Although Mr. Shen didn't know how the other party managed to do it before even choosing a location, now that they had said so, his insistence on clinging to that little bit of wild vegetable seemed somewhat deliberate.
After pondering this in his heart for a while, Mr. Shen still felt a little uneasy. He didn't express his opinion directly, but said, "Now that all these matters have been handed over to Qiuqiu, we still need to ask Qiuqiu's opinion on how to handle this."
Secretary Cao immediately smiled at Shen Wuqiu and said, "Wuqiu, this matter is beneficial to our entire village. Think about it, when the Gesang flowers bloom, people will come and go. When people come, even if they don't eat, drink, and have fun, they'll at least eat and drink..."
“I understand what you’re saying.” Shen Wuqiu nodded, then looked at Lao Du, “I also agree with planting Gesang flowers, but how long can Boss Du keep it up?”
Old Du was stunned for a moment, not quite understanding what she meant. After exchanging a glance with Secretary Cao, he said, "Naturally, the subcontracting period is the longest it can be."
"How long does Mr. Du plan to sublet the land? Also, will planting cosmos flowers have any impact on the land? As you know, although we currently hold the land use rights, they will be returned to the villagers in five years. If the soil changes by then, who will bear the responsibility?"
Upon hearing this, Old Du glanced at Chen's father and then laughed, "No wonder you can entrust such a large business to your daughter with peace of mind. This niece is a capable person."
Mr. Shen couldn't hide his pride. "Not at all, you flatter me."
Old Du exchanged a few polite words before turning to Shen Wuqiu and saying, "Niece, don't worry, I will definitely not let you suffer any losses. As for the things you are worried about, we will list them out one by one when we draft the contract."
After saying that, Lao Du raised his glass again, "Come on, let's stop talking."
Shen Wuqiu looked at him, scrutinized him for more than ten seconds, and then raised the juice glass in front of her and clinked it against his.
Seeing her clink glasses, Old Du's smile widened. "My dear niece, you're a visionary. I heard from Old Cao and the others that as soon as you took over, you turned the area around West Mountain into an orchard, planting bayberries on the ground and tangerines on top. Let me tell you, when the bayberries ripen, the cosmos flowers will be in bloom. After you've seen the cosmos flowers, you can go to your bayberry orchard and set up some kind of fruit picking activity. You won't have to worry about selling your bayberries."
Gu Miaomiao spoke her mind, "Even without Gesang flowers, our bayberries will still sell well."
Old Du: "..."
Shen Yan quickly smoothed things over: "Hey, Boss Du, that's the truth. The bayberries that Wuqiu planted this year had a very good harvest for the first time. The bayberries are even sweeter than those grown at the base in the county."
"Tsk tsk tsk, why am I not so lucky to have such a capable daughter?"
...
After eating and drinking their fill and finishing their business, the men exchanged pleasantries for a while before the dinner party finally ended.
At the end, Shen Yan saw off Secretary Cao and Lao Du before coming over to greet Shen Wuqiu and the others.
Mr. Shen asked him, "Who is this Mr. Du?"
“I don’t know his exact background, but I heard that his brother-in-law is from the city.” After saying that, Shen Yan looked at Shen Wuqiu and said, “Secretary Cao has also stepped in. I think they are determined to set up the Gesang flower base here.”
Shen Wuqiu understood his unspoken message: she should know when to stop.
This is also a well-intentioned act.
Shen Wuqiu nodded, "It's fine to stay here."
Shen Yan looked at her, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
Gu Miaomiao was furious and stepped in front of Shen Wuqiu, saying, "Don't try to look at my wife. Speak your mind."
"Be good, stop making a fuss." Shen Wuqiu naturally put her arm around Gu Miaomiao's waist. After coaxing the big cat, she smiled apologetically at Shen Yan: "I hope you don't mind my little one's innocent words."
"My little one..."
In Shen Yan's view, this was nothing short of blatant pampering.
At the same time, he always thought that a woman like Shen Wuqiu, even if she liked someone, wouldn't be very passionate.
It turns out, I just hadn't met that kind of person yet.
He thought... that Shen Wuqiu's previous different attitude towards him meant she liked him.
Sure enough, he was just being delusional.
Thinking of this, Shen Yan couldn't help but lower his head and laugh self-deprecatingly, "No." Then he turned to business, "Boss Du is a reliable person, and with Secretary Cao acting as a go-between, there shouldn't be any major problems."
Shen Wuqiu nodded. "I think he's alright. It seems our women's intuition is pretty accurate."
After saying a few more words, Shen Yan drove away in his car.
Shen Wuqiu and the others got into their car. Shen's father, who had been drinking, sat in the back, while Shen Wuqiu and Gu Miaomiao sat in the front.
While fastening her seatbelt, Gu Miaomiao muttered to herself, "I think he's still up to no good and has his eye on you."
Seeing that she had been trying to fasten her seatbelt for a long time without success, Shen Wuqiu leaned over and helped her press it down. "It takes you so long to fasten a seatbelt."
Gu Miaomiao took the opportunity to lean over and give her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Hmph, what can I do? I'm still just a kid."
Shen Wuqiu couldn't help but chuckle, "Are you still angry?"
Gu Miaomiao hummed again.
Mr. Shen, standing behind, couldn't bear to watch and pretended to clear his throat.
Upon hearing his cough, the two people in front of him immediately straightened their backs.
Mr. Shen snorted, "Seriously, don't you two get tired of being together all the time?"
A note from the author:
My period came early these past two days and the pain has been unbearable.
So there haven't been many updates yet; I'll try to make up for it in a couple of days.
Chapter 136
Old Du was eager to deliver on his promise, and as soon as New Year's Day was over, he couldn't wait to sign a contract with Shen Wuqiu's side.
Although Secretary Cao and others acted as guarantors, Shen Wuqiu still consulted a lawyer to review the contract first. After confirming that there were no problems, she then asked the village leaders and villagers to discuss the matter.
Although Lao Du was anxious, he didn't think she was a troublemaker and kept praising her for being cautious.
Nowadays, people's lives have improved, and few people in the village are willing to farm. They just cultivate a small plot of land in front of their homes to grow vegetables. As for other fields, the villagers are quite open-minded, since they have all been leased out. As for what others want to grow, most people have no objection.
After persuading the villagers, Shen Wuqiu finally signed the contract.
Old Du seemed like a straightforward person; as soon as the contract was signed, he immediately paid the compensation for the rapeseed field.
Last year's rapeseed yield was approximately 1,000 yuan per mu. The total contracted paddy fields were about 210 mu, but the terraced fields in Wanwan only accounted for 80 mu.
Old Du wanted to sublet about 80 acres of land in Wanwan, but when it came to compensation, he generously gave 100,000 yuan. In his words, the extra 20,000 yuan was his marketing fee.
As for this marketing expense, it's for the remaining 100-plus acres of rapeseed fields.
The villages of Jingrong, Sijing, and Linjiawan are like the three corners of a triangle, with each village situated at one of the corners, and the area enclosed by the three villages being their farmland.
The village committee center of Jingrong Village is located right in the middle of this large triangle. This central point is also the highest point of these hundreds of acres of farmland. More than ten years ago, this was a primary school. Later, the number of students decreased and the school was abandoned. Later, this land became the village committee center of Jingrong Village.
Standing on the land belonging to the village committee, one can see that apart from a road running north to south, the surrounding area is all paddy fields, especially the western ones, which resemble a row of neat ladders, descending step by step to the lowest point, forming a small basin. On the other side of the basin, the terraces begin to rise again, extending to another small flat-topped area. This flat-topped area faces the village committee across the water, is lower in elevation than the village committee area, but is larger in area, and is surrounded by these terraced fields on all sides.
The terraced fields surrounding this flat-topped land are collectively known as Wanwanli.
Old Du wanted to plant Gesang flowers around the four sides of this flat-topped land—that is, the land west of Wanwanli and the village committee.
Of the fields in the three villages, except for about thirty mu of land north of Pingdingdi which were under Shen's contract, almost all the other fields were contracted by him for oilseed rice rotation.
Now that they've taken away eighty acres of fields in the bay, there are still about one hundred and thirty acres left to grow rapeseed. If the village committee is used as a viewing platform, it will be an excellent viewing platform when the rapeseed flowers are in full bloom.
Old Du valued the ornamental worth of these rapeseed flowers.
Knowing that Mr. Shen had been practicing rice-oil rotation for several years but had never promoted such a large field of rapeseed flowers as a tourist attraction, he was initially heartbroken, and then he came up with the idea of using this rapeseed field.
Rapeseed flowers bloom in March and April. If all goes well, his cosmos flowers will be planted by then. He can use the rapeseed flowers to promote the product and attract attention. When the cosmos flowers bloom in May and June, it will be even easier to promote it.
Old Du was thinking this to himself, and he also told Shen Wuqiu about it.
The advantage of this transparent pricing strategy lies in its honesty. Shen Wuqiu didn't find it offensive; on the contrary, she looked at the man with higher regard and returned the extra 20,000 yuan to him.
Old Du appreciated her straightforwardness, readily accepted the money, and began to busily work on turning over the soil.
Once New Year's Day is over, the Lunar New Year is just around the corner.
There wasn't much work to do in the fields, but Shen Wuqiu had plenty to do.
With so many mountains, forests, land, and reservoirs rented out by the family, there were endless accounts to settle at the end of the year. Add to that the wages for those who helped out, and Mr. Shen didn't have a set rules or standards. People would just ask for money whenever they needed it, and then we'd tally it up at the end of the year. In years with higher profits, we'd give them more; in years with lower profits, we'd give them less.
At the end of autumn, Shen Wu compared his father's messy account book with the records, and just looking at the accounts gave him a headache.
Fortunately, when she was at her wit's end, she found that a certain cat was finally of some use. Gu Lingyu's genius brain finally had a place to be used. Not only could she remember numbers she had seen, but she also had super strong calculation ability.
So, with the help of a cat, the couple sorted out a two-hundredledger in less than two days.
After sorting out these old accounts, Shen Wuqiu began to worry again. According to the accounts, last year's income was negative, and not just a little, but two hundred thousand.
Admittedly, the forestry project is still in the investment phase, and once the timber is sold, the income will be substantial. However, her next project, the fishing club, is also an investment-driven endeavor. Without a stable, large source of income to balance the expenses, she could go bankrupt in three to five years if things continue this way.
Thinking of this, Shen Wuqiu couldn't help but sigh, "It seems that farming is not an easy task."
A carefree big cat immediately seized the opportunity and fawned over the cat, saying, "Then let's not plant them."
Shen Wuqiu gave her a reproachful look.
Gu Miaomiao immediately changed her tune: "Qiuqiu, don't be afraid, your wife will help you plant it."
Shen Wuqiu couldn't help but laugh.
Gu Miaomiao quickly rubbed her nose against her face and leaned in to give her a kiss.
Shen Wuqiu nudged her and snorted, "You little kitten's mouth, you're a liar. You can farm?"
Gu Miaomiao asked with a sincere expression, "Do you think my farming skills are bad?"
Shen Wuqiu was baffled. "When did I start tilling the land?"
Gu Miaomiao suddenly snuggled up to her neck and nuzzled against her, "Haven't I taken good care of you?"
"..." Shen Wuqiu was so embarrassed and annoyed that she just wanted to kick her off the ground. "Gu Lingyu!"
Gu Lingyu took shamelessness to the extreme, "Of course, if you think it's not good enough, I can continue to improve it."
Shen Wuqiu picked up a pillow and threw it at her. After taking a deep breath, she asked her, "Where did you learn all this nonsense and lewd talk?"
"It was my own idea."
Seeing her proud expression, Shen Wuqiu was furious and threw another pillow in anger. "Don't you ever think about important matters? What are you thinking about all day?"
“This is also a serious matter.” Gu Miaomiao caught the pillow, scratched her head, and added, “Actually, it’s not entirely my own idea; it’s adapted from what Stephen Chow said.”
"...Stephen Chow?"
"It wasn't that 'Three Days of Pleasure' thing from last time... it was too potent, I was worried about your health... but I was too embarrassed to ask your mother and the others, so I thought Zhou Xingxing was close to you and seemed to know quite a bit, so I asked her. She told me not to worry, saying that in bed, there's no such thing as a horse that's been exhausted, only land that's been over-plowed. She said that in our situation, it's like I'm the horse, and you're..."
"Shut up!" Shen Wuqiu couldn't take it anymore. "I really am..."