Indeed, although Langshan is not far from Shuangwan Town as the crow flies, it is separated by many mountains, and customs vary from place to place. She had never actually tried the food and snacks here before.
"We don't have much good food here, just potatoes, it's just something new to eat." Jiang Xiaoman smiled. "When my house is finished, I'll hire a master chef to cook a nice housewarming feast. Sister Tang, you must come to the feast then."
"It's more than just drinking. If our cooperation really goes through, I won't just be a guest anymore, I'll be practically a host." Tang Xinlan smiled.
Because of the tight schedule, Jiang Xiaoman couldn't make anything too complicated. He also wanted to make more so that the children could take some food on their way home from school. After thinking it over, he decided to make their usual roasted potatoes.
Choose long, flat potatoes, wash them, boil them until cooked, and then drain and let them cool. Next, prepare various side dishes: a bowl of chili sauce, a bowl of chopped pickled chilies stir-fried with soybean oil, a bowl of fermented soybeans made by Jiang Baichuan, and a bowl of sliced cured meat stir-fried with the chilies. Cut the cooked potatoes in half, and then you can add the side dishes according to your own taste.
Worried that the children wouldn't be able to handle spicy food, Jiang Xiaoman also stir-fried chives and eggs as a side dish, and fried some ham sausages and placed them on the side so that anyone who wanted some could help themselves.
The children were still in class when Jiang Xiaoman finished making them, so she made a few for Tang Xinlan and the others to try. To her surprise, Su Jin and Tang Yulin actually liked the fermented soybeans Jiang Baichuan made. Even Tang Xinlan and the others said they were good after eating them.
"My Uncle Baichuan usually only knows how to cook simple dishes like stir-frying, boiling, and braising. I never expected that he could make such delicious fermented soybeans." Even Jiang Xiaoman was amazed.
He had just felt that there weren't enough side dishes, so he rummaged around in the kitchen and finally found a bag of dried fermented soybeans. He guessed that Jiang Baichuan had forgotten about them after he finished cooking, but they turned out to be surprisingly delicious!
They had just finished eating when the school bell rang. Jiang Xiaoman was worried that the students would run away as soon as school was over (that's how he was when he was a child), so he quickly went over to Jiang Baichuan and told him that he had cooked potatoes and that each student should take two to eat on the way.
The students cheered instantly, and even Jiang Baichuan couldn't help but smile: "These little rascals are going to be living the good life as soon as you come back."
Qu Jingjiang, who had just finished class next door, couldn't help but chuckle and reveal a hint of sarcasm: So eager to take his place?
Jiang Baichuan looked up at him, Qu Jingjiang rolled his eyes, picked up the triangle ruler, and strode away.
Jiang Xiaoman was completely oblivious to Qu Jingjiang's one-sided sneer. He was already surrounded by a group of enthusiastic young people, enjoying their sincere and enthusiastic flattery.
"Brother Xiaoman's cooking is the best!"
"When I grow up, I want to go to college and learn to cook!" → Hey! You don't need to go to college to learn to cook, kid. How about checking out New Oriental?
"When I grow up, I will definitely marry Brother Xiaoman!" → No need for that. By the time you grow up, my hair will be all white, okay?
A group of little brats swarmed around their all-powerful little brother Xiaoman and quickly moved to the kitchen. Seeing several side dishes laid out on the cutting board, they cheered. Two older students quickly spread their arms to block the way, craning their necks to maintain order: "Stop making noise! Line up! Line up! Line up by grade!"
Fortunately, the school only had about thirty students, and they were probably used to lining up by grade. They quickly formed a line. The two older children were also sensible. Children of this age in the countryside can be considered half adults. They had many siblings at home and were used to taking care of their younger brothers and sisters. They cooperated well, with one helping to cut the potatoes in half and the other helping to pick up the vegetables.
The younger students help pick up food, but by the time it's the third grade, they're allowed to do it themselves.
The children often eat roasted potatoes at home, like this: boiled potatoes cut in half. But usually they just scoop some chili sauce on them. How could they be like Jiang Xiaoman, who has several side dishes, such as cured meat and eggs, when she eats roasted potatoes?
Jiang Baichuan had no idea that he had made so many side dishes. He thought it was just like usual, at most stir-frying some pickled peppers or something. He was used to waiting until all the students had started eating before he went to get his food. He didn't expect to see so many plates laid out on the cutting board as soon as he entered the door!
"Jiang Xiaoman! You didn't fry all the school's free-range eggs, did you?" Jiang Baichuan's vision went black.
"No, no! I fried eggs that I bought myself!" Jiang Xiaoman quickly tried to clear her name.
Just kidding! The school's free-range eggs are only for students who get perfect scores or make outstanding academic progress. How could he dare to touch those eggs? These eggs are farm-raised eggs he bought from the corner store for three cents each, unlike the eggs laid by ordinary people's free-range chickens, which now sell for eight cents each at the market.
"Don't waste money next time. How can you eat eggs every day? Your family still needs to build a house." Jiang Baichuan scolded him a couple of times, then decided to save the good dishes for tomorrow's lunch, or to stew them with some greens for the children. He would just have some fermented beans to eat.
Tang Xinlan stood to the side and watched for a long time.
They should have left by now, but seeing this scene, she suddenly had a new idea.
Chapter 31
"Xiaoman, it will take a few more days for the project to be finalized. Are you busy these days? If you're not busy, I'll have someone teach you how to operate a social media account?"
Even if the homestay project is finalized and officially put into operation, it will still take at least two years. But look at it now, although the people in Langshan have escaped their previous abject poverty with the help of the country, their lives are still vastly different from those in other places! Ultimately, it's because the people can't make money from farming.
Think about their village; many children there are tired of eating meat, and they have to be coaxed and tricked into eating a boiled egg every morning. But what about the children here?
The family only gets to eat cured meat during holidays, and the eggs at home have to be sold for money. They can't afford to eat them normally. Only Jiang Baichuan feels sorry for the poor food these left-behind children eat at home, so he tries his best to make their lunch at school more nutritious, at least ensuring they can eat meat and eggs once a week.
Tang Xinlan also wanted to do something for these children. She already had an idea in mind, but she needed Jiang Xiaoman's cooperation.
President Tang was decisive and efficient. After returning home and spending the weekend there, she sent her team, who were responsible for negotiating projects with the local government, over on Monday. Jiang Xiaoman spent two days with them and it was truly an eye-opening experience!
The Party Secretary of Langshan Township never expected that on such an ordinary Monday, a windfall would not only fall on his head, but also be fed to him!
As for needing the township to cooperate in reinforcing the mountain and going through the approval process to build a cement staircase leading to the top of the mountain, that's just work they're supposed to do, it's nothing at all.
The project to develop a Zen-themed homestay was finalized almost immediately upon Tang Xinlan's arrival. The reason they stayed until the next day was because Tang Xinlan had specifically instructed them to stay, fearing that insufficient manpower in the township might affect the project's progress. So, she had them stay there and oversee the township's arrangements for the most crucial aspects of launching the project—reinforcing the mountain and building roads—assigning specific personnel, and creating a new working group before rushing back to process the approval procedures.
To ensure Langshan Township took this matter seriously, Tang Xinlan approached the discussion directly through an investment company. Several years ago, she and her husband, along with Zhang Jiahui, jointly established an investment company specializing in rural tourism, real estate, transportation, and smart technology projects. This approach offers numerous advantages, including tax breaks, access to local preferential policies, and even bidding processes. Of course, the biggest benefit is undoubtedly enhancing brand value and brand awareness.
In recent years, Tang Xinlan's investment company has successfully incubated many related projects in the city and has become very famous. When Langshan Township heard that they were coming to invest, it was like a pie being handed to them.
Upon learning that Jiang Xiaoman was the one who negotiated and secured this project, Dang Yimin, the Party Secretary of Langshan Township, was so eager to hire Jiang Xiaoman on the spot. He didn't want him to do anything else but run around attracting investment for the township! This kid is a real talent!
It's a pity that Jiang Xiaoman has already decided to follow Tang Xinlan and dedicate her life to the construction of the new countryside. While feeling regretful, Dang Yimin thought to himself that this was not bad. If their township could also produce a leader in getting rich like Tang Xinlan, like Shuangwan Town, no, even if it was just 0.5 Tang Xinlan, it would be enough for Langshan Township to turn its fortunes around!
Thinking this, Dang Yimin couldn't help but call the two people in charge of the project to his office again, and instructed them to fully cooperate with Tang Xinlan's team and overcome all difficulties to get the project through!
After all, the people Tang Xinlan sent were too good at making empty promises. According to them, city dwellers are under a lot of pressure these days, not just adults, but many elderly people who are about to retire, especially those retired cadres and executives who are not short of money, also like to find a beautiful place after retirement to experience the leisurely life of "picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence".
Their meditation-themed homestay project is designed to serve these wealthy patrons. Once the first homestay is successfully established, they can then establish the second, the third, or even the hundredth homestay!
A single guesthouse is like a golden goose, a hundred guesthouses are like a hundred golden eggs… Thinking of the vast potential of this project, Dang Yimin couldn't help but stand up and clench his fist—
"No way! Starting today, you'll all write a weekly report! And submit a monthly work summary! I want to personally oversee this project!"
The two responsible persons: "..."
Oh my god!
They would rather go to the construction site and help Jiang Xiaoman carry bricks!
Weekly and monthly reports—are those even human beings capable of doing?
However, it wasn't just the two of them who were devastated; Jiang Xiaoman was even more devastated than they were.
Tang Xinlan was a woman of action. Since she had promised to teach Jiang Xiaoman how to operate a social media account, she was determined to impart all her knowledge! However, she had probably been away from being tormented by a straight man for too long and had inadvertently forgotten that Jiang Xiaoman was also a straight man. He found all the concepts of composition, long shots, close-ups, scripts, and rhetoric to be like gibberish!
He filled a whole notebook with notes, estimating he could get a perfect score on the written test. But when it came to the actual test, his true colors were immediately revealed... It's not that his photos were bad; with today's phone cameras, even an elderly person who can't focus can take clear photos and videos as long as they're steady enough.
The problem is that Jiang Xiaoman's videos are meant to attract fans, so they definitely can't be like the casual videos he used to take. Tang Xinlan taught him for a few days, and almost drove her to the brink of collapse, so she had to give up.
So when it comes to art, talent is far more important than hard work. That's why people say that literature and art are professions that are blessed by God. If you weren't born for this, even if you devoted yourself to it 24 hours a day, you still wouldn't be as quick as someone else's flash of inspiration.
"Fine, just film it according to your own ideas." Tang Xinlan decided to give up.
Instead of wasting her time, she would have been better off urging her team to help Jiang Xiaoman in other ways, such as selling their potatoes.
The potatoes from Langshan are really delicious!
After eating Jiang Xiaoman's roasted potatoes at school, Tang Xinlan initially thought it was because she was hungry from hiking that day, making everything taste delicious. However, after returning home and eating potatoes grown at home, she immediately noticed the difference: the potatoes her family grew were ordinary yellow-skinned potatoes. But the potatoes from Langshan were red-skinned, and after cooking, they had a more delicate and soft texture, with a naturally sweet aroma…
This is a great product!
Tang Xinlan immediately called Jiang Xiaoman to ask what variety of potatoes his family had.
"I don't know what variety this is. We used to grow yellow-skinned potatoes here. It was probably during my freshman year of college that a poverty alleviation cadre came to the township and introduced this red-skinned potato, which was supposedly from abroad, and promoted it in the township."
"When the villagers heard that the township was giving away potato seeds for free and that the yield was higher than what we used to grow, they all rushed to grab them. After planting them for a year, the yield was indeed much higher than what we used to grow, and they tasted much better too."
Knowing that Tang Xinlan wouldn't inquire about potatoes for no reason, Jiang Xiaoman specifically asked the township officials in the group chat, and then heard some shocking news—
"I heard that the poverty alleviation cadre who promoted high-yield potatoes encountered a landslide while inspecting the mountains a few years ago and unfortunately sacrificed his life..." Jiang Xiaoman felt extremely sad when she said this. If the township cadres hadn't mentioned it, the people who eat these red-skinned potatoes every day would have no idea that the person who brought them these high-yield potatoes was already gone.
"I understand, Xiaoman. I think the red-skinned potatoes from your area taste particularly good and are perfect for making mashed potatoes or something for kids. So, could you help me buy a few thousand kilograms of those red-skinned potatoes locally? I'll try them out in the village. If they sell well, we can take advantage of the potato harvest now and help your local people solve their sales problems."
That's a good idea!
Jiang Xiaoman knew that many local families grew a lot of these red-skinned potatoes. They couldn't eat them all and couldn't sell them, so they could only chop them up and feed them to pigs. If Tang Xinlan could help them sell these potatoes for a good price, not to mention anything else, the elderly and children left behind in the village would have some financial relief.
Having taken on the job of collecting potatoes, Jiang Xiaoman immediately approached Jiang Baichuan.
The school harvested several thousand kilograms of potatoes this time. According to usual practice, the students' menu will consist of various kinds of potatoes for the next few months. However, the children will get tired of eating potatoes all the time, and the nutrition will not be balanced. Jiang Xiaoman advised his uncle to sell some of the potatoes so that the money could be used to buy some seaweed, tofu, pork and other things to improve the children's meals.
Jiang Baichuan also thought it was a good idea. After two working days, the entire school's teachers and students picked out the best potatoes from this batch and sold them to Tang Xinlan, totaling three thousand catties.
"The purchase price is 80 cents per pound, so 3,000 pounds is 2,400 yuan in total. Uncle Baichuan, I've transferred the money to you!" After the count was completed, Jiang Xiaoman settled the account with Jiang Baichuan on the spot.
"Wait! Isn't it 50 cents a pound?" Jiang Baichuan looked at his nephew suspiciously, wondering if he was trying to find another excuse to subsidize the school.
“If you don’t believe me, go ask Sister Tang. She’s charging wholesale prices. Our red-skinned potatoes are delicious. I heard they retail for over a dollar a pound, and wholesale for 80 cents a pound, but the farmgate price is only 50 cents. But you can’t blame them. Driving to the countryside to collect potatoes is hard work, not to mention the gas costs. They have to make a profit.” Jiang Xiaoman carefully calculated the figures for Jiang Baichuan, then couldn’t help but remind him—
"Uncle Baichuan, this is what I'm thinking. Look at how many hotels and guesthouses Sister Tang owns, she must need to buy potatoes, which are a common vegetable, right? If she likes them, we can try to clear some more land at our school to grow potatoes. We can harvest two crops of potatoes a year now, right?"
"Even if we only sell 5,000 jin a season, that's still 4,000 yuan. Two seasons would be 8,000 yuan. With that money, we can not only buy pork and eggs, but we might even be able to order milk for the students."
This suggestion was exactly what Jiang Baichuan wanted to hear. He hesitated for less than two seconds before decisively nodding in agreement.
Anyway, he's free during winter and summer vacations, so he'll clear more land in the mountains to grow potatoes! Next year, the students will be able to drink milk!
Chapter 32
With the full support of the township, the Jiang family's pressure was greatly reduced. Perhaps wanting to give them face, the township simply waved its hand and, in addition to reinforcing the collapsed mountain, also had the construction team dig up the buried foundation of the Jiang family's old house. This saved Jiang Youliang and his son a lot of trouble!
Jiang Xiaoman had already planned that she would need to set aside 3,000 yuan just for clearing the homestead. Although the wages for laborers here were not high, digging and carrying soil was still heavy physical work, which would cost 80 yuan a day. Even if she hired a few people and provided lunch, 3,000 yuan would still be a tight sum.
Now things are much better. The township helped pay for it, and Jiang Youliang, having nothing to do, has been carrying an axe and climbing from the next hill to his neighbor Jiang Youjin's house these past few days. He plans to cut down some bamboo first, which he can use to make furniture or build a roof for his house later.
Jiang Xiaoman wasn't idle either; with Tang Xinlan's help, his video account gradually took off.
It's strange, but before, he meticulously crafted scripts and filmed according to Tang Xinlan's technical guidance, and his poor data usage made him question his life choices. However, since he started to let loose, several of his videos have become minor hits.
The first video to get over 100,000 likes was actually his video of making konjac tofu that went wrong!
Jiang Baichuan, this penny-pincher, made use of almost all the open space in front of and behind the school buildings to save money for the school, even planting two rows of konjac plants along the base of the walls. Coincidentally, konjac plants grow similarly to ornamental trees, and planting them along the school walls actually made the dilapidated school look more presentable. Planted in the autumn and winter of the first year, the beautiful leaves of the konjac plants could be enjoyed in the spring, and when the roots grew in the fall, they could be used to make konjac tofu.
However, if this thing is not dug up in the fall and is buried in the soil, the old roots will slowly rot the following year and then new shoots will grow. So this patch of konjac is now growing more and more, almost like a small forest!
It was raining again that day. Jiang Xiaoman thought that the students who lived far away would probably have to stay at school that night, so she wanted to cook something nice for them. But when she looked up, she saw a row of lush konjac trees growing by the wall. Well then! She decided to eat them today.
The konjac roots weren't fully grown yet this season, but they were still edible. Jiang Xiaoman picked out two of the larger ones. He hadn't cooked konjac in a long time, and when he tried to cook it from memory, he failed!
It wasn't a complete failure, just that it hadn't solidified thoroughly enough. In a fit of anger, Jiang Xiaoman simply turned it into a huge pot of konjac soup. He had originally ambitiously planned to make a slightly longer video to attract followers, but now, things had completely turned out badly.
After watching the replay, Jiang Xiaoman, for reasons unknown, actually edited the video and posted it out of despair.
"Anyway, nobody's watching, so I'll just treat it as a way to amuse my friends and family." After posting the video, Jiang Xiaoman didn't care anymore. Recently, his likes have been shockingly low, with almost all of them being friendly likes from his relatives and classmates who follow him.
Unexpectedly, right after dinner, Tang Xinlan called him on voice call: "Xiaoman! Quick, check the backstage! Your konjac blunder video from today is going viral!"
Jiang Xiaoman shuddered and almost knocked over the brazier in her hand.
Flustered, I grabbed my phone and checked the author's backend. My phone immediately started buzzing. The numbers for private messages, likes, comments, and followers were all marked with a red "99". I opened the comment section and saw everyone laughing. Some netizens even tagged several popular rural food bloggers on the platform, asking them to teach this newbie how to make konjac. Tang Xinlan was one of the bloggers who was tagged, since they were practically from the same hometown.