Chapter 179 – Reservoir Matters

“I agree, how can I disagree? My husband is being so ambitious, so how can I be unwilling?” Su Danhong looked at him with annoyance.

Ji Jianyun saw that she really agreed with him, and immediately said, “Wife, if we contract the reservoir, we will not fail. Not everyone has this idea yet. When we have the reservoir, we will not regret it.”

Su Danhong nodded. She didn’t understand all of the details, so she was just going to go along with it. She recommended, “You have to consult with father about the reservoir.”

After all, it was a family matter. Even though Father Ji was not good at farming, he probably knew something about it. He at least knew more than Jianyun, who left home early to serve as a soldier.

“Okay, I’ll go to father and ask.” Ji Jianyun nodded.

The couple took Qiqi home with them.

Dinner was naturally scrumptious. Su Danhong never held back with her cooking.

Stewed pork chops with vermicelli1, steamed bass, stir-fried eggs with tomatoes, and a freshly cooked lotus root bone soup2.

The first three dishes were quite common at home. At least in her home. The last dish, lotus root bone soup, was only available today.

Now is the time to eat lotus root, and soft lotus root was delicious.

Su Danhong’s taste in food was close to Ji Jianyun. Ji Jianyun also liked to eat soft lotus root, but didn’t like to eat crispy lotus root.

Today’s pot was full of soft lotus roots. The meat on the big bones was also tasty.

It’s strange. The meat was boiled with other ingredients, but the essence of the meat dominated the soup. The lotus root was still very delicious.

After the meal, Ji Xiaodong was extremely happy. He was never disappointed when he ate at his third aunt’s house!

After dinner, Ji Xiaodong went back.

Su Danhong asked Yan’er, “Do you want to sleep with your brother today, or go up the mountain to sleep with your grandparents?”

“I’ll sleep with my grandparents,” Yan’er replied.

Ji Jianyun took Yan’er up the mountain. He also brought some lotus root soup to the mountain, which Su Danhong had scooped out before eating.

Ji Jianyun told Father Ji about the reservoir.

Despite Father Ji’s shock, he asked, “Why are you asking?”

“I have some ideas for the reservoir,” Ji Jianyun answered.

Father Ji had to say, “Won’t you struggle with so many things to do?”

The shop over at the college town, the 30 acres of land, the department store in the town, and how they were going to plant rice and other crops next spring, and there were two orchards! It was a lot!

“Father, if we don’t contract now, and wait for everyone, we won’t be able to do it,” Ji Jianyun said.

“It’ll be fine if you can’t contract it. Even if you can, what’s the use of that old reservoir?” Father Ji questioned.

It was repaired before, but now it is very old.

“There is a shortage of water in our village. When we plant rice, shouldn’t we use it?” Ji Jianyun said.

“The water in that river in the village is enough. It’s just ten acres of rice, so it’s not critical,” Father Ji argued.

“I’ll tell you the truth. I’m going to have a fish farm in this reservoir,” Ji Jianyun said.

Father Ji frowned. “If you want to contract the reservoir, it’ll be a lot of trouble.”

He didn’t agree.

First of all, everyone liked to go swimming in the summer and they went to places like the reservoir in the river. It was easy for accidents to happen. Who was going to be responsible for the accidents?

Another point was how the reservoir was very old. If Ji Jianyun took it over, it must be repaired again. How much money would that be? That did not include the contract fees.

“I’ve thought about all of that. I just want to ask father about it. This reservoir is shared by all the villages. If I want to contract it, what should I do?” Ji Jianyun said.

“If you really want to contract, it’s not a problem. Just talk to the village director. He will go to discuss it with the other people. But there is no need to contract the reservoir. You have so many things to do that’ll tire you out,” Father Ji pointed out.

Ji Jianyun didn’t heed his father.

His father was conservative, and he could see clearly that not many people had ideas for the reservoir. The money he had in hand was not enough to contract. So, he did not make a move yet. If he wanted the reservoir, he had to get it as soon as possible. As for what to do with it in the future and when to work on it, he would slowly get to it. In short, he had to get the contract first.

Ji Jianyun was a restless person. He went directly to the village director’s home.

The village director’s family ate later in the night at home, so they had just finished eating.

The village director invited him to have tea first, then asked, “Jianyun, what’s the matter?”

Ji Jianyun explained why he came. The village director was intimidated by his restless energy. “No, didn’t you just contract a field? If you want to contract the reservoir, won’t you be busy?”

“I won’t be so busy to the point of holding off on it. When I am free, I can go to fix things up.” Ji Jianyun smiled.

The village director was unable to give him a direct reply and said to him, “I will go to ask some other people tomorrow, but the reservoir can only be contracted for 20 years.”

Last time, he got a little embarrassed when he went to the county town, so he had to check first and the reservoir contract was only 20 years.

“That’ll be enough.” Ji Jianyun nodded.

He listened to the village director, and it should not be a problem.

As soon as Ji Jianyun left, the village director sighed and said to his wife, “I was right before. I said that out of Brother Ji’s four sons, Lao San was going to be the most prosperous. Look at what happened just now, he thought of something that others did not, and is going to do something that others can’t do!”

He also heard about how Ji Jianyun owned part of a department store in the town. Now, his Brother Ji’s Ji Jianye pretty much delivered goods to the college town once a day. He heard that Ji Jianyun had also set up a shop there and hired some friends. His businesses were good.

There was also how he had two orchards. Just a while ago, he just contracted 30 acres of land.

How much did he do?

“It’s fine to do more while you’re young. I think he is also going to save money to pay the fine for having a third child,” Sister Xu commented with a smile.

“He wants to have a third child?” the village director wondered in a daze. “That would cost 4,000 yuan!”

“I heard what Danhong said, she really wants a daughter.” Sister Xu chuckled.

There were two sons in the family, so it didn’t matter if the next one was a girl or not. However, if there were that many sons in the family, then a daughter would be rare to have.

“4,000 yuan for a daughter.” The village director was aching.

4,000 yuan. That’s enough to buy a house!

“They won’t regret it. Why do you care so much? Go and talk to the others about the reservoir. If Jianyun wants it, then give it to him,” Sister Xu said.

“You are a realistic woman. Because they gave you a lot of fruit this year, you are going to try and influence me,” the village director teased.