When the five families who didn’t rent the land to Xiao Lingyu heard Xiao Zhengyang and Chen Qiuying’s messages from the others, they were immediately assaulted by regret. Why would they listen to Zhang Chunjiao?
That night, two families came to Xiao Zhengyang’s house. They didn’t say openly they were there to sign the contract, but every word they said involved how they were fooled by Zhang Chunjiao and her husband. It was why they were being so foolish.
They had thought it through and decided to rent their land.
However, Xiao Zhengyang and Chen Qiuying were not so easily cowed. They kept changing the topic. They refused to talk about the contract. These people used their land to try to bully their Yu ‘Er. Now that these people realized the Xiao Family wasn’t so easily bullied, they finally understood their mistake. Then why did they make such a mistake in the first place?
Xiao Chengying and his wife were anxious since Xiao Zhengyang and Chen Qiuying were playing Tai Chi with them. Xiao Chengying said directly, “Zhengyang, I’ll be frank. We won’t be planting anything on our piece of land. After some consideration, we plan to rent it to you. So, when can we sign the contract?” Once they signed the contract, they would get the money. That was their goal.
Xiao Chengying’s wife, Zhang Qiuxiang, looked around and couldn’t see Xiao Lingyu. She asked with a smile, “Qiuying, where’s Lingyu?”
Chen Qiuying said indifferently, “She’s been busy all day. She’s tired and sleeping!”
“She is sleeping so early?” Zhang Qiuxiang said with slight surprise, “It’s not even nine o’clock yet!”
Chen Qiuying really wanted to roll her eyes. She already told them her Yu ‘Er was tired from moving around all day. That was why she had to sleep earlier. It was like these people couldn’t hear her.
Chen Qiuying repeated. “The child is tired, so she went to bed early.”
“Then, what about our contract?” Zhang Qiuxiang was anxious. “Didn’t Lingyu say we can still sign the contract today?”
“You silly woman!” Xiao Chengying rebuked his wife. “Do you want to wake Lingyu up for this?” Xiao Chengying regretted listening to his wife and her friend, Zhang Chunjiao. They would make a fortune if they planted strawberries like Xiao Lingyu, they said. They almost offended Xiao Zhengyang and got nothing to show for it.
Xiao Zhengyang frowned. “Chengying, have you really thought it through this time? Are you sure you won’t be swayed by others? You’re not going to regret it after signing the contract, are you? If you’ve really made up your mind, I’ll wake up Yu ‘Er for you.”
“Of course. We won’t regret this.” Xiao Chengying and Zhang Qiuying nodded.
Mother Xiao went to wake Xiao Lingyu up. Xiao Lingyu was just coming out of the farming space when Mother Xiao knocked on her door. Xiao Lingyu walked out with the contract.
Xiao Lingyu looked at the guests and said, “Uncle Chengyin, Uncle Chengfa, we can sign the contract now, but we need to go to the village chief’s place because we need a witness.
“Also, I need to be clear. Once the contract is signed, you can’t breach it anymore. If you do, you have to pay me ten times the compensation.”
“Yes, we know!” Xiao Chengying, Xiao Chengfa, and the others nodded.
“Okay then. Let’s go to the village chief’s house and sign the contract.” The contract signing was quick. The two families got their money, and they were very happy.
…
The next day, Xiao Lingyu took the strawberry seedlings out of the farming space. She waited for them to sprout, and then she moved them to the Xiao Family backyard.
Three plots of land were sequestered to cultivate the strawberry seedlings. A plastic tent was built over them. In order to grow good strawberries, Xiao Lingyu went to purchase some farming books.
Honestly, this was Xiao Lingyu’s first time trying to plant strawberries. She was making things up as she went. However, she had her farming space to rely on, so she was not afraid.
As soon as the contract went through, Xiao Lingyu hired a dozen of strong men and women from the village to help. Xiao Lingyu paid the men 20 RMB per day and the women 15 RM per day, without meals. After all, the back mountain was not far from the village, so they could go back home to eat.
The men would build the sheds while the women cleaned the grass and turned the land. The men were led by Xiao Lingyu’s fourth uncle and the women her fourth aunt.
Xiao Lingyu planned to build the shed all over the rented land. It would cover the planting of strawberries, peanuts, soybeans, and dragonfruits.
The villagers were rather surprised that Xiao Lingyu moved so fast. They had just signed the contract, and Xiao Lingyu was already building the shed. The sheds were completed in three days. As Xiao Lingyu said, they had completely isolated the land they didn’t rent.
…
Xiao Lingyu was not at home when the sheds were being built. She left the blueprints with her fourth uncle, and she departed for the county town to sell fruits and vegetables.
Xiao Lingyu had had many harvests in her farming space. There was one harvest almost every day, and the quantity of the harvest was the same every time. The number of crops was piling up in the farming space.
Originally, Mother Xiao wanted to follow her daughter to the county town, but her daughter gave her a special task. She needed Mother Xiao to water the strawberry seedlings. Xiao Lingyu gave her mother a bottle of spring water. Mother Xiao was to pour a cap of the spring water into a bucket of normal well water and then use that to water the seedlings. She needed to water the seedlings once in the morning and once at night.
Mother Xiao didn’t dare give others this task, so she had to stay back and allowed Xiao Lingyu to go to the county town alone.
Xiao Lingyu arrived at the county town the day before. She was not in a hurry. Without Mother Xiao, Xiao Lingyu materialized the crops on the tricycle directly. She planned to sell them bits by bits. Then, she’d stop to find a storefront. That way, she wouldn’t spend her days avoiding the UMALE officers.
That night, Xiao Lingyu called the landlady, Grandma Song. She told her that she had reserved some crops for her. Xiao Lingyu would send them over to Grandma Song.
“Girl, you’re back in town?” When Grandma Song got Xiao Lingyu’s call, she was very excited. She was glad that they could have the special vegetables and fruits again.
“There’s no need to send them to me. I have time, and I’ll be there tomorrow morning!” Grandma Song said with a smile. She would have rejected it if they were normal vegetables. However, Xiao Lingyu’s vegetables were definitely not average.
Grandma Song said, “Girl, our family has discussed it. Your crops are not ordinary, and the price is not ordinary either. You don’t need to hide it from me. I know people who had bought from you that day.” Xiao Lingyu’s products were expensive.
“We feel bad taking them for free. Let us pay!” Grandma Song said, “And Girl, don’t say you’re going to balance it out with the rent. The house’s rent is not that expensive!”
Xiao Lingyu smiled, “Okay then, Grandma Song. Thank you so much!”
Xiao Lingyu hung up, and she was filled with confidence. She knew her sales would be good tomorrow.
She cheered, “We can do this!”