looking at him, he felt a surge of pride.
But he knew clearly that this feeling was only temporary. Just as he was about to leave, he heard Shen Zhiyi call out, "Third Brother, wait a minute. You'll handle this today."
Shen Zhiyi was thinking of being a hands-off manager in these areas in the future, because there are still many untapped seeds in this world waiting for her to discover and cultivate, and she couldn't be trapped by them.
"Ah? I, I..." Zheng San wanted to say "I can't," but then the image of Shen Zhiyi's incredibly trusting gaze flashed through his mind. He straightened his back and said, "I'll do it, please forgive me if I don't do it well!"
"Zheng San has really made something of himself now!" People of all sizes in the crowd exclaimed in admiration.
Although Zheng San understood that this "success" was brought about by Shen Meizi, he wondered if he could really succeed if he worked harder and more seriously.
Just thinking about it is wonderful!
Zheng San felt a surge of joy and became determined to embark on the path of success.
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