Chen Lishu nodded, "Now that the policy has changed and land is being contracted, I don't think contracting the green hills is a problem."
This was not a decision made on a whim, but after careful consideration.
Previously, policies did not allow it, but now with household contracting, villagers could implement a contract system.
The fertile black soil in their area, due to policy and labor issues, had left the large mountain behind the village vacant for years, wasting a lot of resources. If she could contract the green hills, she could definitely create more value.
"The mountain behind the village is quite large, at least a thousand mu, right? How much money would that cost? Do you have time to manage such a large piece of land once it's contracted? Are you not going to college anymore?"
Wu Chunmei's first reaction was to object, "Isn't it good to do some business as usual? Such a large mountain, why would you, a young girl, take such a big step? Even if you reclaim and plant crops on the mountain, you won't get much grain. Listen to your mother and don't be reckless. People should be content and not too greedy."
Chen Mantun felt Wu Chunmei's words were very reasonable and nodded in agreement, "Your mother is right. We have been farmers all our lives and know more than you. Apart from some trees, there's nothing else on the mountain. Moreover, not many of those trees are usable. It's clearly a losing business. You must not be foolish."
Most of the trees on the mountain were poplar, decades old. Apart from villagers cutting them down for housing, they had no other apparent use.
Chen Lishu had naturally considered these points, but she still insisted on her idea, "Dad, how can the trees on the mountain be useless? They are all treasures. They can be used for construction lumber, papermaking, or sold to timber factories to make boards, can't they all be converted into money? Moreover, after contracting, I can plant fruit trees myself. Our northern fruits are limited, and transportation is inconvenient. This area will definitely make money in the future."
Chen Mantun, however, had a completely different idea, "If those trees could be sold for money, the village would have organized personnel to develop them long ago, but now? They've been standing there for decades. And you talk about planting fruit trees. Saplings alone would cost a lot of money. Even if your mom and I help, will you need to hire people for such a large area? And it takes at least two or three years from planting to fruiting for fruit trees, and it's uncertain whether the investment can be recovered. What will you do for these few years without income? Won't you just be throwing money away?"
"Dad, Mom, all these investments are temporary and within my controllable range. The future returns will definitely be more than you can imagine."
Seeing that her painstaking efforts to persuade them had not shaken their resolve, Chen Mantun and Wu Chunmei knew that she had made up her mind and could only sigh helplessly, no longer trying to stop her.
After leaving the Chen family, Chen Lishu turned her steps towards the village head Zhang Changhe's house.
"Why is Dongzi's wife here? Come in quickly." Zhang Changhe's wife was shooing chickens into the coop. Seeing her come in, she quickly secured the coop and welcomed her inside.
Chen Lishu smiled, "Auntie, is Uncle at home?"
"He's at home. He just finished eating, and someone came to order a horse-drawn carriage. He's talking to them inside."
Chen Lishu entered the house and indeed saw Zhang Changhe talking with two elders from the village. Seeing her come in, Zhang Changhe smiled and invited her to sit down.
"Since they have registered, we will take our leave." Knowing that Chen Lishu might have something to discuss, the two men wisely got up and left.
"Uncle Zhang, do you still have horse-drawn carriages and tools? I want to order a set."
Zhang Changhe thought she was ordering for the Gu family and kindly reminded her, "Xingye mentioned before that your family has already ordered one."
Chen Lishu smiled, "I'm ordering one for my maiden family."
Zhang Changhe flipped out his notebook and counted. Chen Lishu's order made it the twenty-fourth household. So he said with a smile, "By chance, there's one last set left. However, the last one remaining is a mare that recently gave birth. If you want to buy it, you'll have to buy the mother and foal together. The foal is cheaper, it will cost two hundred yuan. Do you want it?"
Chen Lishu nodded readily, "Okay."
Seeing her nod, Zhang Changhe lowered his head and made a record in his notebook for her.
"Uncle Zhang, I actually have another matter to discuss with you today. I want to contract the green hills behind our village. Do you think it's possible?"
Zhang Changhe looked up, "You want to contract the mountain?"
"Aren't we implementing household contracting now? I was thinking if it's possible to contract that mountain."
Zhang Changhe had never handled mountain land contracting before, but he privately hoped to facilitate this matter.
In the past, the forest behind the village was idle, but its ownership belonged to the Qingshan Brigade. The brigade had to assign members to look after it, costing each person 150 yuan and 100 jin of grain annually. If Chen Lishu could really contract it, the brigade would save effort, and it would also be a good thing to increase the village's wealth.
Qingshan Village was far from the town, backed by a large mountain, and the roads were difficult. Even though many villages had access to vehicles now, there was no progress here. With poor transportation, villagers' incomes could not be increased. If Chen Lishu could really contract the back mountain, he would definitely support it with both hands.
"The ownership of this green mountain indeed belongs to our brigade, but I still need to communicate with other village cadres, and then we will sit down and discuss it specifically. Moreover, this mountain is collective property after all, and ultimately it depends on the will of the members."
Chen Lishu nodded in understanding, "If I can contract it, I am willing to allocate twenty percent of the annual profits to the village for their discretionary use."
Villagers would have additional dividends every year?
This gave Zhang Changhe even more confidence, "This is something that benefits everyone. I believe everyone will agree."
...
Meanwhile, on the other side, widow Liu returned home. After much deliberation, she felt she still needed to get a horse-drawn carriage.
She couldn't rely on her two sons for farming. If she had the tools, she could discuss with her acquaintances and have them help her with some work. Besides, the village head said she could buy it on credit if she didn't have money. What did credit mean? It meant paying whenever she had money, if not next year, then the year after. Anyway, she would use the carriage first.
After thinking it through, widow Liu headed to Zhang Changhe's house after dinner.
...
Chen Lishu talked with Zhang Changhe for a while longer and was about to leave when widow Liu suddenly pushed the door open.
"Village head, my family also wants to order a horse-drawn carriage."
Zhang Changhe glanced at Chen Lishu, then turned to widow Liu and said, "Auntie, it's quite unfortunate. The brigade has limited carriages, and everyone is in a hurry. They've all been ordered."
"What? All ordered? Not even one left?"
Widow Liu was stunned for a moment, then looked at Zhang Changhe suspiciously and said, "I say, Village Head, you're not lying to me because you don't want to sell it to me, are you?"