Farming? I'm making a killing with my fairytale vegetables!

Chapter 30 Contracted Land

In the evening, Xia Shiyu tried frying some French fries herself, planning to pair them with homemade ketchup.

However, after frying it, Xia Shiyu took a bite and still wasn't very satisfied.

"I still think the fries from burger joints are the best. No matter which one I make, they can't compare."

Yu Juan, standing to the side, wasn't surprised at all. "Of course, people who open shops must have special skills. How could we possibly make it so easily?"

"That's true. Let's not worry about that for now and try our homemade tomato sauce first."

Xia Shiyu dipped the fries in ketchup and stuffed them into her mouth. After taking a couple of bites, her eyes lit up.

The sweet and sour tomato sauce coats the slightly rough fries, yet you can clearly taste the fresh aroma of tomatoes and the salty flavor of potatoes. Xia Shiyu used to only like the tomato sauce in burger shops, preferring to sprinkle some cheese or chili powder, but now she has completely fallen in love with this sweet and sour taste.

She picked up another fries, dipped it in ketchup, and fed it to Yu Juan. "Mom, try it, it's really delicious."

Yu Juan smiled and swallowed the fries that Xia Shiyu put into her mouth. After savoring them, she nodded in admiration, "They're really good, quite delicious, and very well made."

Xia Shiyu smiled happily. After eating a few bites, she treated them as snacks and ate a little bit of rice.

After finishing her meal, she brought some fries to her room, opened her tablet, randomly selected a good variety show, and ate them while watching.

After eating and drinking for a while, I went to sleep peacefully.

The next morning, Xia Shiyu got up and first went to the fields with her mother to prepare the land. Then she went to talk to the village officials about contracting the mountain land.

Xia Shiyu took his mother with him to the village chief's house. When they arrived, the village chief was processing corn at home. He got up when he saw them coming from afar.

Upon closer inspection, he realized it was actually Yu Juan and Xia Shiyu. He muttered to himself for a moment, then went up to greet them.

"Oh, Yu Juan, your daughter is here too. What brings you here? Come in and sit down. I'll bring you some hot water."

The village chief's wife looked at it curiously, then got up and went to prepare.

Yu Juan quickly waved her hand, "Oh, no need, no need for you to trouble yourself, Uncle. We're here today on important business."

Since it's called Xiajia Village, the villagers are all related in some way. Yu Juan calls him "Uncle" because she follows her father-in-law's side, while Xia Shiyu should call him "Father-in-law" if he really wants to, but calling him "Village Chief" is also fine.

"Oh, okay, if you want to talk about serious business, come inside."

The village chief didn't say much after hearing their words, and simply led them into the house.

After they entered the house and sat down, the village chief asked them to explain their purpose.

This time, Xia Shiyu didn't let his mother say it; he said it himself.

"It's like this, village chief, I want to contract some land for agricultural planting."

Upon hearing this, the village chief's expression turned serious. "Xiao Yu, are you serious? Contracting land for agriculture is no easy task."

He had heard some rumors in the village during this time, but he didn't pay much attention to them. After all, young people like to dabble in all sorts of things, and it's normal for them to do agricultural planting at home.

However, now that Xia Shiyu is willing to come to the village to contract land, the situation is different.

Xia Shiyu nodded solemnly, "Yes, village chief, I am serious about doing this business. It's just that I may not be able to contract a lot of land at the beginning. I will gradually increase it as needed later."

The village chief took a sip of tea and sighed, "Well, I'm quite pleased that you have this intention. However, the village's land contracts are generally for a minimum of three years. If you are a villager and a college graduate, you can apply for some subsidies if you return to the village to start a business."

Xia Shiyu smiled after hearing this, "Village Chief, I understand, thank you."

"Okay, go and have another meeting with the other village officials. They'll come to you after they've discussed it. You can go back and wait."

Xia Shiyu was surprised that things went so smoothly. Although he knew from the beginning that the villagers would give him a discount, he could also see that the village was having a headache because of the land that couldn't be contracted out.

Because of the terrain, before the mountains were cultivated, each family grew ordinary crops. The distance was far, and the crops were heavy and tiring, so they had to carry them home along the paths. Xia Shiyu experienced this when he was young, and it was very hard.

Later, when the country wanted to build highways, roads were built into the mountains, and those lands were reclaimed.

In the past few years, some bosses have come to contract the planting, but they all ended up losing money, so not many people came after that.

Xia Shiyu talked to his mother about the reasons and found that there were a few main issues. One was that their place was about three or four hours away from the city center, so the wholesalers were not willing to come here unless they had a lot of goods or were willing to pay for the shipping.

Secondly, agricultural planting is quite risky. If the weather is not favorable, the yield can easily be reduced, and it is also prone to pests and diseases, which leads to a series of labor and other expenses, which is another large expenditure.

Thirdly, and most importantly, the crops grown in their village are not of high quality; the quality is only average. Vegetable vendors can buy the same quality vegetables elsewhere, so they don't need to buy from this particular place.

Yu Juan carefully explained her experience to her, wanting her to be careful not to take too big a step and to be cautious.

Xia Shiyu listened attentively; these were the experiences and lessons of those who had come before, and she would treat them with care.

However, she also has enough self-confidence to succeed.

"Mom, don't worry. You've eaten the vegetables I grow. I think our vegetables have a major and irreplaceable advantage, so we have an edge. You can rest assured."

Xia Shiyu is very confident. For vegetables and fruits, quality and taste are always the most important factors. As long as the quality and taste are up to par, word of mouth will spread and there will never be a shortage of customers.

Looking at Xia Shiyu's confident demeanor, Yu Juan couldn't help but smile as she thought of her own vegetables. Yes, once their vegetables were taken out, they would definitely be in high demand. However, they still had to be careful about the impact of other diseases, pests, and weather.

Xia Shiyu didn't say anything when she heard this. Perhaps it was because the vegetables she had planted hadn't been growing for very long, and her mother hadn't noticed that she had never encountered any pests during the growing process. At most, they were just easy to attract birds to peck at.

She initially found it a bit strange, but after asking the system, she learned that the most basic requirement for plant seeds produced in the fairy tale world is disease and pest prevention, which greatly saved her on prevention and control costs.

In short, just focus on planting!

After this conversation, Yu Juan's worries were greatly relieved, and she didn't say anything more.