Chapter 208 - 209: Mr. Zhong

Chapter 208: Chapter 209: Mr. Zhong

"Alright, everyone, listen up," Li Yang said with a smile, standing before the crowd. "You’re all probably wondering why I gathered you here today. There’s something I need to tell you all. I’d like to rent all the fields in Wangniu Valley and Wushi Ridge, and I wanted to discuss it with you."

Everyone was stunned, looking at Li Yang in surprise.

"Xiaoyang, what are you going to do with so much land?" one of the villagers asked. "Those are our farmlands. We rely on them for our harvests."

"I know!" Li Yang nodded. In the countryside, land was a person’s lifeline.

"I’m renting them to plant things, too. Let me tell you my idea. Over at Wushi Ridge, I plan to grow flowers—the same kind I’m growing behind my house. In Wangniu Valley, I’m going to grow all sorts of vegetables. I need to expand production, and when I do, I’ll need to hire people to help me manage everything. Once you rent your fields to me, I can hire you to help manage them. You’ll earn more than you do from farming."

As soon as he said that, everyone’s faces lit up.

"Besides, after I rent the land, if I don’t make any money, it’s not like I’ll have ruined the fields. I can just give them back to you to farm," Li Yang added. "So what do you all say? Are you willing?"

At this, everyone broke into discussion.

"I think it’s a great idea. The people Xiaoyang has hired are all earning good wages—three thousand a month. That’s way better than farming. We work the fields all year and we’re not even sure we can make ten thousand."

"Exactly! Working for Xiaoyang, you’d make ten thousand in just three months."

"Right, right..."

...

"Well, I’m willing!" Li Hua, who worked at the feed factory, was the first to speak. "My job at the factory is pretty good, and I don’t have time to farm those fields anymore anyway."

"Right!" Li Jiansheng nodded as well.

Then, Li Dajiang and the others all nodded in agreement.

Now that they were earning a salary, they weren’t thinking about farming anymore. After all, they wouldn’t have time for it.

The others were all envious. In their eyes, these men already had jobs for life.

"We agree, too!" the others said after a moment of thought, nodding.

"Does everyone agree?" Li Yang asked. "I’ll rent your fields at the market rate. Uncle Shunsheng is here to bear witness."

Everyone nodded.

"Uncle Shunsheng, let’s sign the contracts!" Li Yang said with a smile. "I’ll pay up!"

After more than an hour of lively activity, Li Yang had rented all the fields and paid for them on the spot.

He didn’t even go through the village committee, paying the villagers directly.

He paid two years’ rent all at once.

Everyone was quite happy.

"For those of you who already have crops planted, you can harvest them when they’re ripe," Li Yang announced. "If it’s vegetables, you can find Sister-in-law Liyun and sell the entire lot to us. If it’s something else, don’t worry about it. Just harvest it when it’s ready, and we’ll plant other things afterward. Sound good?"

"Sounds good!" The villagers were all quite pleased.

Soon, everyone had left.

"Xiaoyang..." Li Shunsheng, on the other hand, looked worried. "Your business has been smooth sailing so far, and I know it’s not my place to say anything, but you’re expanding so much now. I’m a little concerned."

"Uncle Shunsheng, don’t worry," Li Yang said. "I’ve already made a solid plan. I’m not doing this recklessly. You don’t need to overthink it."

Li Yang smiled and quickly left.

Li Shunsheng gave a wry smile. ’This is a young person’s world now,’ he thought. ’An old man like me really doesn’t know what to do anymore.’

’Oh well, I’ll just let him be.’

Li Yang returned home and called for Zhou Liyun.

Zhou Liyun already knew that Li Yang was renting the fields, so she wasn’t surprised.

"Sister-in-law Liyun, our operation is about to get a lot bigger!" Li Yang said with a chuckle. "Could you do me a favor and recruit some experienced people from the village to help plant and tend the vegetables?"

"Okay!" Zhou Liyun was very happy.

"Alright then. You can start recruiting and see roughly how many people we’ll need. I have to make a trip to the city to find someone who knows about this kind of large-scale agriculture to help out."

"Sounds good!"

...

Li Yang hurried into the city. He didn’t know where to find someone, so his first instinct was to look for Zhang Rong.

"My, you really do come to me for everything, don’t you!" Zhang Rong said, though she was all smiles.

"Aunt Rong, I didn’t know who else to turn to. Besides, this is for Sister Su’s company, too. Just think about it..." Li Yang gave an awkward laugh. "Do you know anyone who’s an expert at this? Could you introduce me?"

"Alright, fine," Zhang Rong said, feigning reluctance. "I’ll take you to meet someone. He should be quite capable, but I don’t know if he’ll be willing to help."

"Great!" Li Yang nodded.

Soon, the two of them got in the car and headed toward the city outskirts.

Before long, they saw a small farmstead. It was filled with all sorts of flowers and plants, as well as many vegetables, all growing lushly.

"Mr. Zhong!" Zhang Rong called out as she got out of the car. "I’ve come to visit!"