It wasn't a bite, but it wasn't very hard. With that puppy-like strength, she was even thinking of sleeping in the bed tomorrow night!
"My lady, I'm still hungry~ If you dare to be distracted before you've fed me, you'll be punished~"
"I'm so sorry my Ah Yan is hungry, I'm coming right now~"
Late at night, Fugui and Jiutiao lay in the bamboo house, their little ears twitching as they listened to sounds that were not appropriate for their age.
Fugui would occasionally sit up, his big, round eyes gazing towards the room of his two masters.
It seemed unable to understand the lingering, murmuring sounds now, but it felt that its two masters' rooms were unusually lively tonight.
Spring is a wonderful season, the beginning of the four seasons, when all things revive and flourish.
Before the crops and vegetables in the fields were even planted, the village chief brought over contracts for the contracting of the mountain and river areas.
The mountains and forests mentioned in this contract include, but are not limited to, the hill where Ye Lingyu was almost buried the first time they met.
Cheng Qingyan also contracted out the entire mountain area, extending up to half of the village.
Although the mountain was contracted, the imperial court still prohibited the contractors from cutting down trees without permission.
She couldn't possibly avoid cutting down a single tree, so the best solution was to invite the clerk and officials responsible for logging records over after the fields were planted.
Negotiate the logging in front of them.
As for the river issue, it's much simpler in comparison.
She knew that the upper reaches of this river led to Shuanghe Village, but she had never been beyond that.
According to the village chief, this river is a branch of a huge lake.
Down from their village, the river flows through several more villages before finally joining a larger river.
After converging, they diverge again; it can be said that there is neither a beginning nor an end.
Fortunately, the river wasn't very wide, only about five or six meters across. Since there were no boats on it, her enclosure for fish farming wouldn't obstruct passage.
Her original intention was to rent the entire stretch of river from one end of the village to the other.
However, some people were envious and refused to agree, so in the end she could only rent two-thirds of the river area.
But that's enough for now, since she still has the river in her space.
Everything was finished, and it was already April.
By April, the basic framework of their new home had been built.
Cheng Qingyan's family already lived some distance from the other villagers, so they reserved enough space for their new house.
The reason she left so much space was that she wanted to divert river water to dig several ponds between the old house and the new house to raise fish and shrimp.
The fish raised in the river are from the river, but she also wants to raise other things in separate ponds.
Some families in the village have taken advantage of their proximity to the river to grow lotus roots.
But none of them are large-scale farms; they're just for our own family's consumption.
She always remembered the stir-fried lotus seeds she ate in modern times, and she also remembered being chased around while picking lotus flowers.
She also fondly remembers pickled lotus root shoots.
Now that she has this river, she will be able to achieve freedom in aquaculture.
She told Ye Lingyu about her grand plan, and Ye Lingyu watched her describe the scene she longed for, her face beaming with excitement.
This is the real Cheng Qingyan, someone with ideas and ideals.
In April, the villagers had finished cultivating their fields and were now at home with nothing to do.
Cheng Qingyan is now recruiting workers to fence off the chicken farm.
Unlike in modern times, in ancient times, you could buy fences with money and block off an entire forest without any problem.
Now she can only first fence off a few chicken coops on flat ground, and then enclose them.
Dozens of people were recruited from the village; some were responsible for repairing chicken coops, and others for digging ponds.
After batches of soap were produced by Meng Xinyu and shipped to Wanfeng County, Luo Ji and his team were able to open up the soap market.
Now, about ten people in Meng Xinyu's family are constantly making soap in preparation for shipping the second batch.
Seeing that Cheng Qingyan had hired so many people to do other work, Meng Xinyu couldn't sit still any longer and knocked on Cheng Qingyan's door that very night.
"Brother Qingyan, you can't just focus on what's in front of you. You should also think about what happened before!" He came in a hurry, but Cheng Qingyan was completely confused and didn't understand at all.
Hongyu and Mu Zhiyue were still having dinner when Cheng Qingyan opened the door; they were also eating at the time.
They invited Meng Xinyu into the house and gave him an extra set of chopsticks and a bowl.
Meng Xinyu declined, saying, "I didn't know you hadn't eaten yet so late. I came here mainly to talk to you about the soap."
"Brother Xinyu, please sit down and eat first. We can talk after we finish eating."
Meng Xinyu said anxiously, "I've already eaten. Listen to me while you eat."
"Manager Luo needs a lot of soap. Even if we work non-stop, we still can't make that much."
"So I was thinking of asking you if we could hire some more people. But if we hire more people, my house won't be able to accommodate everyone."
Indeed, the soap-making workshop was originally set up at Meng Xinyu's home.
Because they have an empty house and a large enough yard.
Even the largest courtyard, if people live there all the time, is not convenient for a long-term workshop.
Moreover, now that the market has been developed, the supply from small workshops cannot keep up, and more manpower is needed.
She was busy raising chickens, ducks, and geese, as well as dealing with the new house, and hadn't really paid attention to the soap business for a while.
Now we have to dig ponds, raise chickens, and make soap. Suddenly I feel like there's so much to do.
"My wife, what do you think? There's a huge market demand for soap, so we definitely need to build a factory. We just need to consider where to build it."
Ye Lingyu nodded in agreement. Now that the market in Wanfeng County has opened up, the best location for the factory is naturally in Wanfeng County.
However, if the factory is located in Wanfeng, Meng Xinyu's family workshop may be shut down.
But Cheng Qingyan's initial idea was the Belt and Road Initiative, with the idea of the rich helping the poor.
If the factory were located in Mengjia Village, each shipment to Wanfeng County would be delayed for a long time.
Moreover, after a while, once the vegetables are ready to be harvested, someone will need to transport them via a dedicated line.
Cheng Qingyan couldn't possibly go to Wanfeng County to grow vegetables; she was already too busy in Mengjia Village.
After much thought, Ye Lingyu still felt that it would be better to build the soap factory in Mengjia Village.
“Ayan, we made a promise to the village chief. We won’t let you be the only one to get rich, so let’s build the soap factory in Mengjia Village.”
"My wife is right. Let's choose a location tomorrow and take a three-pronged approach!"
Mu Zhiyue's health has improved a lot recently, and he seems to be no different from an ordinary person.
He had been idle, but seeing that Cheng Qingyan and the others were so busy that one person was practically being used by eight, he volunteered to help Cheng Qingyan.
With Mu Zhiyue's help, Cheng Qingyan and Ye Lingyu's burden was greatly reduced.
Mu Zhiyue already had experience managing shops, and now he was responsible for managing and teaching Meng Xinyu and the others, and for training a group of capable people to pave the way for the future.
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