The best quality golden chrysanthemum is when the buds are mostly open but the flower center is not yet fully open. After drying, the flowers look the best. When brewing tea, the whole flower blooms happily in the water and eventually becomes a huge and complete golden chrysanthemum floating on the water.
The villagers now know that the higher the grade of the flowers, the higher the purchase price from the cooperative. Therefore, in order to prevent the chrysanthemums from blooming on a large scale, every household goes up the mountain to pick flowers almost non-stop, and some even go up the mountain with flashlights before dawn to pick chrysanthemums.
Amidst the hustle and bustle, Jin Chengjie, leisurely climbing the mountain with his driver and assistant, looked just like a tourist visiting the mountains.
Next door to Jiang Xiaoman's house is Tangjia B&B, where the rooms are said to be extremely expensive, but the owner is very honest and never rips off poor people!
Watching Young Master Jin leisurely ascend the mountain, the villagers were secretly delighted for Tang Family Homestay—another big fat sheep had arrived!
Some kind villagers even offered to give him directions.
There aren't many fat sheep willing to come to Langshan on their own initiative.
Each one is extremely precious.
"Oh, I'm not here to play around, I'm here to see my brother."
"His name is Jiang Xiaoman. Do you know where he lives?"
What? Xiaoman's younger brother?
The villagers immediately became alert.
His gaze toward Jin Chengjie was also filled with hostility.
Well! So the old one isn't working out, so they sent a younger one instead?
They only produce one God of Wealth in Langshan every few decades. They've only been enjoying a few good days with him, and now everyone's eyeing him.
"Xiaoman's father only has one son, what kind of brother are you?"
"Oh~ Could it be that the woman who abandoned Xiaoman gave birth to him? How could your mother be so vicious? Even tigers don't eat their cubs. You and your son are both so wicked, how come you weren't struck by lightning?"
...
Jiang Xiaoman is now treated almost like a giant panda in Langshan Town.
Buying and selling giant pandas requires at least ten years.
Jiang Xiaoman was abducted. Tens of thousands of people in Langshan Town were each punched once, and they died.
After Lang Ying's repeated brainwashing, the villagers have finally realized how important Jiang Xiaoman is to them.
He's a walking God of Wealth!
Wherever Jiang Xiaoman goes, he can lead the local people out of poverty and into prosperity, and unlike some investors who invest a sum of money and then leave everything else to others.
Jiang Xiaoman is a man of action; he not only invests but also wants to solve the villagers' sales problems as well.
For example, every household in Langshan now grows golden chrysanthemum.
In fact, people in the mountains are not afraid of working hard to farm; what they fear is that no one will want the produce they have worked so hard to grow.
The people of Langshan don't have to worry at all if they follow Jiang Xiaoman to plant chrysanthemums.
Jiang Xiaoman purchased the chrysanthemum seedlings collectively from growers in Huizhou, at a price that was cheaper than if they had bought them themselves.
The planting techniques were taught to the farmers in the cooperative by Jiang Xiaoman, who invited professors from the Agricultural University to give lectures.
Harvesting techniques and grading standards were also printed into booklets, and each grower had a copy. As long as they harvested according to the cooperative's standards, they could earn at least twice as much per acre as they would if they harvested and sold the produce haphazardly on their own!
Even in tea production, they don't need to spend their own money to buy machines. Jiang Xiaoman's tea factory has a complete production line. As long as the fresh chrysanthemum flowers are picked and sold to the tea factory, they can get paid on the same day.
As for sales, they don't need to worry about that at all. Jiang Xiaoman is now leading a group of villagers to shoot videos and do live streams, and all kinds of Langshan local specialties are selling like hotcakes. Take their golden chrysanthemums for example. Because of their high quality and good taste, they sell out instantly every time they are put on the shelves. Many people who didn't manage to get any are clamoring that if Brother Xiaoman doesn't have time to pick them, they can come to Langshan and help pick them for free...
From planting to sales, Xiaoman has considered all the risks that growers may encounter. What could be a more reliable way to get rich?
What will happen to Jiang Xiaoman if his biological mother really takes him to the city?
Jin Chengjie was instantly surrounded by vigilant villagers.
"What are you doing? Are you going to hit someone? If you come any closer, we'll call the police!" The Jin family's driver quickly protected Jin Chengjie.
"Wait! You've misunderstood. I'm not here to cause trouble for my brother. I'm here to invest in Langshan!" Jin Chengjie quickly explained.
He should have gone to the town government first. If he had reached an agreement with the town leaders as an investor, the entire Langshan town would have fawned over him.
Unfortunately, Jin Chengjie had no interest in intangible cultural heritage such as Tu embroidery, but he was particularly interested in his half-brother and couldn't wait to see how miserable his farmer brother's life was.
Unexpectedly, instead of seeing his brother's misfortune, he almost became the center of attention himself.
Fortunately, this area was very close to Jiang Xiaoman's chrysanthemum fields. In those days, communication was advanced, and soon someone called Jiang Xiaoman to inform her.
Jiang Xiaoman was also speechless.
This year, their family planted a lot of golden chrysanthemums, covering both hills. Today, they hired more than fifty workers from nearby towns to help with the harvest. They were so busy that they could only manage a few bites of vegetables and steamed buns for lunch. Why is this Jin family still haunting him?
Jiang Xiaoman was furious. After thinking for a moment, she called the fellow villager who had informed her and asked them to let her pass.
Why wouldn't he take this free labor that's offered to him?
Want to be my younger brother? Sure, but you'll have to help with the chores around the house too, right?
Let's leave the hundreds of acres of golden chrysanthemums to be picked slowly!
Come back and talk to me about brotherhood when you've finished picking them.
If you're willing to help my family with the autumn harvest, you'll be my most beloved little brother!
Why do rural people all want to have boys? It's not just about valuing boys over girls, but also because women are naturally less capable than men at doing heavy physical labor, especially in the agricultural era. Families with several strong male laborers could generally live quite well.
Even in modern times, physical labor like carrying loads up mountains is not something that ordinary rural women can do.
Like other families, Jiang Xiaoman's family planted their golden chrysanthemums in the mountains near their house.
The winding mountain roads and the grassy slopes are all covered with holes dug every half meter. These holes are filled with base fertilizer and chrysanthemum seedlings are planted. As long as they survive in the first year, chrysanthemums, being perennial plants, have a strong ability to reproduce. In just a few years, they will multiply into a large area.
Just as Jiang Xiaoman told the township officials, the chrysanthemum, like other perennial herbaceous plants, has a well-developed root system. It will not only not damage the local soil and water, but will also protect the soil and water on the slopes and create economic value for the villagers. It is a very good slope protection plant.
However, while planting in such places does not occupy arable land, harvesting and transportation become more troublesome.
Because the flowers are scattered and the mountain roads are inaccessible by car, the only way to get them down the mountain is by hand.
The flowers themselves aren't heavy, but walking up the mountain path is very strenuous.
Jiang Xiaoman initially wanted Jin Chengjie and the others to help her choose things.
But let alone Young Master Jin himself, even his seemingly tall and strong driver couldn't walk the mountain road at all when carrying a carrying pole on his shoulder.
There are techniques to carrying heavy loads on mountain paths. You can't walk straight; you have to walk sideways so that the loads on both sides of the carrying pole don't get caught on the miscellaneous trees along the path.
The driver was inexperienced and kept walking forward without paying attention. The woven bag on the carrying pole accidentally got caught on a tree branch, and he was pulled backward and almost fell into a ravine more than ten meters deep!
Jiang Xiaoman broke out in a cold sweat.
He just wanted to give these people something to do; he never intended to kill them!
He is a law-abiding, exemplary young entrepreneur in the new era, certified by the Langshan Town government!
"I'm sorry, I haven't done farm work for many years either." The driver was helped up, his face flushed with embarrassment.
Back in the day, he was a very capable worker. He took care of the rice paddies in his hometown, which yielded two harvests a year. Later, he found that farming didn't pay as well as working in the city, so he and his wife went to work in the city.
He was lucky. He started out as a security guard at a property management company. Later, during a patrol, he helped Mr. Jin out by stopping his girlfriend who was threatening suicide. As a result, he switched jobs to work at Mr. Jin's house, becoming Mr. Jin's personal security guard instead of just a community security guard.
All the security guards in the Jin family have to learn to drive. The driver is both a security guard and a driver, and his annual salary is higher than that of civil servants in S province. He hasn't been back to his hometown for many years, and he has long forgotten his farming skills!
"Never mind, you guys go pick flowers instead." Jiang Xiaoman sighed and sent the three of them off to pick flowers with a group of aunts and grandmothers.
Jin Chengjie was picking the fruit when he suddenly realized, "Holy crap! I came here to laugh at you, how did I end up working for no reason?"
There was no other way. At this time of year, every household in Langshan was picking chrysanthemums, even young children carrying baskets on their backs. The bigwigs staying at the Tangjia Zen Retreat Homestay also came out to help. The atmosphere had already reached this point. What other choice did they have but to join the labor force?
Chapter 236
Young Master Jin, dressed in his finest attire, came to Langshan hoping to see his cheap brother make a fool of himself, but he was unlucky and happened to be caught in the busy farming season, where he was forcibly detained by the unscrupulous capitalist Jiang Xiaoman.
Without showing off anything, I first picked more than ten kilograms of golden chrysanthemums.
He was so tired that he even took off his expensive watch, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The watch strap keeps getting caught on tree branches, which makes it difficult for him to pick flowers.
"Oh dear! Xiaoman, you're being too silly. This is your own brother! How can you make him work in the fields as soon as you meet him?"
"Quickly, Xiao Jin, come inside and wash your face, drink some cool tea to cool off!" Jiang Youliang said angrily.
He was picking flowers with the workers in the back hills today, completely unaware of the mess his son had made. When he heard that his son had taken his younger brother, whom he had just met, to work in the fields, he rushed back to rescue the poor young master.
"Uncle, you're such a kind person o(╥﹏╥)o"
With tears welling up in his eyes, Jin Chengjie held the Jiang family's large tea mug and drank the entire cup of cold tea in one gulp.
Young Master Jin had never tasted such crude homemade herbal tea in his life, but at this moment, drinking this refreshing herbal tea was even more thirst-quenching than a bottle of foreign liquor costing tens of thousands of dollars!
He's on the verge of a complete breakdown.
Those golden chrysanthemums look quite beautiful from a distance, a dazzling expanse of gold.
But when I went inside to pick the flowers, I discovered that the golden chrysanthemum was very sweet, and some of the flowers were covered with aphids!
Bees were buzzing around the flowers, collecting nectar!
Unidentified insects were crawling around in the humus underfoot; just looking at them would give you nightmares!
He now fully believes that Jiang Xiaoman is a real farmer.
This place is even more terrifying than the rural scenes depicted in TV dramas!
The scariest thing is that they actually ate lunch in the mountains!
He spread the woven bag out by the mountain roadside, washed his dirty hands at a nearby spring, and then pulled out a lunchbox from under his basket. Inside were homemade alkaline rice dumplings, fried rice and fermented tofu, and rice balls made from leftovers...
Jiang Xiaoman's flower fields were too scattered, and he had hired too many people, so it was inconvenient to provide meals. Therefore, he made arrangements with the people he hired in advance that they would not be provided with meals when they came to pick flowers, but would be paid an extra ten yuan per day so that they could bring their own food.
No one objected; in fact, they were quite happy. Since they brought their own lunches and just ate whatever was available, it wouldn't cost more than ten yuan. Xiaoman was essentially giving them a subsidy.
Jin Chengjie and the other two had come halfway and hadn't brought lunch with them, so Jiang Xiaoman had to run home to get each of them two savory rice dumplings filled with vegetables.
Although it's called a zongzi, it's actually more like a rice ball wrapped in bamboo leaves.
During busy farming seasons, people often get hungry. To stay full and work harder, villagers usually bring some glutinous rice dumplings (zongzi) with them when they go into the mountains to work.
Jiang Xiaoman felt sorry for her father, so she modified the traditional alkaline rice dumpling.