From collapsing rooftop to poverty alleviation village chief

"350 yuan per jin! There are so many on the mountain, we can't even pick them all!"

Ten-year-olds have boundless energy; after running up and down the mountain for most of the day, their voices are still loud and clear.

Zhao Chunyan had never seen this kind of mushroom before, and immediately scoffed, "If we had such a treasure in the mountains, how could we be so poor? You haven't been scammed, have you?"

The child couldn't stand such words and, his face flushed, shouted at Zhao Chunyan, "Village Chief Lin said these are pine mushrooms, very valuable!"

At this moment, Liu Ying was most concerned about her daughter. She ran over and pulled Zhang Xiaoshan aside, whispering:

"You didn't do anything, did you?"

Zhang Xiaoshan looked puzzled. "Of course we did!"

Didn't you see the bamboo basket of mushrooms behind her?

Liu Ying's face paled. She glanced at Qin Guifen, who was all smiles, Sun Xiuying, whose eyes sparkled, and Lin Ye, who looked exhausted. Her heart skipped a beat.

Oh no, could it really be...?

Lin Ye and the others didn't notice her expression. Qin Guifen put the bamboo basket she was carrying on the ground, glanced at Zhao Chunyan, and loudly addressed the village women:

"These are pine mushrooms and green-headed mushrooms. We found them in the valley below Laoyingyan towards Longpo. There's still a large patch of them there; we'd collect about two thousand catties if we gathered them all!"

The village women all gathered around to watch, chattering amongst themselves.

"These mushrooms have such beautiful colors!"

"Guifen, can it really sell for 350 yuan per jin?"

"Isn't there a cliff over on the way to Longpo?"

Sun Xiuying straightened her blue headscarf and said loudly, "Village Chief Lin recognizes both of these types of mushrooms. They sell for more than 30 yuan per catty when fresh, but only about 350 yuan when dried. Two thousand catties of mushrooms from Xianglongpo can be dried into about 200 catties."

Li Li exclaimed excitedly, "That's a lot! Our village has never produced anything this expensive before!"

Zhao Chunyan picked up a green-headed mushroom, her expression not looking too good. She had eaten mushrooms before, so she could naturally tell that this one was not poisonous.

Moreover, judging from its appearance, the cap is plump, the stem is thick, and it is fresh and fragrant, clearly not comparable to cheap cow dung mushrooms.

She looked incredulously at Qin Guifen and Lin Ye, whose cheeks were flushed.

Did they actually manage to collect it?

Liu Ying then noticed that Lin Ye and the other three's bamboo baskets were full of orange-brown and green mushrooms, all of which were varieties she had never seen before, and finally came to her senses.

So my daughter and Lin Ye really did go up the mountain to pick mushrooms!

A huge weight was lifted off Liu Ying's shoulders. As long as nothing like that happened, everything was fine!

Just then, Lin Ye walked over to her and said, "Director Liu, we have discovered a large number of high-value wild mushrooms in the valley below Eagle Rock. I would like to ask the village committee to mobilize the villagers to go into the mountains to collect them. Please inform Deputy Village Chief Zhang and Accountant Hou to hold a meeting at the village committee immediately."

Liu Ying paused for a moment, then looked at the bamboo basket full of mushrooms and her daughter's excited and happy expression, and nodded subconsciously.

"Okay." He then turned and walked towards his home.

Lin Ye then said to Zhang Xiaoshan, "Xiaoshan, could you please go and inform the old village chief?"

"Okay!" Zhang Xiaoshan agreed loudly and ran towards the old village chief's house.

"Sister Xiaoshan, I'm going too!" Liu Yongxing chased after him, with Qin Guifen calling out from behind:

"Xingzi, stop causing trouble, you hear me?" But the brat had already run far away.

Lin Ye then looked at the village women, "This matter concerns the entire village. You can go back and tell your families so they can all come to the village committee together."

A group of rural women looked at each other, bewildered. Zheng Shanhua, led by Li Li, called out in a clear, melodious voice, "I want to go!"

Everyone couldn't help but laugh, and Li Li also said with a smile, "Village Chief Lin, I'll go tell my son, Da Niu, that our whole family is coming!"

Others chimed in, "I'll go get my partner!"

"Our family is coming too!"

Soon everyone went home to call for help.

Only Zhao Chunyan and Liu Zhaodi remained standing there; the former was unwilling to believe it, while the latter was at a loss.

Lin Ye ignored the two of them and called Qin Guifen and Sun Xiuying to walk towards the village committee together.

Half an hour later, at the village committee office.

The second village committee meeting after the new village chief took office was different from the previous one, which was deserted; this time, almost the entire village was present.

The village committee office wasn't very big, so the villagers all gathered outside, peering at the four baskets of wild mushrooms displayed on the table.

"What kind of mushroom is this?"

"They say it's pine mushrooms and green-headed mushrooms, and they can sell for 350 yuan per jin (500g) after drying!"

"My god! They make so much money?"

"Is the old village chief going to share this with us?"

The news that Village Chief Lin had led two widows and a daughter up the mountain to find precious wild mushrooms had spread throughout the village. Everyone rushed over to see what was going on, hoping to get a share of the profits.

Don't give too many; ten mushrooms per person is enough.

At this moment, the old village chief and all the village cadres were in the village committee office, each with a different expression.

The old village chief puffed on his pipe, holding a pine mushroom in one hand, his expression unreadable.

Zhang Dafu, his round body slumped on the bench, stared at the wild mushrooms in the bamboo basket, his eyes gleaming.

Liu Ying and Zhang Xiaoshan sat together, holding their daughter's hand and asking her in a low voice. The mother and daughter were unusually quiet and didn't bicker.

Hou Dezhu kept his head down, looking as if it were none of his business.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Lin Ye looked at the old village chief, who waved his hand, indicating that he should chair the meeting.

Lin Ye nodded, stood up and said loudly, "As everyone knows, we have discovered a large area of ​​wild mushrooms in the valley below Laoyingyan Xianglongpo, with an estimated weight of about two thousand catties."

"The wild mushroom varieties are pine mushrooms and green-headed mushrooms. Fresh mushrooms are priced at around 33 yuan, while dried mushrooms are priced at around 350 yuan. Two thousand catties of mushrooms can be made into about 200 catties of dried mushrooms."

"Please calculate later how to sell it more cost-effectively?"

Hou Dezhu was taken aback, not expecting Lin Ye to suddenly call him out. Feeling the villagers' gazes upon him, he said awkwardly:

"Um, Village Chief Lin, I didn't hear you clearly just now."

A villager shouted, "Hou Dezhu, are you thinking about your wife even during the meeting?"

The others laughed too, and Liu Zhaodi in the crowd cursed at the man, causing everyone to burst into laughter.

Lin Ye clapped his hands, and the villagers continued to laugh and joke. The old village chief tapped the table with his pipe and shouted, "Take a break, everyone!"

The villagers gradually quieted down.

Lin Ye repeated what he had just said and said to Hou Dezhu, "Accountant Hou, since you're so good at calculations, could you please help everyone calculate whether it's more cost-effective for us to sell dried goods or buy fresh mushrooms?"

Hou Dezhu naturally dared not be distracted this time. He quickly did the calculations carefully and replied, "Dried goods are worth more than 4000 units compared to fresh mushrooms. Selling dried goods is more profitable."

Zhang Xiaoshan continued, "Dried goods are also easier to preserve and transport."

Lin Ye nodded and looked at the villagers, "So what do you all think?"

The villagers, not understanding why Lin Ye was asking them, instinctively replied, "Selling dried goods!"

Lin Ye smiled; this was exactly the kind of participation he wanted. He shouted:

"So I invited everyone here to make a suggestion: let's go up the mountain together and pick 2,000 catties of wild mushrooms, then dry them into dried goods, and sell them. The money will be used to fund the renovation of dilapidated houses and the reconstruction of the village primary school."

"If there are any left over, the village committee will distribute them equally among all households. What do you all think?"

The crowd looked at each other in bewilderment, and even several village officials fell silent.

In the sudden silence, a startled voice rang out.

"I disagree!"