As the village chief of Hua Village, Hua Lao Han looked at the snowflakes dancing all over the sky with a heavy heart, the worries in his heart growing deeper.
Although the temperature didn’t drop further and remained at the coldest ti of previous years, the drop was too sudden. Whether it was vegetable seeds or grain seeds, they had just been sown not long ago and hadn’t even begun to sprout. A sudden drop to below freezing could an so seeds might not even get a chance to sprout, affecting next year’s harvest, especially the vegetable seeds.
Thus, the plan to make money had to move faster.
Looking at his wife sleeping soundly beside him, Hua Lao Han closed his eyes, preparing to take the villagers up the mountain to log in the next couple of days, even if it snowed, to produce the charcoal first.
With charcoal, they could begin planting winter vegetables.
The following days kept Hua Lao Han and his son busy. They organized the young and old n of the village, braving the cold wind and falling snow to chop down one tree after another. They dug several cave kilns on the higher ground behind the village to burn charcoal.
Although it was labor-intensive, it was the most cost-effective thod Hua Lao Han could think of.
Then, through continuous experintation and Hua Jin’s occasional reminders to Hua Lao Han, they finally succeeded in producing charcoal ten days later.
In everyone’s excitent, several charcoal kilns operated simultaneously, producing enough charcoal for everyone for an entire winter within just ten days.
Then the won in the households got to work. The village chief’s house and those who had practiced winter planting last winter were almost overwheld by visitors seeking advice and learning from their experience.
Greenhouse planting flourished, with almost every household utilizing the largest space possible inside, leaving only enough room to move around.
anwhile, the two sisters Hua Fen’s hos also started greenhouse planting, as did the ho of Grandma Sun, who considered Qi Xiu as her daughter. For this, Hua Chengtian even went specially to provide guidance, bringing several carts of charcoal.
The two sisters’ families made so Silver because of rabbits, but they decided to save where possible. They didn’t keep the greenhouse planting a secret, realizing that in the face of a disaster, having so Silver in hand might allow them to last a little longer.
Understanding their brother’s intentions, the Hua sisters did not deliberately hide their greenhouse planting from the villagers, especially their in-laws. While there were inevitable clashes, having better days with their in-laws was also beneficial to them.
Even their in-laws started, and soon their sisters-in-law, younger sisters-in-law, and elder sisters-in-law’s hos followed. Just like that, it snowballed, with many households in the surrounding villages within a ten-mile radius also engaging in it, and even spread to other places through daughters married out.
Of course, there were those who were willing and those who weren’t when it ca to using charcoal to control the temperature. Still, unconsciously, greenhouse planting had beco quite extensive.
Unexpectedly, it also boosted the charcoal production in Hua Village. Since the charcoal was self-produced, it was one penny cheaper than the market price, prompting nearly everyone who heard about it, whether near or far, to buy here.
Burning charcoal in the middle of winter was not an easy job, especially as logging had to be followed by cutting them into suitable lengths and sizes, which were all physically demanding tasks. Even with the n in the village dividing the work, they were exhausted.
Initially, they planned only to burn enough for use over two or three years, but as more people ca to buy, they kept burning until before the New Year.
Although everyone was tired, when they held the Silver they had earned during the festival, they all felt it was worth it.
But that’s another story. Right now, everyone was still putting in efforts to burn charcoal and manage greenhouse planting.
Over a month later, the first batch of vegetables was soon ready for harvest.
This winter, the temperature dropped too quickly, giving vegetable seeds no ti to adapt; as a result, many vegetables didn’t even sprout, making vegetables particularly scarce this year. They were especially rare, and even though the prices were many tis higher than previous years at the market, they still sold quickly.
Those who realized the benefits had initially only tried planting so but went back ho and almost unanimously expanded their planting.
As for Hua Lao Han of Hua Village, he kept his word by purchasing vegetables from the villagers at the market price of fifty wen per catty.
Initially planning to save enough to send his son to the city to sell with a risk, unexpectedly, they received a not-so-surprising guest.
It was Luo Song, whom they hadn’t seen for a long ti.
Ever since snow salt ca out, it was only during spring when he heard from his grandson that Luo Song had rarely gone to the academy. Unexpectedly, he was here now, apparently having heard that Hua Village had a large amount of vegetables, visiting under the pretense of purchasing vegetables.
Though they hadn’t seen each other for a while, there wasn’t a trace of unfamiliarity in Luo Song’s eyes, only a clear and warm look, smiling and greeting them all with friendliness.
"Grandpa Hua, Grandma, Uncle Hua, Aunty, I’m here to bother you again."
Then ca a cartload of gifts, followed by an inevitable exchange of greetings and nostalgia.
After that, Luo Song didn’t beat around the bush and directly expressed his desire to buy the vegetables, offering a price of one hundred wen per catty, expressing that he wasn’t worried about the market and would take however much there was.
This price was certainly high enough. Hua Lao Han and Hua Chengtian naturally agreed, saving them effort and gas for his granddaughter. Of course, they accepted.
It was no wonder his left eye twitched early in the morning; it turned out Luo Song had co, and whenever he visited, good things happened—he was here to bring Silver.
Even selling for one hundred wen, or just for dozens of wen, they would be willing. His intention was never to make money off the villagers, just to have money in everyone’s hands.
The money sent to their doorstep was naturally not refused, but this ti, only he could earn because this batch of vegetables had already been harvested, and the money had already been distributed to everyone.
Then Luo Song stayed at Hua’s house for a day and left with nearly two thousand catties of vegetables and five hundred rabbits from Hua’s house the next day, promising to return in five days.
So many carts passing through the village was far from being a secret. Hua Lao Han didn’t intend to hide it and personally explained it to everyone without waiting for their questions.
Thus, everyone knew this person was a friend of Hua’s eldest grandson, who bought the village chief’s vegetables for a hundred wen per catty, and would return in five days at the sa price, news that spread like thunder across the entire village.
A hundred wen—just buying coarse grains with that money could feed a family for many days. Just the thought was exciting.
Yet no one regretted selling their vegetables to the village chief early on, nor was anyone jealous of the little profit the village chief made.
Not to ntion this person was a friend of the village chief’s eldest grandson. Even without that relationship, if the village chief hadn’t led everyone to engage in greenhouse planting, found ways to help everyone, and even provided their charcoal formula to save everyone a significant amount of Silver, how could anyone earn this much?
People were clear about these things, and those who understood and appreciated it imdiately offered to sell their vegetables to the village chief at the sa price. As soon as this was said, many others chid in agreent.
Since Hua Lao Han released the information, he wanted everyone to earn more Silver, so he naturally disagreed.
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