kingnovel Chapter 121 We Believe in You
Chapter 121 We Believe in You
They acted immediately. The next morning, Father Li took Xiao Yang to see the village head of Jiuzhou Village. As for Madam Su, she had already gone to the homes of acquaintances the previous afternoon to give them a heads-up.
Judging from the feedback from the Su family, even familiar families like Aunt Zhou and Aunt Huang are still hesitant. This shows that the impact of the new species will only be felt after successful cultivation.
One family readily agreed, saying they would follow in the Li family's footsteps and work together to find a way. That person was none other than Granny Yu. As Granny Yu's nephew, Zhou Liufeng naturally had to obey her instructions.
To put it simply, the old and new Zhoucun villages are separated only by a large pond. The old Zhoucun village is located to the east of the pond, nestled against the mountains and beside the water, making it an ideal place to settle down. Moreover, sixty percent of all the fertile farmland in both the old and new Zhoucun villages is scattered on that side.
The reason why Xinzhou Village exists is simply because the population density of the old Zhou Village was too high. If the clan members who had separated from the family were to build houses and live in the old Zhou Village, they would likely have to occupy fertile farmland. As a last resort, the clan chief of Zhou Village at that time allocated a portion of his descendants to settle in the present-day Xinzhou Village.
After that, whenever members of the Zhou clan split up, they would choose to build houses in the present-day Xinzhou Village. Moreover, almost 90% of the people with different surnames settled in Xinzhou Village. The combined area of Xinzhou and Old Zhou Village is larger than the entire urban area of the prefectural city. Normally, if a family in the northernmost part of Xinzhou Village wanted to visit relatives in the easternmost part of Old Zhou Village, it would take them nearly an hour to walk.
But the pond between the two villages is very beautiful. Like a crescent moon, it perfectly separates the old and new Zhoucun villages. The crescent-shaped side of the moon is in the new Zhoucun village, and the straight side is in the old Zhoucun village.
At the north corner of the pond, a small stream connects to the Yong River. In other words, the pond is a semi-running water pool. However, neither village uses the pond for aquaculture. Li Xiaonuan has always felt it's a waste of resources.
Therefore, in her still-planned Shangri-La project, the pond was listed as a key planning project.
Around the pond grew a lot of water hyacinth, cattails, reeds, and water onions. If you looked at the pond for a while, you could see some wild river fish occasionally coming to the surface to breathe.
Of course, there are also plenty of wild freshwater shrimp. It's just that people nowadays don't really like to eat those little things. Even if some mischievous children catch them, they just feed them to the ducks.
Because Xinzhou Village is nestled against a large mountain range, it appears somewhat secluded. However, from a development perspective, Xinzhou Village has greater potential than Jiuzhou Village. The low-lying hillside area behind Xinzhou Village is rich in water and grass, making it suitable for grazing cattle and sheep.
Besides cattle and sheep, if fruit trees were planted on the low slopes surrounding Xinzhou Village, it would be a beautiful sight when they bloom. And when the fruit ripens, it would be a completely different scene altogether.
As for the area under the fruit trees, chickens and geese can be raised freely, which will help control weeds and pests. Moreover, geese are known as "guard geese," which can also serve as a deterrent against theft. In the end, you can not only harvest fruit but also get chickens and geese, making it a win-win investment.
In the gentle slopes and hilly areas, wild grapevines can climb. Of course, some high-quality grapes should also be planted. All the wild grapes will be used to make wine. If there's no market for the high-quality grapes, they can also be used to make wine or grape juice.
These are the advantages that the new Zhou Village has over the old Zhou Village. As for the plans that Li Xiaonuan wants to make for the old Zhou Village, she doesn't have any ideas yet, after all, she also has to take care of the whole village's chili pepper planting.
Sure enough, not long after breakfast, three families came to our door.
"Sister Xiaonuan, I heard you're going to lead the whole village to plant something new. Is that true? What is it? What's it used for? Can you eat it? How does it taste?"
As soon as she entered, Zhou Jingjing asked several questions in a row.
Li Xiaonuan smiled helplessly, and even the usually composed Aunt Huang couldn't stop laughing: "Oh my, Jingjing speaks so fluently. Such a long sentence, without even taking a breath. But Jingjing did get all the questions we wanted to ask out."
Aunt Liu, Jingjing's eldest aunt, also said, "Yes, we were really curious about what it was, so we came together to ask."
Aunt Zhou tapped Jingjing's forehead and scolded, "I've never seen you so diligent about anything else." Then she asked Li Xiaonuan, "Xiaonuan, your mother was unclear yesterday, and we can't make up our minds. Tell us, what exactly is that thing?"
Li Xiaonuan was prepared. When Wei Yu brought the seeds, she had already scattered a small handful in the vegetable garden in the backyard. Now, the seeds are sprouting, and the germination rate is quite high. The dainty green peas dotting the brown soil look very pretty.
She led the group to the backyard, pointed to a small patch of land, and said to them, "This is what I want you to plant together. Although it has only just sprouted and you can't see anything yet, I can tell you that this will definitely become an indispensable seasoning for every household in the future, and you could even say it's a dish."
Because she didn't know what variety of chili peppers these seeds were, this was the only explanation Li Xiaonuan could give.
“Your explanation isn’t very clear either. We still don’t quite understand. How about you give us an example of what this thing will look like in the future? Or tell us what it will taste like?” Aunt Jingjing said.
Li Xiaonuan thought for a moment and said, "Actually, there are many varieties of this kind of chili. I can't tell which variety it is just by looking at the seeds. However, I can tell you that some varieties of chili are very spicy. They don't have the numbing sensation of Sichuan peppercorns, but they are much spicier than black pepper."
After Li Xiaonuan explained it, everyone had a clearer picture of chili peppers. Jingjing pressed for details: "What do those chili peppers look like?"
Li Xiaonuan replied, "Millet peppers are also called sky peppers. They're only shaped like this, with one pointed end pointing straight up to the sky. When they're ripe, they're bright red. Horn peppers are bigger than millet peppers..."
An hour later, Aunt Zhou and the others left the Li family's courtyard, all smiles. Li Xiaonuan saw them off at the gate. Before they left, Aunt Zhou and the others said, "Xiaonuan, we believe in you. If you have anything new in the future, remember to let us make money together!"
Compared to the trust placed in Aunt Zhou and the others, dealing with the village head was much more difficult. Since this matter involved the interests of the entire village, the village head naturally had to act cautiously. However, after Xiao Yang's animated speech, the village head agreed to seriously consider it.
Li Xiaonuan had anticipated the village head's reaction. Therefore, she instructed her father and the others to let the village head make his own decision. However, they could promote the planting themselves in the village. If there were people who believed in them and were willing to join in, that would be fine too.
Originally, Li Xiaonuan was just testing the waters in the first year. Only those who were bold and willing to take risks could cooperate in the long term. Those who were conservative and stuck in their ways would only end up drinking broth.
The old lady returned from several Zhou clan ancestral homes, somewhat annoyed, saying that those people were stubborn and unwilling for the entire village to take risks with the Li family.
Li Xiaonuan didn't seem to care much. She was planning to find an opportunity to make this public. Whether they ended up gnawing on bones or only drinking broth would be up to them.