Starting from a thatched cottage, the farmer embarked on the road to wealth through imperial examina

Zhong Yunfeng held up a stack of lease documents, motioning for the crowd to be quiet, before he continued.

"I bought these cattle and rented them to the villagers for raising. This is a win-win cooperation for all. Let me first briefly tell you my requirements."

The noisy crowd at the scene suddenly quieted down, and everyone was listening carefully.

"In view of the large number of people on site, in order to ensure that as many villagers as possible can rent cows, each household can only rent one cow for the time being. Because the Sickle Mountain and Moon Mountain allocated by the county government for grazing are both within the territory of Shanglin Village, we will give priority to meeting the needs of the villagers of Shanglin Village."

The villagers from other villages who were queuing on the spot became agitated. How could such a good thing be given only to Shanglin Village?

Then Zhong Yunfeng continued.

"Don't worry, there are only a few dozen households in Shanglin Village. I will rent the remaining cows to villagers in neighboring villages in the order of their arrival in line. But if there are not enough cows, it will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Please understand."

The people at the back of the line were getting anxious, complaining about why they didn't leave earlier. But the villagers in Shanglin Village were all delighted.

"All the villagers who rented cows will receive two days of special training under this big banyan tree starting today. I have specially invited veterinarian Sun from Yuzhou Prefecture. Veterinarian Sun will explain to everyone the key points of raising cattle, milking methods and techniques, storage and transportation of fresh milk and other important knowledge. Please listen carefully and learn seriously."

As he spoke, Zhong Yunfeng introduced the veterinarian Sun beside him to the villagers at the scene.

"After the training, Veterinarian Sun will conduct an on-site assessment of everyone's training. If anyone fails, I will cancel their rental qualification."

Everyone was worried about what to do if they failed the assessment, and the scene became noisy again.

"Everyone, rest assured. The content that Veterinarian Sun will test is all the content that has been trained. It is as simple as raising chickens and ducks. However, there are many differences with cattle, so please be sure to study hard."

After hearing what Zhong Yunfeng said, everyone felt relieved.

"Then we will come one by one in the order of the queue. Mr. Zhang from the county government and several police officers are here, as well as the head of our area, to serve as witnesses for us. At the same time, please supervise each other."

As soon as Zhong Yunfeng finished speaking, several members of that family who had lined up in several queues and tried to sneak through quietly withdrew from the queue.

Soon, the first person who put his fingerprint on the lease document walked out of the crowd holding the cattle selection number plate.

This person turned out to be Guo Ergou from the east end of the village. He was the Guo Ergou whose wife picked up poisonous mushrooms, poisoned his mother to death, turned his child into a fool, and poisoned his wife herself to the point of being a little crazy.

Originally, Guo Ergou worked in the county town and earned some money, and his family was considered upper-middle class in the village. But since then, his family's situation became very bad. When he learned that Ye Changyan had bought a lot of cows from his friends and was going to rent them to the villagers, Guo Ergou became interested.

Guo Ergou did not sleep the whole night. After eating dinner and locking his wife and children at home, he ran to the big banyan tree and waited. Although his eyes were bloodshot, when he got the cattle selection number plate, he showed a sincere and grateful smile to Ye Changyan who was standing next to County Magistrate Zhang.

The villagers seemed to think that Guo Ergou would never smile again. Ever since the accident in his family, he was seen busy all day long and his smile was never seen again. Today, Guo Ergou finally smiled again, and everyone sighed with emotion.

Seeing the villagers coming out of the crowd with cattle selection number plates and going to the place where the cattle were tied to choose cattle, everyone in the Ye family's old house became more and more anxious.

But Ye Changyan stood next to the official from the county government office, and the two of them were talking and laughing from time to time. The people in the old house didn't dare to go forward and could only stand there anxiously.

Soon, almost every household in Shanglin Village got a number plate for choosing cattle. When everyone came out of the crowd, they all thanked Ye Changyan gratefully, and then went to the place where the cattle were tied to choose cattle.

Ye Changyan had already told Zhong Yunfeng about his plan for these twenty-six bulls, so the total number of bulls that could be rented to the villagers, plus the eleven calves, was eighty.

Near noon, all eighty lease documents were signed. County Magistrate Zhang supervised the entire process and did not find any abnormalities. He was very satisfied. Before leaving, Ye Changyan quietly handed over a jar of wild delicacies that Erniu had just run back to bring to County Magistrate Zhang.

County Magistrate Zhang took it and was so delighted that he showed his teeth and eyes. Amid the farewell of everyone, he got in the carriage and went back to the county government office.

"Sanlang! Have all the cows been rented?"

At this time, everyone in the old house rushed out, and Ye Xiaowu asked Ye Changyan anxiously.

"That should be the case. I heard Master Zhong tell Master Zhang that, except for the bull, all other cattle have been rented out."

In fact, Ye Changyan had seen everyone in the old house early in the morning. Seeing that they were looking for him everywhere in a sneaky manner, he thought they must have no good intentions. As luck would have it, the arrival of County Magistrate Zhang and his party made everyone in the old house dare not approach easily.

"Sanlang, your uncle is planning to rent seven or eight cows. We came here early in the morning, so why don't we get a share? Can you help us talk to Master Zhong and ask him to give some of the cows that were rented to other villages to you?"

Seeing this, Liu complained to Ye Changyan anxiously, but what she didn't know was that when they came here reluctantly in the morning, they were seen by Ye Changyan.

"Second Aunt, this cow was bought by Master Zhong to rent to the villagers. I can't make the decision. Besides, the cow has already been rented out. Master Zhong is a businessman, and integrity is what he values most. I'm afraid it's a bit too much to ask him to go back on his word."

Hearing Ye Changyan say this, Ye Xiaowen and Dalang both blushed, but the people from the second house were still unwilling to give in. Ye Xiaowu's eyes rolled around, and then he said to Ye Changyan.

"Sanlang, don't we still have more than 20 bulls? Go talk to Master Zhong and ask him to rent all of them to our family. We will make sure to take good care of them for him. When he needs to slaughter them, just let us know and your uncle will personally go over to him."

Ye Changyan really admired that his second uncle's brain worked faster than others. He estimated that at this moment, his second uncle was thinking about his own plans.

It was said at the beginning that Zhong Yunfeng would buy back the bulls at three taels of silver for each bull. These twenty or so adult bulls could be slaughtered at any time. Second uncle planned to rent these bulls, probably thinking of waiting at home to collect the money.

Just then, Zhong Yunfeng and the village head came over, and the village head said to Ye Changyan.

"Sanlang, Master Zhong has already chosen the land. He plans to build a cattle pen for this kind of cattle on a small barren slope near the Dongshui River. I would like to ask for your opinion."

When everyone in the old house heard what the headman said, they were almost petrified on the spot.