Chapter 20: All Things Are Difficult at the Beginning

  After returning to the city, Xiao Ping told Liu Jianguo and his wife that he wanted to terminate the lease. Wang Fang was immediately surprised and said: "You want to move away? Why? Is it because the rent is too expensive? Auntie Wang can give you a discount, or not charge you at all!"

  Xiao Ping clearly understood that Wang Fang was reluctant to leave, and with a mix of emotions, he smiled and said: "Auntie Wang, this isn't about the rent. You also know I'm quite good at growing vegetables, so I want to expand my scale. I've already rented a piece of land on the other side of Baiyun Mountain, and I have to move there to take care of it."

  Wang Fang wanted to persuade Xiao Ping again, but Liu Jianguo had already spoken up: "You old woman don't understand anything, Xiao doing this is for the development of his career, it's a great thing. Don't hinder young people from making progress!"

  Thinking that her husband was right, Wang Fang didn't persuade Xiao Ping to stay either. However, she really couldn't bear the thought of Xiao Ping moving out and anxiously reminded him: "When you move out alone, take care of your body, and remember to come back often!"

  Xiao Ping has lived here for many years and also regards Liu Jianguo's couple as family members. Upon hearing this, he nodded heavily: "Don't worry, Aunt Wang! Moreover, Xiaozhou Village is not far away, after I've taken care of that side, I can still pick you up to experience rural tourism on weekends!"

  "You're a good kid." Xiao Ping's words made Wang Fang feel better, and she couldn't help but laugh: "As long as you can make a career for yourself, Auntie Wang will be happy. Forget about the farm stuff."

  For Xiao Ping, saying goodbye to Liu Jianguo and his wife was relatively easy, but it was much harder when facing Li Wanqing. He finally mustered up the courage to knock on Li Wanqing's door and stuttered: "I-I'm moving away tomorrow."

  "I heard from Aunt Wang that you rented a piece of land on the other side of Baiyun Mountain." Li Wanqing said in a low voice, "Good luck!"

  Even a fool can see that Li Wanqing is not in the mood, Xiao Ping forced a smile and said: "Actually, that place is not far away. After I tidy it up, you can go there over the weekend. The environment there is very good, and you are welcome to go every week!"

  Xiao Ping's sincerity was palpable when he invited her, and Li Wanqing's mood improved slightly. She raised her head to look at him and asked, "You go every week, won't you get tired of me?"

  "I'm annoyed with whoever it is, but I won't be annoyed with you!" Xiao Ping said solemnly: "I haven't even had time to welcome you yet!"

  After hearing Xiao Ping's words, Li Wanqing suddenly felt much better and couldn't help but smile lightly: "Okay, I'll definitely go when I have time. You must work hard to make a name for yourself!"

  "Don't worry, it's definitely going to be okay!" Xiao Ping smiled and made a guarantee, then chatted with Li Wanqing for a few more sentences about the scenery of Baiyun Mountain before reluctantly returning to his room.

  The next day, Xiao Ping took all his luggage and left the city village where he had lived for several years to come to Xiaozhou Village and officially start his entrepreneurial career. At first, Xiao Ping quickly discovered that managing a small courtyard of dozens of square meters and a large farm of dozens of hectares was completely different. He could handle that small courtyard by himself, but now with such a large area, there were countless things to do, and he couldn't manage it all by himself.

  Xiao Ping was busy for a whole day, and finally cleaned up the small building of the old village committee, which could be considered as having a place to live. Looking at the more than ten acres of land outside, and thinking that there were also mountains with the same area behind, Xiao Ping knew that he couldn't do it alone, so on the second day, he posted a recruitment notice in front of the new village committee building.

  Many young people in Xiaozhou Village have gone out to work, leaving behind only some middle-aged and elderly people who are quite skilled at farming. It is said that there are job opportunities just outside the village, so many people came to register here, and he easily recruited enough laborers.

  The villagers were very practical and suggested that he hire six workers after learning about the size of the land rented by Xiao Ping and what it was used for. However, Xiao Ping knew that his crops grew very quickly and six people would have a hard time keeping up, so he directly doubled the number of workers to be hired.

  These twelve were all honest and down-to-earth farmers, who knew that Xiao Ping was now their boss, and they all seemed a bit constrained in front of him. Xiao Ping also had no experience in hiring people for the first time, and tentatively said to everyone: "The purpose of my invitation is to help manage this farm and the mountain behind it. We will work like workers, with a monthly salary of 1,500 yuan per person. If the efficiency is good, there will be bonuses at the end of the year. If you have any requirements for treatment, you can also mention them, and we can discuss them."

  After hearing Xiao Ping's words, several people's faces showed joy. They stayed in the village to tend to their own fields, earning only a few thousand yuan each year. But coming here to work for Xiao Ping could earn them tens of thousands of yuan per year, and after work they could still take care of their own land, where else can you find such a good thing?

  These farmers looked at each other, unable to think of any more demands. Finally, a farmer in his fifties stood up, cleared his throat and said: "Such conditions are already very good, what else can we be dissatisfied with? Boss, rest assured, we will work hard and take good care of this land for you!"

  Others also echoed the old farmer's words, saying they would definitely do a good job. The workers' attitude made Xiao Ping very satisfied, and he took advantage of the situation to say: "Then let's officially start work tomorrow, first get 7 or 8 acres of land ready, I've got a lot of high-tech vegetable seeds from the Provincial Agricultural Science Institute, and I plan to plant them all!"

  "Alright, then let's officially start work tomorrow."

  "These lands are all familiar to us, with so many people, we can tidy them up in just a few days!"

  "I guarantee that I can sow the seeds before Mid-Autumn Festival."

  Because Xiao Ping's treatment was very good, everyone's enthusiasm was extremely high, and they all expressed their willingness to work hard. Then the crowd made an appointment with Xiao Ping for working hours, and only then did they leave happily.

  It turned out that Xiao Ping's vision for choosing people was not bad, and the workers he invited were all very hardworking. In the following days, everyone came to work at dawn and went home after dark. Except for the hottest period at noon, they all worked hard in the field, making Xiao Ping feel a little embarrassed.

  Xiao Ping himself was not idle, and in addition to working with everyone, he also found time to make a sign and hang it on the door of his residence. The sign, written in regular script, read: "Xian Hu Farm"!

  Others didn't have any special feelings about this name, thinking it was just the boss's personal hobby. Only Xiao Ping himself knew why he gave the farm such a name.

  Everyone's hard work soon paid off, and in just a few days, more than seven acres of farmland were all ready. Now everyone was waiting for Xiao Ping to bring the "high-tech vegetable seeds" to sow.

  Actually, Xiao Ping wanted to sow the seeds as soon as possible, but after all the land was ready, he discovered a serious problem - the area of the land was too large. Even if the alchemy pot could produce ten drops of spiritual liquid each time, it would not be enough to irrigate all the land. Not to mention that Xiao Ping also needed to take the spiritual liquid to strengthen his body, which was far from the beautiful situation he had planned.

  Moreover, Xiao Ping, as a city dweller, had no concept of the size of an acre of land before. It wasn't until he saw the land that he realized how much land he would have to manage in the future. If he continued to water each plant with spiritual liquid by hand, the workload would be enormous, and every day would be spent just watering. Therefore, Xiao Ping's top priority was to find a method of irrigation that didn't require manual watering like before but still allowed vegetables to maintain high quality and rapid growth.

  This problem really made Xiao Ping scratch his head, and he was worried about it for several days in a row. He couldn't even sleep well at night. Fortunately, hard work paid off, and he finally thought of a possible solution.

  Xiao Ping put all the vegetable seeds into the spring eye of the Lian Yao Hu space and soaked them for a day, then handed these "high-tech seeds" over to the workers for sowing. This spring eye originally existed in the Lian Yao Hu, presumably also having some extraordinary effect, Xiao Ping hoped that the seeds that had been soaked in it would be able to grow extremely well without needing to be watered with spiritual liquid, thus solving his big problem.

  Watching everyone scatter seeds on the ground, Xiao Ping's mood was extremely tense, and he didn't know if the result of this attempt would be satisfactory.

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  Today's third update is delivered, continue rolling on the ground for votes and collections! Also thank you "Purple Void 7612" for your reward, thanks.