The Story of a Destitute Noblewoman Farming

"Boss, we've carefully collected all the duck and goose down you asked me to collect. It's just that these feathers are too smelly. Otherwise, they could be made into a cloak to keep me warm. My father used them to keep me warm when I was a child. At that time, we couldn't afford cotton, so he stuffed reed fluff and these feathers in the lining of my clothes. It was very warm, but they tended to shed and come out. The children in the village all said I smelled bad, and I was sad for a long time when I got home."

Uncle Yu's words surprised Lu Linlang. She originally thought that people at that time would not know how to use these down jackets. Who knew that Uncle Yu's father was so fashionable and had already thought of using them to keep warm.

"Uncle Yu, you've guessed the purpose of these down feathers correctly this time. I'm planning to research how to remove the odor from these down feathers and use them for warmth. If I succeed, I'll give you one as a gift."

"That's great! The boss is so capable, he'll definitely succeed in whatever he wants to do. We've collected all of them, but we don't know what you're going to use them for, so we haven't cleaned them yet. When we have some free time, we'll pick out all the fluff."

Uncle Yu didn't expect that his old father and his boss actually had the same idea, and he sincerely hoped that her idea could come true. His father's wonderful idea was scolded for a long time. When he was young, those children even teased him that he was a duck shit child and refused to play with him.

After returning to the village, the villagers had already started building a paper mill in full swing. The small paper mill that Lu Linlang had previously built could not produce much paper a day, which obviously could not meet the demand. Moreover, papermaking required a large amount of water. Although the water was not as seriously polluted as modern water, the water quality was not good either.

So after investigation, the patriarch decided to build the paper mill on the river downstream of the village. Xishan Village also has several rivers passing through it, and there is no shortage of water. This is also a prerequisite for the construction of the paper mill. This place is downstream of the villagers' fields and will not have much impact on the village's water source. It is also not too close to other villages. It used to be a mudflat shared by the village, and the terrain and environment are suitable.

The village’s common property can be used for construction without any disputes, and the people recruited in the future will all be villagers. They heard that a few more workshops can be built, and the villagers can work here in addition to farming time, so they are very happy.

Who wouldn't envy the people who work at Lu Linlang's farm? Every month when they get paid, other families can smell the meat and eat dry meals more often. There are still many people in their village who have no work to do. After the autumn harvest, they will be idle again. Now they can go to work and get paid.

So during the period before the autumn harvest, everyone wanted to quickly build the workshop so that they could go in and start working immediately after the harvest.

Lu Linlang went to take a look and saw that the rough framework of several workshops had been completed. The wood, bricks and tiles were used in large quantities, and the wood stockpiled by the villagers was not enough, so they had to buy them from other villages.

Most families would stockpile some wood, which they used as pillars for building beams, building materials, furniture and coffins for weddings and funerals, all of which required wood.

So they would cut the wood in advance and pile it up to dry, so they wouldn't have to buy it again when they needed it. Freshly cut wood cannot be used for this.

Several surrounding villages were intermarrying with each other, and this news could not be concealed, and they did not intend to conceal it. There were four villages near Xishan Village, namely Dongshan Village, Nanshan Village, Beishan Village, and Kaoshan Village. There were mountains and forests behind these villages, and there were also many bamboos. There were also many people in the mountains. Those people had no land of their own, so they could only rely on the mountains for a living and hunt for money.

"Village Chief Lu, your village is going to build so many workshops. Look at us brothers. We are all very poor, but your village is getting better and better. We are so envious. Now that there are so many workshops this time, can you help arrange them for the people in our village?" said the village chief of Nanshan Village.

"That's right, Brother Lu, there are so many workshops in your village, and you still have land to farm. How can you take care of them all? Why don't you consider us? There are many people in our village but little land. When there is no land to farm, adults and children are all starving. Look at your nephews and grandsons, they are really poor and have a very hard life. You should help us too." The people in Beishan Village also started to cry poor.

"Yes, relative, with our relationship, even if you miss a little finger, it is enough for us to have enough food and drink." The village chief and the clan leader of Kaoshan Village are relative.

"Stop complimenting me. The workshop in our village hasn't been built yet. I've already told the villagers that these workshops must give priority to villagers. Otherwise, if we don't help our own villagers but help those from other villages, everyone will feel uncomfortable, right?

Besides, our village is not as wealthy as you say. We have just started our lives, and we don’t have to eat dry meals every day. Many families have to tighten their belts to make ends meet. It is hard and difficult. I also want to help you, but we can’t help you right now.

"Brother, look at what you said, you are too modest. Let's not talk about the workshop under construction, just look at your konjac workshop and tofu workshop, they have become famous workshops in the whole county. Most of the business families in the county place orders from you. You deliver goods every day, we are really envious.

We wanted to learn how to make konjac from you before, but your business is so good and people like to buy from you. We just copied you but couldn’t do it, and in the end we lost all our money and couldn’t open our workshop.”

"Don't flatter me, I really can't make this decision. Most of the people in the village don't have work to do, so how can I dare to make such promises?"

"Brother Lu, I think what you said is not just for the villagers. We all know how powerful Mr. Lu in your village is. He has only been here for less than a year, and he has made your Xishan Village the richest among several villages.

Otherwise, you can also help us introduce someone and ask Mr. Lu to help give us some advice. We are really envious, but we are also really poor. You know that we were all very poor in the past. Your village produced a great general and sent a lot of money to your village. Your ancestral hall is really magnificent. Your family can even have an official favored by the emperor. Alas, it’s just that our villagers don’t have that much potential. Otherwise, I would also worship him.”

"That's right, brother. Since you can't make the decision, why don't you ask Mr. Lu for us? Before you built the konjac workshop, we could dig some konjac to sell, but there were too many people digging, and we didn't have much left. I heard that you can grow konjac, how about you teach us?"

"I was wondering why you all came together today. So you're calling me out. No matter how many people wanted to dig konjac and sell it, I always prioritized people from your village. We've been neighbors for many years. I'm afraid you're not here to get people into the workshop, but to learn how to grow konjac, right?"

"Hehe, isn't this just for the convenience? You guys eat the meat, and let us have some soup." Several people laughed.

They really thought so. They came here today, first made a request that he was not sure about, and then as a compromise, offered a request that he could agree to. That way, their trip wouldn't be in vain.