Chapter 177 Villagers happily sell potatoes
"Yes, Grandpa Village Head, if potatoes are not stored properly, they will easily sprout. After sprouting, they are poisonous and cannot be eaten. So I thought of reserving some for sowing in autumn, and making the rest into potato flour. Grandpa Village Head, you can tell the villagers that if they want to make potato flour, I can process it for free, and I can also buy potatoes here at five cents a pound." Shen Zhi said with a smile.
"Five cents a pound? Can it be sold for so much money? The fat meat in town only sells for ten cents a pound." The head of the village widened his eyes and asked in surprise.
"Don't worry, Grandpa Village Head, I have already thought of a market for these potatoes. I won't lose money." Shen Zhi replied with a confident smile.
"Okay! Then I will gather all the villagers to discuss and work out a set of rules. Erya, you are the lucky star of our village!" The head of the village was so excited that his face was full of smiles, and he gave a thumbs up and praised.
The village head had a strong executive power and soon called a meeting of the villagers. After hearing the news, the villagers expressed their willingness to sell potatoes directly to Shen Zhi, and each of them kept some as seeds for autumn sowing, and reserved a few hundred kilograms to make potato flour to taste, and sold the rest for money. For these villagers who have been poor all their lives, nothing can make them feel more at ease and secure than money.
Shen Zhi had sent some potato noodles made last year to Song Che a long time ago, and taught him how to cook and make soup with potato noodles. Song Che was very interested and had already ordered this year's potato noodles from Shen Zhi, and he wanted as many as he could get. He was not worried about taking too much, because his Wangxianlou had fifteen branches throughout the Daxiao Dynasty, and even the busiest streets in the capital had a seat for his Wangxianlou.
Shen Zhi’s potato noodles include not only wide noodles but also round noodles, all of which are dried. The round noodles can be soaked in water and cooked for breakfast, which is just as delicious.
She was thinking about waiting until sweet potatoes were on the market and then making some sweet potato noodles. Then she would open a breakfast shop in town specializing in hot and sour noodles. She would have no worries about the sales of both potato noodles and sweet potato noodles.
In the afternoon, villagers came to the workshop one after another, carrying their own potatoes. If they couldn't carry all the potatoes in one trip, they would carry them in batches and send someone to stand guard over their own potato piles. Some families with many sons would carry the potatoes together.
This year, almost every household in the village planted two or three mu of potatoes. Some bold families bought wasteland overnight and planted six or seven mu of it. Therefore, every household harvested at least 10,000 kilograms of potatoes. Everyone kept at most 1,000 or 2,000 kilograms at home, and prepared to sell the rest to Shen Zhi.
The head of the village brought his youngest son Qin Hao and nephew Qin Zheng to help with weighing and recording. Both of them had attended school for a few years and knew a few words, so keeping accounts was not a problem for them.
"Uncle Village Head, thank you for your help!" Shen Zhi said gratefully.
"It's not a trouble. It's my duty. You are the one who should be thanked the most. You have done a great thing for our village." The head of the village waved his hand and asked the villagers to unload the potatoes.
Shen Zhi took out a scale and started weighing potatoes.
"These potatoes are really good, big and round, without any worm holes. Your grandmother Zhou made some potato dishes for us yesterday, and they were really delicious." The village head praised.
"Yes, the potato harvest is good this year, and we are all happy. My family can also eat dry food three times a day this winter." A villager said with a smile.
"Haha, then we'll plant more next year. I plan to clear the vacant land in front of and behind the house and plant potatoes." said another villager.
Everyone weighed and counted the potatoes while chatting and laughing.
Shen Zhi also took the opportunity to chat with the villagers, "Don't rush to decide to plant potatoes next year. There are also sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are also high-yielding and taste sweeter. They can be used as a staple food or made into sweet potato noodles. Not many people in our village planted sweet potatoes this year. Next year, I will provide everyone with free sweet potato seedlings so that everyone can taste sweet potatoes."
"Erya is a good girl. She always thinks of us in everything." An old lady said with emotion.
"I am also a member of the village, so of course I have to care about everyone. Only when our village is doing well, people outside will not dare to look down on us or bully us." Shen Zhi said with a smile.
Soon, all the potatoes were weighed, almost one million pounds.
Before Shen Zhi returned to Shitou Village, she asked someone to go to the silver shop to exchange several thousand taels of silver. Anyway, she had money, and the silver notes that Zhan Xiao gave her were all lying in the space. At the very least, the gold nuggets she got from the King of Huainan were still in the space. After so long, no one mentioned it, and she didn't know if they had forgotten about it. What Shen Zhi didn't know was that it wasn't that everyone had forgotten, Long Xiaotian was still sending people to investigate, but the money was like a stone sinking into the sea, without any clues left, and he couldn't find out no matter what he did.
In other words, Shen Zhi settled the money with each villager according to the agreed price. Some of these villagers received more than 50 taels, and the most received nearly 300 taels.
The villagers were in disbelief when they received the real money. They could not save two taels of silver even if they worked all year without eating or drinking, but now they can earn it in just a few months. Besides, growing potatoes is not hard at all, it is considered a lazy crop. I heard that there is still a wave of planting in autumn, so I will plant more then. No, I will go cut the weeds next to the house and turn the land first.
"Thank you, Erya. Now we can buy some meat." A villager said happily, holding the money.
"Yes, thanks to Erya. Now that we have money, we can start arranging a marriage for our second son. In a few days, we will rebuild the mud house where our family has lived for decades, so that he can get married happily." An aunt also said with a laugh.
"It's the same in my family. My son Ersheng will be nine years old next year. Now that I have some money, I plan to send him to school to get an education so that he won't be a blind man in the future."
"You're welcome. Feel free to come to me if you need anything in the future." Shen Zhi said with a smile. She was so happy to see that the villagers had money in their hands and were full of hope for the future.
The villagers expressed their gratitude and then went home with their empty loads.
Shen Zhi looked at the yard full of potatoes in the workshop, and felt a sense of accomplishment. These potatoes were the raw materials for her to make potato flour, and also her hope of making money.
"Grandpa village head, thanks to everyone's help today, in order to not trouble two people for one thing, I shamelessly asked the two uncles to go with me to Erdan's house to help collect the potatoes. There is only his grandmother at home, and Erdan, a child, can't even carry her on his back." Shen Zhi said.
The head of the village said angrily, "We know this even if you don't tell us. We were planning to go to his house after we finish the work here. Let's go together."