As expected, the stream of customers at Lin Zhen’s shop never seemed to end. Even without knowing the exact daily revenue, it was clear they were making a substantial profit.
When there was money to be made, how many people would still hesitate over fears of being looked down upon for “speculation and profiteering”?
As a result, various businesses began sprouting up like mushrooms after rain.
While this had some impact on Lin Zhen’s shop, they had the advantage of being first movers and having established suppliers, so their daily income remained decent.
Lin Zhen and Jiang Wenwu continued their ventures outside, bringing in considerable earnings every month.
Apart from the funds needed for inventory and operations, Lin Zhen handed the rest of the money to Song Wei.
By now, the fixed savings in their passbook alone amounted to tens of thousands of yuan.
As soon as the household contract system was officially announced, Song Wei immediately invested these funds.
She not only intended to contract a portion of farmland but also wanted to lease a large area of mountainous land.
When she went to discuss the matter with the brigade leader, the entire family was stunned.
“You… Shouldn’t you discuss this with Lin Zhen first? That’s so much money. What do you plan to do with all that mountainous land?”
Song Wei replied, “Lin Zhen and I have already discussed this, and he agrees.”
After hearing which areas she wanted to contract, the brigade leader was utterly speechless.
“I can understand the sandy land—you probably want to grow watermelons. But what are you planning to plant on the other plots? You can’t manage that much land all by yourself at home.”
Song Wei explained, “I’m not planting crops. I want to grow tea trees and goji berry bushes.”
The mountainous area for tea cultivation had been chosen after she and Grandma had surveyed it together—it was well-suited for tea growth. She planned to cultivate the same type of tea trees found deep in the mountains.
Her decision to grow goji berries was based on her experience selling medicinal herbs—they were relatively easy to cultivate, the local environment was suitable, and most importantly, they promised good yields and had a large market.
“What about that large plot of land near your house? What do you plan to do with that?”
Song Wei said, “I’m going to set up a small farm.”
The land she wanted was extensive. Even though leasing mountainous land was cheap at the time, the area Song Wei intended to contract was so large that her current savings weren’t enough to cover it all.
Song Wei was aware of this. “Here’s what I’m thinking, Brigade Leader. That tea we gave your family last time—it’s grown wild deep in our mountains. I plan to build a reputation for this tea. Once the tea garden is established, our family alone won’t be able to manage the harvesting. So, we’ll need to hire villagers to pick the tea leaves. This will benefit the entire village…”
Song Wei laid out her well-prepared reasoning. If the village had a tea mountain, harvesting tea leaves would indeed boost the local economy.
Hearing this, the brigade leader’s eyes lit up.
If things really worked out that way, once the tea plants matured, wouldn’t every household be able to earn money from tea picking?
“I’d like to contract the land around the tea mountain and the area near our house first. The goji berry plots aren’t urgent—there are plenty of places around here suitable for growing them. As for the sandy land, I only need two or three mu for personal use—just enough to grow watermelons for ourselves.”
She didn’t actually plan to sell the watermelons; after all, there were several mouths to feed at home.
Little Bear alone could devour several watermelons in a day!
“Alright, I’ll get this settled for you.”
Seeing that Song Wei wasn’t acting on a whim and had a clear plan in mind, the brigade leader stopped objecting.
However, the matter needed to be discussed with the villagers in a meeting.
That afternoon, the brigade leader used a loudspeaker to gather all the decision-makers in the village and informed them about Song Wei’s intention to contract mountainous land.
When they heard that Song Wei was prepared to spend such a large sum to lease the land, everyone was abuzz.
Many were green with envy.
The brigade leader clapped his hands and continued through the loudspeaker, “Song Wei and Lin Zhen are contracting the land to grow tea trees. She’s said that she’ll hire people to plant the tea trees and, in the future, pick the tea leaves. Everyone will be paid wages for their work.”
At this, most people’s eyes lit up with excitement as they looked eagerly at Song Wei.
Many had been jealous of Song Wei and Lin Zhen’s wealth, but if this plan really went through, the entire village could benefit financially!
This made quite a few people regard Song Wei with newfound warmth and enthusiasm.
Moreover, the money Song Wei used to contract the mountainous land would be distributed among every household. Getting money for nothing—no one in the village had any objections to that.
After the meeting, however, many people approached Song Wei to ask about the tea trees and the tea mountain. Some also inquired about what Lin Zhen was up to.
After all, it was over twenty thousand yuan—how on earth had Lin Zhen managed to earn so much money?
No one believed Song Wei could have earned that money herself, since she was at home taking care of the children.
The brigade leader acted quickly. When he took Song Wei to meet with local officials to formalize the contract, the leaders were surprised that someone had the courage to lease several hundred mu of mountainous land so soon after the policy was announced.
After repeatedly confirming that everything was in order, they approved the agreement.
Just like that, Song Wei’s family now owned over three hundred mu of mountainous land dedicated to tea cultivation.
She hired strong and honest villagers to clear and prepare the land, offering a daily wage of one yuan.
As soon as the news spread, almost everyone in the village—men and women, young and old—rushed to sign up.
They were used to working hard every day anyway, but now they could actually get paid for it. Who wouldn’t be happy about that?
However, land clearing didn’t require that many people. The brigade and Grandpa Lin helped with the selection process. Given their authority and respect, those who weren’t chosen didn’t dare complain or make a scene in their presence.
The brigade leader reassured them, “Don’t worry if you weren’t selected this time. After the land is cleared, we’ll need people to plant the tea saplings!”
Some worried, “We know how to farm crops, but how do we plant tea trees?”
“Don’t worry, you’ll be taught when the time comes.”
With the brigade leader’s reassurance, those who weren’t selected left disappointed.
Most cases were straightforward, but there was one person the brigade leader was unsure about: Lin Zhen’s second uncle, Lin Lao’er.
Over the years, the brigade leader had observed Lin Lao’er’s (Second Lin) transformation—he had become honest and hardworking.
But given the past conflicts between his family and Lin Zhen’s, the brigade leader brought the list to Song Wei and explained the situation.
Song Wei wasn’t bothered. “Uncle, you can decide. To our family, those people are just strangers now.”
The brigade leader pondered—did this mean she no longer held a grudge?
“Alright, I’ll make the announcements then.”
To the anxiety of Lin Lao’er’s family, he was eventually selected for the job.
Lin Lao’er’s eyes reddened. “In the past, we wronged Lin Zhen and Hei Dan, and we failed Third Brother’s family.”
His wife comforted him, “From now on, let’s not try to force any connection. Let’s just interact as ordinary villagers. The best thing we can do is not disturb them.”
Lin Lao’er wiped his eyes and nodded.
This matter had little impact on Song Wei.
The twins were now sensible enough, and Lin Ping’an helped them with homework at home. Meanwhile, Song Wei ventured deep into the mountains with Lin Dayou and the others.
That’s right—they were there to prune the tea trees again.
They were reluctant to trim too much from the old tea trees, fearing it might harm them.
So, most of the cuttings came from newly grown tea trees.
Over the years, without harvesting tea leaves, new branches had sprouted abundantly on the young tea trees.
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