However, if they were to work with Jiang Xiaoman's cooperative, all that would be needed would be time and effort. The mountain products were all free; whoever found them could keep them. As for the tea garden, they could use Jiang Xiaoman's method to prune their own old tea trees and encourage them to grow new branches, which wouldn't take much time either. After considering all the options, the couple decided to try working with Jiang Xiaoman for two years first.
What will happen after two years?
If they don't make money working for others, they can just come back to raising chickens. They've already learned the skills, so they won't forget them even if they don't raise chickens for two years.
However, to the couple's utter surprise, before they had even officially "joined" the group, Jiang Xiaoman and Shan Yan presented them with a wonderful gift—
Shan Yan looked at several plots of land, and finally decided to choose the spot where Shan Chunhua and her family now had their chicken farm!
This land was originally a large poplar forest. Later, when the poplars grew to maturity, a certain village cadre wanted to make some money during his term, so he colluded with the village committee to sell this mature poplar forest.
A perfectly good poplar grove was just cut down like that. There must be a reason for it, right?
So, this "money-making" village cadre stared at this vacant lot for a few days and actually managed to make some money again - he rented the land to Shan Chunhua and her husband in the name of the village collective to open a chicken farm!
At that time, the whole country was vigorously promoting the collective economy. A chicken farm was opened in the village, and it was very convenient for the villagers to buy cheap broiler chickens and eggs nearby. So no one was surprised that the poplar forest was cut down.
After all, there's no point in having that poplar grove there. The villagers aren't qualified to cut down the trees to sell. At most, they'd collect some dead branches from the grove every year for firewood. It would be better to turn it into a chicken farm.
It wasn't that no one questioned where the money from selling the cut-down poplar trees went, how the village planned to use the money from renting the chicken farm land, and whether it would be distributed to the villagers... However, those who raised these questions were probably talked to behind closed doors by the village officials.
In short, the land was rented by Shan Chunhua and her husband to raise chickens in a muddled way. The village was only responsible for collecting the rent each year and did nothing else.
Now that Shan Yan has his eye on this land, the newly appointed village chief is in a dilemma: "Brother Shan Yan, it's not that I don't want to rent it to you, nor is it that the village doesn't support our town's tea garden restart plan. The main problem is that this land is currently still in the hands of Shan Chunhua and her husband, and they want to raise chickens on it..."
“They’ve already decided to close the chicken farm, otherwise I wouldn’t have come to you for this land.” Shan Yan smiled. “We’ve already reached an agreement with Sister Chunhua. Her family will use the subletting fees from the chicken farm as shares, and her husband will become the captain of our cooperative’s transportation team.”
Goodness! Even the village chief couldn't help but feel envious upon hearing this.
What incredible luck did Lang Dezhi have?
They got a worthless chicken farm, and then they got a different transport team leader?
Who doesn't know that Jiang Xiaoman's tea cooperative is famous throughout the town for its excellent welfare and high salaries?
Even if Lang Dezhi and his wife run their own chicken farm, they might not earn as much as they do working for the cooperative.
However, on second thought, if Shanyan wants the land for the chicken farm, doesn't that mean the tea cooperative wants to build a factory in their village?
It turns out the biggest winner was himself?!
Chapter 219
With the town government taking charge of this matter, the villages' implementation efforts immediately increased, and before long, a collection of pre-registration forms were handed to Jiang Xiaoman.
However, the situation was not as optimistic as they had anticipated.
When Jiang Xiaoman and his team conducted their initial investigation, they made a rough estimate based on the number of abandoned tea gardens in each village. However, the reality was that some people in the town had gone out to work, and even if they had abandoned tea gardens, they wouldn't move their entire family back from the city just for a few acres of old tea trees, would they?
After all, some people who have done well in the city have already bought houses in the city, and their children also need to go to school in the city. These families have abandoned their tea gardens long ago, and many of their old houses are about to collapse. They have also given their own mountain land and vegetable gardens to relatives to cultivate.
These people's tea plantations are considered unclaimed wild tea trees because no one has claimed them yet. Local people can pick tea leaves, but if they want to claim them for profit, they cannot sign an agreement with the cooperative without proof.
In the end, after calculating, it was found that less than 300 acres could actually participate in the restart plan.
"What can such a small tea plantation do?" Jiang Xiaoman patted the statistics table on the table with disdain.
Jiang Xiaoman's family has always grown and harvested tea, so she naturally knows the yield of tea per acre.
Especially the new branches that sprout after pruning, the yield is not as high as that of tea trees that are pruned every year. Take spring tea as an example, if a normal tea garden can produce 100 catties of fresh leaves per mu, the yield of old tea trees is estimated to be halved per mu!
What? You're saying that old tea trees grow so tall, so why do they produce less yield than new tea trees that are only half a person tall?
That's because tea production isn't based on the size of the tea leaves, but on the number of buds!
Take Jiang Xiaoman's own tea garden as an example. Every spring and autumn, he has to prune his tea trees. That's just how tea trees are; the more you prune them, the more new branches they will sprout the following year, and the more tender buds you can pick.
Unlike those old tea trees, which look tall, it's actually quite good if a single side branch can produce half a pound of fresh leaves.
Moreover, old tea trees take up more land than new tea trees. On the same acre, two to three thousand new tea trees can be planted, while less than a hundred old tea trees can be planted on an acre.
Jiang Xiaoman couldn't help but feel disheartened.
With less than 300 acres of old tea trees, there's no need to spend extra money to build a new factory; his current tea factory can handle all the fresh leaves.
"You can't calculate it like that. We're starting to build the factory now, but it won't be officially operational until the year after next. In these two years, those old tea trees can be properly cared for, and the yield should double. Plus, in a few years, the seedlings we've cultivated will grow up. Our new factory will definitely have plenty of business in the future," Shan Yan analyzed.
If he hadn't seen the long-term prospects of this industry, he wouldn't have invested all of his and Jiang Yu's retirement savings.
"That makes sense. In the long run, once the people have tasted the benefits, they will naturally want to expand production without us having to urge them."
Jiang Xiaoman suddenly remembered a case that her university professor had told them.
At the time, we were taking an elective course on nature and environment. The teacher gave us an example, saying that in a certain major tea-producing area, because growing tea was so profitable, the local people were willing to break the law and secretly use various means to cause the native tree species on their mountains to "die unnaturally."
After killing these native tree species, the people secretly cleared land to plant tea trees. After all, one mu of tea trees can earn the family 10,000 to 20,000 yuan a year. If they opened up dozens of mu of tea gardens, wouldn't the family have hundreds of thousands of yuan more in income in a year?
Because of the frequent deforestation for tea planting, the ecological environment here has been severely damaged. One year, after a severe drought, there was heavy rain. Without the protection of vegetation, landslides occurred everywhere. The tea trees that had been painstakingly planted with money suffered heavy losses, and in some places, people even died.
This is truly a classic case of "valuing money over life".
Jiang Xiaoman was deeply impressed by this case because her father wanted to do the same thing, but not to grow more tea. He wanted to transplant their tea trees to the hillside above, reclaim the original tea garden to grow grain, and raise more pigs... Fortunately, Jiang Xiaoman dissuaded him in time, otherwise their old house would probably have collapsed long ago.
However, this case also illustrates that as long as there is sufficient profit to drive it, without the cooperative needing to appeal everywhere, the people will naturally try to expand the tea garden area once they see the money.
Moreover, those who have tea gardens in other places or in their hometowns can actually make good use of them.
After all, who doesn't have a few relatives from their hometown?
If you don't want to grow it yourself, you can rent it to relatives or friends to grow!
Even if you only get a thousand or eight hundred yuan in rent per acre a year, several acres add up to quite a bit. Who would complain about getting free money?
Jiang Xiaoman wrote all these things down in her notebook. First, she and Shan Yan were busy organizing the materials, and then they needed to go to the county to find a printing factory to print out the contracts signed with the farmers.
They have too many farmers to sign contracts with this time. If they print the contracts one by one, they'll probably break two printers. It's better to send them to a printing factory for printing, which is both convenient and cost-effective.
Shan Yan was truly impressed by Jiang Xiaoman's stinginess!
However, they had another, more important task on this trip to the county town: to pick up Jiang Baichuan.
Thanks to the tireless efforts of a group of "infrastructure maniacs," the construction of Langshan Primary School has finally commenced after fourteen months of continuous work!
Moreover, it's not a bare shell, but a fully furnished apartment, so students can just walk in and start class with their backpacks.
This is the first primary school in Langshan Town to be fully funded by philanthropists. The old school building in the "Syrian style" really made the county lose face. Now that the new school building has been completed, the county plans to make a big fuss. They invited many media friends and several philanthropic organizations and individuals who donated money to build the school.
Jiang Baichuan also needed to invite people, namely those kind-hearted people from the community who provided the school with new desks, new appliances, new curtains, and even bedding for the student dormitories free of charge during the school's renovation.
Because these people donated directly to Jiang Baichuan through the school's official account, the county was unaware of it and did not invite them, but Jiang Baichuan could not forget them.
After calling each of them, they learned that the school was moving to a new location, and the caring fans all expressed their determination to come and see the rebuilt Langshan Primary School.
Since these specially invited fans were not on the county's invitation list, they could not hitch a ride on the bus arranged by the county. So Jiang Baichuan discussed it with his nephew, and the school paid for a minibus to be rented so that his nephew could help pick them up from the county's high-speed rail station.
As for why he didn't go in person?
Hilarious! Doesn't Principal Jiang need to teach the students? Does he really think that having two teachers come to provide support means he can shirk his teaching duties?
Upon hearing that he was going to the county town to pick someone up, Jiang Xiaoman casually asked if he had prepared any housewarming gifts like cigarettes, alcohol, or candy—he didn't dare ask about incense and paper money. His uncle wasn't a believer in Jiangxia, so it was impossible for him to offer sacrifices to the Kitchen God and the Earth God before moving in. Sigh~
"The school is moving, why would we need cigarettes, alcohol, or candy?" Jiang Baichuan glared at his nephew. "All you know how to do is waste money! Is school funding for buying cigarettes, alcohol, and candy?"
Fine! If his uncle is unwilling to spend public funds to buy it, then he can buy it himself, okay?
Consider it a congratulatory gift for the school's move to its new location.
How can moving house be without any joy?
Even if the guests from outside don't mind, the villagers from all around will come to see the excitement and share in the joy. How can we leave them empty-handed and just staring blankly?
Upon arriving in the county town, Jiang Xiaoman unceremoniously asked Shan Yan to wait for them at the high-speed rail station. He then took Lang Dezhi and drove the cooperative's small truck to the wholesale market for a crazy shopping spree.
For most families moving into a new house, cigarettes and alcohol are the biggest expenses, but since the school is moving and there's no banquet, alcohol is waived. Jiang Xiaoman bought several cartons of mid-range cigarettes, planning to distribute them to the people who come to help and the villagers who come to watch the festivities on the day of the move.
The leaders definitely can't give them cigarettes. I heard there will be a lot of reporters coming over. Who would dare to offer a cigarette to a leader in front of the media?
In addition, there were various kinds of candies that are often bought for wedding banquets in rural areas. After roughly estimating the number of people who would be attending, Jiang Xiaoman bought 100 catties of fruit candy, 100 catties of sorghum candy, and some popping candy and milk tablets that children like. When she loaded them into the car, Lang Dezhi was stunned.
"Xiaoman, are you here to buy goods?"
Jiang Xiaoman's courier station also has a small shop. He thought that with so many things, Jiang Xiaoman would keep some of them to sell in the shop.
"No way! I usually source my goods online. The prices are about the same as the wholesale market in our county, but they can ship the candy directly to my shop, saving me a lot on shipping costs. These are all for the school. I'll give some to the customers when they come in a couple of days, and the rest will be for my uncle. He gives candy as a reward for good behavior from the students! I used to really love the candy the school gave me when I was a kid."
After buying candy and cigarettes, Jiang Xiaoman asked Lang Dezhi to drive the car to the largest vegetable market in the county. They first went to their classmate Lin Mao's shop and bought a lot of frozen chicken legs, beef shank, frozen duck legs, frozen chicken feet, duck feet, duck necks, and so on, spending several thousand yuan in one go!
"Didn't they say the school wouldn't hold a banquet when moving to a new location?" Lang Dezhi was so busy moving things that he began to question his existence.
"Of course we don't need to invite the county leaders. Didn't my Uncle Baichuan also invite a lot of fans who donated money and things? They'll probably stay in the village for a few more days. They're all guests invited by the school, so we can't expect them to spend their own money to buy food in town these few days, can we?"
"Of course I have to treat them to a meal!" Lang Dezhi quickly sped up.
After buying the frozen goods, Jiang Xiaoman went to the store where she had previously purchased grains, oils, rice, and flour, and spent a lot of money again. The back of the small truck, which was empty when she arrived, was now almost full.
Fortunately, the village has plenty of fruits and vegetables this season, so there's no need to spend money to buy them. Jiang Xiaoman arrived at the high-speed rail station with a car full of things, and more than half of the guests had already arrived.
"There are five more people whose train is at around 1 p.m., let's take them to have lunch first." Shan Yan asked the driver to drive the minibus to a local restaurant he knew well, saying he would treat everyone to a modified version of Langshan local cuisine.
"Doesn't this sign say 'Authentic Langshan Local Cuisine'?" a fan pointed to the restaurant's signboard.
"Oh, because the boss is a genuine Langshan native."
Shan Yan told a corny joke that made everyone laugh.
Jiang Xiaoman laughed until her stomach hurt. Seeing the guests' expressions of shock and existential doubt, she suppressed her laughter and explained that the shop owner was "selling dog meat under the guise of mutton" because authentic Langshan local dishes are either low in oil and high in salt, or just plain water. If they were to be sold in the city, this shop would probably have gone out of business long ago.
Therefore, their "authentic Langshan local dishes" are generally made with ingredients from the authentic Langshan area, and the cooking methods cater to the tastes of modern city dwellers. As a result, they are jokingly referred to by some local food bloggers as "modified local dishes".
I see!
The guests breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the local restaurants in their hometowns seemed to operate in the same way, and couldn't help but feel annoyed: So all these years they've been eating "modified local dishes"?
However, once the food was served, the guests forgot all about their sighs.
This dish smells amazing!
This restaurant truly uses local ingredients from Langshan, including authentic free-range chickens from the mountains, paired with red-skinned potatoes. The resulting dish, braised chicken with potatoes, features a rich and flavorful broth, firm chicken meat, and soft and tender potatoes.
The black carp from Dahe Reservoir can be prepared in three ways: the head is made into chopped chili fish head, and the chopped chili is made from local open-air mountain chilies from Langshan, which are fragrant and spicy!
The fish tail was braised, and underneath it was a layer of fried and then braised tofu. The tofu soaked up the fish soup and tasted even better than the fish meat!
The fish body is cut into pieces, coated with batter and deep-fried until golden brown. Then it is braised with firm tofu and sweet potato dumplings. The dozen or so dumplings inside were instantly snatched up!