Returning to the small mountain village of '86, intelligence updated daily.

Chapter 104 Planting Rapeseed

Zeng Jiamei always thinks of all sorts of situations, making her an excellent and virtuous wife. Only in this way can she truly be called a "family".

After lunch, none of them lingered at the Zhou family's house; they all went home on their own.

Zhou Shiwei asked them to come back in the evening, but Zhou Jian refused: "I've been eating here for a couple of meals already. Sorry, I'll treat you when I have time."

Zhang Zhengxin was even more direct, saying that if they came frequently, that would really cause problems, and then he put down a [document/sheet].

"Great Unity" then left.

Zhou Shiwei insisted on putting it back, saying that this amount of money was enough to host several more meals like this.

However, Zhang Zhengxin remained unmoved, saying that he might come back for meals again in the future, and asked him to accept the money.

This left Zhou Shiwei speechless. He was trying to curry favor with such important people, but instead, he was taking money from them and doing it so unfairly, charging them only ten yuan.

However, Zhou Yong'an said, "Keep it. Little Zhang owes me two hand grenades, and he still hasn't paid them back."

This statement greatly surprised Zhou Shiwei and his son. Others owe money or goods, but owing hand grenades... is really hard to repay.

So Zhou Shiwei finally gave up on his plan to return the money.

Zhao Jianjun and his family hadn't left yet, because Zhao Jianjun was discussing the details of the incense with Zhou Rui, and he was preparing to leave now.

Then Aunt Li called the entire Zhou family to go eat, but Zhou Shiwei absolutely refused.

Just kidding, it's really inappropriate for my whole family to go and freeload a meal.

So in the end, he took Zhao Qingya back with him.

Zhao Qingya was very sensible and didn't pester Zhou Rui to talk about this or that.

Because Zhou Rui was too busy to handle everything today, she just watched silently.

Zhou Shiwei had no intention of going out again and rested in the house.

This was Zhou Rui's suggestion; otherwise, he would probably have to go weave bamboo products again. Zhou Shiwei hardly ever rested; he worked at home in the afternoons and went out to work when the weather was nice.

However, if it weren't for this, the Zhou family's situation would have been even more difficult.

Zhou Rui had his reasons for letting his father stay home to rest; he needed to discuss and confirm some things with his father.

The once lively house quieted down as Zhou Shiping took his two children home; he had to rush to work that afternoon.

He still didn't bring his wife this time. Judging from this, the outcome probably won't be too good.

In the afternoon, the Zhou family enjoyed a rare moment of leisure.

Zhou Rui led his father to the country road and then to the fields. Zhou Rui deliberately chose a spot specifically for planting rapeseed flowers.

It's clear that the rapeseed harvest is over and can't be seen anymore at this time of year, but it looks like they're already preparing to plant the next batch.

"Dad, I want to know exactly how many acres of land our family owns."

Zhou Rui dared not stop, because the autumn harvest was about to begin, and after the harvest, he would have to prepare to plant rapeseed.

Around National Day is the rapeseed planting season, and Zhou Rui must make the necessary arrangements before then.

After all, the intelligence has been laid out right there for you. If you don't act on it, how can you expect to turn things around?

Rapeseed is a raw material, unlike tea which is easy to store. At that time, in rural areas, most people only planted as much as they needed.

Zhou Shiwei was very puzzled after hearing what his son said.

"Why are you asking this? If I remember correctly, it should be around ten acres."

Although Zhou Shiwei was puzzled, he still told the story.

The average arable land area per capita in China is about two mu (0.067 hectares), and the average household has eight or nine mu (0.067-0.067 hectares).

Their family has a large population but very little land; on average, they should have twice that amount.

The Zhou family's population is almost three times that of other families, because only Zhou Shiping has separated from the family so far.

This is because the southwest region has little land and many mountains, far below the national average, and therefore does not have a high per capita arable land.

After hearing the number, Zhou Rui secretly calculated that it was not much different from what he remembered.

After thinking for a while, Zhou Rui casually picked a weed from the nearby field and spoke in a calm and serious tone.

"Dad, we're probably growing mostly corn and potatoes on our land now, but it seems like we're not making much money. Sometimes we even have to buy potatoes from elsewhere."

Living near the mountains doesn't guarantee a shortage of vegetables and potatoes, especially for large families like Zhou Rui's, where vegetables are often scarce.

Potatoes are the most important source of starch in the southwestern mountainous areas, so Zhou Rui's own potatoes are not even enough for his own family.

I need to buy some of both to make up for the shortfall.

Zhou Shiwei understood everything perfectly. He seemed to have figured out Zhou Rui's thoughts, but he was still unsure.

"It's like this, crops aren't fetching good prices, and cash crops are difficult to grow. What's wrong? Have some ideas?"

Now each family is required to contract to produce a certain amount of crops, a portion of which is handed over to the state, and the remainder can be consumed or sold.

No one knows a son better than his father, and Zhou Shiwei has recently begun to understand some of his son's thoughts. Generally speaking, this situation likely means that:

Zhou Rui is up to something again!

As expected, Zhou Rui's next words once again changed Zhou Shiwei's opinion of his son.

"Dad, although we have started a tea plantation now, it's still not safe enough. To be honest, I feel that society will be very different in two years."

"Dad, do you remember how much pork cost per pound last year and the year before?"

"It was a little over one dollar? I forgot the exact amount."

"It used to be a little over 1.2 or 1.3 yuan, but now, the most expensive meat on the market is 1.8 yuan."

Zhou Shiwei understood this perfectly, and immediately stopped walking forward.

Prices are rising! And the rise is significant.

Zhou Shiwei understood what Zhou Rui meant.

Zhou Rui also stopped and nodded.

"Dad, you don't read the newspaper often, but I frequently follow the news in it."

There's a wind blowing now.

"The wind blows so loudly that the waves surge and the wind howls through the wind."

Zhou Shiwei's eyes gradually brightened. Although he was calm and experienced, he always had a ruthless streak in his bones.

"What do you want to do?"

"After the autumn harvest, plant rapeseed. Plant it everywhere. Then pay the taxes. It would be best to also contract a piece of land to plant rapeseed."

"Rapeseed? Why this? Don't you grow tea?"

Zhou Shiwei didn't understand why they wanted to plant this. His family had just started a tea business, so why were they now planting rapeseed?

Zhou Rui had prepared his explanation in advance; although it was just an explanation, it was also a very real situation.

"The tea trees grow too slowly; we can't wait three to five years. We must seize every minute."

"As prices rise, raw material prices will also rise. Although rapeseed oil prices are stable now, they will change eventually; that's the trend."

Zhou Rui knew that his family couldn't rely solely on the tea plantation, and he also knew that rapeseed prices would rise. If he switched all his crops to rapeseed now, he could quickly reap a sum of money next year, and perhaps even have income for the next few years.