50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 712 Cash Crops That Can Make Big Money

At this moment, the whole village seemed to wake up, with lights on in every household and torches stuck in the doorway of each house.

The village chief also returned home and was sitting dejectedly on the doorstep, smoking his pipe.

When he saw Sun Zhiwei dragging three corpses and throwing them in front of him, his spirit seemed to dissipate, and his whole body hunched over.

"Tell me, what exactly happened? How did Yanlong die? Who was involved? Tell me everything, and I'll give you a quick death without implicating your families."

Sun Zhiwei was no longer going to waste words with them; if he couldn't reason with them, he would just take them all down.

Their entire village only has 100 mu of land, while that hilltop has countless acres of flower fields. Since the whole village has already been poisoned by the flowers, he won't be polite to them anymore.

The village chief didn't react at all to his words; he just stared blankly into the void in front of him, his eyes lifeless.

After a long while, just as Sun Zhiwei was about to lose his patience, he finally spoke:

“Our Paqian Old Village has existed for more than a hundred years. At that time, 43 households moved into the mountains to avoid exorbitant taxes and levies. They helped each other, formed a village to protect themselves, and were very united.”

"But 100 years have passed, and there are still only 43 households in the village."

“I have served as the village chief my whole life, but I have not only failed to bring any new members to the village, but I have also caused the loss of a family. I have let down all the village chiefs of the past.”

"Speak the key."

Sun Zhiwei had no desire to listen to the village chief's long-winded account of the village's struggles.

He only cared about his own soldiers; everything else in the village was just background information.

Sun Zhiwei's urging was of no use; the village chief's face was lifeless, and he looked like he was about to die.

He would say something, then pause for a moment, and it would take him a long time to finally utter a single sentence. Sun Zhiwei, afraid of upsetting him, could only listen patiently.

"Our village is in a very secluded location, and it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Back then, thanks to this advantage, not even a single battalion of the Japanese army could break into it."

"But because of this location, the village is too far from the highway and there is no good farmland around, so there is not enough food to eat every year, and the population naturally cannot grow."

"Fortunately, when the army came over back then, they helped us discover the wild rubber trees in the mountains. Since then, the village has had an additional source of income."

"We also thought about planting more rubber trees and expanding the wild rubber trees into rubber plantations."

"Of the saplings planted, only two or three out of ten will survive. After a few years, the villagers have lost everything and are afraid to expand the scale of their businesses recklessly."

"We lack the planting technology, so we can only watch the ducks that are within our reach but can't eat them, and can only sigh in despair."

"Then one year, the higher authorities allocated a spot for military service, and I sent Yanlong, the most promising junior high school student in the village, to join the army."

"Two years ago, we heard that Yanlong was about to be promoted in the army. Everyone was very happy. If Yanlong became an official, our village would have a strong backer."

"But in the middle of last year, we suddenly received the bad news that Yanlong had been discharged from the army."

"When something like this happens, the village can't help. Everyone can only lament that our village is unlucky."

"Just last spring, someone suddenly came to our village and said that there was a kind of cash crop that could make money, and that one mu of land could earn 1000 yuan a year."

"If all the land in the village were planted with these cash crops, we could earn hundreds of thousands of yuan a year. Everyone in the village is tempted."

“Although I felt something was wrong, I couldn’t bring myself to say it when I saw that the children in the village didn’t even have a pair of shoes.” “Those people quickly brought seeds, and technicians came to teach us planting techniques. When it was time to fertilize, they even brought fertilizer.”

"Everyone watched the seeds sprout and grow, dreaming of making a lot of money by the end of the year."

"In July, Yanlong, whom everyone thought would be discharged from the army, sent a letter back saying that the army had arranged for them to work abroad. Along with the letter was a money order for $500."

“The villagers don’t know what the US dollar is either; they’ve only heard of the Myanmar kyat across the river and the Lao kip.”

“Neither the kyat nor the kip is worth as much as our currency. One kyat can be exchanged for 300 kyats or 3000 kip, so no one paid much attention.”

"But when Yanlong's remittance slip was exchanged, everyone realized that the American dollar was worth more than our dollar."

"At this time, although everyone envied Yanlong's family, they could still hold back because this year we planted gold nuggets in our fields, and everyone will have a lot of income at the end of the year."

"But when the cash crops bloomed, the villagers realized that we had planted poisonous weeds."

"But by then we were in a bind. All the land in the village had been converted to plant poisonous weeds. If we reported it, not only would the village lose its food rations for the year, but every household in our village would also go to jail."

"Moreover, those people even sent several soldiers with guns to protect Huaqi. After much hesitation, no one dared to say anything."

"By the end of the year, after deducting the cost of fertilizer, the village earned 5 yuan."

"The village bought everyone's food rations for next year, and each household also received 1000 yuan, which is ten times the income our village used to make from farming."

"At this point, no one mentioned reporting it anymore. Anyway, since it wasn't them taking the kickbacks, the most important thing was that they could earn real money themselves."

"So when those people asked us after the harvest whether we should continue planting, everyone in the village chose to continue planting."

"Even a child knows which to choose between 1000 yuan and 100 yuan."

"And so, a new wave of poisonous weeds was planted."

"In the entire village, the only family that didn't want to continue growing poisonous weeds was Yanlong's family."

"But that's because Yanlong sends them 1500 yuan every month, which is much better than growing poisonous plants. It's understandable that they don't want to take the risk."

“But none of the other villagers have a son who can send back 1500 yuan a month.”

Upon hearing this, Sun Zhiwei knew that the crucial moment had arrived, as Yanlong had returned to visit relatives at the end of January.

"At the beginning of the year, Yanlong suddenly came back. Everyone was very happy. Many people were even thinking that Yanlong could introduce their children to work abroad."

“But he came to me the very night he returned. He was firmly against planting poisonous weeds in the village. I tried to reason with him all night, but I couldn’t convince him.”

"Within two days, Yanlong's family started packing their bags. They weren't even planning to celebrate the New Year; they wanted the whole family to move away."

"We've lived together for over a hundred years, so we have a good relationship, and many families are even relatives."

“But our persuasion was useless. Yanlong was still determined to move, so we could only let them move.”

"Unexpectedly, the news was leaked out somehow."

"On the night before they were to leave, the soldiers guarding the poison fields in the mountains launched a surprise attack on Yanlong's family."

(End of this chapter)