293 New Crops
When everyone heard this, they felt like they had woken up from their sleep.
What good thing did Old Madam Wang want to talk to them about?
Actually, they had long felt embarrassed. Ever since Ah Yu arrived at the Wang Family, their entire village had risen because of the Wang Family.
Not to mention the initial life-saving grace, just the grain seeds alone were enough for their gratitude. Not every family in the village rented the Wang Family’s land, so there were also people whose harvest was far inferior.
Even so, after the cleansing of the “Divine Rain” and the composting formula given by Old Madam Wang, their harvest was still much better.
It was not enough to compare to the top, but more than enough to compare to the bottom.
With the help of the other rich neighbors, their life this year was not difficult at all.
Everyone in the village remembered this favor. Usually, when they went out hunting, if they only caught one animal, they would eat it themselves. If there were two, they would give a portion to the Wang family.
If they had saved a lot of excess food, they would send half of it to the Wang family first before selling the rest in town.
Regardless of whether they were lacking or not, they wanted to express their sincerity.
Most of the women, who usually made shoes and socks, would make an extra pair for Little Ah Yu. When anyone went to town, they would get someone to bring something back for her.
The Wang Family accepted everything. Sometimes, they would even pack a few buns for them. They could not bear to take the villagers’ gifts for free, so they would sell the buns to them cheaply and give them away.
Otherwise, why would they say that the Wang Family was kind?
Even the girl from Great River Village whom Wang Dalang was going to marry was chosen by the villagers after they went around and made many inquiries.
They were afraid that if the Wang Family went alone, those matchmakers would play tricks and deceive them because of their past hatred.
Third Aunt Hu was the leader among them and was the most active. The Wang Family did not know this.
The girl they chose was a very good girl from the 18 villages. In any case, in their opinion, that girl was both pretty and smart. Her family background was not bad as well. It was said that she had been studying for two years. She could even be matched with the children and grandchildren of the landlord families.
“Old Madam, what’s the matter? Is it about Dalang’s marriage?” the village chief’s wife asked.
There were only two major events in their family now. The first one was that the Wang Family’s second son and grandsons were going to participate in the spring imperial examination, and the other was Wang Dalang’s marriage.
Old Madam Wang said, “We’ll talk about Dalang’s marriage later. What I want to talk about today is the grain seeds for next spring.”
Hearing this, everyone was even less sleepy.
Grain seeds!
The Wang Family’s grain seeds were very good and could guarantee a bumper harvest!
The crops in the fields right now were lush. It looked like there was going to be another great harvest.
“Auntie, do you have any better grain seeds?”
They had already planned to choose some good grains to grow. In any case, there was no need to buy them from the grain and oil shop.
They could save a lot of money.
“There are better ones. However, these crops are not things that everyone is planting right now. It’s some new beans. Our village doesn’t have these beans,” Old Madam Wang said. “I’m just mentioning it to you to see if you’re willing to plant them. I won’t force you.”
Although the various families had earned some money from the last harvest, they were still unwilling to use it to buy land. They first paid off their external debt, then repaired their houses and treated their illnesses. There was nothing left.
Therefore, they still had to rent the Wang family’s land.
Someone said awkwardly, “Are they good grain seeds? Aunt Wang, it’s not that we’re being picky, but we were too poor previously.”
“Alright, I understand. You can plant whatever you want in the land you rented. The rules are still the same as before.” Old Madam Wang even wondered if she should buy all the land in the village, but she abandoned the idea on second thought.
The winds howl around the highest peaks. She had to leave some freedom for the villagers.
If the Wang Family bought all the land, in the future, if the villagers wanted to buy more land and could not do it, they would inevitably develop some hatred.
Even for the Wang Family’s current land, Old Madam Wang planned to reduce their hold on the land and instead buy more land from other villages.
Or she could buy them along the way and build a separate manor in the future.
The village chief’s family had also planted in the Wang Family’s land. It was not much, only one mu.
The village chief’s wife smiled and said, “It’s been so many years, but Aunt Wang has never let us suffer. I believe her. How about this? Other than renting one mu of land, our family will take out another six mu of land to plant the new grain seeds that Auntie mentioned. We’ll buy the seeds according to the price of the seeds sold to the villagers who are using the Wang Family’s land. What do you think?”
Old Madam Wang smiled and nodded. “Of course.”
As expected, she was someone who could be the wife of the village chief. She was not stupid.