Chapter 2381: 1862: Huang Dou Planning

What could there be to nag about? Li Lanhua’s core idea was that Zhou Tianyu’s career and settling down should ideally be handled simultaneously.

If they must choose one, then they should settle down first.

Even Wu Lan couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on.

Every family has its own considerations. Back then, with Qiaoqiao in that state, if Tantan had stayed close to home, with her personality, she would definitely have shouldered all the burdens herself. That would be quite heavy.

They just hoped that their daughter could find a good job in Ning City, find a good husband, have her own little family, and gradually this side wouldn’t always be a priority, allowing life to be a bit easier.

But Zhou Maozhu’s family only had this one child, and the couple was relying on their son for their old age support. They couldn’t bear him being too far away, yet they had no means to support him locally.

Yet now the child has gone to university, gained knowledge, and his thoughts are no longer the same as before.

Moreover, he doesn’t have any solid professional skills. Sales, however, is a versatile industry, and finding a job in Yun City isn’t impossible.

But with the current economic downturn, getting such a high salary again probably won’t be easy either.

As they spoke, Li Lanhua suddenly asked:

"I remember the Yanping family initially wanted him to take the civil service exams, right? Why didn’t he take them? Are they easy? Or should I suggest Tianyu come back and take them too?"

Song Tan quickly took a sip of water to calm herself down, fearing she might burst out laughing.

How can public service exams, teaching credentials be mentioned so lightly, as if they were backup plans?

If it were really that easy, why don’t more young people become teachers, join organizations, or become civil servants...?

Is it because they don’t like it?

Wu Lan also quickly advised, "It’s not easy, the positions are as scarce as gold. Just the other day I heard about a position in a court where over 4,000 people were competing for it."

Even so, Li Lanhua had her counterargument: "Everyone says it’s hard, but how come that relative of someone from my mother’s village got through? Didn’t hear it was that difficult for them."

This was clearly someone who wouldn’t listen.

Wu Lan didn’t bother worrying more.

She just asked, "You’re organizing things in such an orderly manner here, from blind dates to public service exams— does Tianyu listen to you?"

Really listening to you? Last time you thought Tian Tian was a good match, why did he think otherwise? In the end, it didn’t work out, right?

Good point!

Li Lanhua instantly fell silent.

Silence filled the living room tonight.

Wu Lan was peeling a melon with a peeler, sighed, and then handed the melon over:

"Eat. There’s no rushing these things. As they say, everything will sort itself out in time."

Li Lanhua took a bite of the smooth, juicy melon, instantly invigorated by its cool, sweet taste, and then eagerly took two more large bites.

It wasn’t until the core of the melon was exposed that she remembered another matter.

"That’s not the only thing I came over for tonight, I wanted to discuss something else with you."

"What do you think if I hire someone to clear our mountain and then plant soybeans?"

Soybeans are undemanding when it comes to soil and are easy to manage. With Zhou Maozhu busy frying tea leaves, she could handle it herself.

The vegetable garden could still be taken care of too, and it would be a relatively large source of income.

Not having turned it into tofu was quite a regret for her, especially seeing Aunt Zhang Hong making money from tofu, with her children all around her.

Though she complained of being tired, Li Lanhua could hardly contain her envy in her heart.

But to make good tofu, besides needing good water, high-quality beans are also necessary.

Zhang Hong even spread the word in the village that she wanted to buy more beans and urged folks to plant more next year.

Their village is by the mountain, and every household has some hilly or mountainous land assigned to them. However, it was left unmanaged, only growing shrubs and such.

"I was wondering how much it would cost to clear that mountain?"

"And do you think planting soybeans there would work?"

She thought about it over and over, considering every aspect.

Song Tan understood now why, even though Li Lanhua was the first to inquire about making tofu, Aunt Zhang Hong managed to be a step ahead.

She was simply too caught up in overthinking.

Clearing that barren hillside and spending tens of thousands of yuan was quite a lot.

But it depended on the circumstances.

Zhou Maozhu earns more than 10,000 yuan a month from tea frying, which lasts from March to September each year.

Their family’s vegetables are consistently selling as well, and thanks to Zhou Maozhu’s tea-frying skills, they already make an extra hundred thousand annually compared to other families.

Why hesitate then?

Wu Lan also advised her:

"Planting beans, as long as the weather is good, they’re bound to sell. Even if there’s a loss, it wouldn’t be too much."

"Zhang Hong already said she’d buy local beans of the same quality as vegetables at a higher price."

"If she doesn’t buy, or the price isn’t satisfactory, you can dry and sell them to tourists, beans don’t spoil with time."

What’s there to fear?

Weighing every angle, meanwhile, look at someone like that fearless Tantan who quit her job and came back home without anything, yet dared to do this and that.

Li Lanhua hesitated, "It’s just that Tianyu is of the right age, you know? If he suddenly starts dating and wants to get married, wouldn’t I need to prepare things like the house?"

Wu Lan: ...

Alright, parents worry about their children’s marriages their whole lives, so she decided to switch topics:

"If you ask me, you should seriously attend to your mountain, see how to plan things, make it a priority, and don’t delay. If you start early, you might even get some bean sprouts planted, which sell at a good price."

It’s already late July. Planting soybeans and harvesting pods isn’t practical, but bean sprouts can still earn money, just varying in returns and effort required.

Li Lanhua smiled, having seemingly made a decision, her mind was a bit more at ease, and her expression wasn’t as troubled:

"I was just thinking that with the constant rain there wasn’t much we could do anyway, so I took the time to think things through. It’s a big matter, after all."

Speaking of this, Song Tan had some say in the matter.

"Auntie, think it over all you want, but don’t dawdle with planning and inquiring. Now that it’s raining, excavators can’t work, but that means others are also considering their plans."

No need to mention that the tofu mill uses up a lot of soybeans annually.

Li Lanhua isn’t the only one in the village interested in planting soybeans, but everyone’s small plots and fields have already been arranged for daily vegetables.

If they want to plant soybeans, expanding onto the mountain is necessary.

Without a doubt, once the rain stops, will excavators be in demand? When will the construction timeline be? Isn’t this all part of the planning?

The recent years haven’t been great, and many nearby villagers who operated excavators have stopped working.

Sun Ziqiang from Tian Tian’s home works diligently and quotes reasonable prices, so naturally, everyone keeps an eye on him.

Li Lanhua suddenly snapped back to reality!

"Oh my! That’s right, just the other day I heard from Zhou Shunshui that their family also plans to plant soybeans. They’re related to the Zhou family, and their slope is right next to ours!"