HLnovel Chapter 291 Acquiring the Village Head's Ginger
Chapter 291 Acquiring the Village Head's Ginger
The village head greeted Shui Sheng and Xiao Tang, saying, "You're at home now, so don't be shy. If you come back again, just come here. There's plenty of food."
Both Qingchuan and Shuisheng's families had moved away, and their homes in the village were probably dusty long ago. When they returned, there was nothing there, not even a cold stove or a pot. The village head felt quite sorry for them.
Shuisheng hurriedly said, "Thank you, Uncle Village Head. It's so kind of you to treat us like this. Xiaotang and I are finally able to have a hot meal. We've troubled you a lot today, so we won't stand on ceremony. The children must be hungry after studying at school for half a day. Please let them start eating."
They weren't exactly rare guests, and it felt a bit awkward to have them come for a meal while the younger ones waited anxiously for it to start.
The village headman, beaming, looked at his grandsons and said, "Alright, you little rascals, stop being so greedy and start eating."
The village head's wife put a few bites of food in Xiaotang's bowl and told her to eat quickly and not to be shy.
Lin Xiaotang was very happy, calling out "milk" repeatedly, and found the meal even more delicious.
Because the village head's family had worked for half a day and were tired and hungry, and Shui Sheng and his family were big men with big appetites, all the food was eaten up in the end.
The village head's wife felt a little guilty, thinking that she must have cooked too little food. Worried that everyone was not full, she brought out cucumbers from her own garden for everyone to eat.
Shuisheng took a branch and broke off some for Xiaotang. The group then packed up their farm tools and went to the fields.
After Lin Qingchuan and Wu Yu returned to the pig trotter shop, they unloaded the pig trotters from the carriage. Lin Qingchuan then instructed Wu Yu to have the newly hired female workers in the shop singe off the hair from the raw pig trotters and clean them. After that, Lin Qingchuan drove the carriage back to Guihua Village, found his own field, and saw the village head and Shui Sheng Xiaotang weighing turmeric. He parked the carriage and walked to the middle of the field.
One mu yields over 500 jin, and four mu of land yields over 2,000 jin after weighing. The village head, unable to contain his excitement, immediately decided to sell 2,000 jin and keep the rest as seeds for the next season.
Shen Yuan was overjoyed and excited, his eyes shining. He exclaimed, "My God, how much silver is two thousand catties worth?"
The older brother, Shen Che, kicked his younger brother, saying with a hint of exasperation, "You never study properly when I tell you to. You can't even do basic math. Have all your studies gone to waste?"
Shen Yuan patted the mud off his legs that his older brother had kicked, and said with a resentful look, "Big brother, you're so great, aren't you? Do you think everyone is like you, passing the imperial examination on the first try and becoming a student? I'm not cut out for studying, I can't compare to you. How can you be so unhygienic? Look, you've kicked my pants dirty. You'd better wash them clean when we get home!"
"Dream on! Working in the fields always gets you dirty. Even if I don't kick you, you'll still be washing these clothes when we get home!"
Shen Yuan was speechless, and kept shouting, "Dad, look, my older brother is bullying me again."
The village head, preoccupied with accounting, said impatiently, "How old are you? In your early twenties, why are you still making a fuss like a young boy? You're married and have children, yet you're still so unreliable. You're such a worry, aren't you afraid of being laughed at?"
Shen Che smiled and agreed, "That's right, you're such a grown man, aren't you afraid of being laughed at?"
Shen Yuan, angrily scolded by his father and older brother, plopped down on a pile of turmeric leaves, grabbed a blade of grass and put it in his mouth, then rolled over and closed his eyes to rest.
His wife and sister-in-law smiled at each other; the two sisters-in-law got along very well.
The village head was about to finish calculating the accounts when his second son interrupted him. Annoyed, he glared at his son and muttered, "Two thousand catties of turmeric is twenty thousand taels. One tael of turmeric is two copper coins, so twenty thousand taels is forty thousand copper coins, yes, yes..."
"Forty taels of silver!"
Lin Xiaotang's voice was as melodious as a silver bell. When she said forty taels, everyone's eyes widened in surprise.
Actually, when the village head decided to sell two thousand catties of turmeric, she had already calculated it in her mind. However, the village head was muttering to himself as he carefully calculated, and she was too embarrassed to say it too quickly, lest it make the village head seem unintelligent.
The village head exclaimed excitedly, "Yes, yes, it's forty taels! Good heavens! This field is only four mu, and it can sell for forty taels of silver all at once. And this isn't even all of it yet! This turmeric is really high-yielding and valuable. This season's planting was worthwhile, really worthwhile!"
The village head's family was so happy they almost jumped for joy. If it weren't for Qingchuan and Shuisheng, they would have cheered and shouted to express their happiness.
Lin Qingchuan and Shui Sheng also calculated it and confirmed that it was forty taels of silver. Xiao Tang took out forty taels of silver and handed it to the village head. The village head held the heavy silver and felt like he was dreaming.
He had been farming for most of his life, and never had a single field yield as much as forty taels of silver. In previous years, even the rice harvested from all his fields had never sold for forty taels.
Get rich!
There's also a plot of turmeric he rented from the Shui family that he hasn't sold yet, and he also has several plots of his own land planted with rice. Once he sells them this season, he should be able to earn close to a hundred taels of silver.
Now that I think about it, I've really struck it rich!
If next year, I could plant all my fields with turmeric... Just thinking about it feels like a dream, so unreal.
But the forty taels in his hand were all real, leaving no room for doubt!
Composing himself, the village headman thought to himself that his family was able to grow turmeric and sell it for so much money thanks to Qingchuan and Shuisheng. He called out, "Eldest brother and second brother, quickly help your brother Qingchuan and brother Shuisheng load the turmeric onto the carriage. They need to go back to town, and it will take them some time on the way. Don't let them go back in the dark; it's not safe to travel at night."
Now everyone knows that turmeric is valuable, and everyone knows that Qingchuan and Shuisheng have come back to buy turmeric. What if someone with bad intentions tries to hijack the car on the way?
Shen Yuan's anger had long since subsided. He got up and helped his older brother carry the sacks of turmeric onto the carriage. Fortunately, Shui Sheng and Xiao Tang were driving one carriage, and Lin Qingchuan was driving another when he returned; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to load them all at once.
Seeing that the carriage was full, Shui Sheng asked, "Brother Qingchuan, should we wait to collect turmeric from a few more households, leave it at our house, and then haul it back in several trips, or should we go back now and come back tomorrow?"
Lin Qingchuan considered it carefully and replied, "Go back first today. I'll come back tomorrow to collect a large quantity myself. Keep what you collect at home. You and Xiaotang can take what's in the carriage to a pharmacy to sell. We need to get the money so we can manage our finances. Otherwise, we won't be able to make a living from collecting turmeric for even a day."
This is true.
He took out all his savings and only contributed fifty taels. Brother Qingchuan had plenty of silver, but in order to take care of him and let him take a share, he only contributed one hundred taels.
Today, we spent forty taels of silver just to buy turmeric from the village head's family. Tomorrow, the villagers will finish picking their turmeric. If they all rush to sell it then, we definitely won't have enough to cover our costs.