Chapter 403: Something Happened
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Su Zhen said, “I’ve got two pieces of leather here. One is for my sister-in-law to make a leather coat, and the other I plan to send to my godmother in Grand Cloud Mountain.”
Since Zhang Ping moved to Pushan Village, he had fewer opportunities to see Zhao Wan than Su Zhen did. Knowing that Su Zhen was sending something to Zhao Wan on Grand Cloud Mountain, Zhang Ping seized the opportunity, “Su Zhen, if you’re sending something, can you also take something for me? Xiao Qing personally sewed a piece of clothing for her mother. I’ll bring it over tomorrow. Find a chance to send it up the mountain together.”
Su Zhen agreed.
About a week later, as the cornfield was fully ripe and the village was organizing the harvest, Lao Zheng from the neighboring village suddenly came to find Jiang Chuan.
Confused, Jiang Chuan asked, “Brother Zheng, what brings you here?”
Lao Zheng said, “I’ve heard about the recent developments in your village, the fish pond and the breeding farm. I came to learn from you.”
Jiang Chuan inquired, “So, Brother Zheng, what are your thoughts after seeing everything?”
Lao Zheng explained, “Our village lacks wealthy individuals to start a fish pond or a breeding farm, let alone a supply and marketing cooperative. But we have people! I was thinking, since your village is hiring, why not let our villagers come and earn some wages?”
This was unexpected for Jiang Chuan. He originally thought that a fish pond, pasture, and supply cooperative would be enough to sustain a village. However, the job opportunities these could provide were limited. Considering the elderly and the young, there might only be thirty or forty able young people in Pushan Village. These three places could employ them, with the rest working in the fields to ensure everyone had work. But if people from the neighboring village also wanted to join, there might not be enough job opportunities.
Jiang Chuan, feeling troubled, said, “Brother Zheng, it’s not that I don’t want to help, but under the current circumstances, it might not be possible to accommodate so many people. I understand that every village wants to develop. I have an idea: fish ponds are relatively simple to manage, and there’s plenty of fish in the stream behind the mountains. If you don’t mind, we can help gather a hundred fish to start a fish pond in your village, and then the rest can work in our village. How does that sound?”
This way, young people from both villages could be employed, preventing idleness.
Lao Zheng responded enthusiastically, “That’s great, how can I thank you for thinking so much about everyone?”
Jiang Chuan replied, “As long as everyone can live better, thanks are secondary.”
About a month later, everything fell into place, and both villages were thriving. Just when everyone thought life was getting better, an unexpected problem arose.
This issue mainly occurred at the breeding farm. While the supply and marketing cooperative and the fish pond were under Jiang Chuan’s control and could receive prompt help, the breeding farm was a different story. Firstly, it was located far from Jiang Chuan, and secondly, it was privately operated, leaving Jiang Chuan unable to intervene.
After the onset of spring, as the weather warmed up, crops and wild grass grew rapidly. With less urgent work, villagers naturally sought part-time jobs for additional income.
Among these, Qin Ming’s breeding farm employed the most people, nearly half of the village’s labor force, thus solving the unemployment issue.
Moreover, the dairy cows were healthy and high-yielding, starting to produce milk just seven days after being purchased.
The peak of milk production coincided with the corn harvest and rice planting season. As a result, Qin Ming and his wife couldn’t afford to hire help and had to milk the cows themselves.
Much of the milk, at risk of spoiling, was distributed to nearby villagers on the same day, yielding little profit.
However, the situation improved after villagers finished their work and returned to the farm. Due to the previous distribution of free milk, the villagers had developed a taste for it and demanded daily milk. Consequently, the orders for milk from the breeding farm gradually increased. Eventually, life improved significantly for everyone, with nearly the entire village consuming milk from Qin Ming’s farm, leading to an expansion of the breeding farm..
