EBE Chapter 103: Planting 2
Chapter 103: Planting 2
After Xia Shengsheng told Village Chief Ma her idea.
Village chief Ma sat there stroking his beard and pondered for a long time.
Boss Ma sat there, getting anxious.
"Dad, what are you still thinking about? Hurry up and inform the villagers! Since Sister Xia said that we can collect as much as we can, we have to hurry and open up the wasteland!"
Ma Laoer was the same, still calculating in his mind. He and his eldest brother were both good at work. If the two of them worked hard for a few more days and opened up a few more acres of land, how much money would they get by the time autumn came?
Ma Erjia didn't think so. She had eaten the vegetable called chili before. It was brought back by her father-in-law from Xia Shengsheng.
It is indeed delicious and goes well with rice, but I have never grown this at home. What should I do if I can’t grow it well?
Don't you want to open up a few acres of wasteland for nothing? You will suffer in vain and still not be able to sell it for money.
The Ma family had already gone out to notify the few people who worked at Xia Shengsheng's house last time, and prepare to start work tomorrow.
We also need to notify other capable women and girls of appropriate age in the village to apply for the job from Xia Shengsheng tomorrow.
Village Chief Ma pondered for a long time, mainly considering many aspects, and confirmed that this matter was indeed feasible, then he slammed the table and said:
"Okay, eldest and second, go notify the heads of each family to come to the meeting.
"Second son's wife, go and boil some water, or we won't have any water to drink when everyone comes."
Ma Lao Da and Ma Lao Er nodded happily, and ran out excitedly to inform the villagers.
Ma Erjia seemed to be hesitant to speak.
Village Chief Ma is not the kind of arbitrary person, nor does he look down on women. He takes the opinions of everyone in his family or the village seriously.
Seeing that the second oldest had something to say, I carefully asked, "Second oldest? Do you think something is wrong? Or is there any problem?"
Ma Erjia was suddenly too embarrassed to speak when asked. Although she had been married into the Ma family for more than ten years, and her father-in-law or mother-in-law had never scolded her for no reason when they were alive, she was different from her eldest sister-in-law. She was still very afraid of her father-in-law and never dared to express her thoughts to his face.
"No, it's okay, Dad. I'll go boil some water."
Seeing Ma Er’s wife leave, Village Chief Ma didn’t think too much about it.
Instead, he looked at Xia Shengsheng and continued, "Is it difficult to grow peppers? Will it not bear fruit? What about the money? Then..."
Xia Shengcheng expressed the concern of Baima Village Chief. He was not only worried about his own family, but also about the entire village.
"Don't worry, village chief. The method of growing peppers is not difficult. Didn't you go and see me when I was growing peppers on my few acres of land? They are not much different from ordinary vegetables.
And it is also simple to maintain in the later stage, because peppers are not that delicate.
If villagers want to grow peppers, I can provide them with peppers and let them pick out the seeds from the peppers themselves. I will also teach them how to make them germinate later.
If you have any questions during the planting period, you can ask me.
I also know that everyone's land has already been planted with crops. If you want to plant peppers, you will definitely need to reclaim some land.
The yield per mu of newly opened wasteland is not as high as that of well-cultivated land, but it is still acceptable if it can produce 400 to 800 kilograms per mu.
If it is good land, it can produce at least 1000 kilograms."
"Don't worry about the money, village chief. I have been working in the village for such a long time and have never owed you money.
If the village chief is worried, I can pay a part of the deposit first.
But the deposit needs to be kept by the village chief, not handed over to the villagers, because I can't be sure whether they can hand over the corresponding peppers in the end."
After hearing this, Village Chief Ma nodded repeatedly. Now that things have come to this, how could he not agree?
Isn't it obvious that the villagers are suitable? Is Xia Shengsheng at a disadvantage?
They provided the precious seeds for free and taught the techniques. After the seeds were grown, they were sold directly to Xia Shengsheng at the same high price. There was no loss at all. Isn't this a profitable business?
"Xiao Xia! Aren't you at a disadvantage?
Otherwise, let the villagers buy the pepper seeds from you, and each household can plant as many as they can sell.
We can't let you bear all the risks by yourself!"
Village Chief Ma was also considering Xia Shengsheng.
Xia Shengsheng must have spent a lot of money to buy the seeds for this kind of fresh vegetables.
Although the peppers have been grown now, if they are given to the villagers for free and asked to grow them again, the one who will suffer the loss will be Xia Shengsheng.
“Don’t worry, Village Chief, I’m not taking any risks.
To tell you the truth, it was actually Mr. Tao who was responsible for collecting the peppers.
It was Mr. Tao who drove his carriage to my place today.
His business is spread all over the country. Whether it is vermicelli or chili, he needs a large quantity and has already paid a deposit.
If I were to sell pepper seeds to the villagers and let them plant them, I'm afraid that few would be able to afford them.
If there aren’t enough people planting the crops, I won’t be able to deliver the goods to Mr. Tao by fall.
So now the more people grow it, the better. A few pepper seeds are nothing.
Moreover, I did make a profit from the price difference, but I am not in a position to tell you how much I made, so don’t worry, village chief, everyone is making money from the pepper business, and no one is losing out.”
The village chief understood as soon as he heard it. He had heard about Mr. Tao from his second son.
At that time, his second son was also watching the fun outside Xia Shengsheng's house.
I just didn't expect that a man who was so stingy towards the person who saved his son's life would have such courage to do such a big business.
Anyway, Master Tao must have calculated that he could make money from this thing. It's always different from giving a gift, one is taking out and the other is putting money in.
Although Tao Wuji eliminated the troubles for Xia Shengsheng's family, his reputation among the villagers was not very good.
After all the villagers arrived, they started talking about it.
Just now, Ma Dajia notified that Xia Shengsheng was still recruiting workers, and the daily pay was still 25 cents as previously agreed, and asked the women and adult girls in the family to go to Xia Shengsheng's house tomorrow to apply.
This made them all very happy, 25 cents a day!
Some people have only old ladies and unmarried children in their families, or their wives are pregnant and unable to work. They all want to let the adult men in the family apply for the job at Xia Shengsheng's house.
Now it is said that you can grow something called chili pepper, and when it matures, you can buy it at the price of 60 wen per pound.
In their opinion, this is simply a sky-high price.
I can hardly believe this is true.
Village chief Ma looked at dozens of people discussing in his yard, and they couldn't come to a conclusion after a long time, so he spoke anxiously.
"Okay, okay, if you want to discuss it, go home and discuss it.
But I can tell you that there is limited wasteland in the village. Xiao Xia can give the peppers in her hand to everyone for free, and teach everyone the planting techniques. If anyone wants to grow peppers and open up wasteland, please tell me in advance so that I can allocate it.
Don’t come back and talk after the fact. You only think of looking for me after others have made their decision. It’s too late to wait…”