Chapter 8: The Wasteland Will Be Covered in Flowers
The midday sun should have been at its strongest, but for Shen Zhiyi, who was riding back to the village in an oxcart at this time, it felt like late autumn; the sun looked bright and clear, but it didn't have much of an awe-inspiring power.
This means the seasons are out of order here, which is not good news.
Shen Zhiyi glanced at Tang Huaya and Old Man Tang, who both looked worried, and wondered if she had bought too much. Was hiring an oxcart to go back to the village too high-profile?
After thinking it over, she realized that she had only bought necessities, and it wouldn't be good to have so many things crammed together with other people.
Twenty coins to hire a car to the village, that's a pretty good deal!
Although she only has 430 coins in savings now, she has a second and third batch of chili peppers to support her, so she doesn't have to worry about money in the short term and is not flustered at all!
"Hua Ya, try this!" Shen Zhiyi found ten pistachios (also known as happy nuts) in her bag of mountain produce. "How does it taste?"
Tang Huaya was suddenly given a bite to eat. After hearing Shen Zhiyi's words, she chewed carefully and then said, "It's a bit strange, it's very soft."
Shen Zhiyi peeled the second one, put it in her mouth, and then slowly said, "It's a bit strange that it's been left for so long. Maybe we ate the lowest grade of them. The others can be kept as seeds, but I don't know if they will eventually grow."
"Can this be used as a seed?" Tang Huaya asked in shock.
"Another new seed!" Old Man Tang's eyes suddenly lit up as he looked at the strange "seeds" in Shen Zhiyi's hand.
“It’s a seed, but the growth cycle is too long; the seedling stage alone takes three years,” Shen Zhiyi said in a deep voice.
Pistachios are suited to extreme weather, and it's clear that this place isn't suitable for growing them, yet they've somehow appeared among the mountain produce, which confirms Shen Zhiyi's idea that the seasons here are chaotic.
"Three years? It would take three years for it to grow into a tree!" Old Man Tang exclaimed.
“Yes, after three years, there’s still a five-year or more growth period before the tree matures,” Shen Zhiyi added.
As they chatted, the lingering "melancholy" completely dissipated, and the atmosphere immediately became relaxed.
When the oxcart stopped in Xiaba Village, the villagers who saw it all rushed over, their eyes filled with surprise and doubt, after all, there was so much grain!
Hearing the commotion, the village chief rushed over and stood in front of the crowd, asking in surprise, "Shen girl, what did you buy?"
Anyone could tell that those were bulging grain sacks, but no one dared to say it out loud at that moment.
Amidst those probing, timid, and curious gazes, Shen Zhiyi stated frankly, "It's grain I bought for the village!"
Upon hearing this, the villagers dared not even breathe, fearing they were hearing something they were talking about in their sleep.
"Over the years, I have received a lot of help from everyone. Now that I see everyone struggling, I..." Shen Zhiyi trailed off, understanding the importance of not flaunting one's wealth, "Now that I have this ability, I want to help everyone get through this difficult time. As long as we are united, we are not afraid of any difficulties!"
"Grandpa Village Chief, call some people to unload the grain," Shen Zhiyi called out, and began unloading the grain bags from the truck first.
"I'll do it!" Old Man Tang said hurriedly, and then the others came to their senses and stepped forward to help.
The village chief stood by, silently wiping away tears.
Xiaba Village became lively because of Shen Zhiyi and her family's return, and she has lost count of how many times she has been thanked.
After the grain was distributed according to the roster, as expected, everyone asked about the chili peppers. Taking this opportunity, Shen Zhiyi answered them one by one: "I'll teach you in a bit."
With this statement as a foundation, those who had collected their grain and returned home to store it rushed over. As a result, the number of people here not only did not decrease, but some even brought their families.
Shen Zhiyi led her large group towards her backyard chili field. Upon arrival, the village chief spoke first: "Only one person per household is allowed. Please do not crowd, lest you damage this precious plant!"
"The chili peppers are already grown. As long as you don't pull them up by the roots or break the main stem, they'll be fine," Shen Zhiyi quickly said. Chili peppers will eventually be sold in the market for common agricultural products, and the current high price is only temporary. "Besides, chili peppers are very easy to grow. Everyone here is an experienced farmer, so you'll definitely understand what I'm saying!"
"First of all, the seeds of chili peppers are..." Shen Zhiyi didn't waste any time and went straight to the point, explaining the process from seed saving and seedling cultivation to planting.
"Next, Huaya will explain to us the problems we encountered with chili peppers during the planting stage!" Shen Zhiyi said, turning to Tang Huaya who was listening attentively, "It's time to put her on the stage. Everyone, give her a round of applause!"
Shen Zhiyi led the applause, and the others followed in a daze. Tang Laohan and Aunt Zhao, as Tang Huaya's parents, clapped extremely loudly. Tang Erleng shouted out, "Sister, hurry up!"
Under the friendly gaze of everyone, Tang Huaya's eyes gradually hardened. She walked to the center of the crowd and, mimicking what Shen Zhiyi had explained earlier, earnestly said, "After the first planting of chili peppers, you need to pay attention to..."
Shen Zhiyi stood below, listening and nodding in agreement, feeling the same joy as when she saw her proudest student speaking eloquently in front of others—a joy that shone brightly.
She then added some common diseases that she hadn't encountered while growing the plants herself, to give others more confidence and prevent them from panicking if such diseases actually occurred.
Everyone listened intently, never imagining that farming involved so many intricacies. But chili peppers are so precious, they had to grow them no matter how troublesome it was!
"Now that everyone knows how to plant and care for chili peppers, let's talk about the distribution of these chili pepper seeds," Shen Zhiyi said calmly. "I will provide the seeds. When everyone sells their first batch of chili peppers, you need to give me 10% of the profits to cover the seed costs. This won't be necessary for subsequent batches. If you have any questions, feel free to ask."
"Da Ya, you're already so rich, why are you still charging us for seeds?" someone complained loudly.
As soon as she finished speaking, it seemed she had been hit, and she immediately exclaimed, "Ouch, Cuihua, why did you hit me? We're outside!"
"Hmph, you deserve to be beaten, you heartless bastard!" the burly woman who had been exposed shouted. "Chen girl kindly taught you how to grow chili peppers and how to take care of them, she practically fed you, and you're still greedy, thinking you can't even pay for the seeds! How dare you!"
All the women in the village were thin and small, but she was the only one who could be described as "plump and radiant," making her seem out of place in the village.
Shen Zhiyi had never met this woman before, but from their conversation, she recognized the man on the register as "Deng Ashun," the son of the widow Aunt Deng.
Aunt Deng would never appear in such a crowded setting.
But I heard that Deng Ashun married a girl from town and rarely stays in the village.
If it were the timid and submissive Shen Yatou from before, she would definitely be speechless with shock if she were spoken to like that in public.
“Your wife is right! Since they’re from our village, we can’t be ungrateful!”
"Deng Ashun, if you can't speak properly, then don't speak!"
“You’ve moved to the town now, so you have nothing to do with our village anymore.”
People around her started talking, and as the conversation grew increasingly heated, Shen Zhiyi quickly clapped her hands a few times, miraculously silencing the noise. She said solemnly, "The seed money must be paid, and a 10% profit isn't much. If you want to negotiate this, then don't come here."
Deng Ashun instantly wilted like a cabbage, standing in the crowd, not daring to speak.
Seeing that everyone suddenly fell silent, Shen Zhiyi smoothed things over by saying, "If there are no other opinions, then I'll talk about what's next."
“Girl, you speak,” the village chief said quickly.
"Everyone knows I made money selling chili peppers, but they don't know how difficult it was to sell them. It was not easy to get the chili peppers into the hands of the county magistrate, the wealthy man, and the restaurants. Of course, I can't let the reputation of chili peppers be ruined. There must be no substitution of inferior products."
"It seems that no one has any objections to planting chili peppers this time, so our village will plant them together. We need to agree in advance that the price of the chili peppers must be uniform, and no one can arbitrarily lower the price on their own, which would affect the chili pepper trade of the whole village."
"If we really have to lower the price, it will depend on the situation at that time."
"The quality of the chili peppers is divided into three categories. The first category sells for 80 coins per catty, the second category for 70 coins, and the third category for 60 coins. As for how to distinguish them, I will have Huaya teach you."
“I also signed a contract with Jufu Restaurant, whereby I will pay the restaurant four coins less for each type of chili pepper. In return, the restaurant will buy all the chili peppers of that type. If the restaurant informs us in advance which type of chili pepper they want to buy, I suggest that our village collect the chili peppers together and sell them.”
After explaining the situation logically and with evidence, Shen Zhiyi looked at the village chief, who was in a daze, and softly asked, "Grandpa Village Chief, do you have anything to add?"
The village chief, who was greatly shocked, slowly came to his senses and looked around at the bewildered eyes. It turned out that he was not the only one who was frightened!
"No, no," the village chief murmured, unable to resist grabbing Shen Zhiyi's hand, and said tremblingly, "Girl, the restaurant contract was with you, but the chili peppers belong to the whole village..."
"Grandpa Village Chief, don't worry. The restaurant will probably worry that I didn't give enough chili peppers!" Shen Zhiyi said with a smile. Her confident and bright smile was like a ray of light, illuminating the dark and dilapidated village.
"Good! Good!" the village chief exclaimed, tears welling in his eyes, his knees seemingly about to buckle and kneel down.
Shen Zhiyi quickly pulled the man back and pleaded softly, "Grandpa Village Chief, what are you doing? I don't want to shorten my lifespan."
Seeing that something was wrong, Tang Huaya immediately stood next to Shen Zhiyi and helped the village chief up as well.
"Good children, all of them are good children," the village chief said with a sigh.
On the second day, when the sun was shining brightly, the villagers of Xiaba Village were busy clearing land. Everyone was clearing land according to Shen Zhiyi's plan, making sure there was enough land for their family's labor force. Even the girl from town stayed behind to clear land with Deng Ashun.
If there's a way to make money, who would want to fall behind?
Meanwhile, the chili seedlings that Shen Zhiyi had cultivated in her house were being transplanted one after another. According to her original plan, this would be just enough to keep up with the pace of land reclamation by the other households in the village.
The only variable was the climate, which seemed to be in a "standstill" period, which increased the survival rate of the chili seedlings.
Everything is moving in a positive direction.
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