Chapter 30: An Order from Mulberry Wine

"Go, go ahead!" An Jianping and his wife waved their hands, hurriedly bidding farewell to their son and daughter-in-law.

Business came first.

That same evening, before An Songlin had even returned from his classmate's place, he called home directly. It turned out that the mulberry wine produced at his classmate's factory was strictly an internal product. The reason was simple: the raw materials were not easy to come by.

As luck would have it, An Songlin had shown up right on their doorstep with a fresh supply of ripe mulberries. Upon hearing his explanation, his classmate didn't hesitate to take him straight to the master brewer. The factory happened to have no other production plans scheduled beyond their loquat wine. If they could secure a sufficient supply of mulberry raw materials, they could begin production immediately.

After hanging up, An Songyu and her family were taken aback. This business venture, originally intended as a strategic preparation for the upcoming relocation, seemed to have triggered an endless chain of events. Of course, no one would turn away money and opportunities that came knocking. Thus, the family began planning once more.

They hadn't even finished harvesting the mulberry leaves before they had to start picking the fruit. Moreover, since this was for a winery, they were truly in a race against time. After giving it some thought, An Jianping decided to call the village before contacting any laborers.

The mulberry-fish ponds in Jiang Village spanned over two thousand mu. To date, aside from the four hundred mu that An Jianping had ambitiously leased, the only other portions occupied were a few dozen mu held by various village officials who had done so to show support for village development—a decision driven more by the attached fish ponds than the mulberry fields themselves. After the initial cleaning of the fish ponds, the mulberry fields had essentially been left unmanaged, though the area had been fenced off to raise a fair number of ducks.

These vacant fields might not be suitable for other purposes, but picking mulberry leaves and fruit was perfectly feasible. The only question was whether the village was still interested in such an endeavor.

When Jiang Wenlin received An Jianping’s call, he was momentarily stunned. It had been years since he had received such a request, ever since the village's ponds and orchards had been left idle. Reflecting on the current state of the village, Jiang Wenlin felt at a loss for words.

His silence spoke volumes to An Jianping, who said with a touch of regret, "In that case, we’ll just focus on our own fields for now. Since this is our first collaboration, let’s treat it as a trial run to see how things go."

"That works too," Jiang Wenlin replied, though he felt a strange, indescribable sensation in his heart.

The next day, Jiang Wenlin couldn't help but mention the matter to the other village officials. Aside from the youngest official, a college graduate, the others reacted with complex emotions.

"Actually, the condition of the village's mulberry fields isn't too bad!" the young village secretary mused. "It's just that the weeds have been left to grow for years, so harvesting the fruit might not be easy." He sighed with regret as he spoke.

The head of the Women's Federation beside him responded listlessly, "Do you honestly think anyone in the village is willing to do that kind of work?"

The young secretary’s posture stiffened, and he had to abandon the idea. After all, life in Jiang Village had changed; almost every household had its own business now. Beyond the dozen shops on the main street, the other families were either running farm-stay restaurants or had already found success elsewhere. To expect them to gather and work in the fields as they had in the past was a pipe dream.

The An family was unaware of the village's internal discussions. Before the weekend arrived, An Jianping and his son took the winery representatives to Jiang Village. Soon after, the mulberry fruit from the An family’s four hundred mu was spoken for. Since the fruit was for wine, it didn't need to reach peak ripeness, which gave Grandpa and Grandma An a new task.

Fortunately, An Jianping had become quite adept at hiring help; his notebook was half-filled with contact information for short-term laborers. Harvesting fruit was different from picking leaves—it required more care and was much more strenuous.

By the time the nearly month-long mulberry harvest concluded, the An family’s first batch of silkworm cocoons had also brought in their first returns. When the figures were carefully calculated, the revenue barely covered the initial investment. Fortunately, the deficit was minimal. With the added income from the mulberry fruit, the season hadn't been a total loss.

Furthermore, the investment in the silkworm shed was a one-time cost. According to the family's estimates, after raising one more batch of silkworms, they would fully recoup their expenses. To actually turn a profit this year, they would need to continue through the final two cycles.

Only An Songyu knew the truth: they would be lucky to finish the next cycle. One silkworm cycle lasted about forty-five days, and there was always an interval between batches. Given that the relocation was scheduled before the National Day holiday, time was running very short.

Beyond that, what caught An Songyu’s attention most were their four small buildings. They were nearing the completion of the final half-story. A row of four five-story buildings was quite a sight to behold. While five-story houses were no longer unique in Jiang Village, a row of them standing together was a first. Moreover, their construction was different from the others. In Jiang Village, aside from the shops on the main street, most houses had large front courtyards. The An family, however, had utilized their four plots—nearly two hundred square meters—entirely for the buildings themselves.

Before the construction was finished, villagers had come to take a look. From initial confusion, they had eventually concluded that the An family had lived in the city for too long and their aesthetics had diverged from the village norm. Whether they approved or not was their own business.

The main work now was interior finishing, which was progressing rapidly and had already reached the third floor. The decor was exceptionally simple: basic tiles on the floors, simple baseboards, and white-washed walls and ceilings. The exterior was treated the same way. Though simple, it was clean and bright.

An Songyu stood on her plot of land, under the harsh glare of the June sun, gazing at the buildings with grand ambitions. Before she could dwell on them further, An Jianmin, who was passing by with people carrying crates of fruit, called out, "A-Yu, hurry over and help count! How is it that your family is so indifferent to the output of your own orchard?"