The Little Life of a Big Landlord

Chapter 80 Labor

(Please subscribe and support...)

Yang Ming doesn't plan to build greenhouses on the entire ten-acre plot of land; he'll just build greenhouses on four or five acres and use the rest to grow wheat.

As the saying goes, "White Dew comes early, Cold Dew comes late, and Autumn Equinox is the perfect time to plant wheat." Although Cold Dew just passed yesterday, there is still no problem planting wheat today.

Yang Ming connected the hand-held tractor and the seeder, took wheat seeds from the farm space, loaded them into the seeder, and then drove the seeder to sow seeds in this wasteland.

This land was originally farmland. Although it was covered with grass, it was still quite flat. When Yang Ming drove his hand tractor across the field, all the weeds were felled when he planted the wheat.

After planting about four or five acres, Yang Ming stopped, took out a large iron rake from his side room, and went to the field to gather grass. The weeds gathered from these four or five acres were enough to form a large stack of firewood, which would be enough for them to burn on their kang (heated brick bed) for many days.

After finishing with this plot of land, Yang Ming drove the planter to Liu Sao's land. Yang Ming knew all of Liu Sao's land, after all, he had helped her a lot these past few days! Moreover, since they were not farming this year, a lot of corn stalks were growing in the field, which looked unusually out of place among the neatly pressed ridges.

"These corn stalks need to be collected..." Yang Ming frowned as he looked at the corn stalks scattered on the ground. He unloaded the planter from the tractor, then drove the tractor home. When he came out again, a large harvester had been installed in front of the tractor, which was the one that Yang Ming had just asked Ya Ya to buy from the sales system.

As Yang Ming drove the harvester across the field, the long-withered straw was immediately scooped up and fed into the harvester. After being processed, it came out as foot-long pieces of firewood.

They gathered all the firewood together, then went home to get the transport truck, loaded it onto the truck, and took it away... In front of the house, another large stack of firewood was piled up.

Aunt Liu's family didn't have much land, only 8 mu. Although it wasn't a contiguous plot, the distance between the plots wasn't far. Yang Ming drove the planter and finished planting all 8 mu in just half a day. He then used a rake to gather all the corn stalks that had been raked up into a pile, and that was considered the wheat planting done.

"Hey! Little Yang, helping Sister Liu with the farming?" Just as Yang Ming was packing up to go home, Aunt Pang walked over and said with a smile.

"No..." Yang Ming smiled, "Sister Liu leased the land to our family, so from now on, this land belongs to our family."

"Didn't Sister Liu not rent out her husband? Why did she rent it out to your family?" Aunt Pang asked curiously.

"Hehe, it's nothing, it's just that we don't feel like we're from this village..." Yang Ming didn't elaborate, but Aunt Pang understood.

"Auntie Pang, you're busy, I'll be going now..." Yang Ming said, driving his tractor home.

When Yang Ming got home, he suddenly saw a young man bending over and cutting grass on the plot of wasteland he had just leased. A little yellow puppy was hopping around beside him. Upon closer inspection, Yang Ming realized it was Zheng Dabao's son, Zheng Tongyao. The puppy saw Yang Ming, barked twice, and ran over. It's said that unless a puppy is being sold for money, puppies that have been given away are usually very affectionate when they see their original owners. It's a mystery how they can tell whether they were sold or given away; it's quite amazing.

Zheng Tong also saw Yang Ming, hesitated for a moment, then walked over with his sickle.

"Yang... Brother Yang..." Zheng Tong's face turned red.

"Xiao Tong? What's wrong with you...?" Yang Ming said with a smile.

"It was my mom who made me..." Zheng Tong's face turned so red it was almost black.

"I'm going to expand my greenhouse, and I definitely won't have enough manpower. I'm planning to hire a few more people. Are you interested in helping me?" Yang Ming said.

"Yes, yes, Brother Yang, I'm very strong..." Zheng Tong quickly replied.

"Okay! It's settled then. Come with me to the county town this afternoon to buy materials, and we'll set up the greenhouse this afternoon," Yang Ming said.

"Okay, okay, I'm going home for dinner now..." Zheng Tong said, and ran home. The puppy rubbed against Yang Ming's leg and then ran off after him.

Yang Ming had just finished lunch and rested on the kang (a heated brick bed) for a while when Zheng Tong arrived in a flurry. So, Yang Ming called Zheng Da Han, and together they drove the transport truck to the county town to buy materials.

"Da Han, I've heard you've been a bit absent-minded these past few days? You seem to be enjoying yourself all the time. Is there some good news?" Yang Ming asked as he drove.

"Ah? No! No, Brother Yang, I really didn't..." Zheng Dahan said in a panic, his cheeks turning red.

"Judging from your expression, I can guess who it is. Tell Brother Yang, whose daughter is she?" Yang Ming said with a smile.

"No, no, no, absolutely not..." Zheng Dahan waved his hands repeatedly, "Brother Yang, believe me, absolutely not..."

"Okay, okay, I believe you..." Yang Ming nodded with a smile. This young man is just beginning to experience love, so it's best not to get involved and embarrass him.

Upon arriving in the county, Yang Ming first bought materials to build a greenhouse, filling a whole truck, and then went to the relevant department to register a clothing company.

Registering a company isn't something that can be done in a day or two. You have to submit an application first, and only after it's approved can you register.

When they got home, it was only 4 p.m. Tie's wife and Wang Shuisheng had already cleared the remaining four or five acres of wasteland. When they saw the car stop, they quickly helped unload it and started building the greenhouse.

Many hands make light work. By the time it was completely dark, the greenhouse was up and running. And let me tell you, these experienced farmers were much better than Yang Ming and Wei Qingqing, those two amateurs. Not only were they incredibly fast, but the greenhouse they built looked exceptionally neat. As Sister Tie would say, building a greenhouse is no different from building a cucumber trellis...

The lights in the room were on, casting a warm, dim glow. On the kang table were simple dishes: two bowls of thin porridge and a dish of pickled vegetables.

"This afternoon, many people from the village came to our house to ask if we were hiring." Wei Qingqing picked up a piece of carrot and crunched it on. The carrot was crisp and sweet, and tasted exceptionally refreshing.

"What did you say?" Yang Ming took a sip of porridge and picked up a cucumber strip.

"They didn't say anything, just that it depends on the actual situation..." Wei Qingqing said with a smile.

"Hehe, that's a pretty sly answer..." Yang Ming laughed.

"Mom called too. She said they caught 200,000 catties of seafood today. Mom's voice was trembling. She was probably very excited. We sold 40,000 catties of seafood for one million yuan. So this 200,000 catties of seafood is five million yuan. There were five adults on the trip. They can each get one million yuan if they split it equally."

"What's wrong? Are you envious?"

"A little, but with Mom around, she'll definitely take the lion's share, so I'm not so upset anymore..."

"We've finished setting up the greenhouse today. Tomorrow... we'll deliver vegetables tomorrow, so the day after tomorrow. The day after tomorrow we'll repair the fishpond. My fish farm is already under some pressure. Once the fishpond is repaired, we'll quickly move all the freshwater fish out," Yang Ming said.

"How do you plan to fix it?"

"I haven't really planned on that yet. I just think that we can build steps around the edge of the pool with cement or stones, and fill the spring with pebbles so that the spring won't get blocked. We can also put a large net at the outlet, and that should be about right."

"I heard that fish farmers usually sprinkle quicklime at the bottom of the pond to disinfect it and kill bacteria and parasites..." Wei Qingqing said.

It is said that some fish ponds have not been disinfected, so the fish raised there may look quite good, but their bellies are full of parasites. Those white, noodle-like parasites are disgusting to look at.

"Drain all the water from the pond, then rinse it with hot spring water. Boiling water at 100 degrees Celsius, what kind of bacteria and parasites can survive there?" Yang Ming said casually.

"That's one way."

The Nandaihe pier was already packed with people. In the dark night sky, countless stars twinkled mischievously, and the beams of light from numerous streetlights made the area as bright as day.

A few days ago, a huge ship was moored here, but it was only there for a short time, so no one paid much attention to it. However, today, the ship reappeared, and a group of young men in uniforms were constantly unloading large quantities of frozen, solid seafood from the ship, which attracted attention.

"Comrade, large ships are not allowed to dock here. How many times has this happened? I haven't been able to catch you the last few times. I hope you won't do it again!" An old man wearing armbands stood in front of Zhang Yingning and said very seriously.

There are many tourists here. What if such a large boat hits someone? That could be a fatal accident. If someone dies, the newly developed tourism industry in Nandaihe will be completely ruined.

"Comrade, we're from out of town and don't know the rules. We hope you can give us some pointers on where our fishing boat should dock," Zhang Yingning said with a smile.

"There's a small fishing port over there. You can pay a small rent each month to reserve a boat berth," the old man said, pointing in the direction of the small fishing port.

"Comrade, you're a very kind person. Could you help us contact the fishing port?" Zhang Yingning smiled and handed him her phone.

"No problem!" The old man was quite enthusiastic. He took the phone and made a call to the small fishing port. After the call connected, he explained the situation, said a few "uh-huhs," and then hung up. "They said your boat is quite big and beautiful, a sight to behold. If you can take tourists out to sea to fish and attract more tourists for us, we'll give you a symbolic amount of a thousand or eight hundred yuan each year. Don't worry, we won't take a cut of the tourists' ticket prices."

Absolutely! If there were such a beautiful boat in Nandaihe, joining the Nandaihe tourism industry would definitely attract tourists.

"What did my sister say?" Zhang Yingning looked at Zhang Shufang, after all, the boat belonged to her.

"Okay, let's do it this way. It's really true that they buy a boat but not a berth. That's really..." Zhang Shufang got a little angry when she mentioned her son's unreliable behavior.

"Alright, we agree. However, our boat is beautiful, and if we take tourists out to sea, the ticket price will be very expensive. Otherwise, we won't be able to stay here any longer..." Zhang Yingning said.

"Haha, this comrade knows how to handle people. We can't be stingy. You can set the ticket price however you like, but you must ensure the safety of the tourists," the old man said with a smile.

"That's natural."

In the end, everyone was happy. Zhang Shufang and her group had a berth for their fishing boat, which meant that this place would become a stable source of income. Zhang Yingning's Yingning Hotel Qinhuangdao branch could also open. This was almost like self-production and self-sales. The old man and his management team could also add "luxury fishing boats going out to sea" to their brochures. How many tourists would that attract?

Two hundred thousand catties of seafood were loaded onto trucks by the purchasing staff of Yingning Hotel. Then, the trucks lined up and slowly drove away. At Zhang Yingning's invitation, the old manager boarded the boat and directed them to moor it in the small fishing port. When the old manager climbed into the cockpit and saw the luxurious and advanced facilities, he was stunned. He was even more glad for his suggestion. Just this appearance alone could add a lot of points to the local tourism industry. He secretly made up his mind to fight for a good berth for this boat. If the higher-ups agreed, it would be best to open a small dock on its own. The dock should be worthy of the boat. Otherwise, the first impression of tourists would be: a phoenix growing in a chicken coop.

The next day was the 10th, the day Yang Ming delivered vegetables to various hotels. Since Lao Yang had gone to Beidaihe, Yang Ming had to drive himself to deliver the vegetables to the hotels. From this point on, Zheng Dongfang's hotel was officially added to the list of hotels Yang Ming supplied vegetables to.

After delivering the groceries, Yang Ming went back to Sunshine Community for a look around. He hadn't yet visited his father and in-laws since returning from his trip.

Wei Jianguo and Xue Hua teach high school and aren't home right now. High school students have a lot of academic work, so they don't get weekends off. Speaking of which, high school students have the hardest time of all levels of education in China.

Yang Ming met his father, Yang Zhengfang, in room 701. Yang Zhengfang was sitting on the sofa watching TV with a troubled expression, but the exciting TV program couldn't interest him at all. When his son pushed the door open, he just glanced at him and said listlessly, "Mingming's here?"

"Dad, what's wrong?" Yang Ming asked softly.

"Your mother called yesterday. They went out to sea yesterday and caught 200,000 catties of seafood, which sold for 5 million. She kept 2 million for herself, and the rest was divided among your two classmates and your Aunt Zhang's daughter-in-law. I..." Yang Zhengfang said dejectedly.

"Mom really does take the lion's share. That makes sense, the boat belongs to our family, and Aunt Zhang and Sister Liu are family. It wouldn't be fair if she took two shares," Yang Ming said.

"Your mother suddenly became a millionaire. Yesterday, your mother-in-law was regretting it, wondering why she was in such a hurry to come back and teach her students. If they could earn a million, they would have retired on medical grounds long ago..." Yang Zhengfang said.

"Okay, I got it, Dad. Why don't you go to Beidaihe too and fish with Mom..." Yang Ming could tell that his dad wanted to go as well.

"This... I can't do it. I only learned a few tricks from your uncle... Besides, your mother won't allow it..." Yang Zhengfang laughed, but was still a little embarrassed and declined.

"My mom has no fishing experience, yet she can catch 200,000 jin of seafood. If you, a seasoned fisherman, went, catching 500,000 jin a day wouldn't be a problem at all. Just think how much money that would be!"

"That must be over ten million? You'll get your money back from the ship..." Yang Zhengfang gasped.

"Absolutely! If we can earn over ten million a day, that's like owning a whole ship every day! In ten days, we could start a fishing company! That would be making a fortune every day, and becoming a billionaire within six months wouldn't be a problem at all..." Yang Ming painted a rosy picture.

"If that's the case, let's bring your father-in-law, mother-in-law, Zhang Yang, and Fangfang along, and we can all make a fortune together," Yang Zhengfang said, his eyes lighting up.

"That's right, everyone should share the wealth..." Yang Ming said.

"No, if we keep fishing like this, it'll be fine once or twice, but if we keep doing it, won't we wipe out all the fish in the ocean?"

"Do you think the sea is like our village pond? You can just shoot and move on. There are plenty of places with fish in the ocean. You can just go out into the high seas and catch some, and nobody will care," Yang Ming said.

In fact, Yang Ming and his crew were fishing in international waters. It's just that their boat was fast and there were no landmarks on the sea, so they didn't know it. Of course, even if there were landmarks, with Yang Ming's knowledge of the ocean, he wouldn't know if it was international waters.

"You're talking nonsense. Haven't you heard? How many Chinese fishing boats have been sunk by collisions? It's not safe to go out into international waters," Yang Zhengfang said.

"Mingming's here? I saw your car downstairs. What were you two chatting about?" At that moment, Wei Jianguo pushed open the door and entered.

"Dad..." Yang Ming quickly stood up and called out.

"What did we say? We clearly said that if we wanted, we could set up a fishing company and fish in the high seas," Yang Zhengfang said.

"Go fishing in international waters? Isn't that unsafe?" Wei Jianguo sat down on the sofa.

"It's alright. When I bought the boat, they told me that our boat has a signal jamming function. As long as we don't bump into each other face to face, we definitely won't be able to detect it," Yang Ming said.

"What kind of ship is that? It's so powerful!" Wei Jianguo's interest was piqued.

"Alien technology, a revolutionary product..."

"Alright, alright, if you don't want to talk about it, then forget it. Why bring up aliens?" Wei Jianguo glared at Yang Ming and said with dissatisfaction.

"Mingming, be serious when you talk to your father-in-law." Yang Zhengfang glared at his son.

"Hehe, that's their technological secret. Why would they reveal it to me?" Yang Ming chuckled awkwardly.

"That makes sense..." Wei Jianguo nodded.

"Old Wei, if we really set up a fishing company, will you take a stake?" Yang Zhengfang asked.

"I won't participate..." Wei Jianguo said firmly.

"Why? If we do well, we can become billionaires in no time." Yang Zhengfang asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Enough money is enough. What's the point of having so much money? Too much of that stuff can corrupt a person," Wei Jianguo said.

"Father-in-law is right. My mother is too domineering. If my father has money, he might very well keep a few young, beautiful, and gentle mistresses on the side..." Yang Ming said with a smile.

"You little brat, what nonsense are you spouting?" Yang Zhengfang glared at him and raised his hand to hit him. This little bastard was too infuriating. If his mother heard him say that, he wouldn't have a single penny of his secret stash of money left.

"Kids need to be disciplined, otherwise they won't amount to anything..." Wei Jianguo said with a smile, encouraging him from the side.

After all this commotion, Yang Zhengfang completely gave up the idea of ​​establishing a fishing company. Being able to go out to sea to fish occasionally and have some fun was enough. It would be meaningless to treat it as a job.

"Old Wei, take two days off, let's go out to sea together? We can earn some pocket money," Yang Zhengfang said.

"...We can't do without them. High school is the most crucial time in their lives, and we can't hold them back," Wei Jianguo said after a moment's thought.

"Why not just swap classes with another teacher and free up three days?" Yang Ming said.

"That's one idea..." Wei Jianguo thought for a moment, then nodded. It would be a lie to say he wasn't tempted by a million dollars placed in front of him.

"Mingming's here? How was your trip to Qinhuangdao?" At this moment, Xue Hua walked in carrying a stack of test papers, clearly having just returned.

"Mom's back? Why didn't she come back with Dad?" Yang Ming thought Xue Hua was cooking at home.

"Hey, we had a quiz in class, so I came back late..." Xue Hua said. In fact, it's quite normal for classes to run overtime in high school.

"Old Xue, Old Yang just said he wants us to go out to sea with him to earn some pocket money. What do you think?" Wei Jianguo asked.

"Go ahead, take over some classes with other teachers, go away for three days, you won't miss any classes..." Xue Hua's eyes lit up, "With the money, we can buy a car, so we won't have to squeeze onto the bus every day."

"Okay! Let's go together..." Wei Jianguo felt reassured when his wife nodded, and the fishing trip was settled.

Without delay, the two called the school and asked for three days off. Wei Jianguo solemnly handed his puppy over to his son-in-law to take care of, and declared that if it got too thin from hunger, he would never be allowed to visit his father-in-law's house again. The three of them didn't even have lunch and went straight to the train station by taxi.

"I..." Yang Ming stammered, "They don't even provide meals? What kind of father is this? What kind of father-in-law is this? What kind of mother-in-law is this?"

Seeing that Sun Fangfang's door was still locked tightly, Yang Ming took Wei Jianguo's puppy, locked both doors, went downstairs, and drove back to Zhengjia Village.

P.S.: Please recommend and add to your favorites...

(End of this chapter)