NOVEL WEB Chapter 435: Discovery
"Okay." Gu Jin'an turned back into the house, took out brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and quickly wrote two contracts.
Village Chief He and Gu Jinli each signed and put their handprints on the two contracts.
"It's done, Little Xiao Yu, bring me the grass seeds. I want to see what they look like." Village Chief He folded the contract carefully and tucked it into his waist pouch.
Gu Jinli went back inside and brought out a bag of grass seeds weighing a hundred catties, and opened the bag: "These are Mingya Grass seeds, totaling one hundred catties."
"Oh, I've never seen these seeds before, they're bright red, quite pretty." Village Chief He fiddled with the seeds in the bag.
Gu Jinli: "Both the leaves and seeds of the Mingya Grass are red, making them easy to distinguish."
Despite its vibrant color, the Mingya Grass is odorless and makes excellent mosquito incense, unlike other insect repellent grasses that rely on a strong smell to drive away insects.
Gu Jinli then explained to Village Chief He how to soak the grass seeds.
Village Chief He listened very carefully, asking Gu Jinli three times over to ensure he understood, then asked, "How much for this bag of seeds? Is it expensive?"
It would pain him if it was too costly.
Gu Jinli smiled and said, "Not expensive, 150 cents will do."
"Here you go." Hearing that the price was reasonable, Village Chief He promptly counted out 150 copper coins for Gu Jinli.
After paying in silver, Village Chief He carried the grass seeds and cheerily went home.
Gu Jinli, watching Village Chief He's fast receding figure, said: "The village chief's legs are fine. Why does he always carry a walking stick?"
Gu Jin'an responded: "Probably finds it convenient when it comes to hitting people."
Their back-and-forth banter had everyone at home laughing.
That evening, just after dinner at Gu Jinli's house, several families came over.
Mrs. Chen asked, "Xiao Yu, can you really make money from Mingya Grass? If not, what do we do if we grow it?"
Having lived half her life, she had never heard of making money from grass, nor had she heard of Mingya Grass. Back in her hometown, they used mugwort or a kind of leaf for pest control, which smelled so bad that even insects wouldn't bore into it.
Gu Jinli didn't even glance at Mrs. Chen, saying directly: "If Aunt Da Gui doesn't want to grow it, then there's no need to buy the seeds."
Mrs. Chen choked on her words, sheepishly responding: "Look at you, getting angry. I was just saying, how could I not grow it?"
How poor were their families? They had borrowed a lot of money to get by; they still had to support Brother Xing and Brother Wang in school; they were also saving up for Sister Mei's dowry. She wished she could split their finances in half—the more they could earn, the better.
Third Grandma said, "Since you want to grow it, why keep talking nonsense. I must tell you, these seeds are not abundant. Xiao Yu even bought the Lu Family's bamboo forest, which is huge. It would have no problem accommodating an extra hundred catties of seeds."
Mrs. Chen, with a forced smile, said, "Third Aunt, I realize my mistake, please don't scold me."
"Xiao Yu, tell us how to grow the Mingya Grass," Ms. Chu asked from the side.
Gu Jinli repeated the process of how to soak the seeds and how to plant the Mingya Grass to the families.
"Oh, this is really simple, almost like growing wild grass," Aunt Tian said cheerfully. Her family's situation had improved recently, and she had gained weight.
Tian Xiaohua had also put on some weight; her previously sharp face had rounded out, but she still valued money highly, eager to earn even if it was a small amount.
And lately, she enjoys visiting the Qi Family frequently, learning to recognize characters under the guidance of Qi Kangle. After studying for a few months, she has indeed recognized quite a few characters.
Gu Jinli noticed her dedication and asked for her reason. Tian Xiaohua responded that she wanted to acquire skills and earn more money so that when she was older, she could spend money to find her sister.
Upon hearing this, Gu Jinli was genuinely startled, thinking she had long forgotten about it. Little did he expect that at her young age, she remembered her sister the most.
Tian Erqiang and some other young lads didn't come since they went to the new workshop to learn characters with Qi Kangping after their meals.
"Each family takes a hundred catties of seeds, and the rest belongs to my house. Uncles and aunts, please take your seed bags home." Gu Jinli pointed at the nine bags of seeds in the hall, "One bag per family, each weighing a hundred catties."
"Okay." Several adults took their seeds bags, paid in silver, then went home and soaked the seeds in well water as Gu Jinli instructed.
…
Village Chief He also called over the main men from He Dasu's Family, He Laoguo's family, He Laotian, and He Shengzi's family that evening, informing them about planting Mingya Grass.
These families were all working in Gu's Workshop and knowing that these seeds were planted together with Qin, Gu, and Luotian's families, they didn't question it. After paying for the seeds in silver, they signed a contract with Village Chief He's house and took the seeds home to soak.
Now, Village Chief He also learned to bind the He Family with contracts.
On the third day, the seeds that Village Chief He and the others soaked sprouted short shoots, meaning the seeds were ready, and they spread them in the empty spaces in front of and behind their homes.
Seeing them sowing, the He family people came over and asked, "Old Yang, what are you planting there? It looks red; we haven't seen such seeds before. Is it sorghum or azuki beans?"
"This is grass seed," answered He Laoyang.
"Grass seed?" The He family people were puzzled.
After sowing, He Laoyang, fearing that the seeds might get trampled, covered them with damp wild grass: "Yes, indeed, planting grass."
"Really planting grass! Hahaha, that's hilarious. Old man, have you gone senile? We can barely keep up with pulling out the grass in front of our doors, and you're planting more?"
The He family people mocked him.
He Laoyang frowned and said: "You don't understand, this grass can be sold for money, and it doesn't waste land. It's fine to plant it in front of our homes."
"Old Yang, lately you've indeed made some silver, if your condition worsens, you should go to the county to get checked, you can't keep dragging on like this."
See, his mind has truly deteriorated.
He Laoyang was not upset but instead said: "This grass really can be sold for money. The village chief's house and several owners from Gu's Workshop are planting it too. If you don't believe it, go see for yourself at the village chief's house."
What?
The Qin, Gu, Luotian, and the village chief's families are all planting grass?
Upon hearing this, some from the He family thought they were crazy while others believed the grass could indeed make money. Anyway, they all rushed to Village Chief He's house.
Seeing that Village Chief He and He Jinseng were indeed planting grass, everyone was shocked and immediately asked Village Chief He about the Mingya Grass.
Village Chief He, not wanting to argue, simply said: "What's there to say? You won't believe regardless of what I explain. Just wait and see in a few months."
Then he told He Jinseng: "Jinseng, it's getting late, you should head to school now, being late is not good."
Previously, He Jinseng attended a private school in town and would stay there, returning home several times a month. But seeing Gu Jin'an returning home daily, Village Chief He also let He Jinseng come home every day to go to school with Gu Jin'an to get closer.
"Okay," He Jinseng complied, washed his hands, changed clothes, ate breakfast, and then, with his school bag on his back, headed to school. After parting ways with Gu Jin'an at the Shang Family Village junction, he went to Wan's Private School.
As soon as he arrived at the private school, Scholar Wan called him to do work: "He Jinseng, this is the rice grain brought by other students, move it to the private school's backyard."