The Little Life of a Big Landlord

Chapter 110 Bees

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(I've discovered that some of my brothers are really honest and kind. How should I put it? This world is a world of interests. Just because I don't write about it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. If you give, you must get something in return. It's all about reciprocity.)

Yes! This world is a world of emotions. Only by combining interests and feelings can we achieve a win-win situation and everyone be happy...

This world is a fair world; even if it's not man-made, it's all preordained in the unseen realm.

Kind and virtuous people will have a good end, while arrogant and domineering people will inevitably have a tragic end. This is the world of a certain design, and just because someone is the protagonist does not mean they will always have a halo.

This world is a world of responsibility; the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility. This responsibility is not for any one person or any one era, but for adding color to civilization—a responsibility that everyone should possess.

The lights in the cabin were electric incandescent bulbs connected by wires, casting a dim, yellowish glow that seemed even more pronounced in the cabin, where the walls were entirely made of wood.

The room was filled with women chatting and laughing, creating a very relaxed atmosphere. There was a hot spring here, and the temperature wasn't low either; it felt like summer. Everyone was playing around naked inside, and it wasn't cold at all.

"What time is it? Why are there still flies?" Zhang Fenghuang said, looking at a small insect circling around the incandescent light bulb.

"So what if there are flies? It's only October, there's still a long time before winter... Even in winter, there are flies!" Liu Lili said.

"What's wrong with you two? Isn't that a bee?" Aunt Liu had good eyesight and immediately recognized the type of insect.

"They're just city kids after all; they can't even tell the difference between a fly and a bee..." Zhang Shufang shook her head.

"A bee? How come it's so small?" Sun Fangfang stood up and looked at the bee circling the incandescent light bulb. "A few days ago, Zhang Yang got stung by a bee. He said the bee was like a fly..."

"It's the same kind. These are wild bees from the mountains. People in the mountains call them 'little bean buds.' They're the most hardworking kind, and they're busy until winter..." Liu Nannan said. The little girl is most interested in mountain products and gets some every year to supplement her family's income. This kind of honey made by bees is the kind she collects most often.

"I heard that honey made by wild bees costs several hundred yuan per kilogram in the market..." Liu Lili swallowed twice as she looked at the bees.

"Who told you that? Wild honey is sold by the pound?" Li Yueting rolled her eyes. "Honey from farmed bees is produced in large quantities, so selling it by the pound is acceptable. But wild honey is sold by the ounce, costing several hundred yuan per ounce..."

The key is that her grandfather often drinks honey water, so she knows a lot about it.

"Really? What's the difference between wild honey and domestic honey? How come they're so different?" The little girl, Liu Nannan, asked with bright, sparkling eyes.

"The difference is huge. Domestic bees make honey by beekeepers taking them to fixed flower gardens to collect pollen, but wild bees wander all over the mountains and collect pollen from a variety of flowers. Therefore, wild honey tastes better and has better health benefits than domestic honey..." Li Yueting said.

"But many of the flowers in the mountains are poisonous. Could they make people sick?" Liu Nannan was a little worried. Making money was fine, but getting involved in a murder case was not good.

"Naive. Bees are the best detoxification masters. Although they collect pollen from many kinds of flowers, some of which are poisonous, nature is about mutual restraint. Some flowers are highly poisonous, but there must be flowers that can neutralize the poison. Bees seem to have an instinct; once they collect pollen from a poisonous flower, they will be able to collect pollen from an antidote flower to neutralize the toxin." Li Yueting's explanation was a mess. How would she know how bees collect nectar? It was just nonsense. Anyway, wild bees eat wild honey and they're perfectly fine, aren't they?

"No wonder he's a teacher, he's so cultured..." Liu Nannan's eyes were full of stars.

"No, no..." Li Yueting blushed slightly.

"Pfft...Teacher Zhang even knows about bees making honey?" Wei Qingqing knew Li Yueting's background, so she couldn't help but laugh. When did Guoan start researching agriculture and sideline industries?

"Of course I understand... My great-grandfather was a beekeeper..." Li Yueting glared at Wei Qingqing and said.

"Oh... I see, I see..." Wei Qingqing nodded repeatedly, covering her mouth and laughing even more happily.

"Don't you believe me? My great-grandfather was a beekeeper. He kept bees for a landlord, and one day a bee stung the landlord's son. As a result, the landlord beat him to death with a stick..." Li Yueting said solemnly.

"Yes, yes, yes..." Since the other person had spoken so pitifully, Wei Qingqing certainly couldn't laugh anymore.

"How about we keep bees? We have hot springs in this valley, and the flowers never wither in winter. If we keep some bees here, we're sure to be productive..." Liu Nannan said, her eyes darting around.

"If we can get a swarm of bees, there will be pollinators in the greenhouse, and the yield will increase significantly..." Zhang Shufang said.

"I'll talk to Yang Ming about it in a bit..." Wei Qingqing was also very tempted.

After chatting for a while, everyone got dressed and went home. Only Wei Qingqing stayed behind. Yang Ming and Wei Qingqing, a married couple, were going to stay there that night.

The next morning, just as dawn broke, a loudspeaker blared throughout the small mountain village, waking up the people who were sleeping in.

Zheng Dabao didn't say much on the radio, but simply told everyone in the village to gather in the village committee's main meeting room.

Today's meeting was held in such a hurry that even Lao Zheng's family did not know the specific situation. Therefore, Lao Wang's family did not react at all. On the spot, Liu Sao was elected as the new village chief of Zhengjia Village with an absolute majority. She is the village chief, not the acting village chief.

Since the Wang family could pull off some tricks, Zheng Dabao naturally had to act decisively and leave no chance for his opponents to turn the tables.

Today, the Zheng family is beaming with joy, while the Wang family is dejected.

"Today, I am honored to become the village head of our village, all thanks to everyone's support. I, Liu Fen'er, don't have much ability; I've only seen some rural development experiences on TV, such as developing agritourism and tourism..." Holding a prepared speech, Liu Fen'er spoke eloquently on the stage of the large conference room. "We are farmers, and farmers are meant to cultivate the land. This will never change. Grain is the foundation of a country, its lifeline. Imported flour now occupies a large share of our country's food market, which is very dangerous. Therefore, I believe that if our rural areas want to develop, we must create income on the basis of farming. At the very least, we must ensure that we can achieve..." Self-sufficient... In our remote mountain village, we don't have many resources. The only attraction we have is this landscape we've seen so much. As everyone knows, recently, many city dwellers have come to our village to visit, and some even want to settle here. See that construction site in the southwest of the village? Those are two city people who were attracted by our scenery and want to build houses and settle down there. They're even building two-story houses. Therefore, our mountains are the capital for our village's development and the foundation for our prosperity... There's really not much to prepare for a farm stay. Just clean up your spare rooms, let guests stay, cook for them every day, take them out to play, pick dried fruit in the mountains, hitch a ride to the market, that's all..."

As Liu's wife continued speaking, she stopped following the script and her words became somewhat incoherent. However, using the local dialect to communicate with the villagers was far more persuasive than using standardized Mandarin.

"Sister Liu, according to you, every household in our village needs to renovate their spare rooms, right? Who will pay for that?" Caught off guard, Wang Duo started to challenge them.

"Yes, who will pay for this? What if we lose money? Who will we ask for it back?"

"Exactly, you haven't even made any money yet, and you're already going to spend it? I don't think this is a reliable idea..."

"Putting everything else aside, our village is so remote, who from the city would come here?"

The Wang family started making trouble...

Was Aunt Liu someone to be trifled with? Of course not. Faced with these provocateurs, Aunt Liu immediately displayed the authority of the village chief: "Don't say everything at once, say it one by one. I will answer everyone's questions."

Aunt Liu spoke calmly and composedly.

"Let me speak first..." a member of the Wang family stepped forward. "Sister Liu, how do we clean up each household's spare rooms? The walls need to be plastered, right? The roofs are so dark and always shedding dust, we need to install a new ceiling, right? City people aren't used to sleeping on earthen beds, we need to dismantle them and replace them with new ones, right? If we replace the beds, then we need to install heating, which will cost a lot of money, right? All these things add up to a lot of money! We're all poor mountain people, where are we going to get the money? If the village gives us a little extra money, we'll do it; if not... then we're sorry..."

"That's right, that's right. If the village gives us extra money, we'll do it. Otherwise, we can't afford the risk. My daughter is in junior high school now, and money is needed everywhere. We don't have that much spare cash..."

"If you ask me, let's listen to Wang Duo. We'll plant fruit trees, make an investment, and we can eat our fill for years..."

Old Wang's family started making a fuss again.

"What are you yelling about? Should we listen to the village chief or you guys?" Zheng Dayong stood up, glaring at the Wang family members who were causing trouble, and shouted.

"You Wang family members have no manners at all. What did the village chief just say? Say it one by one, instead of shouting like that, do you not understand human language?" Sister Tie cheered on Sister Liu.

"What do you mean you can't understand human language? They're just taking advantage of the fact that Sister Liu is a woman, so they're being shameless..." Aunt Fatty wasn't exactly a pushover either.

Aunt Pang's words were sharp enough to make the Wang family members who had started the trouble blush with shame.

"Alright, alright, stop talking. Let me explain to those of you who raised objections..." Aunt Liu pressed her hand down, and the entire meeting room immediately fell silent. "Our village's agritainment businesses should have our rural characteristics. As for plastering the walls? That's completely unnecessary. Anyone with a calendar can use it as wallpaper; it'll even look nicer. As for the ceiling, that's also unnecessary. Just sweep down the ash. A bare ceiling—if you put up a ceiling, what's the point of having an old house feel? And the earthen kang (heated brick bed)—is it even a village without an earthen kang? Why would people come to the countryside if they want a bed? No one is allowed to tear down their kang. As for heating, that's even less necessary! And regarding the renovation costs, the village committee won't contribute any money. However, Bao'er's dad told me that anyone who doesn't want to spend this money can talk to him, and he'll contribute. But he'll also take 60% of each family's income..."

"We made money, why should he get 60%?"

"Exactly! He's a city dweller, yet he's taking money out of our meager pockets. Isn't that a bit much?"

"Those city people are really awful, they're just obsessed with money. I think we should give up on running this agritourism business. If those city folks come, they'll just steal our place, and we'll be lucky if we don't go bankrupt..."

"That's right, that's right..."

Old Wang's family is just deliberately causing trouble.

"Alright, alright, stop talking..." Aunt Liu pressed her hand down, and all the noise immediately stopped. It was beneath her dignity to argue with a woman.

Aunt Liu cleared her throat and said, "It's perfectly reasonable for Bao'er's dad to take 60%, after all, he paid for all the renovations. If you make money and don't share with others, why should they pay for you? If you always hide behind others and let them pay for you, but then you step forward to make money and ignore the person who paid for you... don't you have any shame? I don't think there's anyone that shameless in our village..."

After Liu Sao said that, the Wang family fell silent.

"Who was shouting the loudest just now? Stand up and show yourself to everyone, let us see who's so shameless!" Aunt Fat was quite sharp, and none of the Wang family members responded; they all blushed and lowered their heads.

"Alright, Auntie Pang, stop talking..." Seeing that Auntie Pang seemed determined to press her advantage, Sister Liu quickly stopped her. Some things need to be said with discretion; you can't go too far. These people are all men, after all, and you have to give them some face.

After Aunt Pang shut up, Sister Liu said, "Bao'er's father has another way to help everyone, which is to lend money. As long as everyone signs a loan agreement, and after a year, when everyone has made money, they can pay it back without any interest. What do you all think?"

No one said a word. A year from now? They seem quite confident. But what if they lose money? Isn't doing business all about making and losing money?

"...If everyone is silent, that means they disagree. I have another method, which is Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening-up theory, which allows some people to get rich first. Anyone who is timid can test the waters first. If they think it's profitable, they can join in. If they are not satisfied, they can tell me, and I can think of another way for everyone to get rich. Of course, if anyone has their own ideas, as long as they don't break the law, the village will support them..." Aunt Liu said.

"Let's leave it at that for now. Let's observe the situation first. If it really makes money, then we'll go for it..." Several of the mischievous members of the Wang family expressed their opinions.

"Alright, now, anyone who wants to join our agritourism project, come and sign up here..." said Aunt Liu.

"Sister Liu, if we start a farm stay business, will city people really come?" Auntie Pang asked at this moment.

No matter what you do, you can't act on impulse. Aunt Pang can help Liu Sao when she's having a hard time, but when it comes to her future livelihood, she can't act blindly. She has to be clear about what she's doing.

"Hehe..." Old Wang's family all laughed.

"Auntie Pang's attitude is commendable; it shows she's taking responsibility for herself..." Aunt Liu nodded. "Our Bao'er's father has already had a website designed to promote our Zhengjia Village extensively. I believe our Zhengjia Village will soon become a household name..."

"Could you give us the website address?" Wang Duo asked, looking up at this moment.

"Of course..." Aunt Liu said, waving to Yang Ming behind her.

Yang Ming immediately ran onto the stage, holding a laptop in his arms. He said, "Anyone who doesn't believe me can come up and see for themselves how the website I had designed is."

Wang Duo walked straight up, and several members of the Wang family behind him followed.

Wang Duo first looked at the website's URL, then opened Baidu, entered the URL he was familiar with, and clicked on the URL after searching. Sure enough, the network connection was normal. Then he entered the URL of the Zhengjia Village website into Baidu, searched, clicked on the link, and sure enough, it was correct. Only then did Wang Duo truly believe it.

Wang Duo scrolled through the information on the website using the middle mouse button.

First, there's a picture showing the geographical features of Zhengjia Village. Below the picture, the location of Zhengjia Village is highlighted, along with its characteristics, scenery, and more—green mountains and clear waters, all captured vividly.

Then there's a series of photos, about a hundred of them, showing the exact locations of each house in Zhengjia Village and the surrounding scenery.

Wang Duo lightly clicked on the picture of Yang Ming's house, and the webpage immediately switched to an introduction page, which showed pictures of Yang Ming's house taken from various angles, with a descriptive text under each picture.

Fence gate, persimmon tree, chestnut tree, east and west wing rooms, outer room, east and west stoves, east and west rooms, earthen bed, backyard, well, livestock shed, donkey cart...

Silly little dog, gray mouse, chicken, duck, goose, somersaulting pigeon, big tabby cat, big parrot...

At the bottom, there's a note that's a link to "My Private Garden." Clicking on it brings up a video window showing Yang Ming's backyard and greenhouse.

Close-up shots of livestock such as cattle, sheep, horses, donkeys, pigs, and wild boars were taken. Flowers bloomed in the hot spring pool. After leaving the hot spring pool, you entered the fishpond. From the shore, you could see large fish swimming leisurely, occasionally swaying their tails and creating ripples on the water.

Peach trees, apple trees, watermelon vines, cantaloupe vines, bean trellises, cucumber trellises, chives, scallions, tomatoes... all kinds of trees, fruits and vegetables are exceptionally fresh and look like magical trees and fruits imbued with spiritual energy.

I tried clicking on my own house, but found that I couldn't access it at all. It must be because they haven't taken any photos of me yet. Even if I wanted to sue them for copyright infringement, it would be impossible.

"How is it? The website I had someone design is acceptable, isn't it?" Yang Ming said.

"Very good, even though I saw it, I still have the desire to come and see it..." Wang Duo was already completely shocked.

The other members of the Wang family who came up with Wang Duo were also shocked. They never expected that the originally somewhat shabby little mountain village would turn out so beautifully in all sorts of photos.

"Is there anything else you want to say?" Yang Ming first looked at Wang Duo, then his gaze swept over the faces of the other members of the Wang family, a faint smile always on his face.

Wang Duo shook his head and left without saying a word. Several members of the Wang family exchanged glances and followed him away.

"Since all aspects have been considered, then let's not say anything more. Count me in..." Auntie Pang was the first to express her opinion. Actually, she had confidence in Yang Ming. He was a tycoon. If he didn't have a knack for business, would he have become a tycoon? He gets the meat, and we can just drink the soup and be full.

Little did Aunt Pang know that Yang Ming had absolutely no business acumen.

"Count me in too..." Sister Tie quickly chimed in.

Aunt Liu quickly took out paper and pen and wrote down the names of the two people: "After everyone signs up, come with me to sign the contract, and then Yang Ming will come to your house to take pictures and post them on the website."

"Sister-in-law Liu, our house is a complete mess, is it okay to take pictures of it?" The plump aunt was a little embarrassed, as her house was indeed a complete mess.

"What's wrong with that? You don't need to tidy it up much. Just sweep away the dust, stick the calendar and stuff on the wall. Look at Yang Ming's house, he only tidied it up a little. You mustn't make it look like you're getting married, or people will think my uncle is taking a concubine..." Aunt Liu chuckled.

"Hahaha..." A large group of people laughed. Aunt Fat glared at Sister Liu with a stubborn look. Aunt Fat's husband blushed and lowered his head. No matter how much the people next to him pushed and teased him, he didn't say a word, and seemed to be accepting his fate.

The meeting lasted until noon. Not many villagers joined the agritourism project. Of the 30 households in the Wang family, only Wang Shuisheng's family joined. However, not all of the Zheng family's households supported it; out of 75 households, only 60 joined. At least, Liu's parents-in-law did not join, and they looked at Liu, who was jumping around on stage, with a mocking gaze. The others who did not join were those who were close to Liu's parents-in-law and did not want to offend them on the spot. As for what happened in private, that was another story.

"Alright, alright, all the villagers who have joined the agritourism program, come to our house for lunch today. Let's draw up some rules together, and we'll also discuss in detail what needs to be prepared," said Aunt Liu, waving the list she had written down.

"Alright, Village Chief Liu, we're going to have a big feast today..." Auntie Pang responded first, teasingly.

"Village Chief Liu, why don't we eat at Bao'er's dad's house? Their food is delicious..." Sister Tie said with a smile. This person is really mischievous, insisting on calling Yang Ming "Bao'er's dad," which sounds quite ambiguous.

Wei Qingqing, who was sitting below, immediately turned pale. She secretly made up her mind that she would make Yang Ming pay for it later and also teach Liu Sao a lesson.

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(End of this chapter)