Chapter 69: Receive Another Matchmaker Gift and Become a Half-Millionaire
Chapter 69: Receive Another Matchmaker Gift and Become a Half-Millionaire
In his previous life, Deng Shirong's family orchard had been cultivated by a bulldozer, and the work was completed very quickly. Now, with the orchard being cultivated by human labor, he had no idea how long it would take to finish.
Therefore, on the first day that Deng Yunkun and the others began cultivating the orchard, Deng Shirong kept a close eye on the progress.
After the first day's results, Deng Shirong realized that his initial expectations were too optimistic. With only Deng Yunkun and four others, even if they worked tirelessly, they wouldn't be able to complete the orchard's cultivation within the planned timeframe.
There was a huge difference between the capabilities of human labor and machinery!
So, on the second day of reclaiming the orchard, Deng Shirong recruited two more hardworking young men from the village to join the team.
At the same time, he asked his eldest daughter to ride her bicycle to visit the homes of her three aunts and two uncles, bringing in nearly ten additional laborers.
With more than a dozen people working together, the progress of the orchard's cultivation finally met Deng Shirong's expectations.
In fact, during this period, there were restrictions on self-employed individuals hiring workers. If the number of employees was less than seven, it was considered hiring helpers. But if the number exceeded eight, it was seen as exploitation, and the individual would be labeled a capitalist.
However, this policy mainly targeted self-employed individuals in cities. In remote rural areas like Double Prosperity, the enforcement of this policy was much more lenient.
Rural areas were more community-oriented at the time. For example, when Deng Shirong's family was building their house, at the peak, twenty or thirty young men from the village spontaneously came to help. In such cases, could you accuse Deng Shirong of being a capitalist exploiting the villagers?
Now, Deng Shirong was hiring people to help cultivate the orchard. The same principle applied. He only needed to tell those helping to keep quiet about being paid. Who would know whether they were volunteering or being hired?
Additionally, if no one reported it, no one would investigate such matters.
Therefore, Deng Shirong didn't have to worry about safety.
Just as Deng Shirong's orchard cultivation was in full swing, Deng Yunqiang and his son returned safely from Lingshan County. This time, they ordered 1,700 Cinnamon Flavor lychee trees—1,000 for Deng Yunqiang's family and 700 for his relative Guan Dewei's family.
The price was the same as Deng Shirong's.
It was only because the father and son mentioned Deng Shirong's name that they were able to secure such a low price.
After returning, the father and son mobilized their relatives and began a large-scale transformation of their orchard.
While other villagers were hesitant to invest heavily in orchards without clear returns, they weren't idle either. Many began raising more chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, and sheep. These were side jobs with visible returns, so the villagers felt no pressure in pursuing them.
The entire Thatchfield Village had a completely new atmosphere after the land was divided and everyone began working independently.
...
September 16th of the Lunar Calendar, Friday
Today was the wedding day of Deng Changwang and Dai Fanglan. This young couple marked the first time Deng Shirong had acted as a matchmaker in the true sense. While Deng Changfu and Guan Yongying had been a well-known model couple in the village in his previous life, Deng Shirong had simply brought their marriage forward.
However, Deng Changwang had not married Dai Fanglan in his previous life. Deng Shirong had completely changed his marriage. Whether this was a good or bad thing, only time would tell.
The wedding process was similar to that of Deng Changfu and Guan Yongying. On the afternoon before the wedding, the bride's family gave Deng Shirong, the matchmaker, a red envelope and a package of five-flavor snacks. The snacks weighed about two kilograms, and the red envelope contained 20 yuan.
The amount in the red envelope exceeded the usual standard. Considering the financial situation of the Dai family, giving such a generous red envelope showed how satisfied they were with the marriage. Deng Shirong was also very pleased to receive it.
That afternoon, Deng Shirong took a few feet of cloth and went to the bride's house for dinner, staying overnight. The next day, he accompanied the wedding party to escort the bride.
Deng Changwang was the youngest son in his family. His two older brothers had already moved out, and his three older sisters had married one after another, leaving a substantial sum of money for the family.
Therefore, the wedding banquet was quite lavish, even better than Deng Changfu's wedding. The guests ate to their hearts' content, praising the meal endlessly.
After the banquet, Deng Shirong had just returned home when Deng Changwang's thank-you gift for the matchmaking arrived.
When Deng Changfu got married, the thank-you gift he gave Deng Shirong included a red envelope of thirty yuan, about ten pounds of pork butt, fifteen pounds of braised pork, two pounds of spiced pork, two packs of cigarettes, two bottles of wine, two pounds of candy, and two pounds each of rice, sesame seeds, peanuts, black beans, soybeans, red beans, and mung beans.
The thank-you gift from Deng Changwang's family was even more generous. In addition to the above items, they also gave two packets of tea and two kilograms of longan pulp.
This wave of gifts made Deng Shirong rich again.
The thank-you gift from Deng Changfu's family had been used up during the construction of their house, but now they finally had enough meat to eat.
The total amount of red envelopes from both families was 50 yuan. With the system's tenfold reward, this became 550 yuan, causing Deng Shirong's wealth to skyrocket. His cash reserves now exceeded 5,000 yuan, making him a half-millionaire.
Of course, he still owed the credit union 6,000 yuan. He also had to pay for furniture-making and orchard cultivation, as well as his eldest son's wedding, all of which would cost a significant amount.
Therefore, there was still a long way to go before he could become a true millionaire.
...
The Next Day
After breakfast, Deng Shirong rode his bicycle to Dragon Lake Commune.
Today was the Dragon Lake market day. Deng Shirong hadn't contacted the Zhang family since his last visit to New Dock Village. Now that the house was built and the furniture was being made, with everything expected to be completed in about a month, it was time to visit the Zhang family and explain the situation.
Otherwise, if too much time passed without contact, the girl's family might think his family had lost interest, which would be unfortunate.
More than an hour later, Deng Shirong arrived safely at New Dock Village.
Before entering the village, Deng Shirong carefully observed his surroundings. Seeing no one around, he took out half a pork butt (about five pounds) and half a braised pork (about seven pounds) from his system space. He had prepared these in advance, strung together with bamboo strips.
Carrying more than ten kilograms of meat into New Dock Village naturally caused quite a stir.
If Deng Shirong hadn't had a scale on his bicycle, the villagers might have thought he was a pork seller from another village.
Some curious villagers couldn't help but ask. When they learned that Deng Shirong was visiting Zhang Zhenfa's relatives, they all looked at him with disbelief.
They couldn't understand how Zhang Zhenfa, who was so poor, could have such a generous relative.
(End of this chapter)