Chapter 170: Distributing Petty Cash to the Villagers
It was the afternoon of the third day of the trial run.
Aside from the Insomnia Support Group, who absolutely refused to leave and had booked all the guest rooms, and Brother Zhang and Sister Yu, who had signed a long-term lease for a month, the other guests had gradually departed.
Now that the trial run was over, the manor needed to undergo some operational adjustments and renovations. The guests’ vacation time had also come to an end, and they had to return to their regular lives and work.
Lin Sanniang cleared the guest rooms, and Jian Xingxia loaded the used bedsheets and towels onto her small tricycle. Carrying the money with her, she headed down to the village.
The villagers had already received the news from Hu Da.
“Notice! Notice! Whichever household supplied goods or worked for Xiaxia these past few days! Proceed to the village headquarters at four in the afternoon!”
“Notice! Notice! Each household send a representative to the village headquarters to discuss developing our village’s tourism industry!”
Hu Da shouted at the top of his lungs into the loudspeaker, repeating it over and over, deeply afraid that the villagers busy out in the fields wouldn’t hear it.
But he was clearly overthinking things.
The moment the loudspeaker crackled and Hu Da was still testing it with “hello, hello, hello,” the villagers’ ears had already perked up.
One said, “Listen to that! Is she collecting goods again? My big goose is ready!”
Another said, “I don’t think so! Only five cars came today, and they’ve pretty much all left.”
Someone disagreed. “A lot of cars came the first two days, and some haven’t left yet!”
Another villager tried to be clever. “We should set up a checkpoint in the village. Charge ten yuan for parking for every car that enters.”
As a result, he was promptly shushed and glared at by the others.
“Shut your trap! You’ve enjoyed two days of excitement and already forgotten the famine we just went through?”
“With our village’s location, if we charge a parking fee, would anyone even come?”
“For the sake of ten yuan, you’re not going to sell your chickens and ducks? You don’t want to sell your grain at a good price, you prefer selling it at a low price to the grain traders?”
Better shut up quickly!
The man said sheepishly, “Wasn’t it Hu Da who said to think more about ways to generate income?”
“Then why didn’t you mention that the Party Secretary said to prioritize ensuring the operations of Xiaxia’s manor?”
Bickering and shouting, everyone listened to the broadcast as they crowded toward the village team headquarters.
The moment they arrived at the Party-Mass Service Center, some people slapped their thighs in frustration—the clever ones had tied up their chickens and ducks early and brought them along. They were just waiting for Hu Da’s command so they could slaughter them immediately.
Old Chai was even more excessive, riding his tricycle straight over, packed with sack after sack of sweet potatoes, corn, white rice, millet, and peanuts.
There was also Grandma Huming, who had already begun plucking green beans in her hands.
Someone couldn’t help but say, “Grandma Huming, you’re preparing way too early. What if Xiaxia doesn’t want green beans? Won’t that be a wasted effort?”
Grandma Huming snapped a green bean in half, saw it was a young man from the village, and scolded him back without standing on ceremony. “You want to earn money but fear hard work, you wouldn’t even manage to catch a fresh bite of food!”
“If Xiaxia doesn’t want them, then so be it! Can’t my own family eat them?”
Hu Ming looked completely exhausted. “Grandma, our family has had green beans for every single meal. We’ve been eating them for a week.”
Grandma Huming scolded Hu Ming for being a fool. “That’s exactly why we need to prepare early. What if your Sister Xiaxia collects our family’s green beans?”
Wouldn’t that mean they wouldn’t have to eat green beans anymore?
The elderly couldn’t bear to waste good things, so she refused to use words like the green beans were producing “too much.” But then again, eating green beans for a week straight, for over a dozen meals, was indeed tiring. It would be wonderful if Xiaxia collected green beans today.
Everyone looked toward Auntie Lu—Auntie Lu was now Xiaxia’s dedicated representative. Whatever Jian Xingxia wanted, Auntie Lu would collect it on her behalf. Weighing, registering, processing, and checking it before sending it up the mountain.
Being stared at by so many people, Auntie Lu unconsciously threw her chest out. I count as a cadre now, no matter how small! The unofficial kind, at least.
However, Auntie Lu really couldn’t make the call this time. “Xiaxia will be down the mountain in a bit. She’ll speak to everyone herself.”
Ten minutes later, Jian Xingxia rode her little pink tricycle and arrived nimbly at the village headquarters.
The moment she arrived, she was startled. From outside the village headquarters yard to inside the yard and into the offices, it was packed to the brim with villagers… along with chickens, ducks, geese, and baskets of vegetables. There were even a few heads poking out from the second floor of the Party-Mass Service Center, deeply afraid they wouldn’t see Jian Xingxia at the first opportunity.
Just as Jian Xingxia thought she wouldn’t be able to ride her tricycle in, everyone shifted and squeezed, forcing a path open for her.
Under everyone’s expectant gazes, Jian Xingxia rode the tricycle inside.
Hu Da and Qi Shan had prepared long ago, leaving the space by the flag-raising platform for Jian Xingxia. They set out a few tables and chairs, and even handed Jian Xingxia a megaphone.
Jian Xingxia knew exactly what the villagers were anticipating, so she skipped the pleasantries, sat down, and pulled out her little notebook.
“First things first, settling the accounts and handing out the money!”
Seeing this, Auntie Lu hurriedly pulled out her own little notebook and receipts. To collect goods, Auntie Lu had used old-fashioned receipt books, one book with three-part carbonless copies. The supplying villager kept one copy, she brought the goods up the mountain where Jian Xingxia signed for another copy, and the third copy remained in Auntie Lu’s hands.
Wei Liang organized the villagers into a line. “Come, come, come, money first!”
“Villagers who supplied goods over these two days, line up here, don’t push!”
“Villagers who want to sell things, wait a moment. Let’s settle the previous accounts first, and we’ll see about collecting new goods in a bit.”
Everyone hurriedly shouted, “No rush, no rush, money first, money first!”
Whether they had supplied goods or wanted to supply goods, everyone loved the word “money.” Xiaxia paid promptly, and everyone was happy.
Three tables were lined up in a row.
Behind the first table sat Auntie Lu. Based on the slips and her own memory, Auntie Lu confirmed the supplier, the details of the goods, and the quantities. Once confirmed correct, the villager proceeded to the second table.
Hu Da presided over the second table, with Wei Liang and the village accountant backing him up.
“Third Brother Wei, your family supplied six ducks over the two days. Currently, the wholesale price for live ducks is three-fifty a catty, and the retail market price is four yuan a catty.”
“Xiaxia collected them within our village, so standardly it should follow the wholesale price, but Xiaxia said to give the retail market price, calculating it at four yuan a catty. Third Brother Wei, do you have any objections?”
Third Brother Wei shook his head vigorously. “No objections, no objections at all! Settle it in cash right? Four yuan is good, perfectly fine.” Third Brother Wei couldn’t stop smiling.
The wholesale price meant that when the duck traders came to the village to collect, live ducks could only sell for three-fifty a catty. The retail market price was the standard market price, meaning Third Brother Wei would have to deliver the ducks to a location designated by the customer; under the current market conditions, live ducks could sell for four yuan a catty. It was fifty cents more expensive per catty.
But the duck farmers in the village were more than willing to sell at the retail market price here. It was convenient. If they delivered the ducks outside, a single trip took one to two hours; if they had to deliver to two or three places, an entire day’s work would be wasted. Raising ducks was a meticulous chore; they had to release the ducks every day to eat water weeds and duckweed. If they didn’t release them, feed costs at home would eat up several hundred yuan a day. Time was money, and Third Brother Wei understood this very well.
Although the volume Xiaxia required was slightly low, it was within the village after all, so it didn’t delay anything at all. Even his child could tie up two ducks and deliver them over. Being able to sell at four yuan a catty within the village meant the price was good and it took zero time. Third Brother Wei was more than willing!
Hu Da nodded with gratification. That was how it should be—everyone taking a step back to support each other so the village could develop well.
“The six ducks weighed a total of thirty-eight catties. At four yuan a catty, that’s one hundred and fifty-two yuan. Any objections?”
“None, none.”
“Good, then sign on the notebook and the slip, and go to Xiaxia to collect the money.”
Wei Liang stamped the slip, and the village accountant brought out the dedicated ledger to register it, also having Third Brother Wei sign.
Third Brother Wei came before the third table. Behind the third table sat Jian Xingxia and Qi Shan.
Jian Xingxia took the slip, confirmed it was correct, and smiled as she asked Third Brother Wei.
“Uncle Wei, do you want cash or a WeChat transfer?”
“Transfer! We use transfers to buy feed too.” Although he was an old farmer, he knew how to use WeChat to transfer money and buy things nowadays!
“Alright, then Uncle Wei, please sign here, and we’ll settle the account.”
Third Brother Wei presented his QR code and bowed his head to sign. Jian Xingxia nimbly transferred one hundred and fifty-two yuan over.
It wasn’t a vast amount, but this batch of ducks, which was originally waiting for the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day to leave the pens, was sold a month early, saving quite a bit of feed! Third Brother Wei was highly satisfied.
His mind was perfectly sharp—Xiaxia opening a farmhouse restaurant in the mountains was just the beginning. In the future, if business was good, she would need ducks plenty of times. Right now it was six ducks every two days; wouldn’t it be one to two hundred ducks a month in the future? Being able to sell thousands of ducks a year without even leaving the house—how could that not be considered a wonderful thing?
