The village chief, carrying the meat, felt a little nervous. He wondered what could have prompted such a special guest to treat him like this, especially since there was more meat than they had prepared for the New Year.
"This is too valuable..."
He wanted to return the meat, but Jiang Jiuniang and her husband refused to help, and even helped the village chief into the house instead of taking the initiative.
Seeing this, the village chief's son and daughter-in-law couldn't hide their smiles and were even more hospitable to the couple. Since they didn't have tea to serve their guests, they prepared a bowl of sweet soup, which was something they usually couldn't afford to eat or drink at home.
Unable to refuse, the village chief told his daughter-in-law to take the meat away and put it away, then asked nervously, "What brings you two here?"
He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to meet the couple's requests, which would be very awkward.
Lu Baichuan briefly explained their plan to buy a piece of land in the village to build a workshop, and mentioned that they would focus on recruiting hardworking and capable female workers from the village. The village chief was stunned upon hearing this.
The old man remained unresponsive for a long time, his shock beyond words.
He knew, of course, that the Lu family wanted to help the villagers, but he didn't expect them to be willing to invest so much, after all, it was no small amount.
Their village was already better off than any other village in the surrounding area thanks to the help the Lu family had given them back then. Now that the village was going to start building workshops and hiring workers, he couldn't even imagine how much better life would be in the future.
Having experienced that desperate life of fleeing famine, I thought that just being alive would be the best future. I never expected that not only am I alive now, but I also have more hope for the future!
"This...this..."
He was so excited that he stammered, "This isn't you asking me for a favor; it's me thanking you for giving us this opportunity!"
As he spoke, the village chief stood up and was about to kneel down before them, but when he looked up, tears were streaming down his face.
Lu Baichuan quickly helped the old man up. Knowing that he was emotional, he didn't say anything and waited for him to calm down before speaking.
The village chief's son and daughter-in-law, who had been eavesdropping outside, couldn't help but burst into tears of joy upon hearing this.
"How much land do you need? I'll provide it for you! No money required! Consider it an investment from our village, a way for us to contribute to our future!"
The village chief felt they were being too polite. The village was sparsely populated and had plenty of land, so building a workshop on a piece of land was not a big deal. There was no need for the Lu family to pay for it.
Lu Baichuan insisted, "We should still buy what we need to buy. This is our family business, and we can't break the rules."
Jiang Jiuniang chimed in, "Yes, with the money from selling the land, we can do a lot for the village. Uncle Village Chief, please don't be so polite with us."
After being persuaded by the two men, the village chief agreed to accept the money, but at a very low price, just a token amount.
However, since the Lu family buys a lot, even a low unit price can bring the village a large amount of additional income.
The village chief had never seen so much money in his life. He signed the contract with the Lu family on the spot and said, "I will send it to the government office for registration first thing tomorrow morning, and I will also tell the villagers about the sale of the village land."
Jiang Jiuniang nodded; the sooner these matters are settled, the better.
The village chief then asked, "Do you only need to hire female workers? Not male workers? Men are stronger and should be able to work faster."
The village chief wanted to understand the specifics, since nowadays most of the jobs are male and very few are female. It would be unreasonable to have women do the work that men should be doing.
Jiang Jiuniang explained, "We also need male workers, but not many. Our workshop does delicate work, which requires women. In the future, women in our village will work in the workshop, while the men will take care of the fields and the chickens and ducks at home. With everyone busy, we'll have something to look forward to."
The village chief nodded repeatedly, agreeing with what Jiang Jiuniang said.
When they returned, the village chief and his family saw them off again. As they left, they saw several puppies playing in the yard. Jiang Jiuniang thought they were very cute, so she went over, picked up a small spotted dog, and asked, "Uncle Village Chief, are these your puppies?"
"Yes, they were born to our female dog. They're a little over three months old, and we were just about to give them away! If you like any, Madam, please pick one to take with you!"
Seeing that Jiang Jiuniang liked puppies, the village chief smiled and spoke.
“Great! I love this little spotted dog. I’ll take it home and raise it! Don’t give away the rest of the puppies. When the workshop is built in a while, we’ll need puppies to guard the gate. Uncle Village Chief, you can send all the puppies over there, and I’ll pay you all at once.”
Jiang Jiuniang has always liked cats and dogs. She had been too busy to keep one before, but now that she saw this little spotted dog, she felt that it would be nice to have a dog to keep her company when she was away from home.
"No need to be so polite, Madam. I'm glad you like it. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find a suitable recipient for the dog!"
The village chief waved his hand repeatedly, his smile genuine.
These days, many families can't even feed themselves, let alone keep dogs. The village chief loves dogs and can't bear to see his own puppy go to someone else's house and not live well. Recently, several families came to his door, but he couldn't bear to give it to them because those families were not well-off, and he was afraid that they would take advantage of the dog when they had no food.
But if it were the Lu family, it would be different; they would certainly have no shortage of food and drink.
For a dog, having food and shelter is already a great blessing, and the Lu family has done a wonderful thing, so how could he possibly accept money?
Jiang Jiuniang didn't stand on ceremony with him and said with a smile, "Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony with you. You're so thoughtful, even if these puppies go to the workshop, I'll still have to trouble you to take care of them!"
We'll pay the village chief a wage then, so there won't be any issue of owing him a favor.
The village chief didn't think much of it. He didn't think it was a troublesome matter at all, and was even happy that Jiang Jiuniang was willing to entrust this matter to him.
Jiang Jiuniang carried the puppy all the way home. The puppy was so well-behaved that it stayed still even after she came back.
"My little doggy! Look what your mom brought back for you!"
As soon as she entered, she shouted inside. Just then, the dog, who was a little tired from reading, put down his book and ran out. When he saw it was a small black and white dog, his eyes lit up instantly.
"Mommy, whose puppy is this?"
The dog also loves small animals. It took the dog from Jiang Jiuniang's arms and held it tightly, unwilling to let go.
His old pet monkey is still in the capital. Every time he writes home, he makes sure to ask about it. It's clear that he really cares about these animals.
“It belongs to the village chief’s family, but I asked him for it and adopted it. It will come with us to travel and enjoy the scenery from now on.”
"Okay! I'll take care of it!"
The dog couldn't help but affectionately rub the puppy's head, completely enamored with it.
"Sure, I even gave it a super cute name! It's called Little Cow!"
Dog: ? ? ?
Lu Baichuan: ? ? ?
He raised his head, puzzled, and asked, "Why?"
Sisters, this month has been incredibly tough. I've been feeling unwell, taking medication and getting injections, and I also received rabies and HPV vaccines – too many at once! My body can't handle it. I've been dizzy, lightheaded, and nauseous all day. Today, I suddenly got a urinary tract infection and gastroenteritis, another day spent at the hospital, and I'm still feeling terrible. So, my writing this month hasn't been great. I hope you can all understand. I'll try to write more once I've recovered. Also, my new book will be available next month. I apologize again; I'm truly sorry.
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