As expected of someone who has farmed for half his life, Jiang Youliang arranged everything perfectly.
While a group of people were busy cutting grass, Jiang Xiaoman unexpectedly discovered a patch of wild Jerusalem artichokes, which was a real treasure!
There are many people in their village, and most of these wild Jerusalem artichokes have been dug up. It's probably because this place is relatively remote, and Uncle Baichuan forgot about it. Surprisingly, no one has dug them up, and they have multiplied into a large area.
"Dad, let's dig up these Jerusalem artichokes and take some roots back with us. Let's plant some behind the new house and the Tang family's guesthouse, okay? It'll be convenient for us to eat them ourselves later." Jiang Xiaoman happily set up her tripod, planning to take her fans on an immersive Jerusalem artichoke digging experience.
Actually, this season is past the best time to dig up Jerusalem artichokes. Jerusalem artichokes are at their tenderest in autumn. However, Jerusalem artichokes are perennial plants, and their roots and stems are not easily rotten when buried underground. It's just that the Jerusalem artichokes have started to sprout this season, but that doesn't affect their edibility.
Sure enough, after digging it up, the Jerusalem artichoke tubers underneath sprouted.
Jiang Xiaoman found two bamboo baskets in the house, first lining them with a thick layer of damp grass, then putting the dug-up Jerusalem artichokes along with the mud into them, layering Jerusalem artichokes and grass, filling two large baskets. She selected those with many buds, so that they would grow more new branches this year.
They dug out the rest, washed them clean, and packed them into woven bags. They didn't have enough salt; they couldn't just stop eating vegetables to pickle Jerusalem artichokes, could they?
He chose to call Shanyan for help.
Upon hearing Jiang Xiaoman's phone call asking them for porters, Jiang Yu immediately couldn't sit still: "What porters? It's just two bags of coarse salt! I'll have my brother Yan deliver them to you!"
Jiang Xiaoman was speechless, thinking to herself, "Is your Brother Yan someone that an ordinary person can command?"
While others might not be able to command others, Jiang Xiaoyu certainly could.
The next day at noon, Shan Yan called Jiang Xiaoman and said that they had arrived at the mountain pass but did not know which way to go, and asked him to come down and pick them up.
Jiang Xiaoman put down the ham she was cooking and ran to the mountain pass. Sure enough, she saw Shan Yan waiting there with Ah Hu and Qing Shan, carrying several baskets.
"That's so inconvenient. Next time I'll pick up some wolf dung from the mountains for you. If anyone can't find the place, you can just light a smoke signal on the mountain from a distance," Ah Hu suggested, offering a bad idea.
"Pah! A signal fire? What if you can't find your own people and the forest fire brigade comes knocking on your door to fine you?" Jiang Xiaoman handed him a pot of iced tea, half-laughing and half-crying.
On the way up the mountain, Shan Yan told him that nine households in the old mountain valley had agreed to plant chrysanthemums with them.
"I asked them to give me a rough estimate. After calculating, including our family's mountain land, we have about 130 acres of mountain land. Is that enough to apply for the project?"
"That's enough! We've just started, so we can't expand too much. Otherwise, if the flower tea doesn't sell, it will cause them to lose a year's harvest." Jiang Xiaoman was also worried.
He has a few acres of land, so selling it in the live stream won't be a problem. But if he sells more than a hundred acres at once, even if he sells it with Jiang Yu, he doesn't know when he'll be able to sell it all.
Most importantly, he initiated this whole thing, so if the flower tea doesn't sell, people will only come to him for help...
Jiang Xiaoman felt a pang of regret, realizing she had been blinded by the profits of flower tea.
Fortunately, not many people have joined yet, and growing chrysanthemums does not require a large investment. The worst outcome is that the chrysanthemums grown cannot be sold, or the price is not ideal, and people will not want to grow them after a year.
He wouldn't force anyone to plant chrysanthemums. If someone didn't want to plant them anymore, he could dig up the chrysanthemum seedlings from the field and throw them away, then use the land to plant potatoes or something else.
Having prepared for the worst, Jiang Xiaoman secretly planned that she would still have to find a way to invite an expert in this field to provide guidance to the farmers.
He doesn't believe they can't sell their chrysanthemums as long as they are of high quality and grade!
Chapter 143
Shan Yan is really a good friend. Jiang Xiaoman only wanted two bags of coarse salt to pickle Jerusalem artichokes, but he unexpectedly sent her a bunch of supplies!
Besides two 50-pound bags of coarse salt, there was a large bucket of soybean oil, a whole box of instant noodles, a 50-pound bag of flour, a 20-pound bundle of dried noodles, and even a basket of eggs and two live chickens!
"These chickens and eggs were given to you by Sister Shan Chunhua from your village. I asked her to buy eggs, but when she heard they were brought into the mountains for you, she refused to accept any money and even caught two chickens to give you some." Shan Yan thought Jiang Xiaoman was simply a social butterfly.
Although he hasn't been back in the village for long, nowadays, very few villagers have a bad word to say about him.
Jiang Xiaoman is indeed good at dealing with people.
When Shan Yan and his apprentices came to deliver supplies to him, he treated them to a meal.
Although not all the wild vegetables in the mountains have grown yet this season, winter bamboo shoots and shepherd's purse are at their best. These past two days, Jiang Youliang has been leading a group of people to cultivate the land, while Jiang Xiaoman is in charge of logistics. When she's not cooking, she goes to the mountains to film videos and gather wild vegetables; she's already dug up a bunch of winter bamboo shoots.
Jiang Baichuan's family also has a small bamboo grove. Usually, no one comes here to dig bamboo shoots. If the winter bamboo shoots aren't dug up soon, it would be a waste for them to rot in the ground.
Jiang Xiaoman would come over with a hoe to dig whenever he had free time. After the start of spring, the winter bamboo shoots had grown quite large, and in some places they had even pushed the mud out of the ground, making them easier to find than in winter. However, winter bamboo shoots were not worth much at this time of year, and the ones he dug up could only be kept for his own family to eat.
It just so happens that Jiang Xiaoman's family has been hiring people to do chores these past few days, and they're worried that the vegetables they brought from home won't be enough. These winter bamboo shoots will fill the gap in their vegetable supply.
Besides winter bamboo shoots, Jiang Xiaoman also followed the land reclamation team to dig shepherd's purse, pick purslane, and cut bitter lettuce. It was a pity that the toon sprouts had only just sprouted, otherwise picking some to stir-fry with eggs would have been quite delicious.
When Ah Hu and Qing Shan heard that they could stay for a meal before leaving, they were so excited that they were like two clingy puppies, circling around Jiang Xiaoman, helping her pick wild vegetables and handing her a gourd ladle or something, being extremely attentive.
"Brother Xiaoman, I heard from Master that you're going to lead everyone to grow chrysanthemums? I searched online, and this flower tea is so expensive. Can we really grow it in Langshan?" Ah Hu asked cautiously.
"Why not? Aren't the wild chrysanthemums in our Langshan Mountain growing very well? They're all from the Asteraceae family. If wild chrysanthemums grow well, then imperial chrysanthemums should also be able to adapt to our climate and soil."
Jiang Xiaoman wasn't worried at all about whether they could grow chrysanthemums here, because—
“I said we can grow it here because I used to grow Hangzhou white chrysanthemums that someone gave me in front of my old house. I remember when I first brought them home, there were only three chrysanthemum seedlings, but the following year they sprouted into a large clump! Later, the field ridge in front of my house was covered with these white chrysanthemums.”
"Think about it, even the Hangzhou white chrysanthemums from Jiangnan grow well here, so I think the imperial chrysanthemums should be just as good."
At this point, Jiang Xiaoman suddenly had a new idea—
"If you don't believe me, wait a few days until the chrysanthemum seedlings I ordered online arrive. Then come to my house, take a few seedlings home, and try planting them in your own land for a year."
That's a good idea!
Even Shan Yan nodded in agreement: "Don't give them away for nothing. How much did you pay for each of these chrysanthemum seedlings online? Can you buy a few dozen more? I'll pay for them and share them with Ah Hu and the others."
“Do you really need to pay for this little bit of money? I bought three thousand seedlings at the wholesale price, which came out to only 25 cents per seedling. But Brother Yan, you reminded me.” Jiang Xiaoman thought for a moment and said, “How about this, I’ll ask the boss to give me another two thousand chrysanthemum seedlings, so that we can finish planting Sister Yingzi’s plot of land. You can divide the rest among your families.”
Seeing that Shan Yan was about to say something, Jiang Xiaoman immediately cut him off—
"Brother Yan, 2,000 chrysanthemum seedlings, including shipping, only cost 500 yuan. Is our friendship not even worth 500 yuan?"
"Besides, if you take it back and plant it, you'll be helping me with my experiment. Langshan is too remote. Although I've thought about asking the higher authorities to send an expert to guide us when we apply for the project, what if they're unwilling to come? After all, our project is too small."
“I think we need to prepare for both possibilities. I’ll start with a small-scale planting with Sister Yingzi for a year to see the results. Brother Yan, we’ll have to rely on you guys over in Laoshan Aozi. Let each family take a few dozen seedlings back and try planting them for a year to see how many flowers they produce, and what the yield and quality are like. That way, we’ll have a better idea of what to expect if we plant on a large scale next year.”
...
Jiang Xiaoman shared her thoughts with Shan Yan, and Shan Yan finally nodded in agreement.
"Then let's do as you say and try planting it for a year first."
Seeing the serious expressions on the faces of the three of them, as if they were planting some kind of precious and difficult-to-care-for Chinese herbal medicine instead of chrysanthemums, Jiang Xiaoman smiled, took out her phone, and while keeping an eye on the fire, she temporarily created a group and sent the links to several videos about chrysanthemum cultivation that she had found while researching.
It must be said that the rapid development of rural areas today is absolutely inseparable from the development of the domestic internet.
In the past, in a remote place like Langshan, there weren't many literate people, let alone those who wanted to look up information. They would have to take several buses to the county town to find books in the library. If they didn't know how to index the books, they probably wouldn't find any relevant planting technology guides even after searching for a long time.
Unlike now, when you can just open your phone and search, you can find both text and video!
Seeing that the three people were engrossed in watching videos, Jiang Xiaoman lit another stove burner next to her, preparing to cook some rice and vegetables.
That's how it is in the countryside. You get hungry easily when you're working. If you just eat plain white rice, a whole pot won't be enough. Plus, plain rice doesn't have any oil or fat, so it feels like you haven't eaten anything at all. That's why Jiang Xiaoman has been making all kinds of braised rice dishes for the past few days.
First, dice the tender winter bamboo shoots, carrots and garlic sprouts you brought from home, and dice the fatty and lean cured pork. Stir-fry them evenly in oil, add seasonings and set aside.
When the rice in the big pot next to you is almost cooked, ladle the stir-fried vegetables and their broth over the rice, stir vigorously with a large spatula until well mixed, smooth it out, and then pour a ring of soybean oil around the edge of the pot.
The rice and vegetables cooked this way will also have delicious crispy rice crust, which is both salty and fragrant!
Jiang Xiaoman put the cooked rice and vegetables on a low simmer in the pot and began cooking.
We've dug up so many winter bamboo shoots lately, we need to eat them quickly. After peeling them, cut the bamboo shoots into diagonal slices, then cut the cured pork into thick chunks. Heat oil in a wok, first add garlic and ginger slices to sauté until fragrant, then add the cured pork and stir-fry for a few seconds. Add a few dried chilies, then add the bamboo shoot chunks, stir-fry a couple of times, and then add water to boil.
After cooking for about twenty minutes, seeing that there wasn't much broth left in the pot, Jiang Xiaoman quickly scooped the vegetables out and put them in a large stainless steel basin, asking Ah Hu to help him carry it to the brazier to simmer slowly.
Then he stir-fried some cured pork slices with shepherd's purse, made a cold dish of shepherd's purse and a cold dish of preserved egg, scooped out a bowl of his own pickled taro sprouts, and finally brought out the pork skin jelly he had made the night before. He then hurried out to call his father to bring people back for dinner.
"Oh my! You're the luckiest one, Brother Liang! Xiaoman's cooking skills are better than any restaurant in our town!" Everyone praised the chef while eating.
There's nothing we can do about it; the Jiang family has been eating so well these past few days.
Jiang Youliang hired people from the village who often did odd jobs nearby, such as building houses and slaughtering pigs; they would do anything that could make money.
These people weren't very educated; all they had was their strength. Although they looked about the same age as Jiang Youliang and were already retired in the city, when it came to physical strength, many young people from rural areas these days probably couldn't match them.
They often ate at their employers' homes, but since they were paid, even if it was just a polite gesture like providing a meal, buying some meat, or killing a chicken, it was considered the best hospitality.
How could anyone be like Jiang Xiaoman, who eats a hearty meal of meat and vegetables every day, plus several meat dishes!
As a result, they've been eating a lot more meat lately, and even things they usually look down on, like shepherd's purse and purslane, now taste refreshing.
Upon seeing Shan Yan and the others, and hearing that they had come to deliver something to Jiang Xiaoman, the workers all exchanged knowing glances.
That's why they say the old shaman was a diviner.
He said Jiang Xiaoman is Langshan's lucky star. Look! He can even subdue a bandit leader like Shan Yan from a remote mountain village, and he even went up the mountain to deliver things to him. That's his skill!
Jiang Xiaoman was unaware that she was almost being deified in the eyes of her fellow villagers.
He held the bowl, shoveling vegetables, meat, and rice into his mouth, while telling his father that he and Shanyan would be going to the old mountain valley in a couple of days so that Shanyan could finish cultivating the land here, and then the same group of people would go back and cultivate their own land.
"And about Sister Tang's guesthouse, I'll ask her later if she wants to farm together. If she does, it'll be good for all the uncles and elders to earn a few more days' wages." Jiang Xiaoman smiled.
He knew that people in the mountains didn't have many opportunities to make money. If his family hadn't been so busy this year, his father wouldn't have been willing to spend money to hire someone to plow the land. He would rather delay for a few more days and do it himself.
Hiring someone to till the land, including a meal, costs 80 yuan a day.
When the group heard that there was still work to be done, they all showed expressions of surprise and delight.
If you do the math, you can work here for a few days and then go down the mountain for a few more days. During the off-season, you can actually earn over a thousand yuan, which is enough to cover half a year's living expenses. How could you not be happy?
Seeing their happiness, Jiang Xiaoman smiled but didn't tell them that if he could get the chrysanthemum planting project approved smoothly, then once the business took off, not only them, but most of the villagers in Langshan Village would be able to find work right at their doorsteps.
If chrysanthemum cultivation can truly be developed into an industry, then in the future, ordinary people can grow chrysanthemums at home, and during the off-season, they can earn wages by helping others plow the land and transplant seedlings. When the chrysanthemums are ready for harvest, they will have work to do for almost two months.
That's not all. Once the processing plant is up and running, won't the assembly line need to hire people?
In addition to those who pack, transport, and handle logistics, there's also the routine field management...
Although these jobs are very scattered and cannot even be called "formal work", they are very suitable for rural people.
After all, in their rural areas, many families have their own fields and livestock to manage, so it's unrealistic to expect them to work full-time in factories.
It would be better to do it this way: each family can use their spare time to do odd jobs near their homes. They may not earn as much as they would working in a factory, but they have more freedom and can take care of their families nearby.
Jiang Xiaoman had already made a plan in his mind. With just one hundred mu of chrysanthemums and the beekeeping industry he was already promoting, the economy of Langshan Village would be revitalized, if not completely.
At the very least, from now on, beekeeping and odd jobs will increase each family's income by 20,000 to 30,000 yuan per year, which will greatly improve a family's life.
However, whether the chrysanthemum can take root and flourish in Langshan, and whether it can develop into a profitable industry, remains to be seen.
He didn't want to disappoint the villagers before things were confirmed.
The most important thing right now is for him to set an example for his fellow villagers—only if his own family really makes money by growing chrysanthemums will people not only in his village, but also in the surrounding villages be envious and start growing them too.