NOVPUB
Chapter 764: 754
Liu Jianjun was squatting and discussing something with someone, while Shen Yunfang and Sister Li stood in the corridor chatting.
"Your brother-in-law’s family has several brothers, and they are all just like him—without any skills or resources, but fortunately, they’re decent people. The elders over there live with the eldest, and we just need to give them some money and grain each year. As for the situation on my side, it’s just like that. As his daughter, I can’t really say anything. I don’t hide what I should take, and I don’t have anything extra. So there isn’t much burden on the elders here." Sister Li saw things clearly. She had given up on expecting anything from her parents’ home. As a daughter, fulfilling her filial duties was enough.
Shen Yunfang nodded along. The Liu family might not be wealthy, but they were united, and there wasn’t much scheming among the siblings. When Jiajia was hospitalized, the Liu family, from the old to the young, all did their best to help, but since each household wasn’t wealthy, the help was limited.
"I just worry about Shitou and the others. If your brother-in-law and I go out to work, we can’t always leave them to live with relatives. That’s not a long-term solution. If they weren’t going to school, we could take them with us, but as for your brother-in-law and me, we have no special skills. Even if it means breaking the pot and selling iron, we want to provide for our kids to get them educated. Just like you, if they can get into university and later get a good job assignment, I’ll be content." Li Xianglian saw firsthand from Shen Yunfang the benefits of attending university, so now her whole heart was set on getting all her children through school so they could go to college, and then they’d have hope in finding a job and a spouse.
"Your brother-in-law said he might just go out by himself and come back to farm during the busy agricultural seasons. I wouldn’t let him. Those who go out to work, every year when they come back, they look like beggars, to tell you the truth. I really can’t bear to let your brother-in-law suffer like that." Li Xianglian sighed. Speaking of the family, she felt pity for everyone. It was difficult for her to see anyone go out and suffer. Originally she had offered to go out to work, but her husband was so angry, refusing outright.
"Hehe, the love between you and your brother-in-law really is strong." Shen Yunfang was happy for her elder sister and brother-in-law too. Nowadays in the countryside, finding a partner and getting married was basically about teaming up to get through life, and not many were as affectionate as this couple.
Li Xianglian’s face reddened, though it was hard to tell since her skin was dark.
"What’s good or bad about it? We’ve been together for half our lives, and naturally, our affection has grown," Li Xianglian said, somewhat embarrassed.
Shen Yunfang couldn’t help but laugh heartily and unkindly.
Li Xianglian’s face turned even redder.
"Hehe, sister-in-law, how much land do you have back home?" Shen Yunfang, having laughed enough, asked again. She had thought that since they followed her out to do business for two years and seeing that her brother-in-law wasn’t someone who was set in his ways, he would do something like Brother Dashuan, finding some work outside. But instead, he just honestly farmed their land at home for two years.
The in-laws only had one good aspect, Shen Yunfang thought. Since she herself had the capability, she might as well lend a hand.
"Eight acres. There are just two of us, my husband and me, to do the labor at home, so we can’t manage more land than that," Li Xianglian replied, much more at ease now that her sister-in-law wasn’t teasing her.
"What do you grow?"
"What else can we grow? Just wheat and corn, that’s what." Those were the main crops in their and nearby villages. Anything else depended on one’s own family situation.
Shen Yunfang thought for a moment and said, "Big sister, I’ve been thinking, everything you grow seems to thrive, so why don’t you grow some potatoes for me next year?"
"Growing potatoes? That’s not a problem at all. Potatoes are easy to grow." Li Xianglian agreed without a second thought, but then she realized Yunfang had such a large area to farm, why couldn’t she grow them herself? She questioned, "Hold on, Yunfang, you have such a big place, you could grow as many potatoes as you need, couldn’t you?"
"Hehe, I do have a big place, but big sister, let me tell you, I have a lot of different crops to grow. Look, more than half of this area is rice fields. I’ve been experimenting with raising fish in the rice paddies, and this year, it turned out to be a huge success. The income per mu was at least double that of those who just grew rice. How could I level the rice fields to plant potatoes?"
Li Xianglian hurriedly shook her head; with such a good harvest, it would be foolish not to grow rice.
"Exactly. And that over there is wheat. I have set up a processing plant, and next year, we’re going to launch a spicy strip snack made from refined flour. This wheat here, I already fear it might not be enough. Then there’s the cornfield over there, where I’ve intercropped Lingzhi mushrooms—it’s a new project from our school, and the income has been exceptionally good, so I can’t disturb that area either. Plus, there’s the land for growing soybeans and sweet potatoes. Behind all that, I have a huge breeding farm. If I didn’t have these crops, what would I feed the pigs, cows, and sheep? I can’t spare that area either. As you can see, besides the essential crops, my farm really doesn’t have much space left for potatoes." Shen Yunfang was not completely leading someone on—the potato chip production at the factory was already mature, and the next step was to promote and sell them across Z City. The demand for potatoes next year would definitely be very high, and her own land’s yield wouldn’t be enough.
"Big sister, you tried those potato chip snacks in my office earlier, they are made from potatoes. Tasty, aren’t they?" Now the office always had a variety of snacks produced by the processing plant.
"Mmm, tasty." Li Xianglian thought to herself, how could anything fried not be delicious?
"Our farm is definitely going to produce those potato chips on a large scale next year, but the problem is we need a steady supply of raw potatoes. I was looking for someone to collaborate with, and since your family farms anyway, why don’t you partner with me? I’ll provide the potato seeds, and when it’s time to harvest, I’ll send trucks to pick them up. I’ll offer four cents per pound for the potatoes, what do you think?" Four cents was actually a high price considering that in summer, retail potatoes cost only four or five cents per pound, but Shen Yunfang was also considering the transportation costs, so her offer was quite fair.
Seeing that her sister-in-law was serious, Li Xianglian was at a loss for words; decisions about important matters at home were usually made by her husband.
"Yunfang, wait a moment, let me call your brother-in-law over. You can talk it over with him," said Li Xianglian, eager to bring over the most educated person in her family.
"Big sister, there’s no need to rush. This isn’t urgent. Let’s continue our tour first, and we can talk in detail when we get back home," Shen Yunfang gestured to stop Li Xianglian from calling someone.
"Alright, that works too," Li Xianglian said, not paying much attention, going along with whatever her sister-in-law suggested.
The group, including the children, continued to stroll from one greenhouse to another. Liu Jianjun was very observant, asking a lot of detailed questions, to which Shen Yunfang gave thorough explanations about the principles of greenhouse cultivation. She noticed that Liu Jianjun was very interested in greenhouse vegetables and supported the idea. If her brother-in-law managed to set up a greenhouse back home to grow off-season vegetables, it would be a great opportunity.
Since the two of them were not in the same area, there was no issue of competition.
Although Shen Yunfang had great confidence in her farm, she never imagined that her few hundred acres could monopolize the off-season vegetable market of the entire country. In a few years, greenhouses would sprout up like bamboo shoots after the rain, one after another. It would be quite an achievement for her to get Z Province on board.
