Shipin Dalizheng

After Chuncao drove away, Rongtang turned and looked towards the village. There were people walking towards this side in twos and threes.

The third master walked in front carrying a pipe, followed by several old men and middle-aged men.

He walked a distance to meet him, and the Third Master introduced him, "This is the village chief, and also a member of our Rong family. The other two are Clan Leader Li and Clan Leader Wang. You met Dashan Erhe yesterday."

As he spoke, he also pointed to an elegant young man in his twenties, "This is Rong An, the son of the village chief. He is also the only scholar in our village, a student."

Rong Tang looked at Rong An. He had met many people yesterday, but the village chief and his son were the only ones he hadn't seen.

Rong An also seemed to feel guilty, lowering his head and not saying anything. Even the village chief looked unhappy.

The Third Master explained, "Rong An works as a bookkeeper at a liquor store in town. He took leave yesterday to attend his wife's funeral. Unexpectedly, before he even left for Beijing in the morning, someone from the store came to say his accounts were wrong and the boss had suffered losses, so he was asked to handle the matter. He and his father went together and spent a day calculating the accounts. Although the boss still found an excuse to fire him, he didn't get home until midnight."

The village chief said bitterly, "What's wrong with the account? They're just targeting us. Young Master, you don't know, that wine shop was originally the property of the Bo Mansion, but it was taken over by the Jin family. Now it's managed by the concubine's brother. An'er came in when the lady was able to manage the business. In the past few years, they have found countless excuses to squeeze An'er out."

Rong An whispered, "Sir, I'm sorry. I have failed Madam's expectations."

Rong Tang patted him, "It's okay. How have the accounts been doing in the past few years? Just keep an eye on it!"

Rong An nodded, "Mr. Yang forced me to cook the books, but I actually have the real account books."

He leaned forward a few steps and whispered, "Mr. Yang is very cautious. He searches me every time I come home. I don't have the account book with me. I hid it in the backyard of the liquor store."

Rong Tang couldn't help but give a thumbs up, what a thoughtful person.

"Grandpa, I want to take a look around the village. You older ones should go and have a rest."

The third master sent Rong Dashan to accompany him, and Rong An also followed.

Rong Tang walked along the country road, pointed at a large field of sorghum, and asked, "Are all the crops grown in the village sorghum? Are there no other crops?"

Rong Dashan was a skilled farmer and immediately replied, "There aren't many good paddy fields in the village. There are only a few dozen acres along the riverbank. Over the years, they've all been farmed by hired workers from the Jin family, leaving us at Rong's without a single acre. The rest of the land is medium to low-quality, and can only be used to grow grains. There are a few acres of beans, a few acres of millet, and most of it is sorghum. Sorghum isn't picky about the soil and can be grown on any soil, whether it's fertile or lean. Even the semi-gravelly land in front of the courtyard can be grown. A few families in the village weren't getting enough food, so the village chief and my father discussed it and had them plow the land and plant some more to supplement their food supply. Of course, after this season's harvest, they won't be planting any more."

Rong Tang didn't say anything. The land was idle, so he thought he could harvest as much as he could. As for what to do with the land after harvesting, he already had a preliminary plan in mind.

Although he was not good at agriculture and industry, he worked as a librarian for half a year. The leisure books he read during that time seemed to be a preparation for time travel.

“What varieties of sorghum are there?”

In his memory, sorghum is divided into red sorghum, white sorghum, and yellow sorghum. Red sorghum is mostly used for brewing wine, while white sorghum is used as food.

Rong Dashan said, "We sell half red sorghum and half white sorghum. The red sorghum is usually sold to the Luji Brewing Workshop in town."

As he was speaking, Rong An interrupted, "Uncle Dashan, I'm afraid we'll have to sell this year's sorghum to other families. Lu Ji won't be able to buy it."

Rong Dashan asked anxiously, "Why?"

Rong An said, "Lu Ji's wine is of poor quality. In recent years, it's been nearly overtaken by Yang Ji... oh, that shop in Bo's Mansion... The owner of the Lu family can't continue. I heard they're selling the workshop and returning to their hometown to make a living."

Rong Dashan was like being struck by lightning.

What would the villagers do if they couldn't sell the sorghum? Mr. Yang only sold liquor, not brewed it. Besides, even if he did buy sorghum, the village wouldn't do business with him.

Rong Tang looked at Rong Dashan's devastated face, smiled, and turned to Rong An and said, "Go to town tomorrow and find out how much the Lu Ji Workshop is worth."

Rong Dashan was stunned for a moment, "Sir, you want to buy a workshop?"

Rong Tang said, "I had this idea before. I just wanted to build a workshop next to the courtyard after my clansmen harvested this season's crops. However, if we want to make wine, we don't have enough sorghum in this village. But I think it shouldn't be a problem to take over Lu Ji's original grain supplier."

Rong Dashan was delighted. "Sir, most of the villages around here grow sorghum. If you want to open a workshop, the sorghum will be easy to harvest, and you won't have to send it to town. If these are not enough, we can still find it in the neighboring towns and counties further away."

Rong Dashan was being naive, only happy that the sorghum could be sold. Rong An, however, poured cold water on him, "Uncle Dashan, opening a winemaking workshop is not easy. Lu Ji had been running it for decades, spanning several generations, and even had its own secret recipe, but they couldn't survive. How long can you, young master, take over rashly with your enthusiasm for helping your fellow villagers? Our clan has been cared for by our uncle's branch for many years, and there's no reason for us to let them suffer losses."

Rong Dashan was stunned. He couldn't think of so many things. He felt ashamed and said, "Sir, I was mistaken. Don't take it seriously."

"You're not mistaken. I've thought about it carefully. As for the secret recipe Rong An mentioned, if the Lu family is willing to sell it together, that would be great. If they don't want to sell it, that's fine too. The workshop is cheaper."

Rong An said solemnly, "Sir, there's really no need to do this."

Rong Tang admired his character very much and patted him on the shoulder. "It's okay, I'm confident. Of course, before I take over, I will try it out first. It won't be too late to buy the workshop after I succeed."

The gazes of several people drifted towards the distance along the vast sorghum field, until they saw many women taking vegetables, eggs, chickens and ducks from their homes and walking towards the courtyard together.

Gui Ergou also led a large group of people carrying tables, chairs, benches, and the two largest iron pots in the village, and marched towards the courtyard in a mighty procession.

Rong Dashan said hesitantly, "The village hasn't been this lively for years."

I just hope that after today, Rongjia Village will have new hope and will be able to live a life without hunger.

Outside the compound, there was a crowd of people, and almost everyone was out except those who couldn't walk.

Some were building stoves, some were arranging tables and chairs, the women were responsible for picking vegetables and killing chickens and ducks, and the unused hands went into the yard to continue cleaning the places that were not cleaned yesterday. Several young people took the initiative to repair the dilapidated stables, and drooled at the tall horses in the stables.

The younger children hugged each other and pulled fresh grass to please the big horses.

The Third Master and several other elders watched all this with a smile and chatted until they heard someone shout, "Look, a big wild boar."

Everyone looked in that direction and saw Rong Si and Rong Wu carrying a thick wooden stick together, on which was tied a wild boar weighing about 300 kilograms by its four hooves.