In the following days, Xia Liu had stockpiled up to four thousand jin of Atractylodes, and by that time, the road had been completely opened.
He arranged for Liu Lanxin to instruct the cargo trucks to head straight to the entrance of the village. When the two drivers drove in, they were somewhat dumbfounded; just a few days had gone by, and the village, once known as the poorest in the mountains, actually had a road now.
He sold off four thousand jin in one go and Xia Liu made one hundred and forty thousand. Together with the sixty thousand sent out earlier, he now a total of one hundred and sixty thousand from this venture and his previous savings.
Looking at the money in his account, Xia Liu was not in a hurry to build a new house; instead, he had a grander blueprint in his mind.
However, some families in the village began to purchase bricks to construct new houses. They were the first group who went to gather Atractylodes.
The money they made, plus some savings, gave them the confidence to build brick houses all at once.
When building their new houses, the villagers all came to Xia Liu for advice since after leaving the village for over five years, he had a great understanding of the outside world and his design for the house would certainly be top-notch.
While Xia Liu did not deny that perspective, he did not include any overly luxurious constructions in his plans.
The houses he designed for the villagers were quite unique—the first floor was spacious with no rooms, the second floor was all rooms with no living room, and the rooms were very even, much like the inns in the city.
No one objected to Xia Liu's designs because he mentioned that such a design would be profitable in the future.
The prospect of making money after building a house was appealing in the mountains—everyone desired that. Still, there were those who did not seek Xia Liu's advice and built their houses their own way.
Xia Liu had no authority over these decisions. After all, a blueprint is just a blueprint, whether it could be realized was another matter.
Xia Liu visited the spots where the villagers harvested Atractylodes and estimated that there should still be a few tons of Atractylodes underground. However, this source of income was not sustainable.
He often went alone deep into the mountains, hoping to find a large patch of herbs so that when the Atractylodes were all picked, the villagers could still have an income.
But the chances of this happening were slim. Apart from a few dozen-year-old herbs, Xia Liu didn't find much else, although he did catch a few wild rabbits and boars.
That day, before Xia Liu had warmed his seat at home, Zhang Xiaoxue rushed in breathlessly: "Brother Xia Liu, something terrible has happened!"
Looking at the panting Zhang Xiaoxue, Xialiu swallowed a few times.
Zhang Xiaoxue had become quite attractive after improving her diet and dress, especially her big, charming eyes. Xia Liu couldn't help but stare every time, not to mention her fair and full figure.
"Xiaoxue, I haven't had lunch yet, there's no need to panic. Tell me what happened, slowly," Xia Liu said, adjusting his seat as Shanshan.
"Brother Xia Liu, never mind lunch—there's something wrong with the chickens on the mountain!" Zhang Xiaoxue said woefully, explaining the situation to Xia Liu in full.
She had gone to check on the chickens out of boredom that morning, only to find, upon arrival, that all the chickens were lying dead on the ground. Judging by their stiff corpses, they had been dead for several hours.
Hearing this, Xia Liu's brow furrowed. It was impossible for the chickens to all die at once, even if they were still young chicks.
Following Zhang Xiaoxue to the mountain, the women they had hired were sitting on the ground, wiping their tears.
Upon seeing Xia Liu arrive, they all came up to apologize, saying it was all their fault that the chickens had died.
"Aunts, please don't blame yourselves. I will handle this," Xia Liu assured them. Although he hadn't conducted an investigation, Xia Liu knew the problem did not lie with these women.
"Xia Liu, after this happened, all of us feel terrible. It's only been half a month; we'll forgo our wages," a senior woman said. Before Xia Liu arrived, they had all agreed on this matter–actually, they had not really exerted much effort in the half month: they just maintained the nets each day and checked if the chickens were ill. Given the situation, they were too embarrassed to take any salary.
"Aunties, your wages will still be paid as usual, and there will be an increase in the future. This batch of chickens didn't make it, but there will be another. First, gather all the dead chickens, and then I'll have someone take them away to be buried."
"Ah! Is that really true?"
"Aunties, Brother Xia Liu must have his reasons for what he says. Just do as he says," Zhang Xiaoxue said. Though she didn't entirely understand, she knew that Xia Liu must have his reasons, and Visit NovelHub for more amazing novels and chapters.
After the women confirmed it several times, they all went to work excitedly. With such a good boss, how could they not work hard?
As for Xia Liu, he went with Zhang Xiaoxue to inspect the dead chickens.
Looking at the dead chickens on the ground, Xia Liu felt rather regretful. The biggest chickens weighed over a pound, and even the smallest ones were seven or eight taels. If they could have lasted another two or three months, they would have been ready to sell.
However, he did not end it there. He repeatedly pricked the dead chickens with the silver needles he had brought from home.
Half an hour later, Xia Liu's expression grew solemn. Zhang Xiaoxue noticed and asked with some confusion, "Brother Xia Liu, have you discovered something?"
"Yes, these chickens all ate something poisonous." Xia Liu nodded in reply.
"Ah! Could there be something unclean or poisonous herb around here?"
Xia Liu smiled faintly and patted Zhang Xiaoxue's head, "Maybe. Let's go back for now. Next time, we will surely succeed in raising them."
In reality, Xia Liu was very clear in his mind. He had investigated this mountain and there were absolutely no poisonous herbs. It was perfectly fine for the chickens to grow here.
Therefore, there was only one reason for the chickens' demise: someone had poisoned them.
To have killed such a large number of chickens, it had to be either toxic gas or perhaps pesticides mixed into the regular chicken feed.
Xia Liu knew everyone in the village, and while there might be those who envied him, they wouldn't go as far as poisoning the chickens. The only person who might do such a thing was likely Zhang Tie.
Xia Liu, now not one to act rashly, wouldn't confront Zhang Tie at his home without any evidence.
When he got angry, even he would be afraid of himself. Since someone was scheming against him behind his back, he would have to be more focused in his future endeavors.
The whole village knew that Xia Liu was raising chickens, and as soon as the news of the chickens' deaths spread, those who were picking atractylodes in the afternoon stopped and came over to see how Xia Liu was doing.
Xia Liu found this reaction amusing, yet moving: it was just a few thousand dead chickens and a loss of just over ten thousand.
Yet he was truly touched as the simplicity and sincerity of the villagers made him feel warm and comfortable once again.
Just as Xia Liu was about to put the incident behind him, an unexpected turn of events took place that evening.
A large group of villagers came to his doorstep, and most striking was that they brought someone with them–it was none other than Zhang Tie!
"Xia Liu, your chickens didn't die from a disease, it was Zhang Tie who poisoned them!" Li Zhi stood at the forefront. He had received news when he returned in the afternoon that he saw Zhang Tie sneaking off with a bottle late at night. Putting two and two together, with all the chickens on the mountain dead, Li Zhi led people to Zhang Tie's house and indeed found that bottle, which contained a special kind of gas!