Chapter 237: Ownership of the Mountain |
Everyone was doing very well this year, especially many families in the area. Life was so much better.
Many clothing factories have opened in their area, and these factories naturally need workers. As long as the worker was over fifteen years old, they were hired.
The salary was not very high, but if they did a good job, they could get 23 or 24 yuan a month. In Ji Jianyun's point of view, it was not very high, but in the point of view of other families, that salary was very good.
It basically meant that they could save money.
The clothing factories made a profit, so they opened another one in the second half of the year. They would require more workers, and the wages also increased by one or two yuan. The workers cutting threads and making clothes were all very happy.
This New Year, the factory even gave them a two week bonus. It allowed them to go home and have a good New Year, and continue working next year.
The workers who worked there were all very happy.
Aside from the other villages, many people in this village also worked in factories. However, this could not compare with the support provided by Ji Jianyun.
The people in the village became a lot richer because of Ji Jianyun's leadership. The sweet potatoes every year were additional income. Su Jindang needed a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables to sell, and the village was given priority to produce that.
However, there were two families in the village who were not living a very good life. Before contracting the mountain, these two families actually lived in good conditions in the village. However, since they lost all their money on the contracted orchard, they ran into some problems.
One family was Lao Ma's family at one side of the village, and the other was Lao Cai's family at the end of the village.
Lao Ma's family had nothing to do with Ji Jianyun, and they had moved out. As for Lao Cai, that was Aunt Cai's family, and she was the matchmaker for Ji Yunyun.
The people in the village celebrated the New Year happily. As soon as the new year was over and it was the fifth day of the month, Aunt Cai came over to Mother Ji, and asked, “Sister, would Jianyun consider contracting another orchard this year?”
What kind of person was Mother Ji if she did not understand what she actually meant? Mother Ji understood immediately when she heard that and asked back, “You want to talk about the orchard at your uncle's place, right?”
“They came to me during the New Year and wanted me to ask. Yesterday, they came to ask again, so I’m here to see you, sister,” Aunt Cai said.
Because the match she made for Ji Yunyun was very good, she had some respect from Mother Ji. However, Aunt Cai was very good at conducting herself, so she never relied on this respect.
“It's not me who said it, but no one is really optimistic about your uncle's orchard,” Mother Ji said.
Aunt Cai said, “How can any of us be optimistic about the mountain area there? When you and Brother Ji were busy working on your mountain, didn't you see the potential? What about the other mountains from your relatives? Who could have imagined that the mountains would be as lush and green as they are today? At the end of the day, your family’s Jianyun has the skills, and Danhong also has that luck, which everyone envies!”
Mother Ji liked hearing this, but she still smiled and said modestly, “It's like you said, it's just luck.”
“What I said is just talk. Everyone in our village will say that, and the other villages will also say that. Jianyun is blessed, and Danhong has a strong destiny with that kind of husband. With her in control, Jianyun is surrounded by good luck. If you add yourself, the prosperity will multiple,” Aunt Cai said.
Mother Ji smiled, then sighed and said, “But you also know about how the transfer of the orchard went. Jianyun’s aunt did something, which made Jianyun feel a little disappointed.”
Aunt Cai spat when she heard this and cursed softly, “Don't worry about the old woman. When we were young, wasn’t she the same as she is now? She doesn't want to see other people being kind, and her heart is never good. Look at her. Now she is the only one in the house, and no one cares about her!”
Aunt Li heard about the fact that after Ji Jianyun took over the orchard, Aunt Li spoke ill of him and wanted him to return the orchard to her. However, Aunt Cai wouldn’t consider that.
It wasn’t just her, but also other people in the village who heard about it. Aunt Li said what she said, but they just took it as a joke.
Who didn’t know that Ji Jianyun just agreed to the transfer when his uncle asked him to do it because he was his uncle? Moreover, he paid a considerable part of the contracting fee.
The orchard had grown since it went into Jianyun's hands, so what did that have to do with Aunt Li?
He pulled out the fruit trees and bought new ones, and then hired many people to water and fertilize them. What did it have to do with Aunt Li’s family?
Furthermore, her husband and her eldest son were both receiving wages from Jianyun at that time. Together they earned more than 60 yuan a month. How could she go out and criticize Jianyun?!
“It was a big deal at the time. I don't think Jianyun wanted to take over the business. If he did it again in the future, wouldn't it be a big deal? It would be better to just go to the village to create a new contract. There are still a lot of empty mountains,” Mother Ji said.
Aunt Cai quickly said, “Sister, listen to me, my uncle's family really won’t do that. If Jianyun wants to open another orchard again, can you ask Jianyun to consider it? They can't afford that orchard now. As for the transfer fee, just ask Jianyun to pay some of it, so that they don't lose out on too much.”
Mother Ji said, “Then I will help you ask about it. I will do it since you came here. If other people come, I won’t agree to it.”
“I know, I'm here shamelessly,” Aunt Cai said.
She knew that if Mother Ji was willing to tell Jianyun, it would mean that the matter would most likely be done.
After Aunt Cai left, she went directly to her uncle's house.
“How did it go?” her older sister-in-law asked.
“Sister-in-law, I will only say it once, and it will be something ugly. If the mountain rises in Jianyun's hands, and if you go around talking bad about him like his aunt, then I will be the first one to say that I won’t agree to it,” Aunt Cai explained. She was the one to bring it up to Mother JI, so if there was trouble then, it would destroy her reputation!
“How can this be possible? We are not that kind of people. Otherwise,you wouldn't be showing up like this,” Aunt Cai said.
Aunt Cai nodded. “Then start preparing for it. I believe there will not be problems.”
The sister-in-law then said, “I wonder if the orchard will recruit people. Can eldest nephew help?”
Aunt Cai said after thinking about it, “I don't know about that. You can ask uncle to talk to Jianyun, but I think Zhanguo should be fine. He is a hard worker. As for Zhanfei, I’ll leave it up to him to decide.”