Free Web NovelChapter 375: Chapter 215: Discussing Cooperation
Hearing these words, Zhang Chuchu’s heart leaped into his throat.
He struggled to restrain himself, forcing down the surge of excitement. His mouth opened, but for a moment, no words came out. He could only clench his fists so tightly that his nails nearly dug into his palms. The sharp pain was just enough to help him regain some composure. He quickly stood up and said:
"Rest assured, Young Master! I will do my absolute best to assist Steward Zhou! I won’t let you down!!"
Cheng Zongyang shook his head slightly. "It’s not about disappointing me, but about what you should strive for. If you do well, the Cheng Family will not be stingy. Also, from now on, call him the Second Boss. When I’m not here, he has full authority to represent the Cheng Family."
"Yes!" Zhang Chuchu gave a deep bow.
After Zhang Chuchu left, Cheng Zongyang remained in the study, lost in thought.
With Zhou Zhendong staying here, he would certainly need people to assist him.
The best person for logistics and internal family affairs was Zhang Chuchu. The family he previously served had developed quite well under his management, only to be destroyed by outside forces.
As for external matters, commercial affairs would be handed over to Li Yihuo. He would assist with management, and Zhou Zhendong would learn from him.
For "diplomatic" affairs, he would have Zhou Zhendong slowly learn from Li Lu, negotiating as needed.
At the same time, he would also leave him an Elf Bird for sending messages at any time. Additionally, he would leave Xu Dong with Zhou Zhendong. As for Ma Yue, he had other arrangements.
「Three days later, at the entrance to Tiantuan Village.」
Cheng Zongyang, Zhou Zhendong, Li Lu, Zhang Chuchu, Li Yihuo, Chen Kaishan, and Zheng Tianhai arrived at the village entrance.
Today was the day of the rice harvest. freeweɓnovel.cøm
Nine thousand workers were spread across nine hundred mu of cultivated land. For each mu, five people held sickles, and another five stood by the wooden threshing carts, all ready and waiting for the order.
Chen Kaishan and Zheng Tianhai had been invited by Cheng Zongyang to watch the harvest.
Although Li Lu could move, both of his hands were still bandaged and held in a sling around his neck. He had also come to witness the harvest of this rice with its astonishing yield.
Zhang Chuchu and Li Yihuo had been designated as Zhou Zhendong’s assistants, so they had begun to follow him and take on their duties.
"Gentlemen, this way. Let’s head over there." After passing through the village entrance, Cheng Zongyang pointed toward a wooden shelter.
"Alright." Chen Kaishan and Zheng Tianhai both nodded.
Li Lu, however, looked toward Zhao the Seventh and the others waiting at the entrance and said, "Have them begin."
"Yes, Gang Leader!" Zhao the Seventh replied with a cupped-fist salute.
Soon, the order was given. The workers, who had been poised for action, sprang into motion, wading into the rice paddies that were nearly as tall as a man to begin the harvest.
Cheng Zongyang’s group chatted as they walked. It was no different from a high-level official conducting a rural inspection.
"Honestly, I’ve never seen rice plants this large," Zheng Tianhai said, his eyes burning with fervor as he stared at the stalks.
He was thinking that if these rice seeds were spread, no one in the world would ever go hungry again.
But what Chen Kaishan saw was a business opportunity.
Countless people in the world lacked food. If one mu of land could produce more grain, then the profit from that same mu of land would also increase severalfold.
Therefore, this rice harvest would determine all their subsequent plans!
Similarly, for Cheng Zongyang, the outcome of this harvest would also influence the course of today’s discussions.
The group continued chatting until they reached the wooden shelter, where some workers had already begun threshing the harvested rice.
Chen Kaishan couldn’t sit still, nor did he want to. He walked over to one of the threshing carts.
Resigned, Zheng Tianhai and Cheng Zongyang had no choice but to follow, and so Li Lu and the others followed suit.
Just like that, the whole group gathered around one of the wooden carts to watch.
As the grain from one heavy stalk after another was threshed and fell into the wooden cart, everyone watched with rapt attention, except for Cheng Zongyang and Zhou Zhendong.
Although they had already seen the amount of grain on each stalk, and some had even idly counted the kernels, they still couldn’t help but feel a thrill seeing such a large quantity of grain fall into the cart.
’This yield... it’s truly astonishing!’
"Excellent, excellent!" Chen Kaishan exclaimed, thoroughly excited.
For the past two days, after a discussion with Cheng Zongyang, he and Zheng Tianhai had been arranged to stay in Tiantuan Village. As a result, they had become familiar with the nine hundred mu of rice paddies and the one hundred mu of medicinal herb fields.
A single stalk of rice produced about half a jin of grain, and a single mu of land was planted with two thousand five hundred stalks! Once dried, the yield would be close to what Cheng Zongyang had claimed. The thought alone was staggering.
After confirming this, grain was all he could think about for the past two days. Once the yield was officially verified, he would report back to his branch in Xiangyang Prefecture City.
Cheng Zongyang had been watching Chen Kaishan’s expression the entire time, a pleased smile on his own face.
He was well aware of everything Chen Kaishan had been doing in the village for the past two days. Other than the warehouses and the jail, which were off-limits, there were basically no restrictions on him.
His goal was to stoke Chen Kaishan’s curiosity, which would make the subsequent negotiations much easier.
Therefore, he didn’t interrupt Chen Kaishan as he periodically reached into the wooden cart to grab a handful of grain, occasionally tossing a few kernels into his mouth to taste them. Cheng Zongyang was left rather speechless by these farmer-like mannerisms.
’Was all that really necessary?’
As basket after basket of grain was filled, weighed, and then sent to be spread on the woven bamboo mats at the village entrance, the yield for a single mu was finally calculated.
1,159 jin!
After getting this result, the group gradually returned to the wooden shelter.
Cheng Zongyang dismissed the others, leaving only the main group of five.
Once they were seated, Cheng Zongyang spoke. "Gentlemen, was I wrong about anything I said?"
Zheng Tianhai nodded, while Chen Kaishan said, "I need to take two hundred jin with me."
Cheng Zongyang nodded. "There’s no rush for that. I have another matter to discuss with you both."
"Go on," Chen Kaishan said, still rolling a dozen or so kernels of rice in his hand.
