Chapter 109: Shameless
Translator: Lonelytree
On the next day, out of the 23 families who hadn’t decided, five more said they wouldn’t sign the contract. The five had been persuaded by Zhang Chunjiao.
These five families had a good relationship with Xiao Fuqi’s family. They were no better than each other.
Zhang Chunjiao said, “Didn’t Xiao Lingyu want to rent the land to grow strawberries? We can do the same. She will use the Little Cattle King’s manure to grow the strawberries, and we can copy that. After all, she had promised that we could go to her house to pick the manure for free.
“Naturally, the strawberries will grow with the Little Cattle King’s manure! In that case, why should we be afraid that we won’t be able to sell the strawberries? If we think about it, working the land ourselves is more cost-effective than renting it to Xiao Lingyu. We will earn a lot by growing strawberries.”
“Yes, that’s a good idea.”
“That’s true. We’ll do what Xiao Lingyu plans to do. We’ll use the Little Cattle King’s manure to make the strawberries plants thrive. We can sell them on our own.”
“Besides, Xiao Lingyu promised to take our leftovers. Even if we can’t sell the strawberries, we’ll push them to Xiao Lingyu and make her pay for them!”
“Yes, what a wonderful idea!”
“But, we don’t have any strawberry seeds.”
“That’s right. The entire Xing Yin County doesn’t have strawberry seeds for sale anymore!”
Zhang Chunjiao said, “In that case, we’ll just ask for some from that girl. Didn’t she say she is planning to farm strawberries? Therefore, she’ll have plenty of seeds.”
“Is that really a good idea?” Someone hesitated. It was one thing not to rent the land to the Xiao Family, but now they wanted to use her seeds and her manure.
“What is so wrong about it?” Zhang Chunjiao said, “Shouldn’t we help each other? Furthermore, it was Xiao Lingyu who said we are free not to rent her our land. Plus, she has no right to stop us from planting strawberries on our lands.”
“That’s correct, but it doesn’t seem right for us to ask her for the strawberry seeds.” Not all were thick-skinned enough to do something like this.
However, some sided with Zhang Chunjia. “Xiao Lingyu promised us these things. She can’t go back on her words.”
They wouldn’t rent the land to the Xiao Family, but they would pick the manure from the Xiao Family, take the strawberry seeds from the Xiao Family, and have the Xiao Family buy their leftover fruits.
Most people wouldn’t be shameless enough to do that. However, some were persuaded by Zhang Chunjia. Therefore, on the second day of the contract signing, they chose not to show up.
The village chief, Xiao Lingyu, and the others heard about this. The village chief frowned and said with dissatisfaction, “Zhang Chunjiao and her husband are too shameless. Also, how can the other families even be persuaded by them? They become as thick-skinned as Zhang Chunjiao!”
Xiao Lingyu smiled, “Village chief, there’s no need to be angry. The land is theirs, so it’s their freedom not to rent their land.”
Xiao Zhengyang chose that moment to speak. “They sure are confident. Do they think my family is so easily bullied? Village chief, since everyone is here, I’ll make this announcement right now. If someone wants to grow their own strawberries, fine. However, they have to get the seeds themselves. My Yu ‘Er spent a lot on the seeds. We don’t even have enough for our own farm, so we won’t be sharing them for free.”
Even if they did have leftovers, they wouldn’t give them away.
These families made it feel like the Xiao Family owed them. Xiao Lingyu was junior, so she couldn’t criticize them, but Xiao Zhengyang could.
His words immediately destroyed these people’s plans to ‘borrow’ the strawberry seeds. Xiao Zhengyang was the man of the house, and in the matter, he had the support of his wife.
Chen Qiuying added, “I agree with my husband. We have no objections if other family wants to plant strawberries. However, they want my family to provide the seeds and the fertilizers? Plus, I hear that they plan to force my Yu ‘Er to buy their harvest should they fail to find a market. I refuse to believe people can be so thick-skinned. Since they are being so greedy, then, we’re not going to give them face anymore.” In other words, the Xiao Family would not be providing free strawberry seedlings.
Since her parents had spoken, Xiao Lingyu added, “Village chief, my parents have voiced what is on my mind. The strawberry seeds are hard to come by. I currently have 10 Mu of land. I don’t even have enough seeds to plant myself. Even if someone offers a high price, I won’t be selling any strawberry seeds!”
Hearing that, the people who had signed the contract sighed in relief. To be honest, when Zhang Chunjiao and Xiao Fuqi came to persuade them to plant the strawberries themselves, they were tempted. However, they couldn’t go back on their words. Besides, there was no telling if Xiao Lingyu was willing to give them the strawberry seeds or not.
If they reneged on their words, they had to pay the compensation. It was too high of a risk. After much consideration, they decided to follow the contract.
At that moment, Mother Xiao spoke again, “I have no objections for the villagers to come to our house to pick Little Light’s manure. Even the five families who didn’t rent their land are welcome. However, we do not welcome Xiao Fuqi’s family! They have to be responsible for their actions! They have said so many bad things about my family in the past, but I never cared about it. However, they tried to sabotage my Yu ‘Er’s business, and I will never forgive that!”
They incited others not to work with Xiao Lingyu and even came up with the ideas to take advantage of Xiao Lingyu. Only a saint would be magnanimous to such parasites.
Some people grinned hearing Mother Xiao. They mocked Xiao Fuqi and Zhang Chunjia internally. They had brought this upon themselves.
Before this, Xiao Zhengyang’s family didn’t say Xiao Fuqi’s family couldn’t come to pick the manure. But now, the Xiao Family had stated explicitly that Xiao Fuqi’s family was not welcomed.
They continued with the contract signing ceremony. Those who wanted to rent would sign the contract, those who didn’t could leave. Xiao Lingyu didn’t force anyone.
Xiao Lingyu went home to do some calculations.
Other than Xiao Fuqi and the five families, Xiao Lingyu rented 16.2 Mu land. She didn’t have that many strawberry seeds. She believed she could plant six Mu land with strawberries. For the rest, she would attempt to grow peanuts, soybean, and dragonfruits.
The Xiao Family also had six Mu of water plot and two Mu of the high-grade dry plot. Xiao Linguyu would grow water paddy in three Mu of water plot while using the rest for vegetables.
In total, she would farm around 20 Mu.
In the future, she planned to expand her business to contract the land on the other side of the back mountain.
But that was a story for the future.