I couldn't take it anymore; when I went home for Chinese New Year, the family genealogy book ha

Although their hearts ached as if they were being ripped out with a knife, when they saw Jiang Chen calmly stamp the stack of contracts with the bright red seal of "Jiang's Agricultural Development Co., Ltd.", their hearts, which had been hanging in suspense, strangely settled down.

Finally... we got on the boat.

"Alright, the contract is signed, now it's time to pay."

Jiang Chen put the seal away, his tone as calm as if he were saying that the weather was nice today.

"The technical service fee will be settled in cash now, based on the acreage of land you each invested."

"Huh? Now?"

Jiang Laowu cried out in a shrill voice, looking troubled.

"Brother Chen, this...this is several hundred thousand yuan, we can't raise it all in a short time!"

Others echoed this sentiment, each complaining of being poor.

Jiang Chen's eyes turned cold.

"Can't collect them all?"

Jiang Chen took a small POS machine out of the drawer and placed it on the table.

"You can pay by card or scan a QR code."

"I'm giving you one last choice."

Jiang Chen's gaze swept over everyone present.

"Or, we can pay the money now, and we can still be good relatives and make money together."

"Or, take this contract and turn right outside. The village committee's trash cans are huge."

"I'll give you one minute to consider."

In the office, everyone was stunned by Jiang Chen's emotionless words.

Only then did they truly realize that Jiang Chen was no longer the junior they could manipulate at will.

In the end, it was Third Grandfather Jiang Wanhai who gritted his teeth and...

"I'll pay!"

Once there's a first one, there's bound to be a second.

These people keep complaining about being poor, but who doesn't have some savings hidden away?

Before long, a small mountain of cash, totaling more than 300,000 yuan, was piled up on Jiang Chen's desk.

Jiang Laowu and the others looked at the pile of money, their faces twitching with heartache.

However, Jiang Chen's next move completely stunned them.

Jiang Chen picked up the walkie-talkie on the table and pressed the call button.

"Da Gou, bring a few trustworthy men to my office."

In less than two minutes, Wang Dagou and Li Qiang led a few young men and rushed in.

"Brother Chen, what's up?"

Jiang Chen pointed to the pile of cash on the table, a playful smile on his face.

"Take this money and get some more cash, then distribute it now."

"Who should receive it?"

Wang Dagou was completely bewildered.

"This will be distributed to the uncles and elders who signed the first batch of shareholding agreements at the village meeting three days ago!"

Jiang Chen's voice, though not loud, reached the ears of everyone in the office clearly!

"Just tell them that this is the first profit-sharing payment made ahead of schedule since the company was founded!"

"This reward is for those who, from the very beginning, unconditionally trusted me, Jiang Chen—their true allies!"

Jiang Chen... took the money they had just handed over and immediately gave it to their "enemy"!

This is hardly a dividend.

This is clearly a case of killing someone by destroying their spirit!

It's about slapping them hard in the face in front of the whole village!

"Brother Chen is awesome!"

Wang Dagou instantly understood Jiang Chen's intention. He was so excited that his face turned red, and he gave Jiang Chen a thumbs up.

Then, he directed his young men to pick up sacks, stuff the pile of cash into them, and swagger out.

Soon, a thunderous roar of cheers erupted from the courtyard downstairs!

"Chenwazi is so kind and righteous!"

"Haha, I got five thousand yuan! And the land was only just planted!"

"Following Brother Chen is the right choice!"

These cheers were like resounding slaps to the faces of the dozen or so people in the office, leaving a burning pain.

Their faces changed from white to red, from red to purple, and finally turned a deep liver color, making them wish they could disappear into a crack in the ground.

What a shame!

Just then, a system notification sounded in Jiang Chen's mind.

[Ding! Detected that the host has upheld the family's internal contractual spirit through business means, establishing the core rule of "rewarding those who keep their promises and punishing those who break them"!]

[System assessment: This move has greatly enhanced the cohesion of the core team, laying a solid foundation for the family business!]

[Special rewards are being distributed...]

[Congratulations, host! You have received a special reward—[Junior Construction Team (Robot Disguise) Summoning Card] x1!]

[Card Description: Summons a construction team of 100 T-800 engineering robots disguised as humans. These robots are proficient in all modern construction technologies, absolutely obedient, highly efficient, and require no rest.]

Jiang Chen's lips curled up slightly.

Just in time.

He cleared his throat, looked at the group of "stubborn people" in front of him who were almost overwhelmed by shame, and spoke again.

"Alright, we've paid the money and lost face. Now, let's talk about some serious matters."

Everyone was stunned, looked up, and stared blankly at Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen walked to the wall and lifted a red cloth covering the planning map.

A magnificent architectural rendering was displayed before everyone.

It was a huge glass curtain wall building with a modern design, with several eye-catching characters hanging on it—[Jiang's Fresh Fruit Processing Plant].

"This is our village's next project."

Jiang Chen pointed to the blueprints, his voice filled with undeniable confidence.

"The strawberries in our greenhouse are growing wonderfully, but their flowering period is short and they don't keep well. So, I've decided to build our own food processing plant to produce top-quality strawberry jam, dried strawberries, and strawberry juice!"

When this plan was announced, even the Third Grandfather's eyes lit up.

This is a legitimate factory!

Getting a job in a factory is a secure job!

"So...where will this factory be built?"

Village head Jiang Shunde came over and asked the question that everyone was concerned about.

Jiang Chen tapped a location on the map with his finger.

"At the west end of the village, there's a rocky hill."

The moment the words were spoken, the office fell into a deathly silence.

A look of fear crossed everyone's face.

"No! Absolutely not!"

The third grandfather reacted the most, slamming his cane down with a loud thud.

"Chenwa, don't do anything reckless! That place is very eerie! It's near those abandoned graves; they've been haunted before! Who would dare to disturb anything there!"

"Yes, yes, that place has a heavy yin energy; it's considered unlucky!"

The village elders all began to object.

Jiang Chen remained calm and composed. He glanced out the window and gave Su Qing, who was also somewhat worried, a meaningful look.

"Let's go and take a look at it in person."

A large group of people arrived at the rocky hill at the west end of the village.

The place is full of jagged rocks and overgrown with weeds, giving it a desolate and eerie feel.

Su Qing took out her phone, opened a professional geospatial exploration software, and analyzed: "From a scientific point of view, the geological structure here is stable, sheltered from the wind and facing the sun, and close to water sources and main roads, making it the best location to build a factory."

The villagers were completely confused.

Jiang Chen, with his hands behind his back, pretended to walk around the rocky hill, occasionally calculating with his fingers and muttering to himself.

Finally, he stood on the highest rock, looking like a wise man, and said in a deep voice, "I just took a look."

"This is not an ominous place; quite the opposite, it is the most auspicious place in our Jiangjia Village!"

"This place is blessed with a 'White Tiger Bringing Wealth' formation, with a Green Dragon coiled on the left (the distant mountains) and a White Tiger lying prone on the right!"

"Those solitary graves aren't yin energy; they're the 'eyes' of a formation suppressing wealth! If we don't break ground, our fortune will be forever trapped here, unable to enter the village!"

This half-true, half-false metaphysical theory completely baffled a group of villagers.

"Then...how can we start construction?"

Third Grandfather asked with some doubt.

"Simple!"

Jiang Chen waved his hand and offered a solution.

"The Qingming Festival is just around the corner! Let's hold a grand relocation ceremony! We'll move these abandoned graves to the foot of our Jiang family's ancestral cemetery in a grand manner, so they can be managed together and receive offerings!"

"At the same time, let's also properly renovate our Jiang family's ancestral graves!"

"This way, we can both do good deeds and open up new avenues for wealth—a win-win situation!"

This explanation was logical, well-founded, and even a bit mysterious, which made the villagers suddenly feel that it seemed... quite reasonable!

To demonstrate his positive attitude of "a prodigal son returning home is more precious than gold," the third grandfather immediately expressed his stance.

He patted his chest and volunteered, "Sure! I support this! I'll be the first to go to the rocky hill to clear the weeds and pave the way for the relocation of the graves!"

As a result, the very next morning, my third grandfather had an accident.

As he was clearing the weeds, he struck a large snake with his hoe and unearthed it just as it had awakened from hibernation.

The old man was so frightened that he scrambled up a crooked tree, clinging to its branches, refusing to come down.

In the end, it was Wang Dagou who led a team and used a crane to get him down.

This incident instantly became the talk of the village.

That evening, Jiang Chen posted a new announcement in the WeChat group "Jiangjia Village, a Loving Family".

"The infrastructure construction for Jiang's Fresh Fruit Processing Plant will officially begin tomorrow! We are now recruiting 50 laborers from the entire village, with a daily wage of 300 yuan, paid on the same day!"

"Priority will be given to relatives who just signed the second batch of land shareholding agreements this morning!"

A smiley face emoji was also attached to the announcement.

The moment this announcement was posted, the group chat exploded!

Those die-hards who had just paid tens of thousands of yuan in "technical service fees" and were so distressed that they couldn't sleep, were so excited when they saw this message that they almost jumped out of bed!

Daily salary of three hundred!

If you do this for a month, you'll earn back the technical service fee, right?

This is hardly a slap in the face to them!

This is clearly a case of slapping someone and then giving them a sweet treat!

Jiang Laowu was the first to reply in the group, sending a long string of flattery.

"Brother Chen is so righteous! Brother Chen is so kind! I'll be at the construction site before dawn tomorrow! I don't even need wages!"

"Chenwa, we misunderstood you! You're the one who truly cares about us!"

The stubborn members who were originally resentful were instantly moved to tears, and their admiration for Jiang Chen reached a new level.

In the dead of night, all was quiet.

Jiang Chen's phone received a WeChat message.

It was sent by Su Tianhao.

Only one word: "Are you there?"

Jiang Chen replied with a question mark.

Su Tian replied instantly: "I heard you guys are going to set up a food processing plant? How's it going? Do you need my help with sales? I happen to have connections with a few nationwide chain high-end supermarkets."

Jiang Chen looked at the WeChat message and smiled.

He pretended to want to help, but his real intention was to find an excuse to come back to the village and mooch off Wang Xiuying's sweet potato chips.

Jiang Chen thought for a moment and replied, "Thank you, Uncle, but not for now. I'd like to try out our own live streaming channel first."

Su Tianhao remained silent for a long time before finally sending only an emoji.

A panda head wearing sunglasses, with a large character below it.

"snort!"