After over three months of waiting, the price of corn finally reached its peak. In previous years, the highest price for corn was barely one yuan per jin, but now it had soared to one yuan and fifty cents. Wang Xiaoqiang felt it was time to sell because guarding the approximately 130,000 jin of corn stored in the old village committee building was quite troublesome.

Ultimately, Wang Xiaoqiang sold his corn for one yuan and fifty cents per jin to a corn purchasing station in the county town. The total sale of 130,000-plus jin of corn brought in over 180,000 yuan. Once this news spread, people from Sanmiao Village and the surrounding villages were all secretly clicking their tongues in amazement.

They envied Wang Xiaoqiang's good fortune; he didn't catch a good year, but he caught a good price. If the price had been like last year's high of one yuan per jin, Wang Xiaoqiang's income would have been one-third less.

Now, with a rough estimate, the fifty mu of land that Wang Xiaoqiang contracted to farm, including soybeans and sesame sold for 80,000 yuan, and corn for 180,000 yuan, amounted to 260,000 yuan in total. People say that farming doesn't make money nowadays, but Wang Xiaoqiang is now making a killing.

A year of working outside the village would only yield an income of thirty to forty thousand yuan, and 180,000 yuan was equivalent to the income of a worker for five or six years. Moreover, this was just the income from one season of crops—locally, there are two crop seasons a year. By that calculation, Wang Xiaoqiang's annual income would be over 500,000 yuan.

Of course, costs must be deducted; even assuming costs of 80,000 yuan, Wang Xiaoqiang would still have a net profit of over 400,000 yuan!

Under the envy of the villagers, many began to contemplate contracting farmland themselves, unaware that within Wang Xiaoqiang's body flowed the Five Elements Spirit Spring. His crops didn't get sick, needed no watering during drought, and no worrying during floods, guaranteed harvest regardless of weather, with the yield even doubling. Who else could achieve such a feat when contracting land?

Actually, Wang Xiaoqiang was not satisfied with an income of four hundred thousand a year—his goal for the coming year was ten million yuan.

After selling the corn, Wang Xiaoqiang focused wholeheartedly on the forty mu of Yam Field and the pair of Golden Sand Tree Chrysanthemum plants, big and small. Nourished by the Spiritual Energy, the chrysanthemums could hardly avoid thriving. By comparison, managing the vast Yam Field was more challenging.

Wang Xiaoqiang's Yam Field bordered two mountain peaks. One was Mantou Mountain, which resembled a mantou (steamed bun) and looked deserted due to poor soil quality, resulting in its bare appearance and the origin of its name. The other was Great Green Mountain. Compared to Mantou Mountain, Great Green Mountain was much larger and taller, with steep and rugged terrain and lush, dense woods.

Ordinarily, few people ventured onto these mountains. Mantou Mountain was barren, home to nothing but some wild birds and pheasants. Great Green Mountain, on the other hand, was different; it housed everything from wild goats, boars, wolves, to venomous snakes.

Hunters used to go hunting on the mountain frequently, often encountering them, but because it was dangerous and hunting didn't yield much income, now the hunters were no longer seen. Only when wild beasts ran down from the mountain to harm the crops would someone take out a shotgun to deal with them.

Lately, Wang Xiaoqiang noticed wild pheasants coming down from the mountains to forage in the Yam Field.

Wang Xiaoqiang was worried that the wild pheasants would ruin his Yam Field, so he prepared to deal with them with a shotgun. However, he didn't own a shotgun, which led him to go door-to-door to borrow one until he finally managed to do so from Widow Liu.

Widow Liu's name was Liu Xianghong. Her husband had been a hunter named Wang Baoshan, who loved to handle guns. Not only did he own two shotguns, but he also held a gun license. He used to go hunting in Great Green Mountain all the time, hunting for wild mountain birds, goats, wolves, and sometimes boars.

Encounters with wild boars resulted in two outcomes: one where Wang Baoshan would shoot the boar dead and sell it for a good price, and another where the boar would gore Wang Baoshan to death, leaving his body to lie in the wilderness.

The first situation occurred frequently, but it was only during that one instance that Wang Baoshan was overturned by a six-hundred-jin boar king, and his body was found mutilated.

And so, Liu Xianghong became Widow Liu. By that time, she had already given birth to a daughter for Wang Baoshan. For the sake of her daughter, she had not remarried. Widow Liu's daughter, Wang Chunyan, attended the village's elementary school. Raising a daughter alone, life was tight for Widow Liu.

When Wang Xiaoqiang came to borrow the gun, Widow Liu was home by herself. She had helped Wang Xiaoqiang plant yams last time, and although she had slacked off, Wang Xiaoqiang still paid her for two days' labor, which she was grateful for. Therefore, she readily brought out both shotguns and allowed Wang Xiaoqiang to choose one.

In fact, ever since the death of Wang Baoshan, those two shotguns had been idle at home, serving no real purpose. Even if Wang Xiaoqiang took them all, Widow Liu wouldn't mind.

While Wang Xiaoqiang was selecting a shotgun, Widow Liu brought out a plate of boiled eggs from the kitchen and urged him to eat.

Wang Xiaoqiang, who was focused on examining the shotguns, waved his hand and said, "Don't bother, I'm not hungry."

Widow Liu thrust an egg into Wang Xiaoqiang's hand insistently, "Eat it. You know what they say, eat what you want to supplement... Hehe~~"

You are what you eat, and Wang Xiaoqiang was no fool; he clearly understood Widow Liu was joking with him.

"Then you should eat it, and supplement well..." In terms of hierarchy, Wang Xiaoqiang was a generation younger than Wang Baoshan. He should have called Wang Baoshan uncle and referred to Liu Xianghong as aunt. However, the two families weren't related.

According to the customs of the village, people of the older generation shouldn't make inappropriate jokes with the younger, but the younger could joke with the elders. Since Aunt Liu Xianghong was joking with him, as her big nephew, Wang Xiaoqiang naturally could joke back.

"One wants to supplement but doesn't have the means... Giggle~~~" Living alone, Widow Liu rarely had a man in the house. Being lively and upbeat, she couldn't help teasing Wang Xiaoqiang, as she found her big nephew's simple honesty to be coupled with the endearing charm of a young boy.

Wang Xiaoqiang glanced at her and saw Liu Xianghong smiling so much that she seemed to shake like a flower in the breeze, and indeed, a young matron was more impressive than a young girl.

Since he couldn't see clearly in the dark last time, but this time he could see everything very clearly. At a glance, his face felt flushed with heat. At the same time, the Five Elements Spiritual Spring in his heart rushed down to his lower abdomen, releasing waves of warmth… Wang Xiaoqiang quickly looked away.

The more Wang Xiaoqiang dared not look, the more dexterously the two small hands peeled an egg and brought it to his mouth, her eyes alluring as she said, "Why don't I feed you..."

You don't pass up a free lunch, Wang Xiaoqiang snatched the translucent, jade-like egg and started to chew it thoroughly. He devoured it in three bites, and after finishing it, a look of enjoyment crossed his face. He asked with a tone of surprise, "Auntie, this isn't a domestic chicken egg, is it..."

"Hey, you have quite the discerning taste, buddy, to recognize at once that this isn't a domestic egg…" Liu Xianghong stared at Wang Xiaoqiang's mouth and said, "This is a Wild Mountain Egg..."

"Wild Mountain Chicken…" Wang Xiaoqiang smacked his lips, recalling the tender, succulent taste of the egg he just ate and promptly took another one from the plate. It was then that he noticed; it really wasn't a domestic chicken egg. It was slightly larger, the shell had a greenish tinge—it was indeed a Wild Mountain Egg.

"Auntie, where did you get these Wild Mountain Eggs?" Wang Xiaoqiang asked.

"Ah, weren't they from the dozen or so Wild Mountain Chickens your Uncle Baoshan captured before his passing? I've been raising them since then…" she replied.

"Uh…" Wang Xiaoqiang stared blankly for a moment before asking, "These Wild Mountain Eggs are quite expensive on the market, right?"

"Of course, I don't usually have the heart to eat them. I cook half for my daughter, and if we can't finish them, I take them to sell in the county town. One egg can sell for five yuan!" she exclaimed.

"That expensive?!" Wang Xiaoqiang exclaimed in surprise. Considering domestic chicken eggs couldn't even sell for one yuan each. Wild chicken eggs were being sold for more than five times the price.

"Certainly, these are eggs from genuine Wild Mountain Chickens. They can't be compared with those from domestic chickens, and they're even better than those hybrid chickens!" Liu Xianghong said confidently.

Wang Xiaoqiang knew that the hybrid chickens Liu Xianghong referred to were a crossbreed of Wild Mountain Chickens and ordinary domestic chickens.

"Well, if someone were to raise some Wild Mountain Chickens, they could make a lot of money, right?!" Wang Xiaoqiang muttered to himself.

"Cut it out, Little Qiang. I advise you to drop that idea right now…" Liu Xianghong warned seriously: "These Wild Mountain Chickens are fussier than the young ladies of old times, they get sick easily. Out of the ten that your Uncle Baoshan captured, only one cock and two hens that can lay eggs are left now…"

"Uh, I got it," Wang Xiaoqiang replied noncommittally. Yet in his heart, he had already planned to raise Wild Mountain Chickens. With the Five Elements Spiritual Spring, he wasn't afraid of them getting sick. That's when he couldn't help but ask again, "By the way, Auntie, how did Uncle Baoshan catch those Wild Mountain Chickens?"

Liu Xianghong said, "He used alcohol mixed with cornmeal, placing it in the areas where the Wild Mountain Chickens frequently appeared..."

Liu Xianghong had only gotten half-way through the explanation when Wang Xiaoqiang understood. He had known all along, but it just hadn't occurred to him at that moment.

"Well, thank you then, Auntie. I won't need to borrow the gun anymore…" Wang Xiaoqiang started to leave.

Yet Liu Xianghong caught his arm, saying, "Why not borrow it? Go ahead and use it. It's just collecting dust here at my house anyway..."

"All right then!" Wang Xiaoqiang pulled his hand from Liu Xianghong's grasp and picked up a hunting rifle from the table.

Watching Wang Xiaoqiang handle the rifle, Liu Xianghong's gaze became dreamy, and she murmured to herself, "So manly!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.