Li Qingfeng nodded at the enthusiastic villagers and said, "Everyone, quiet down. One by one."
"Our clinic still needs about ten people. I plan to hire nine laborers and one cook!"
Upon hearing this, the eyes of the elderly, weak, and sick villagers immediately lit up. They lined up in an orderly fashion to introduce themselves to Li Qingfeng.
Pan Xiaolian, standing nearby, smiled happily at the scene and said to Xianglin Sao, "Sister-in-law, our Chinese herbal medicine base will probably be built even better."
"Qingfeng is a man of action. He can definitely handle this."
"Yes, Aunt Pan. Brother Feng will definitely not have any problems!"
Hearing Zheng Yingxue's words, Pan Xiaolian looked down at the delicate girl and smiled at her, "Yingxue, you're already following his lead. A girl needs to be a bit reserved!"
"Ah, I'm so embarrassed, Aunt Pan, why do you say everything..."
Hearing her words, Pan Xiaolian and Xianglin Sao both burst into laughter, making Zheng Yingxue's face turn completely red.
In fact, both Xianglin Sao and Pan Xiaolian had long noticed her feelings. However, since she was already an adult, and the young girl and Li Qingfeng were quite a match, they neither pushed nor rejected.
They thought, let everything take its natural course!
Meanwhile, Li Qingfeng was nearing the end of his hiring. Now, he only needed a cook.
For the cook, he wanted someone nimble and a good cook. However, looking around, he only saw elderly and weak villagers.
They could probably manage cooking, but the ingredients were heavy and required someone younger, so they were all passed over.
"Is there anyone else?"
Li Qingfeng fell into thought.
Fortunately, fate intervened. Just then, a pleasant voice reached his ears.
"Li Qingfeng, can I apply for the cook position? I don't need too high a salary, just hire me!"
Hearing this lovely voice, Li Qingfeng felt it was very familiar.
He turned his head and realized he actually knew the person – Yan Yun, the young widow from the village!
Yan Yun's complexion had improved a lot recently. After Li Qingfeng saved her life, Village Chief Shan Feiyang personally apologized to her and compensated her with a considerable sum of money, forgiving her family's debts.
Indeed, she was now free of debt.
Combined with her youth and beauty, and no longer suppressed by Village Chief Shan Feiyang, many young men in the village had set their sights on her. They would often ask her out for meals, but Yan Yun had never agreed.
It was by chance that Yan Yun saw a large crowd heading up the mountain and curiously followed.
Then, Yan Yun saw someone who made her feel both shy and angry – Li Qingfeng, the man who had saved her.
"The wages are all the same, there's no high or low. We're all working. If I weren't from the village, I'd be treated the same!"
Li Qingfeng said directly.
Hearing his words, Yan Yun's eyes lit up.
"I happen to need a cook here. Why don't you come and help us? What do you say?"
"Thank you, Li Qingfeng! I will definitely do a good job as a cook," Yan Yun said gratefully.
For some reason, when she faced Li Qingfeng, she always felt at a disadvantage.
Perhaps it was because Li Qingfeng had performed artificial respiration on her. She felt embarrassed every time they met.
Thus, all the hiring positions were filled.
Including men and women, old and young, Li Qingfeng hired a total of 22 people.
As for Zheng Yingxue, Xianglin Sao, and Yan Yun, they were also counted as cooks he employed. Adding them up, it came to exactly 25 people.
Thinking of this, Li Qingfeng felt that hiring a few more people wouldn't be impossible.
After all, the current daily wage was only 1500 yuan, which wasn't a lot.
As he was contemplating whether to continue hiring, Shan Feiyang, who was in the village committee office having an affair, received a call from his subordinate Wang Xiaoliu.
"Hello! Who is it? Why are you calling at such a time?"
Shan Feiyang's tone was not very pleasant, as no one would be happy to be interrupted during such an activity.
"Village chief, bad news, village chief, something big has happened!"
Shan Feiyang, who was lying on the bed, quickly got up upon hearing Xiaoliuzi's words and hurried to put on his clothes.
"Speak quickly, what happened?"
Shan Feiyang was scared to death, thinking something major had occurred.
However, upon hearing Wang Xiaoliu's words, he exclaimed in shock.
"What?"
"You're saying that the fool Li Qingfeng from the clinic is recruiting people in the village and is also vigorously developing the Chinese herbal medicine base? Most of the people in the village have been recruited by him!"
Shan Feiyang said in disbelief.
He knew that such large-scale recruitment in Mopan Gou Village would involve a considerable sum of money.
"Where did this kid get the money?" Shan Feiyang couldn't help but wonder.
Suddenly, he recalled something he had long forgotten.
It was the regulation that had suddenly come down from the town. Why did Mayor Zong Shuyun suddenly want to vigorously promote the Chinese herbal medicine base?
"Damn it, I've been tricked by this kid!"
Shan Feiyang, who had been foolish for so long, finally understood everything. He realized that he had been the fool all along, and Li Qingfeng had been leading him by the nose.
"Not only did I sponsor his land, but I also paid a lot of wages. It's a complete loss!"
Shan Feiyang gnashed his teeth in hatred.
If he had known this would happen, why would he have casually changed the contract? If he had used the original contract, he would have made a fortune.
He might have even extorted a sum of money from this kid. But now, it was different; he had Mayor Zong Shuyun backing him.
If he acted rashly, it might not be worth the loss.
However, what made Shan Feiyang feel the most sense of crisis was that this kid had already started recruiting villagers. If all the villagers worked for him and became wealthy, his future source of income would disappear.
"The villagers will no longer borrow money from me!"
Thinking of this, Shan Feiyang felt like his whole world was about to collapse.
"We must make his Chinese herbal medicine base fail!"
This was the first time Shan Feiyang had such a firm conviction to accomplish something.