Chapter 126 New Year's Plan
Li Haoran also saw what these children were thinking, so he said with a smile: "It's just a joke, don't mind. Tonight, while we are having the reunion dinner, I will tell you about my plans for next year. As for me, I will be in the village outside the mountain most of the time next year. After all, my household registration is in someone else's village, and it's hard to explain if I'm away for a long time. So everything here will be handed over to Ziyi and Yike. How to do it specifically? What to do? Let Ziyi tell us."
"Brother Ziyi, I have been following you firmly since I was a child. Please don't leave me behind!" Chen Dawang finally found an opportunity to speak.
Ziyi gave him a calming look and slowly told him what the family had discussed last night: "Next year we need to increase production and reclaim more wasteland. We have cattle, so it's not difficult to reclaim more wasteland. Plant more sweet potatoes. Next year we plan to make not only dried sweet potatoes, but also sweet potato vermicelli, which requires more sweet potatoes. We also need to plant more rice, as rice will be our main food in the future. We will plant corn according to this year's acres of land, and we will go to the forest to look for fruit trees starting from the second day of the Chinese New Year, and transplant them back if we find them. Canned and dried fruits are both expensive and sell well. If we can't find any in the next few days, we will grow seedlings ourselves, which will take a little longer, but that's okay, we'll just wait for them to grow up."
Ziyi paused, took a sip of soup and continued, "Next year we will raise more chickens and ducks, and the same goes for pigs. It's just that piglets are difficult to raise, while chickens and ducks can be hatched artificially, so we should try to raise more chickens and ducks. Everyone wants to make money, which is a good thing. I have a suggestion, everyone think about it, is it feasible?"
Ziyi looked at everyone seriously and said, "For planting, you should do as before. If you want to plant more, you can open up more land. You can sell what you grow to my family, or you can process and sell it yourself. Everyone knows the method. For breeding, you can buy my chicks and ducklings and raise them. When they grow up, you can sell them to my family or sell them outside. But we don't plan to teach you how to artificially hatch chicks and ducklings for the time being. I believe everyone can understand this. Also, my family has too many things to do, and we are a little short of manpower. I want to hire someone to do the work long-term, regardless of gender, but the wages are the same. The work is very miscellaneous, such as feeding chickens, ducks, pigs, sheep and rabbits, or herding cattle. The wages are higher than those of workers in other factories, and those who come to do it can sign a one-year contract first."
After Ziyi finished speaking, everyone fell silent for a moment. Everyone at this table also quieted down. Everyone was digesting Ziyi's words, and a plan like this that would determine the entire next year definitely required careful consideration.
"You can go home and discuss it with your family and then make a decision. There is no need to rush." Li Haoran said as he saw that everyone was in deep thought.
Chen Dawang stood up and said, "We don't need to discuss this. Ziyi, we'll do whatever you say. I'll grow whatever you grow and sell it to you. My mother will work at your house. It doesn't matter if she signs a contract or not. She's not an outsider. I'm going to raise more than a hundred chickens and ducklings. And if you need anything, just call me."
"Yes, Ziyi, my Da Wang represents the opinion of our whole family. But I want to ask again, my Yue'er is going to get married after the Chinese New Year. Can she come to your house to work before she gets married?" Tao Xiu'e wanted her daughter to save some money before getting married so that she would have a stronger backbone after marriage.
"No problem, sister Yue'er, don't sign the contract yet. It's not too late to sign the contract after marriage if you still want to do it, but you have to sign the contract first." Ziyi said to Dawang, "Our family mainly grows sweet potatoes and rice, and the rest is for our own consumption. You can roast your sweet potatoes yourself, so the price will be higher."
"Brother, will you also buy the roasted dried sweet potatoes? We don't have the manpower to sell them outside." Chen Dawang also wanted to make more money, but he also considered the issue of selling them himself.
"Yes, but we can only give you the purchase price. After all, they have the materials and they have to make a profit from the difference." Ziyi and Yike had already agreed to let them do it themselves. This way they could save manpower and everyone could make money.
Li Youcai saw that Chen Dawang and Ziyi had discussed it, so he quickly interrupted and said, "Ziyi, my family will do the same as Dawang. We will follow your family and sell chickens for more than 100 yuan for us to raise. Your aunt will go to work for your family, and my Xiaoshan will also go, so that he can learn some skills from you. After Yue'er gets married, let her continue to work for your family. We will have no objection."
"My family is the same, Ziyi. My family will also follow your planting and Meili will go to your house to work. But my family wants to raise 300 chickens. Is that okay?" Hu Haohan said anxiously, fearing that if he was slow, there would be no more chickens.
"Yes, no problem with up to a thousand chicks. After the New Year we will move to Utopia, which is used specifically for hatching and raising chicks. We will sell them to you when they are big enough to roam freely on the ground, so it will be easier for you to raise them. You can build a place and a chicken house first. Also, you need someone to learn how to raise earthworms. Chickens that eat earthworms grow fast and are less likely to get sick." Ziyi really wanted them to raise more chickens so that he would have meat to can.
"Brother Ziyi, can we all grow some soybeans? We can make soybean paste to sell, and we can also have tofu to eat. Soybeans are easy to grow and are not picky about the soil. And they can be planted in sweet potato fields, which can make the soil more fertile. We can harvest both sweet potatoes and soybeans, killing two birds with one stone." Yi Ke suggested when he thought of soybeans.
Wang Hongjun stood up suddenly and said excitedly: "Sister Yike, can you make tofu?"
"Yes, isn't it very easy to make tofu?" Yi Ke felt strange. Could it be that people of this era don't know how to make tofu?
"It's not easy, it's very difficult. This tofu is only made in the provincial capital, and it is sold in limited quantities. It is difficult to buy it even with tofu tickets. We don't have tofu for sale on the black market. If we had tofu to sell, we would definitely make a lot of money. Sister Yike, you teach the method of making tofu to a reliable person, and we will make tofu and sell it outside. What do you think? This will be easy to sell whether in the provincial capital or the county town." Wang Hongjun said anxiously.
Ziyi patted him and motioned him to sit down. Ziyi said, "We need to think long-term about selling tofu. First of all, we need to decide on a reliable candidate. The county town that Ma Youcai is in charge of can be done by Tang Dasao. It just so happens that she has no job, so you need to look for someone in the provincial capital. Wang Feng, Dong Guoqing and Liu Bing, the counties that you are in charge of, you need to choose your own people. This person must be one of our own, and he will not pass on the method of making tofu to others. And soybeans should be difficult to buy, so you should buy soybeans first.
"If we want to plant soybeans, we need to buy seeds. Ziyi, who among you is going to buy the seeds? Please buy them back for us." Hu Haohan said.
Li Haoran pointed at Ziyi and said, "Let Ziyi go this time. He and the Red Army are familiar with the black market. We bought a lot of seeds, and we can't buy many through formal channels. Just write down what you want to buy and give it to him after the New Year."
"Yike, besides soybeans, are there any other crops that can be planted that are not picky about the soil?" Li Youcai asked Yike with a smile.
Yi Ke thought for a moment and said, "I'm not really sure, but I heard my grandfather talk about it before. It seemed like there were peas, potatoes, mung beans and the like. My grandfather said that in a book he read, it said that mung beans could be interplanted in sweet potato fields just like soybeans, and that it could increase the yield of sweet potatoes. This requires the uncles to experiment. I haven't planted it either, but it's true, just like the method of artificially hatching chicks. I've already succeeded in the experiment."
"Your grandfather is so capable!" Li Youcai praised.
Yike said modestly: "It's not that my grandfather is talented, it's mainly because the book is well written. When I was a child, my grandfather saw that I couldn't go to school, so he used that book as a textbook to teach me. That's why I remember it." Yike finally explained why he knew so many things. Usually, no one asked, but just guessed in their hearts. Yike didn't dare to explain it specifically, which made him very tired!
"That's also because your grandfather is capable. At least he can read. There are so many words in a book. You can do it too. You can get what's in the book out."
Yike knew this would happen, so he explained why he knew it. Now the truth that his grandfather knew how to read came up and he had to explain it. He had already told a lie, so he had to lie more to cover it up.
"Yes, grandpa knows a lot of words, but he is too honest, so many people don't know he knows words. My current name was given by grandpa, and my mother named me Xiaocao." Yi Ke really didn't want to continue this topic, so he said: "Uncle Li, you can interplant soybeans on part of the land and mung beans on part of the land, so that you will know which one is more suitable for interplanting."
Sure enough, everyone's attention was diverted.
"Is this how you sell mung beans? Are they easy to sell?"
"You can make mung bean cakes, but the price will definitely be high."
"But can you do it? If you can, we can grow more mung beans."
"Yes, I will teach you when the time comes."
"Yike, you are really a lucky star for all of us. When the money is made from the sales, don't forget to reward Yike with 100 yuan each. That's the old rule." Li Youcai did not forget to give Yike benefits. This method could be passed on to future generations.
Hu Haohan also suggested: "I suggest that in the future, if Yi Ke teaches everyone any way to make money, everyone should reward Yi Ke with 100 yuan."
"I agree!" Li Youcai expressed his opinion.
"I agree too!" Chen Dawang said immediately.
"I agree too. This will benefit future generations. I think we should be grateful! We should also tell future generations that this is a good way to make money." Du Qingcang said.
"We too, agree!" Wang Hongjun and several others also expressed their approval.
Li Haoran didn't want to help a bunch of ungrateful people. Since everyone wanted to express their gratitude, he certainly expressed his support. "Since everyone said so, then Yike, you should accept everyone's kindness. Follow this rule in the future. No matter who it is, as long as they can teach us how to make money, they will be rewarded in this way. There is another thing everyone should remember. In the future, as long as we participate in the decision-making of things, the methods we learn cannot be passed on to others without everyone's consent. Anyone who has any objections can withdraw now. We will never force them."
"Only a fool would quit. Anyway, we brothers agree and have no objection." Ma Youcai glanced at Chen Shengli and said.
Chen Shengli had no choice but to lower his head and keep silent. After all, he was the person that no one trusted. Fortunately, his son was the head of the family now, otherwise he would really be afraid that everyone would abandon his family.
Everyone unanimously agreed with Li Haoran's decision.
This New Year's Eve dinner determined the future code of conduct and the way forward for these families. It also laid a solid foundation for everyone to unite and become rich together in the future as society changes.
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