Li Huan rang the gong again, and the villagers quickly gathered at the threshing ground. They now knew that as long as Li Huan rang the gong, he would either save their lives or allow them to live and work in peace.
"Fellow villagers, you can see that the crops in the fields have already grown, but it is almost October now, and we are about to enter a cold winter."
Everyone nodded. It snows heavily here in winter, and the lowest temperature can reach minus ten degrees Celsius. Even if seedlings grow, they will eventually be frozen to death.
"My wife Cheng Qiao came up with a solution, which is to put winter clothes on the seedlings so that they can maintain the temperature and humidity, and we will have food next year."
"It's still possible, that's great."
"After all, he is an educated youth, so he has a good brain."
"Bah! Cheng Qiaocai is not an educated youth. She is the wife of our village chief."
"Yes, yes, yes, Cheng Qiao is no longer an educated youth. I was wrong."
"Fellow villagers, we need you to do two things now. One is to find bamboo or wood to build a frame. Leave this to Uncle Niu."
Uncle Niu took the blueprint from Li Huan's hand, and his eyes lit up. He knew what this little gangster was going to do. If he built a frame on the seedlings and wrapped them with a quilt, the crops would be like wearing cotton clothes.
But where could they get so many quilts? They were not even enough to cover themselves. Just as he was about to ask, Li Huan picked up the loudspeaker and shouted:
"After the frame is built, it needs to be wrapped with plastic film, leaving a movable door at the front and back for easy access. However, the plastic film is a bit expensive, and every household has to pay for it."
"What? I won't do it if you want to pay me."
"You don't want to do it, right? You are not allowed to take any food when it is distributed tomorrow."
"If you don't want it, then don't want it. Are you stupid? It's so cold, relying on a plastic film is useless. In the end, it will all be for nothing."
"Bullshit, you crow mouth, why don't you just go die."
"You cursed me, if I don't beat you to death today, my last name is Chen."
"Hit me, if you don't you're a bastard."
Li Huan watched Chen Mugen and Chen Shuigen fighting, with annoyance in his eyes. Wang Xiangyang stood up with ten yuan in his hand. His Wang family supported Li Huan.
When Uncle Niu heard the word "plastic film", he knew what Li Huan meant. After thinking about it, he felt that this was feasible. When it was particularly cold, he could at most find a way to get some coal stoves to raise the temperature.
"I'll give you ten dollars, too."
Ye Jun was the most generous. He took out two hundred yuan and handed it to Li Huan. He had never been to the fields, but he knew the hard work of farming, so it was only right for him to contribute some money.
Cheng Qiao also took out two hundred yuan to show her support for her husband's actions. Gradually, this family gave five yuan, that family gave ten yuan, and Chen Weidang also took out a hundred yuan.
Li Huan laughed and picked up the loudspeaker and shouted: "These films were bought by my eldest brother from the army. The price is much cheaper than the market price, so three yuan per household is enough."
When they heard that they wanted three dollars, Chen Shuigen and Chen Mugen stopped fighting, suddenly feeling that this fight was meaningless. They rolled their eyes at each other, took out three dollars from their pockets and gave them to Chen Weidang.
Ye Jun would not take back the money he took out. Although the money for the plastic film had been collected, there would be many additional items to be added in the future. What he lacked least now was money. Two hundred yuan was just a drop in the bucket.
Of course Li Huan understood Ye Jun's meaning and asked Chen Weidang to keep it. Of course, he also readily handed over the 200 yuan that his wife took out to Chen Weidang.
"Huanzi, I sincerely support you to be the village chief. With you in Xiangyang Village, the future will definitely be better and better."
"Uncle Weidang, thank you for your support. I think so too. As long as the villagers of Xiangyang Village unite and work together, I, Li Huan, guarantee that every household will have enough food."
Applause rang out. Hearing the endless applause, Li Huan's eyes suddenly became wet. He went from being a gangster hated by everyone to a village chief loved by everyone. The process was difficult and dangerous.
The look he gave Cheng Qiao was even more tender. Cheng Qiao, his wife, his lover, had not only given birth to his children and taken care of the household in the past few years, but had also helped him in his career in every way. What a good wife she was.
In less than a month, all the crops in Xiangyang Village were covered with bamboo frames. They first tried wood, but found that wood could not bend perfectly, so they went to look for bamboo.
Bamboo strips can be bent and will not tear the plastic film, so every household in Xiangyang Village is making bamboo strips, and even the educated youth are unwilling to fall behind.
People from other villages learned about this and they all laughed at Li Huan from Xiangyang Village for his wild ideas. In their area, there had never been a place where crops could be grown in temperatures of minus ten degrees Celsius.
However, the commune secretary and the county party committee leaders were extremely concerned about this matter. If it could succeed, it would mean that their area could increase the harvest of one crop of grain every year, which would be a huge contribution to food supplementation.
The county party committee leaders even provided material assistance. Since they needed coal stoves and coal briquettes, they tried their best to supply them. As long as the winter wheat can survive this winter, all their efforts will be worth it.
When the snowflakes began to fall, everyone began to protect the wheat in the fields. Now the temperature is only zero degrees, and looking at the green wheat, everyone has hope in their hearts.
The villagers voluntarily and consciously gave up hibernating and instead took turns checking the fields. If the temperature was low and the wheat growth rate was slow, they would take measures.
Li Huan took his teammates from the security team to the mountains to hunt before the heavy snow closed the mountains. If they could kill a big one, they would have something to eat for the pig slaughter this year.
You know, because of a flood, most people’s chickens were drowned, and the two pigs raised in the village were also washed away to an unknown place by the flood.
But the annual custom cannot change. They have to go to the county town to buy pork. Farmers do not have meat coupons, so they can only go up the mountain to catch wild boars.
Chen Yuejin and Li Huan first checked the traps they had set, and sure enough, they had a good harvest, with about six or seven pheasants and rabbits. The people in the security team were very happy, as they had fodder for the horses without even moving their troops.
The hunting trip lasted for three days, and during these three days, Cheng Qiao was not idle. Instead, he left the two children to Li's mother and Li Le and others, and he and Ye Jun secretly went up the mountain.
The herbs dug in spring and autumn are all common medicinal materials, while in winter, you can dig up real rare medicinal materials, but it is very risky.
Cheng Qiao called over the Saker Falcon and Little Red Head. These two guys were a little afraid of the Kirin Resurrection Tree, so they were wandering around in the mountains. With their abilities, they would definitely not starve to death.
The little red head had already sensed it when Cheng Qiao went up the mountain, so it came to Cheng Qiao's side as soon as possible. Cheng Qiao quickly took out some well water for the cat to have a good drink.