latelenovela Chapter 39 A New Path to Wealth
Chapter 39 A New Path to Wealth
“This house is really beautiful. My family will save up and build one like this when we have enough money.”
Looking at her new house, Zhao Taohua couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.
With this sturdy brick and tile house, we won't be afraid of heavy snow this year.
She took the opportunity to remind everyone: "I have calculated that there will be a heavy snowfall this winter. If you have enough money to build a brick house, then do so."
If you really don't have enough money, just repair the roof and seal up the cracks in the walls, and you can get through the winter safely.
Upon hearing this, everyone finally understood why Zhao Ershu's family had built a brick house. It turned out that Tao Hua had predicted a heavy snowfall this winter!
With this brick house, even the heaviest snowfall won't collapse the roof, and the cold wind won't get inside.
"Oh dear, what are we going to do? My family is still short of money."
There aren't many medicinal herbs left to dig at the foot of the mountain lately, how am I supposed to save up this money?
Aunt Zheng said worriedly.
So does everyone else.
The village has nearly a thousand people, and everyone digs at the foot of the mountain every day, but the medicinal herbs at the foot of the mountain have long been dug up.
Some people even went halfway up the mountain to dig for money, and they actually found a lot more medicinal herbs.
No one dared to go any higher.
After all, everyone knows there are wolves in the mountains, and the wolves must be on the mountaintop. It would be bad if we encountered wolves.
Not everyone is like Shen Ming, who can venture into the mountains alone and hunt a lot of prey every time.
Sometimes, they even saw Shen Ming carrying the wolf down!
Digging for medicinal herbs was not a long-term solution, as Zhao Taohua had anticipated. However, the speed at which everyone was digging for herbs exceeded her expectations.
However, before that, Zhao Taohua had already come up with two ideas.
The fields in Zhao Family Village are not suitable for growing crops because of the fog and high humidity, but other things can be grown!
For example, medicinal herbs!
Especially those medicinal herbs that can be harvested in a short period of time!
"Don't worry, everyone. You will definitely save up the money. In the next couple of days, the village chief will tell you about a new path to wealth."
After Zhao Taohua finished speaking, Aunt Qian immediately noticed the smile on Zhao Taohua's lips and asked:
"Peach Blossom, did you come up with this new path to wealth for us?"
Zhao Taohua nodded shyly.
These days, everyone is helping her build a house. Although she is busy cooking every day, she listens to everyone's conversations while they work.
She thought and thought, and finally came up with a solution: since she couldn't find any medicinal herbs, she could take advantage of Zhao Village's natural advantages to cultivate herbs that were suitable for growing.
That day, Zhao Taohua ran excitedly towards the village chief's house, and the village chief was shocked when he heard her:
"Planting medicinal herbs?"
"Will this work?" the village chief asked with some concern.
Because the village had never grown medicinal herbs before, and the rice in the fields would be harvested in a month or two, it wouldn't be worthwhile to destroy the rice to grow medicinal herbs at this time.
Although their village has always had poor harvests, they can still manage to collect something.
"Village chief, we're not destroying the rice paddies to grow medicinal herbs, but rather clearing out some wasteland to grow them."
In this way, once the herbs have grown, it will be extra income without interfering with the rice growing in the fields.
"After the rice harvest, if anyone wants to plant medicinal herbs in the fields, that's their choice."
The two then went to Zhao Xiangping's house together to discuss the matter with Xiangping's great-grandfather.
After Zhao Taohua told Zhao Xiangping the names of several medicinal herbs, Zhao Xiangping slapped his forehead and said:
"Huh, why didn't I think of that?"
"Peach Blossom is right. We can grow Anoectochilus roxburghii, Perilla frutescens, and Leonurus japonicus in our village, and we can harvest them very quickly after planting."
The village chief breathed a slight sigh of relief upon hearing that it was indeed possible to plant the crops, but he still had one concern:
"What if our whole village plants it and we can't sell it?"
This is different from digging up medicinal herbs. No matter how much people dig, how can it compare to the amount that is cultivated by professionals?
Besides, the whole village only grows a few varieties, and a single clinic doesn't need that many.
Zhao Xiangping immediately said, "I'll handle this. Although I've always been just a small village doctor, I still have some connections in the clinics around here."
I'll go ask around and discuss it with them. If it's feasible, I'll ask the village chief to come along and sign the contract.
From that day on, Xiangping's great-grandfather was busy traveling between clinics in various towns and counties.
Hard work pays off. Thanks to Xiangping's great-grandfather's connections, the vast majority of medical clinics agreed to the acquisition.
Following that, Zhao Xiangping led the village chief to each clinic to sign contracts, ensuring that everyone could sell their crops after they were planted.
Zhao Taohua estimated that the village chief and Zhao Xiangping's grandfather should be able to finish signing the contracts in the next two days.
When Aunt Zheng and the others saw that Zhao Taohua had admitted that she was the one who came up with the new path to prosperity for the village, they all felt much more at ease.
Peach Blossom is a reliable girl; the methods she comes up with will definitely help everyone make money.
Aunt Zheng's face immediately lit up with a smile: "Then when my family has saved enough money, we'll build a brick house too!"
Others chimed in, "Yes, we should all build brick houses. Look how beautiful this house is! It can house several generations."
Zhao Ershu and Qian Shi immediately chimed in, "When you build your house, my husband and I will come and help!"
The couple remembers all the villagers who helped them these past few days.
Since no one wants the wages, we'll find another opportunity to pay them back later.
Zhao Guangming patted Zhao Ershu on the shoulder and suggested, "Ershu, buy new furniture inside. A new house is more comfortable to live in if it's well-furnished."
Those old, crippled tables, chairs, and benches should be chopped up and used for firewood as soon as possible.
Zhao Ershu smiled and agreed.
The house is now complete. All that's left is to finish the small tasks like building doors and windows, constructing the kang (heated brick bed), and adding tables, chairs, and benches. That will make it all ready.
Zhao Ershu couldn't bear to buy all the furniture, so he made it himself.
Just then, a nitpicker came to our house, so we went up the mountain together to cut down trees and gradually made all the doors, windows, and furniture for the house.
When Zhao Taohua and her family of three moved out of the temporary thatched hut and into their new home, Qian would touch the blue brick wall from time to time and say three times, "It's so nice."
The four rooms, from east to west, are the kitchen, main room, living room, and west room. Zhao Taohua now has her own room in the west room.
The west room is twenty square meters. Upon entering, the first thing you see is a large kang (heated brick bed) against the wall, covered with a mattress. Several quilts are neatly folded in the cabinet on the wall.
On the other side of the room stood a new wardrobe, decorated with simple patterns.
A brand new table and a stool were placed below the window.
Zhao Taohua can sit here and draw talismans. When she looks up, she can see the various vegetables planted in the yard, as well as the neat blue brick walls and two heavy and sturdy gates.
After Zhao Taohua sat down at the table, she was very satisfied. She had finally replaced the old, dilapidated house with countless cracks in the walls, sparse thatch on the roof, and several collapsed sections. Now she lived in a spacious and brand-new brick and tile house!
Although many villagers came to help build the new house, which sped up the construction and saved some labor costs, the daily lunch provided still cost a lot of money.
With this calculation, the budget of nineteen taels and three hundred coins for building a house has been reduced to only one tael.
Fortunately, she had signed a contract with Madam He and received a deposit of fifty taels of silver; otherwise, she would be penniless now.
"Boom! Boom! Boom..."
Just then, the sound of gongs came from the village.
The village chief banged a gong and shouted, "Everyone, gather at the village entrance! I have some good news to tell you!"