PCJ – Chapter 198 Small Landlord

The over two hundred acres of aging tea trees were once a scenic part of Meizi’ao Village Village. However, since contracting them out to farmers in the 1980s, the contractors, motivated by the fact that the tea trees were public property and their profits were private, only harvested the tea without fertilizing the trees. In the first few years, the tea farm and tea factory still came to collect tea leaves, but soon the tea trees deteriorated, and the tea buyers stopped coming. Now, most of the tea trees have withered, and many have been dug up by the contractors. This outcome was something Zhang Dechun, who initially contracted out the horticultural farm, had not anticipated.

Zhang Jiaohua planned to dig up all these aging tea trees before the fruit saplings arrived, making space for the new trees.

“To clear such a large area in a short time, we’d need to hire 400 workers. Each worker would cost at least five yuan, plus a meal and a pack of cigarettes per day, which totals about eight yuan per worker. That’s 3,200 yuan for 400 workers…” As he spoke, Zhang Manyin took deep drags from his cigarette. He hadn’t initially calculated this. He only thought that contracting over two hundred acres for 150 yuan was cheap.

In reality, Zhang Manyin was overly optimistic. The land at the horticultural farm was once fertile and loose, but after years of overuse by the contractors, the soil was depleted and compacted. One worker couldn’t clear half an acre of tea trees in a day. At worst, it might take 800 workers, doubling the expenses. Even after clearing the land, planting the trees would still require at least 180 workers.

“If we can’t manage, we don’t need to dig up the tea trees. We could plant the fruit trees between them. This way, we only need workers for planting, not for clearing. It will take a few years for the fruit trees to bear fruit. The tea trees aren’t entirely useless. If managed well, we might even be able to harvest some tea leaves to sell, which is also an income.” Zhang Jiaohua suggested after some thought.

“That’s a good idea.” Zhang Manyin’s eyes lit up. He had initially thought of planting some crops at the horticultural farm as well, but that idea seemed unlikely now.

“Jiaohua is smart, saving us thousands of yuan.” Ma Donghua laughed.

Zhang Jiaohua had inspected the horticultural farm several times recently. The land still had quite a few crops planted, indicating the previous contractors were reluctant to leave. Zhang Jiaohua wasn’t in a hurry to have them remove the crops since the fruit saplings hadn’t arrived yet.

“Jiaohua, with such a large horticultural farm, planting all fruit trees, how many fruits would you get? The entire town of Gezhuping might not be able to consume them all.” Dumb, observing the vast two hundred acres, showed a deeply impressed expression.

“You fool. The fruits aren’t just for sale in Gezhuping town. Can’t they be transported to Zijiang City for sale? Zijiang City is huge, much bigger than Gezhuping. There are buildings and cement roads everywhere, and the streets are very clean, unlike Gezhuping, which is dirty everywhere.” Zhang Jiaohua’s impression of the big city was based on a fleeting glimpse.

“Do city people eat only fruits instead of meals?” Dumb’s understanding of the city was entirely based on what he saw on TV.

“City people might eat a lot. Their bellies are big, like they’re pregnant.” Zhang Jiaohua laughed.

“That’s because they eat a lot. City people are rich; they can eat so much and get so fat.” Dumb remarked. In the countryside, few people had large bellies since most of their energy intake came from rice, with very little from fats, making it hard to gain weight.

“Beep beep.”

A car horn sounded, and Zhang Jiaohua looked towards the entrance of the horticultural farm. A jeep had stopped there, and Luo Changjun got out of the car.

Zhang Jiaohua quickly walked over, “Uncle Luo, what brings you here?”

“Jiaohua, you’ve got guts. At such a young age, you’ve contracted such a large horticultural farm. If I hadn’t run into your village secretary in town, I wouldn’t have known about it.” Luo Changjun laughed.

“Uncle Luo, did you close the last case?” Zhang Jiaohua asked.

“Yes, it’s closed. Thanks to you. I’ve been transferred to the county bureau and am now the captain of the criminal investigation team.” Luo Changjun smiled. He hadn’t visited Meizi’ao Village for a long time due to the workload from his transfer.

Luo Changjun’s quick promotion to the criminal investigation team captain, from a deputy section chief to a full section chief, was mainly due to the last case within a case. While the theft case in Gezhuping was significant, it wouldn’t have warranted an immediate promotion. The key was the crimes committed by Miao Xinghe and others in Fujian, a major case supervised by the Ministry of Public Security involving Hong Kong businessmen and a huge amount of money. Luo Changjun was fortunate to stumble upon this secondary case.

“So you won’t be working in Gezhuping anymore?” Zhang Jiaohua realized he might not have many opportunities to interact with Luo Changjun in the future.

“My work is there, but my family is still in Gezhuping. I’ll come back on weekends and often visit you. By the way, I came today to tell you that I’ve arranged for a batch of navel orange saplings for you. It’s a poverty alleviation initiative, so you won’t have to pay a penny. Navel oranges have a high price and are similar to tangerines in cultivation. If you’re interested, my friend can deliver them in a couple of days along with some planting guides. It’s up to you, of course. If you want to plant something else, I’ll do my best to get it for you.” Luo Changjun had immediately contacted his friend upon hearing about Zhang Jiaohua’s horticultural farm contract to secure a batch of navel orange saplings.

“Let’s plant navel orange trees then. I’ve heard they’re delicious.” Zhang Jiaohua smiled.

“Alright, it’s settled then. I’ve secured saplings for three hundred acres.” Luo Changjun was going all out for Zhang Jiaohua. The boy had played a crucial role in solving the previous case. Luo Changjun hadn’t reported Zhang Jiaohua’s involvement to the higher-ups, knowing it would do more harm than good for the boy, so he chose to compensate him in other ways.

“That many?” Zhang Jiaohua was surprised.

“You’ve also contracted the barren hill, right? Plant all the usable land there. The larger the scale, the more attractive it will be to others. The navel orange market is something you can rely on for the foreseeable future.” Luo Changjun was very confident about this after consulting experts.