It’s not that Song Tan couldn’t figure it out, but he felt that this was the only piece of mountain land left by Zhang Wang’s family, and maybe they wanted to keep it as a support.
However, with Zhang Wang's family's more than 30 acres of sloping land, her inner and outer circles, when combined, total about 280 acres!
When I think about it this way, I actually feel a surge of emotion!
And Zhu Jun was so sure, so she didn't delay and asked directly when Zhang Wang's family came up the mountain to help pick peaches:
"Uncle Zhang, I plan to rent more mountain land next year. Your mountain is next to my house. Would you like to rent it to me as well?"
"Let's listen to the village's opinion on the rent and discuss it."
Zhang Wangjia was stunned for a moment, then nodded without hesitation: "Okay! I'll plant it for you! How much work can a cripple like me do! But..."
He looked at the lush green hills next door with some hesitation, and felt reluctant to leave:
"When can I rent it? Can it be early next year? I have kudzu root planted on this mountain. I want to dig them up in the winter and dry them to make some kudzu root powder..."
Every household in the village has this mountain land, but most of them don't even use it. At most, they go up there to chop some firewood in the winter, or pick a few good ones to make beams when building houses...
It’s not that they lack courage and vision, but sometimes, poverty really is a shackle.
Because we are poor, we cannot afford the risk of losing money. It is much better to take steady steps than to take risks.
Also because we are poor, we cannot take risks with our family’s living expenses and our children’s tuition fees.
The cost of trial and error for farmers is so valuable that they would rather endure hardships than change.
Therefore, these mountains remain green and idle day after day.
The hillside in front of Zhang Wang's house is quite large, but it is really useless to him.
If they hadn’t accidentally dug up wild kudzu root from the mountain a few years ago and made some money by washing, pounding and drying it, the old couple wouldn’t know how long they would have left it idle.
As for something like Pueraria root, if there is no mechanical assistance, it all depends on brute force. Not only is it tiring, but it can't be sold at a high price if it is produced on a small scale.
Young people can help promote the products online, but honest people like Zhang Wangjia will just take the products to the town and wait for people to collect them.
This pure kudzu root powder is sold by vendors at a regular price of 80 to 100 yuan per pound.
When it was his turn to sell, he would only sell about 30 to 40 bags. Occasionally, friends and relatives would buy a bag through introduction.
Unfortunately, they were too shy to ask for a higher price. In the end, they were very happy just to get 50 yuan.
Therefore, they did not deliberately plant wild kudzu roots on the mountain. They just dug it up every year and piled up a thick layer of fertilizer collected here, and that was enough.
Now that his wife has passed away and his children don't plan to marry him, there is no point for him to keep such a big mountain by himself.
Zhang Wang's family was actually happy that Song Tan wanted to rent the plant, but he had applied fertilizer to the kudzu root last year, and it looked like a lot of it would grow again this year.
It is not the right time to dig it now, as the kudzu vines are strong and their leaves are shiny.
If we wait until spring when Song Tan cleans up the mountain to dig them up, the kudzu roots will be wasted.
That's why I ask this question.
"Sure!"
Song Tan was also very straightforward: "But Uncle Zhang, don't dig by yourself in winter. How long will it take to dig such a big mountain?"
"I'll ask the guy operating the excavator to dig it out for you, and you can clean it up slowly."
There are too many wild grasses, vines, shrubs and small trees on the mountain. Compared with them, kudzu root has difficulty growing. Without an excavator to thoroughly go through the mountain, there is no way to deal with it later.
Zhang Wangjia was delighted:
"Okay, if you have time, you can start collecting kudzu and mountain land in the fall, so you don't have to take care of it when you get busy in the spring."
That's true.
If we really sign a contract with the village, we will have to race against time in the early spring of next year.
Song Tan nodded readily: "Okay."
After thinking for a while, she said, "Uncle Zhang, I think your kudzu root is of good quality. When you dig the kudzu root to make kudzu root powder, I'll just let Qiao Qiao do the live broadcast and help you bring some goods."
"But this price is just based on the market price, maybe even a little more favorable, it can't be labeled as ours."
Zhang Wangjia was overjoyed!
At this moment he nodded repeatedly: "Okay, okay!"
Then he walked over here, carrying the basket, one deep and one shallow, and said excitedly:
"I watched people promote their products on TikTok and they were selling like hot cakes. I don't have that kind of skills... I still have more than 10 kilograms of kudzu root powder at home. I might as well bring it all to your house for everyone to try first! You decide the price then!"
At the same time, he sighed: "Drinking Pueraria root is good. It nourishes yin and reduces internal heat. It is suitable for spring, summer, autumn and winter."
Song Tan knew.
My seventh cousin once came to visit the mountain and praised the good growth of Pueraria root. He also taught Qiao Qiao that Pueraria root can relieve hangovers, heal throats, moisturize, prevent cancer and fight cancer...
Qiao Qiao recited it and summarized it, and everyone heard it.
Song Tan looked at Zhang Wang's anxious expression and the way he looked at himself eagerly, and originally thought that it was unnecessary.
But at this moment, she suddenly had an idea and simply nodded in agreement:
"Okay, our Qiao Qiao now has some fans, so she should be able to sell the product. Uncle Zhang, can you treat these ten kilograms of Pueraria powder as a promotion fee for Qiao Qiao? We can discuss the specific selling price later."
“Okay, okay, okay!”
At this moment, Zhang Wangjia's dark and thin face seemed to be reflected by the red glow of the sun.
When they were going down the mountain, Zhu Jun asked Song Tan with a smile:
"You asked Qiao Qiao to bring goods to Zhang Wang's store. If the quality of his goods is average, will it affect your own reputation?"
"No." Song Tan shook his head. "I will indicate in the live broadcast room that this is just ordinary kudzu root powder, not our product. Fans can buy some if they want to try it, but we won't force them if they don't want to."
However, based on her analysis of the current market, this kind of live broadcast of peeling kudzu roots and making kudzu root powder for everyone to watch would be more trustworthy.
Besides, what Zhang Wang’s family can produce is not so much that it cannot be sold, so it should be appropriate.
She just looked at the lush forests and scattered fields at the foot of the mountain and sighed.
"What's wrong?"
Zhu Jun looked at her curiously.
Song Tan shook his head: "I just suddenly understand you a little bit."
Nowadays, everyone is shouting slogans, and Zhu Jun often repeats them.
But what exactly is rural development
Is it to make the firewood stacks in the village more tidy and the houses more beautiful, so that every household no longer has to work in the fields, or to build roads to the doorsteps of every household
For the elderly people left behind in the villages, none of them are true.
What they want is real changes in their lives and hope for the future.
Zhu Jun also turned his head to look at her, and suddenly patted her shoulder like an old-fashioned cadre, and then said seriously:
"Do it well."
"You know, there will be a large number of people returning home during the Spring Festival. Where will the labor force next year be sent and whether the village can retain people depends on your performance this year."