Over the following week, Wang Xiaoqiang ventured out early and returned late from Mantou Mountain, hunting wild chickens. Besides Liu Juyi, nobody else discovered his activities. Liu Juyi, undeterred by the effort, delivered meals daily.

No matter how late Wang Xiaoqiang returned, Liu Juyi would wait for him to finish eating and would only leave after clearing the dishes, though it was Wang Xiaoqiang who escorted her home.

Liu Juyi cherished this routine, sitting on the second floor of the village committee building, quietly waiting for his return… watching him devour the dishes she had prepared… walking home under the night sky with his protection… These moments brought her joy and happiness.

Wang Xiaoqiang could see the disappointment in her, and would sometimes call his brother Wang Dali, urging him to phone his sister-in-law.

However, not only did Wang Dali avoid mentioning Liu Juyi, but he would hang up as soon as Wang Xiaoqiang brought her up, typically boasting instead about how wonderfully his construction project in Guangzhou was going, and that he had already made over a hundred thousand from the first venture…

At that time, Wang Xiaoqiang had realized that the rift between his brother and sister-in-law was not a mere marital spat, but a complete breakdown of their relationship. If there were still arguments and scuffles between a couple, there was still hope for the marriage. But once they became strangers to each other, it truly became hopeless.

That was precisely the situation between his brother and sister-in-law.

The marriage was in name only.

While resenting his brother, Wang Xiaoqiang also pitied Liu Juyi. This thrifty homemaker, this virtuous and kind woman, had sacrificed so much for the Wang Family and had ended up with such an outcome. Not just for Liu Juyi herself, but even Wang Xiaoqiang couldn't accept it. Although he, as the younger brother-in-law, had no right to meddle in his brother's affairs, he made up his mind.

When his brother returned from Guangzhou after the Spring Festival, he would demand a clear explanation and give Liu Juyi the closure she deserved.

Gradually, the Old Village Committee Courtyard became lively again. Within a week, Wang Xiaoqiang had caught one hundred and twenty wild mountain chickens from Mantou Mountain, broke their wings, and tossed them into the yard, guarded by Big Black and Little Hei. Watching the courtyard filled with wild mountain chickens, Wang Xiaoqiang felt joy but also a tingling in his scalp.

Keeping so many wild chickens in the small courtyard was clearly unsuitable. It was time to build a chicken farm.

After selling the Golden Sand Tree Chrysanthemum, Wang Xiaoqiang had about three million in funds, more than enough to build a chicken farm. So he decided to lease Mantou Mountain. Build a coop, enclose it with a fence, and let the chickens range freely, feeding them a small amount of feed each day. That could cut costs and maintain the natural quality of the mountain chicken's meat and eggs.

With this idea in mind, Wang Xiaoqiang went to the bank in the county city and withdrew more than sixty thousand yuan. After returning to the village, he went straight to the new village committee building and tossed the money onto Liu Mingshan's desk.

When Liu Mingshan opened the bundle and saw stack after stack of crisp hundred-yuan notes, he couldn't help but be taken aback and said, "Little Qiang, this is…"

"The lease payment for the land," said Wang Xiaoqiang with a light smile.

Clutching a stack of pink Grandfather Maos (banknotes), Liu Mingshan examined Wang Xiaoqiang gleefully, "Little Qiang, you didn't have to pay it all back so soon…"

Liu Mingli was quite a decent person. He knew that Wang Xiaoqiang's corn had sold for a good price—almost two hundred thousand—but Wang Xiaoqiang had now planted forty acres of Yuzhu yam, which took two years to harvest. This meant that for the next two years, not only would Wang Xiaoqiang have no income, but he would also have to invest more money.

Now that young people in the village were abandoning their fields to work outside, it was rare to see someone like Wang Xiaoqiang willing to use the land to make money. While Liu Mingshan was pleased, he naturally needed to support him generously. Of course, what was more important was that Wang Xiaoqiang was increasing the committee's income.

With money in its coffers, it would be easier to carry out work in the village.

"Uncle Liu, I've said before that as soon as I have money, I'll immediately pay off what I owe. A man's word is his bond, isn't it…" said Wang Xiaoqiang earnestly.

Moved by Wang Xiaoqiang's sincerity, Liu Mingshan looked at him with admiration and gave a thumbs up, "Little Qiang, Uncle admires you. Just for this attitude, I will definitely support your ventures wholeheartedly…"

"Uncle, I'm not just here to pay off my old debts today. I would like to lease Mantou Mountain…"

"Mantou Mountain… Lease… Little Qiang, are you joking? What do you want that useless mountain for? You know that mountain soil is like saline-alkali soil, nothing grows on it, barely even grass…" Liu Mingshan said with surprise.

Liu Mingshan made a good point, Mantou Mountain was barren simply because the soil quality was poor on the mountain; not only did crops fail to grow, but even trees struggled to survive, leaving only the wild grasses that could thrive well with their robust vitality.

"Uncle, I won't hide it from you, I want to build a chicken farm on Mantou Mountain…" Wang Xiaoqiang shared his idea.

"Building a chicken farm, that's good, I think it's feasible.

If it's on a large scale, you can apply for government subsidies; you might get around twenty or thirty thousand…" Liu Mingshan supported the idea of Wang Xiaoqiang starting a chicken farm, explained the benefits to him, and after discussing the pros, he mentioned the cons: "However, building the factory in the mountains would be very inconvenient…"

Wang Xiaoqiang said, "Uncle, I plan to raise wild mountain chickens, free-ranging them on-site…"

Free-ranging on-site would save a lot of trouble, first of all, there's no need to transport large quantities of chicken feed up the mountain. Moreover, the chicken coops wouldn't need to be built too large.

"Wild mountain chickens…" Liu Mingshan said in surprise and skepticism, "Uhm, you mean raising hybrid chickens, right…"

"Not hybrid chickens, pure wild mountain chickens…"

"Where will you get so many pure wild mountain chickens…" Liu Mingshan obviously hadn't expected that Mantou Mountain had already become the world of wild mountain chickens, their numbers multiplying several times more than in previous years, and because the mountain had been deserted for many years, the wild chickens had let down their guard, making them extremely easy to catch—Wang Xiaoqiang had already gotten his hands on more than a hundred of them.

"Uncle, don't worry about that. Can you lease Mantou Mountain to me or not…" Wang Xiaoqiang did not want to continue the topic and cut straight to the point.

"How could that not be okay? It's just lying barren… If you want to use it, go ahead…" Seeing that Wang Xiaoqiang seemed determined to establish a chicken farm, Liu Mingshan did not pry further.

"Then how much would it cost to lease it for a year?"

"Well, it's originally a barren mountain, and as for leasing it, there's really no precedent, but the mountain isn't owned by the Uncle's family; if you really want to lease it, you'll have to pay something. How about this, just name a price…"

"Ten thousand a year. What do you think?" Wang Xiaoqiang said.

Wang Xiaoqiang knew that the cost of leasing one acre of mountain land for a year was around one thousand, and Mantou Mountain's area was certainly more than ten acres, so ten thousand yuan a year would definitely not be a loss. He was just worried Liu Mingshan might find it too little, but to his surprise, Liu Mingshan didn't mind at all and immediately agreed, saying, "Done, ten thousand a year!"

Liu Mingshan carefully put away the money Wang Xiaoqiang brought, and happily complimented, "Little Qiang, you have made a great contribution to the village. The village primary school is planning to build a teaching building next year, and the funds allocated from above are far from enough given the current plans. Now with your lease payment, I won't have to worry anymore.

Once the teaching building is completed, I will hold a commendation meeting to honor you…"

Wang Xiaoqiang hadn't expected that while becoming wealthy, he could also gain some honor for himself; this could be considered an unexpected reward.

"Ah, what's the use of that fame?" Wang Xiaoqiang waved his hand indifferently, getting back to the main topic, "Uncle, let's draw up a lease agreement immediately, I plan to lease it for a year to try it out…"

"Sure, whatever you want, leasing it for a few years is no problem." Liu Mingshan said, then stood up to start drafting the lease agreement.

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