Chapter 612 Planning Lianhua Village
Wang Zhi's face darkened upon hearing this.
"Yongxing, don't be so unruly. Let your sister-in-law finish her meal first."
Wan Qiqi said indifferently, "It's okay. We don't need to follow so many rules in our family. We're family, there's no need to learn those rules from outsiders."
People need to restrain themselves, but not restrict themselves; Wan Qiqi has always held this belief.
Wang Zhi was about to speak when a knock came from outside the courtyard.
"Yongxing, are you home?"
Upon hearing the voice, Chen Yongxing immediately stood up. "Uncle Chen is here! He must be looking for my sister-in-law!"
Every time Wan Qiqi comes back, Chen Lizheng will definitely come over, and this time is no exception.
Chen Yongxing went out and led Chen Lizheng in.
Chen Lizheng felt somewhat ashamed for disturbing Wan Qiqi's meal, seeing that she was still eating.
Looking around, only Wan Qiqi and Chen Yongnian were sitting down to eat. They seemed to be unfamiliar with the dishes on their plates and appeared somewhat curious.
Wan Qiqi immediately said to Chen Yongliang, "Yongliang, go to the kitchen and get a set of bowls and chopsticks for Uncle Chen."
"No need to trouble yourself, I've already eaten!" Chen Lizheng hurriedly refused.
“Uncle Chen, I know you’ve eaten before, but you’ve definitely never tried this dish before.” Wan Qiqi insisted, directing Chen Yongliang to get it. “The vegetables grown in the wasteland are ripe, so we picked some and brought them back. You should try them too.”
Upon hearing this, Chen Lizheng became even more curious, but also felt that it wasn't appropriate to sit down and eat like this.
Chen Yongliang had already brought in the bowls and chopsticks, while Chen Yongxing pulled Chen Lizheng to sit down.
Wang Zhi and Li Chongniang exchanged a glance, then voluntarily withdrew, preparing to cook a few more dishes.
After Wan Qiqi brought back the new vegetables, she taught them how to cook them; therefore, even without Wan Qiqi, they now know how to handle them.
However, their stir-fries didn't taste as good as Wan Qiqi's.
Seeing a table full of people, Chen Yongnian took out a small bottle of wine from a nearby cabinet and filled it for Chen Lizheng.
Seeing this, Chen Lizheng felt a bit pressured.
Although he was the village head of Lianhua Village, the people sitting in front of him, besides Chen Yongxing, were the military affairs officer, the owner of Xinglong Restaurant who was also the sister of a newly promoted second-class Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), and the acting manager of Xinglong Restaurant's Hefeng Town branch.
Although he was a local gentry, he seemed somewhat inferior to these young people.
“Uncle Chen, please sit down and eat and drink as you please. Don’t be nervous. My elder brother and sister-in-law have finally come back for a visit, and they would like to pay you a visit!” Chen Yongxing naturally became the bridge between the two parties.
"Visiting me?"
Chen, the village head, thought to himself that the couple's current status far surpassed his own as village head, and countless people would want to curry favor with them, so there was no reason for him to personally visit them.
"I wouldn't have been able to grow these vegetables on the wasteland without your help. So, I thought I should send you some so you can try them out."
Wan Qiqi spoke eloquently and confidently, leaving everyone in awe.
Chen Lizheng was stunned.
He knew Wan Qiqi had changed, but he didn't expect that after a few months away, she would seem like a completely different person.
If it weren't for the familiarity of the person in front of him, and the fact that he was sitting in the Chen family's house, he would have really wondered if it was someone who looked exactly like him.
"You're welcome. I'm the village head of Lianhua Village. It's my honor that someone is willing to cultivate this land."
The government officials didn't want to touch the wasteland; they only wanted to find some wicked people to reclaim it so they could reap the benefits.
If it weren't for Wan Qiqi's connections, this land, once developed, would have fallen into the hands of the government.
With that said, Wan Qiqi didn't stand on ceremony with Chen Lizheng and told him about her plans for Lotus Village, while the three Chen brothers cooperated from the side.
For a moment, Chen Li was wondering if he had fallen into a wolf's den.
But what these people were saying was all things that would benefit the development of Lianhua Village and add to his achievements as the village head.
If he makes further contributions to the development of Lianhua Village and solves the problems in the village, and then applies his skills to other villages and towns, he can leave Lianhua Village and obtain a low-ranking official position.
This temptation was too great for Chen Lizheng, and he felt that the Chen family had made a huge promise to him, but he was willing to take it.
Who wouldn't want things to improve?
Not just for myself, but also for my family.
However, he also needed to find out the details about such an important matter as developing the village.
"Qiqi, are you sure the restaurant needs that many vegetables and poultry? You don't want everyone to grow and raise them only to find they can't sell them, do you?"
“Uncle Chen, I can tell you that Hefeng Town and Yunhe County are just the beginning. In the future, I will expand to Liangzhou and the capital. I’m just afraid that the supply will not meet the demand.” Wan Qiqi smiled, her eyes firm.
Chen Li lowered his eyes, carefully considering the credibility of these words.
Seeing Chen Lizheng hesitate, Wan Qiqi continued, "Actually, as soon as my new dishes come out, other restaurants will definitely try to find out where they come from. If Xinglong Restaurant doesn't need that many of the vegetables I grow, other people will want them too."
"That's how competition is in the restaurant industry. If something sells well and is loved by everyone, many other businesses will follow suit," Chen Yongnian said, reinforcing the validity of the point.
After thinking it over, Chen Lizheng nodded in agreement, "If this is done well, it will indeed be as you say. But no one has tasted the vegetables you grow before. If the new vegetables don't sell well, wouldn't everyone have wasted their efforts? And also..."
Before he could speak, Wan Qiqi raised her hand to signal him to stop.
“I will use my existing connections to let everyone in the village taste the vegetables grown in the garden; I also have some seeds that I can share with everyone, and I can even ask Yongxing and Chongniang to teach everyone how to grow them. They can choose to do so voluntarily.”
"How much are the seeds?" Chen Lizheng asked.
"There aren't many seeds, and I sell them to traveling merchants. It's first-come, first-served, and there's no need for money. If you don't get any, you can only watch others plant them and save the seeds so you can plant them the following year."
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