The voice had started to change tone by the end.
This single pigsty was as big as the houses where several landlord families would let tenants or household servants live, maybe even bigger.
But those families had dozens of people living in one row of houses, while Jiang Hu’s plan was to raise pigs!
Zhang Yuan, standing nearby, was visibly stunned; he had heard earlier that a large pigsty was to be built, or else they wouldn’t have needed to recruit people.
However, even he hadn’t expected it to be this large! It was bigger than his own house!
Jiang Hu didn’t think much of it; in the past, his family raised hundreds of chickens and rabbits, and the coops and hutches were what you’d actually call big.
So, Jiang Hu just nodded calmly, "Yes, the wife wants to raise more pigs. We’ve already agreed with Zhang Yuan to take all the sows from the next litter, so naturally, the pigsty should be bigger."
The village chief bared his teeth, took a sharp breath, and looked at Jiang Hu incredulously.
But after the shock, he rembered the main purpose of the eting.
"How many people do you roughly need? My eldest and second sons are pretty reliable workers and don’t shirk from hard work. Can I have them join too?"
Jiang Hu nodded, "Of course, they’re welco to join."
He then ntioned the start date for construction and asked the village chief to recomnd four or five more reliable workers. Combined with those Zhang Yuan introduced, it would be just about right.
Zhang Yuan, much like Liu Yang back in the day, was the first from the village to get close to the Jiang family.
By asking for the village chief’s recomndation, it was also a way to let him know that the newly arrived Jiang family wasn’t ignoring the villagers and was willing to build relationships.
This was a friendly signal, indicating that despite living in that large courtyard, the Jiang family was part of Xiangmu Village and not outsiders.
After leaving the village chief’s house, Zhang Yuan took Jiang Hu to find other people. Since they had free ti, they decided to visit all those recomnded by the village chief and Zhang Yuan, to familiarize themselves with the village.
It’s funny, really. Even after being in the village for two months, it still felt like they’d just moved in and didn’t know anyone.
The people Zhang Yuan recomnded had all been notified beforehand, so when Jiang Hu asked, they all readily agreed.
The ones recomnded by the village chief hadn’t been pre-inford, but they’d heard about the new Jiang family building a pigsty, so no one refused either.
This was a chance to make money, right there in the village, so close—no one had to pay a copper coin upfront for work, so who would foolishly refuse?
Walking around all these places took a good half-hour and it wasn’t easy.
"By the way, Brother Zhang Yuan, is your wife available?" On the way back, Jiang Hu suddenly asked Zhang Yuan.
Zhang Yuan was a little surprised, "Lately, she hasn’t been too busy. Why, Brother Jiang, does your wife want to see Chunhua?"
"No," Jiang Hu shook his head.
"Since we’ll need to provide lunch for the workers and have enough going on at ho, we thought of hiring soone from outside to cook, offering fifteen copper coins per al. If your wife wants to co, I won’t look for anyone else."
"Definitely!" Zhang Yuan nodded without hesitation, "She’ll certainly co. Brother Jiang, you’ve found the right person; Chunhua’s cooking is delicious, and she’s often asked to prepare banquets."
"Really? That’s wonderful. On the start day, co over together."
Having a cook good at making tasty food can definitely boost the workers’ morale, no doubt about it.
By the next morning, Jiang Hu indeed went to the city early to handle the land contract issues. Naturally, there are dedicated officials for this, so it wouldn’t trouble the higher-ups.
However, before departure, Jiang Hu specifically prepared so red envelopes.
Over the years, he’s gotten accustod to getting things done smoothly, sotis a little silver coin can make things easier, saving ti and effort.
To Jiang Hu’s surprise, today, throughout the entire process, everyone refused the red envelopes he offered, and everything went seamlessly.
In particular, the land-contract official, after carefully inquiring, swiftly processed the land contract, showing no intention of making things difficult.
The entire process, from entering to leaving, took less than two quarters of an hour.
In the end, Jiang Hu couldn’t help but admire how the county governnt office truly was untroubled by corruption!
Little Mi, who overheard her father’s admiration, remarked that it was clearly because soone from higher up had intervened, making everything go smoothly—wasn’t that obvious?
But none of that mattered. What mattered was this: Jiang family’s pigsty construction was finally underway!
On the eighth day of April, with Jiang Hu’s first swing of the hoe, and alongside fifteen people including skilled workers, the construction was in full swing.
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