Chapter 4: Unpleasant words, but I'll say them now.
The peach orchard on the back mountain was planted when the village was a collective.
This is also the origin of Taoyuan Village.
However, the peach orchard was unmanaged and had long since fallen into disuse.
Even if those Peach Blossom trees bore peaches, they were sour, astringent, and very small.
No one in the village ate them!
Peach Blossom trees are in their juvenile stage for 1-3 years after planting, growing vigorously but with a low fruit-setting rate.
The peak fruiting period is 4-15 years, generally entering this stage 5-7 years after planting.
The duration of the peak fruiting period varies significantly depending on factors such as variety, management level, planting density, and tree shape, generally lasting until around 15 years of age.
Those Peach Blossom trees on the back mountain are over thirty years old.
This is also why the back mountain peach orchard was abandoned.
"If you want to plant Peach Blossom trees, or other fruit trees, you can lease other mountain land," Xu Chengyang said. "The village has many mountains. As for that peach orchard on the back mountain—"
Those old Peach Blossom trees don't even bloom well; how can you expect them to bear good fruit?
Clearing and replanting is time-consuming, laborious, and expensive. It's better to lease other mountain tops.
"If I dare to lease it, I naturally have confidence," Xu Yue said. "Since there's something existing, why should I bother with a slow process? Who knows when new trees will bloom and bear fruit?"
"But those old Peach Blossom trees..."
Xu Jiangming said with some worry.
The Peach Blossoms bloomed this year.
In that large peach orchard on the back mountain, the Peach Blossoms were sparse.
Moreover, many Peach Blossom trees were infested with pests.
"Don't worry!" Xu Yue said. "I have a friend who is an expert in this area. I've consulted with him, and those old Peach Blossom trees can be cultivated."
A friend was naturally an excuse.
The reason Xu Yue had this idea was because last night he practiced the Spirit Rain Technique on the back mountain, and today he went to see the dozen or so Peach Blossom trees that had been rained on. Not only were their Peach Blossoms in full bloom, but they also exuded a strong vitality.
Well, that's not the main point!
Xu Yue's Spirit Rain Technique can currently only cover a dozen Peach Blossom trees.
And after only a few uses, the Primal Chaos Qi in his Dantian was completely depleted.
He wasn't worried about this consumption.
Because he discovered that, apart from plowing, other farm work such as weeding, watering, and sowing, could all make the Yandi Hunyuan Fundamental Sutra operate, condensing Primal Chaos Qi.
Moreover, he could not only cast the Spirit Rain Technique to water those Peach Blossom trees, but also gradually draw in the Qi of the earth veins, turning the land of that peach orchard into spiritual soil.
He could even cultivate those Peach Blossom trees into spiritual plants.
Of course, he is still a weakling now; this is a long process.
But it is a very good start.
Aside from other things, he could use the Spirit Rain Technique to rejuvenate those old Peach Blossom trees, so blooming and bearing fruit would naturally not be a problem.
There could even be a harvest this year!
Leasing the back mountain peach orchard was naturally more cost-effective than leasing a new mountain top to plant fruit trees.
The results would naturally be faster too.
As for vegetables...
Xu Yue thought that vegetables watered with spiritual rain wouldn't be bad!
"Later, I'll go ask Uncle Chengmin," Xu Jiangming sighed and said.
Xu Chengmin is the head of Taoyuan Village and is of the same generation as Xu Yue's grandfather.
However, he is quite a bit younger than Xu Yue's grandfather, Xu Chengyang.
He is now in his early sixties.
"Lease the back mountain? The back mountain of that peach orchard?" Xu Chengmin said with some surprise. "That peach orchard is abandoned! Why did you suddenly think of leasing the back mountain?"
"It's not me, it's my son," Xu Jiangming shook his head and said.
"Xiao Yue?" Xu Chengmin said. "He wants to lease the back mountain? Is he not going back to Yanjing?"
"Not for now. He said he wants to see if he can bring change to this mountain village," Xu Jiangming said. "I couldn't talk him out of it!"
"Really?"
Xu Chengmin heard this, but he was full of pleasant surprise.
Xu Yue was not the only university student to come out of the village.
But whether it was the university he attended or his achievements after graduation, Xu Yue was undoubtedly the most brilliant.
He actually came back to the village to develop it?
Wasn't he doing extremely well in Yanjing?
"Oh!"
Xu Jiangming was speechless.
Our family is having a headache, and you're happy here. Uncle Chengmin, is that really okay?
"Uncle Chengmin, let's talk about leasing the back mountain," Xu Jiangming began.
"No problem!" Xu Chengmin said. "I'll get Xiao Yue the most favorable price. It's just that those Peach Blossom trees are old and decaying! They don't bear many peaches, and the ones they do are sour and astringent, inedible! There are still many mountain tops in the village, do you want to consider them?"
Leasing the back mountain, he probably only went for that peach orchard.
"No need!" Xu Jiangming said. "He said those old Peach Blossom trees can be re-cultivated."
"Re-cultivate? Really? That's good!" Xu Chengmin nodded and said. "How long do you want to lease it for?"
The lease contract was quickly finalized.
The old village head personally delivered the contract to Xu Yue.
The lease term was fifty years, and the fee was 1,500 per year.
This works out to over ten yuan per mu.
The back mountain peach orchard was only a few dozen mu, but there was more wasteland.
Xu Yue leased it all together.
He would make plans for those wastelands later.
"You won't lose money, will you?" Xu Chengmin said. "If it's just barren mountains, it wouldn't cost that much. The main thing is that peach orchard, even if it's not very useful anymore."
Even if the peach orchard was abandoned, it was still a peach orchard!
"I shouldn't lose money," Xu Yue said. "I'm quite accepting of this price, as long as there aren't any tricks after I sell the peaches and make money."
That peach orchard belonged to the village collective. If the peaches made a lot of money, the old village head might not do anything, but what about the other villagers?
Who could guarantee it?
"I'll see who dares!" the old village head said. "If you can make money, that's your ability!"
Xu Yue smiled. The words weren't pleasant, but they were said now.
That peach orchard wasn't densely planted; there were only about fifty trees per mu.
Dozens of mu, that's at least a thousand Peach Blossom trees!
Even if one Peach Blossom tree bore two hundred catties of peaches, it could still sell for a few hundred yuan, right?
That would be tens of thousands of yuan!
In reality, it would definitely be more.
Not to mention the yield of the peaches, even the price of the peaches would definitely be higher than ordinary peaches.
Watered with spiritual rain, the taste would certainly not be bad, and the price would rise accordingly.
He leased it for fifty years, spending a total of only seventy-five thousand yuan.
Perhaps he could break even in one year.
It wouldn't be surprising if some people were jealous.
With the contract in hand, Xu Yue began to work freely.
The grass in the peach orchard needed to be weeded, and the trees needed to be watered.
For this, Xu Yue went to the city several times, buying back many seeds and vegetable seedlings.
As for the spiritual rain, that was basically done secretly at night.
"What are you doing?"
Li Xiurong watched Xu Yue bring a foam box, filled with soil, into the house from who knows where.
"I bought some ginseng seeds to see if I can plant them!" Xu Yue smiled.
Could he?
He thought he could.
The soil in that box was his masterpiece of the past few days.
It contained spiritual power, so calling it spiritual soil was not inappropriate. Coupled with watering it with spiritual rain, planting ginseng was inevitable.
The only question was the quality of the ginseng produced.
"ginseng?"
Li Xiurong exclaimed in surprise but said nothing.
Their village was backward, but not isolated, so they had naturally heard that ginseng could be cultivated, but its value was far less than wild ginseng.
Moreover, a large reason she was able to marry Xu Yue's father was that Xu Yue's grandfather had sold a wild ginseng back then, providing enough betrothal gifts and building a large house.
She naturally had a deep impression of ginseng.
To put it bluntly, if not for the ginseng, whether Xu Yue even existed would be a question.