071 – If You Want to Be Rich, Plant Fruit Trees
There were hundreds of trees in the grove, such as locust, white poplar, fir, willow, and bamboo. The trees were worth a sum of money if they were cut down and sold. Qin Mian suggested buying several baskets of eggs to gift to the villagers. Whether it was an elder in his 70s or 80s, or even a newly born baby, he would give two eggs to each person that should be considered as him buying these trees, so as to avoid future disputes.
The villagers were quite happy. These trees had been there for a long time and they did not plant them. It was a surprise that they could get benefits from it. People in a farmer’s household were particular about “the more sons, the more happiness”. The smallest family of three members could get six eggs, and a large family could get more than 20 eggs. They could eat two eggs per meal lasting for several days.
After the land deed was obtained, Qin Mian and Lei Tie prepared tea and snacks, and put writing brush and paper on the short-legged table. Their heads were next to each other as they planned the new farmland.
“What do you think?” Qin Mian just casually asked. Lei Tie did not have high requirements for many things and the things he often said were “listen to you” or “you decide”.
Surprisingly, Lei Tie opened his mouth and pointed to a place in the square drawn by Qin Mian, “It’s convenient to dig a pond here to raise fish and plant lotus root. It’s also convenient to water the vegetables.”
Qin Mian’s eyes lit up. “That’s a brilliant idea. The so-called “face south with the back to the north1“, when the wall is built on this piece of land, the entrance gate should be right in the south. The trees can’t be planted from the house to the gate to avoid blocking the view. This is the most suitable place to dig a pond.”
Lei Tie nodded, “I’ve seen a gourd-shaped lake in the south2. Our pond can imitate that with a bridge at the waistline.”
Qin Mian gave him a thumb up. After drawing the pond and the small bridge with his writing brush according to what was said, he pointed to a corner with the tip of the brush. “We’ll have our hands full with farming and planting vegetables and fruit trees. We’ll hire people later, right? Keep a piece of land next to the wall here to build a servant’s quarters.”
Looking at his cheerful and energetic appearance, Lei Tie’s eyes softened. In that year when he was forced to marry a man soon after he returned home, his heart felt a part of sadness and three parts of humiliation, but in fact, he still had six parts of willingness. During his twelve years at home, nobody cared about him; during his ten years away from home, nobody genuinely put him in their heart, and even nobody could step into his heart. Moreover, he was used to seeing all kinds of darkness. Therefore, he longed for someone who belonged to him completely, belonged only to him, and that he could love with all his heart. At that moment, Qin Mian appeared. Although he was dark, thin, timid, and weak, he had no parents and no support. After Qin Mian married him, the boy could only rely on him. So, no matter what, he would not agree to divorce. In spite of Qin Mian was a man, (LT) he did not at all like women as he had been abused by Du Shi for many years. It was good that Qin Mian was a man. Men understood men better. At first, he only wanted to possess and control Qin Mian; now Qin Mian was the one he loved.
“Am I talking to you?” Qin Mian knocked on Lei Tie’s forehead with a writing brush.
Lei Tie held his left hand, and his deep and low voice brimming with magnetism, “I’m listening. You keep talking.”
Qin Mian’s brush continued to slide on the paper, “This piece of land for planting vegetables, this one for flowers, this one for grapes, this one for peaches…. and this one for Sichuan peppers. This piece of land can be used flexibly depending on the season to plant watermelon, cantaloupe, and so on. The grove is reserved for the time being. It can be turned into a small garden in the future.”
“You planned it very well.” Lei Tie said.
They went out with a bundle of slender sticks and divided a large area of uncultivated land into pieces of smaller areas. After working for more than two hours, they were sweating.
Only when the weather was warmer could the fruit trees be planted.
After the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month, the New Year was considered over. The weather was getting warmer and a few trees had grown small knots alike and had yet produced tender shoots.
Qin Mian and Lei Tie went to their shop. After arranging all the general affairs, they focused on the newly bought land.
They first hired good tree planters in the village, and then went to the orchard in the neighboring town to buy fruit trees. Instead of buying seedlings, they bought adult trees, namely, fruit trees that had previously borne fruits. A transplanted adult tree hardly survived, but Qin Mian had a magical space. He was confident.
He bought twenty peach trees, ten yellow peach trees, ten pear trees, six cherry trees, six jujube trees, ten plum trees, twenty sweet oranges trees, and two pomegranates trees. Common people were not willing to spend money to buy fruit to eat. In addition, people at this period of time were not very skilled in taking care of fruit trees, and so the taste of fruits was very ordinary. Therefore, there was not a big market for fruits, and fruit trees were also sold cheaply. Nearly a hundred trees, Qin Mian spent less than 4 silver taels. On his way back to the village, he passed by the town and changed 10 silver taels to copper coins in the town’s bank3 for the convenient of paying the workers.
Dozens of donkey carts and ox carts carrying trees drove into the village. The mighty procession attracted the villagers to come and watch the bustling scene.
“It seems that Lei Tie is really rich. He has just bought more than ten mu of land and now bought so many fruit trees.” There was a villager said with envy.
Another villager said in bewilderment, “Fruits don’t make a profit. Why do they buy so many fruit trees? It’s strange.”
Yet another villager said with a smile, “Won’t we able to buy fruit cheaper in the future?”
There was even a villager said in pleasant surprise, “I’ve taken care of fruit trees. Maybe I can find some job in Lei Tie’s orchard.”
……
Qin Mian and Lei Tie had no time to deal with this. They directed the cart drivers to transport the fruit trees to the planned areas. On the spot, they hired ten people among the villagers who were watching the scene to dig silt in the village’s ditch, river ditch, and pond. The silt contained duck’s, goose’s, and cow’s excrement as well as fish’s and shrimp’s waste. It was relatively fertile. After the fruit trees were planted, Qin Mian would surely use the spiritual spring water to improve the quality. He did this just to cover up the spiritual spring water. The farmers of the Great Xia Dynasty did not know that the silt could fertilize the farmland. No one ever dug it out and used it. Therefore, it was convenient for Qin Mian.
Qin Mian hired Zhang Dashuan, Wu Di, Lei Xiangyi, Lei Xiangli, and Li Zheng’s two sons; a total of six people. After digging the tree pits, they first laid a layer of silt on the bottom of the pits before planting the trees. Finally, the pay was settled according to the number of trees planted per person, which was 10 Wen per tree. The pay was quite high. With six people, each person could plant fourteen trees on average and could earn more than 100 Wen.
When Lei Tie called Lei Xiangyi and Lei Xiangli over, Lei Xiangren also followed. After hearing Qin Mian say that he would settle the pay according to the number of trees planted, he found an excuse to slip away.
Qin Mian deeply sympathized with Lei Xiangyi, Lei Xiangli, and Lei Xiangzhi. If they did not separate from the family in the future, they would have to continue to support Lei Xiangren, the “young master”.
Lei Xiangyi looked at Lei Xiangren’s back, and his face darkened. He looked at the expressionless Lei Xiangli and secretly made up his mind that after Lei Xiangli married a wife, he would split up with Lei Daqiang. Lei Xiangli and Lei Chuntao had not been matched with a partner because Lei Daqiang and Du Shi had already said that after Lei Xiangzhi became a Xiucai4, their value would increase accordingly and that they would have a better choice when matched. Fortunately, it would not be long before Lei Xiangzhi would take part in the county level imperial exam. Lei Xiangyi could afford to wait.
Qin Mian and Lei Tie did not participate [in the work]. They brought tea and water to the tree planters.
While digging a hole, Zhang Dashuan asked Qin Mian curiously, “Fruit is not worth money. Can you make money by planting so many fruit trees?”
Qin Mian joked, “It’s fine if it can’t make money. The flowers of so many fruit trees are also beautiful.”
Wu Di was listening at the side and could not help rolling his eyes, “Sister5, Brother Zhang is serious.”
“‘If you want to be rich, plant fruit trees’. Lei Tie learned how to grow fruit trees from outside, so we’re trying it.” Qin Mian kept a straight face when he told the lie.
Lei Tie was next to him. He raised his hand to stroke Qin Mian’s ear without saying anything.
Qin Mian had a smile on his face. What’s wrong with relying on Lei Tie’s connivance towards him?
Zhang Dashuan and the others all laughed at his verse of jingle6. They did not take this sentence seriously. Planting fruit trees required money and skills. Even if they were willing to follow suit, they dared not take the risks.
Zhang Dashuan and the others were able-bodied farmers. With their great strength, the works were highly efficient. Before dark, they had finished planting all the trees. Each tree had its own mark, which made it easy to count. Qin Mian and Lei Tie gave out their wages on the spot and gifted each of them a bag of sweet guozi that they could bring back for the children at home.
Zhang Dashuan and the others felt that he was very thoughtful. They all thought in unison that they would still come if the Lei Tie Family wanted to hire in the future.
The few idle villagers, who were watching at the side, were quite envious upon seeing them each carry a heavy bag of copper coins and a bag of snacks. They were determined to be on good terms with Qin Mian and Lei Tie in the future.
After all the others had dispersed, Qin Mian and Lei Tie were preparing to go home when a bulky dark man came over, “Brother Qin, Brother Lei.”
Qin Mian had a good memory. He immediately remembered who this was. He had seen him several times before but had never talked to him. They only exchanged a few words during the New Year’s greetings. “You’re Xiao Hu’s father, Big Brother Fang.”
Fang Wu said with a smile, “Yes, Brother Qin has a good memory.”
Qin Mian had a favorable impression of Fang Wu. When he asked Xiao Hu to watch over the rice grains, Fang Wu did not forbid Xiao Hu. It could be seen that Fang Wu did not have any disgust towards them just because he married Lei Tie.
“What’s it?” Lei Tie asked.
Fang Wu said, “It’s like this; I’d like to ask if your orchard needs to be cared for by people. My father used to help a landlord to take care of the fruit trees for several years. He’s experienced. Now that he is getting old, my older brother and I want to let him live in ease and comfort at home, but he can’t stay idle and still follows us to cut firewood. I thought, since he’s good at taking care of fruit trees and it’s easier than farming, I want to ask for this job for him.”
Lei Tie held Qin Mian’s shoulder, “Wife, you decide.”
Qin Mian asked Fang Wu, “We really need people, but how old is uncle this year? Is he in good health?”
Fang Wu said with ease: “My old man is 61 years old this year. Brother Qin can rest assured that he is in good health.”
With that, he asked tentatively, “Why don’t I ask him to come and take a walk tomorrow?”
Qin Mian nodded with a smile. “Yes. According to Big Brother Fang’s words, Uncle Fang really suits our requirement, but it also depends on the old man’s opinion.”
Shoutout Corner: Thank you, Ellie! ლ(´ ❥ `ლ) You just sponsored Chapter 77! And you’re da best too! ヾ(≧∇≦)ゞ
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