Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Contracting the Mountain Top

As soon as he returned to the village, he had ideas about the mountain. If he could contract it and plant some fruit trees and raise a large flock of chicken without any feed, those chickens would grow up to be wild delicacies.No sooner said than done, Xia Liu and Zhang Xiaoxue had already notified the incumbent village head, who was none other than Li Zhi.

Knowing this news, Xia Liu became more confident about contracting the mountain. Li Zhi had witnessed himself treating Zhang Qing's snakebite, and he absolutely trusted Xia Liu.

Most importantly, from the beginning, Li Zhi had been picking atractylodes. Last night, he was the one who proposed consolidating money for three days or even longer before dispensing it.

In the afternoon, when everyone came back for dinner, Xia Liu invited Li Zhi to dine at his home and mentioned contracting the mountain on the way.

As you might expect, Li Zhi had total trust in Xia Liu.

"Xia Liu, you're back. I feel like the burdens on me have been greatly lightened. I've been the village head for four to five years, not nearly as effective as you've been these few days. I think you should take over this position..."

"Uncle Li, that won't do. You are recognized by everyone, and I also don't have so much time to deal with this. My task is to help everyone make money; your task is to motivate everybody," Xia Liu quickly declined. Once he took the position of village head, many eyes would be watching. He wasn't afraid of those in the village, but the neighboring villages and towns would complicate matters.

Li Zhi did not press Xia Liu. After finishing the meal, he went to call for a village meeting in the village center that evening.

Contracting the mountain was not something he could decide alone, but given Xia Liu's current trend, aside from Zhang Tie and a few households who disagreed, nobody would refuse Xia Liu.

Moreover, Xia Liu's offer to contract the mountain was a substantial amount—ten thousand yuan a year, which was unimaginable for Osmanthus Village.

That evening, Xia Liu sorted the atractylodes. Within a few days, he had accumulated over seven hundred pounds at home. He planned to gather more the next day and call Liu Lanxin the day after to sell it.

"Brother Xia Liu, with so much Kaempferia galanga, we won't lose money, right?" As she watched a lot of money handed over to the villagers these past days, Zhang Xiaoxue felt somewhat worried that they wouldn't be able to sell the Kaempferia galanga, potentially leading to huge losses.

"You can trust how Brother Xiaoxue handles things; you'll find out the day after tomorrow. I'll first discuss contracting the mountain with everyone," replied Xia Liu without much explanation, knowing that Zhang Xiaoxue would naturally feel at ease once the money was actually in hand.

Just as Xia Liu had guessed, Li Zhi gathered the entire village to discuss contracting the mountain. Once they heard it was Xia Liu who wanted to contract it,

Zhang Tie immediately voiced his opposition, along with a few middle-aged villagers who supported him. They all worked with Zhang Tie in the town's construction, and not supporting Zhang Tie would mean losing their livelihood.

"Zhang Tie, this is not something you can simply oppose. Everyone, listen to me," Li Zhi raised his voice: "Let's not talk about who is contracting it, just consider the mountain itself. It's not worth much just sitting there. Why not contract it out? Moreover, it's a promising young man from our village, Xia Liu, who's offering ten thousand yuan a year. Does anyone think the mountain is worth that much?"

"It's not worth it!"

"I think the mountain is practically worthless; three thousand yuan a year would be more like it."

"Exactly!"

As soon as the villagers heard Xia Liu was offering ten thousand yuan to contract it for a year, everyone immediately started speaking in favor of Xia Liu. They all knew the state of the village and that no one had contracted the mountain before because everyone knew it would be a loss. If someone were to spend ten thousand yuan to contract it now, it was bound to be a losing endeavor.

Seeing this, Li Zhi felt relieved. He indeed wanted to drive down the price, but he couldn't let Xia Liu go bankrupt, as he was the promising young man who would lead Osmanthus Village into the future.

When Zhang Tie heard the price, he became excited. This time, instead of rebutting, he was very enthusiastic. If Xia Liu was spending ten thousand yuan to contract the mountain, it was sure to be a wasted effort.

However, he couldn't bluntly accept Li Zhi's proposal. So he said, "I think that mountain is extremely valuable. To contract it, shouldn't it be at least thirty-five thousand yuan a year?"

"Haha, Zhang Tie is right, how could you contract it for less than thirty-five thousand? He's so wealthy! If I contracted it, I would be letting the Village Office down," Xia Liu laughed out loud at this moment.

"Exactly, Boss Zhang believes it's worth that much, so he must have calculated it carefully, and contracting it would surely be profitable!"

"Yes, let's welcome Boss Zhang to contract it!"

With Xia Liu's sarcasm, everyone turned against Zhang Tie. They didn't understand why Zhang Tie always targeted Xia Liu, both before and now. Could it be that he resented seeing everyone earning an income?

"You guys!" Seeing the crowd, Zhang Tie was so frustrated he could hardly speak and, finally, dropping a harsh word, he left: "Hmph, one day you'll realize you were wrong!"

Zhang Tie left with a few people looking dejected, convinced Xia Liu wouldn't succeed, given the village's many obstacles and limited prospects for effective development.

The villagers cheered and whispered discussions began, hoping to lower the cost Xia Liu was paying to contract the mountain.

This moved Xia Liu, as they were all speaking in his behalf. However, he refused the villagers' requests; ten thousand yuan a year was necessary, whether he made a profit or not. That expense had to be paid.

Unable to resist Xia Liu's persistence, Li Zhi and the villagers had no choice but to accept, and as for the transfer documents, Li Zhi promised they would be ready within three days.

From that moment, Xia Liu owned that approximately five hundred-acre mountain, and what concerned him most were the Osmanthus trees that nearly covered the entire mountain.

As soon as one approached the mountain, the fragrance of the Osmanthus could be smelled, lifting and subtly improving the mood of anyone who was feeling irritable. Searᴄh the Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

The next day, Xia Liu gathered a few elderly villagers, who were experts in weaving bamboo. He paid them two hundred yuan each to build housing on the mountain according to his specifications, with thatch covering the roofs.

All materials were purchased from the villagers, who were embarrassed to accept money, but Xia Liu did not give them a chance to refuse, stuffing money into their hands regardless of the amount.

By evening, two rows of bamboo houses were completed. They were very simple, using several large logs for support and bamboo for enclosures, and thatch was not used everywhere, just in the major areas.

To raise game, a natural touch was necessary, as too many man-made elements could interfere in certain ways.

That evening, while tallying up the Kaempferia galanga, Xia Liu knew the first batch of money was coming in: in four days, the villagers had collected over fifteen hundred pounds, at thirty-five yuan per pound, amounting to over fifty thousand yuan.

Xia Liu picked a few strong men, telling them not to go gathering the next morning, but to help him transport the Kaempferia galanga instead. After all, the journey from the village to Shanyan Village was some distance, and one person could hardly make it on foot.