A Good Country Wife
Chapter 381 - 375_1

Chapter 381: Chapter 375_1

The restaurant and grocery business had started to prosper even more, and now that operations were on track, Lin Yue and Zhao Erhu didn’t need to watch over everything daily like at the beginning. It was sufficient for them to drop by when they had time, leaving the day-to-day affairs to the manager they had hired.

Now that spring was in full bloom, it was another prime season for sowing. The former magistrate, Mr. Chen, had already left Xin’an City with his family for Capital City to report on his official duties. Lately, aside from being busy with setting up their farm, Zhao Erhu and Lin Yue were also preparing for the planting season.

The bean products and sweet potato starch noodles made by Lin Yue’s family sold well in Xin’an City, and were even more popular in Capital City. However, sourcing the materials posed a problem. The bean products were manageable, as most households in nearby villages grew beans, which they could collect if running short. Zhao Erhu’s family had become renowned in the surrounding ten miles, and sometimes villagers would bring their goods to sell to them without them having to collect it themselves. But for sweet potato starch and noodles, sweet potatoes were needed.

Last year, Lin Yue’s family had planted quite a bit of sweet potatoes, but the consumption rate was unsustainable. Aside from the half reserved for seed, nearly two-thirds of the rest had already been used up. Now, supplies had stopped from the government office and the Su Residence, catering only to the Jiang family in Capital City. Even so, it wouldn’t last long. The sweet potatoes set aside for seed could not be touched unless the ones planted this year were harvested, or they purchased them from a shop. However, buying from a shop would be costly, and after factoring in the raw material and labor costs, the process would hardly be profitable.

"Zhao Erhu, sweet potatoes are good, both for storage as food and making noodles and fries, and they have a high yield. We should plant more sweet potatoes this year. Why don’t we plant all the fallow land we opened up last year with sweet potatoes? We’ve saved enough seeds to cover that. For the rest, we can buy some more land. What do you think?" Lin Yue said.

"I’m on the same page," Zhao Erhu pondered and replied, "Sweet potatoes are good. Let’s plant more. But we need to plant more vegetables too. Now that we have the restaurant, we need lots of vegetables, and we can’t have too many of those. I’ll go to the village chief’s place and see if there’s any suitable land for sale. If we delay, everyone will start sowing."

"Zhao Erhu, wait. Take these things with you. You can’t go to ask the village chief for help empty-handed." Lin Yue said as she packed several jin each of rice and flour, also including a roast chicken she had just brought back from the restaurant, and a bottle of liquor for Zhao Erhu to take along.

Zhao Erhu accepted what Lin Yue handed him with a smile. In the hectic days recently, he had almost become confused, "Wife, you’re so thoughtful. I was so preoccupied with things that I almost forgot this. It would be embarrassing to show up empty-handed."

The village chief normally wasn’t someone who smiled often, but he always had a smile on his face each time he saw Zhao Erhu. The young man’s visits were surely for something good. Even if not specifically for the benefit of the village, it would undoubtedly involve some advantage for him. He could already smell the aroma—it must be the roast chicken from the restaurant. He’d only tasted it once before but could still remember the flavor.

"Erhu, you’re here. What brings you by today?" the village chief asked, seemingly serious but his gaze kept darting to the items Zhao Erhu was carrying.

"Uncle, I’m here today to inquire if there’s any available land for sale in the village. Our family needs more land for planting vegetables," Zhao Erhu said while handing over the gifts, "Uncle, I’ve brought these especially for you, please accept them with our compliments."

"You’re always so courteous, lad. Every time you come, you bring so much. How can I accept this?" Although the village chief said this, he didn’t hesitate to take the offerings, especially as the aroma of the chicken grew stronger the closer it got, and he was almost drooling. He thought he also caught the scent of alcohol—if there really was any, it would be even better. Enjoying roast chicken with liquor was one of life’s great pleasures.

Zhao Erhu could easily tell that the village chief was being polite. If he hadn’t brought gifts, the chief wouldn’t have been so warm, and the service wouldn’t have been as diligent. Still, he replied with a grin, "Uncle, there’s no need for formalities between us. This isn’t anything precious, just some food. Please don’t disdain it."

After exchanging pleasantries, the village chief invited Zhao Erhu to sit down in the yard and brewed some tea before discussing business, "Speaking of buying land, it just so happens that Landlord Zhang has eighty mu of good farmland for sale. But he’s in urgent need of cash and has stated he wants to sell it all in one go, no separate sales. That’s quite a sum of silver. Can you take on so much land?"

"Oh? How much per mu did Landlord Zhang mention for those fields?" Zhao Erhu was eager to buy as soon as he heard but didn’t show it in front of the village chief. He knew all too well where Landlord Zhang’s land was—those were top-notch fields with rich soil, ideal for growing grains or vegetables and guaranteed to yield more than average fields. He’d envied them before, but such prime land was hard to come by. Even if one wanted to buy, it rarely came up for sale. This timing was just right.

Seeing Zhao Erhu seemingly interested, the village chief inwardly sighed, thinking of the handsome profit Zhao Erhu must have made last year. With the restaurant and grocery store now, he must be making even more. Plus, he was still building his house—considering he was contemplating buying land, that all involved spending silver. The chief’s mind was busy with thoughts.

Though the village chief had many thoughts, he remained composed, "You know where Landlord Zhang’s land is. It’s some of the best, and he’s asking for at least six taels of silver per mu, firm price, no bargaining. It pains him to sell such excellent farmland; he wouldn’t part with it for a tael less."

"Prime farmland at six taels of silver per mu seems like a fair price, but selling eighty mu all at once is indeed a bit much—quite a sum of silver." Zhao Erhu considered that the quoted price was reasonable, but he didn’t want to appear too wealthy in front of the village chief. While he appeared respectable enough, people’s natures were unpredictable. If the chief harbored ill intentions over money, things could turn sour.

"Eighty mu would amount to four hundred eighty taels of silver. You’ve made quite a bit of silver these past two years, so coughing up a few hundred shouldn’t be a problem, should it?" the village chief probed.

"Look at you, teasing me. Don’t you know the situation of our family? Sure, we’ve had some big moves lately and earned a bit, but when you get down to it, wages for laborers and other expenditures mean we haven’t made much net profit. Plus, you know we’re building a house. Even with the income from the restaurant and grocery store, we don’t have much silver on hand. I’m worried we might not manage the cash flow." Zhao Erhu responded.