Chapter 43

Gaojia sighed, lacking any distinctive features, what could be done? "Brother-in-law, you need to make the dishes better; this team-building activity is quite expensive."

"Rest assured, I will make sure you are satisfied with the food."

Li Dong could only make such a promise. His farm didn't have many unique features, and most family-run small farms were the same: fishing, eating home-cooked meals, and enjoying the scenery.

After hanging up the phone, Li Dong continued to apply tung oil to the carriage, while driving away the mischievous wild boy.

"Finally done."

He dragged the carriage to an open area to dry, washed his hands, and led the horse out of the yard. The wild boy flew from the tree directly onto the horse's back, enjoying himself. Li Dong had never even ridden this horse.

"Don't move around."

If the horse got agitated, Li Dong had no good solution, as the horse wasn't very familiar with him. After just a few feedings, the horse was already quite tame, though it looked a bit thin. "I'll buy more soybean cakes, corn, and mix them with the hay to fatten it up."

A thin horse doesn't look good, especially with unkempt fur. Li Dong carried a small bucket of water and a brush, planning to wash the horse. He had thought about it yesterday but was afraid the horse wasn't familiar enough. Now, after a day, the horse was quite tame, so he decided to proceed.

He led the horse to the reservoir, fetched water, and started brushing. The wild pheasant clucked, and soon two swans came over. They had made a nest by the reservoir, but unfortunately, no baby swans would be born this year, at least not until next April or May.

The male swan remained proud, but the smaller female swan circled around Li Dong. "Is my charm so great that even swans are captivated? What should I do?"

Fortunately, the horse was a stallion. While washing the horse, Li Dong thought about all sorts of random things.

"Jiajia mentioned the lack of unique features; this is something I really need to think about."

After washing the horse, Li Dong sat down to enjoy the sun with the horse, cutting some grass. It was a leisurely time, but with no business for a day or two, it wasn't a good situation. After all, running a farm shouldn't be about making a lot of money, but at least not losing money.

Sigh, unique features, Li Dong pondered for a long time, but had no ideas. "Maybe I should imitate a supply cooperative and get goods from 1978. If I can get a few bottles of 1970s Moutai, it would be quite interesting."

"This idea is worth a try."

Li Dong clapped his hands, deciding to start with this and think of other ways later. "There are too many farms these days; without unique features, it's hard to survive."

"Feeding the horse?"

"Yes."

Li Dong led the horse back to the village, encountering a few elderly people in the vegetable garden. He was one of the few young adults in the village, as most had moved to the city. Now, the countryside had three more things: more elderly people, more idle land, and more wild animals, and three fewer things: fewer young adults, fewer farmers, and less hustle and bustle.

"This kid must have too much money and no land to spend it on."

"Indeed, how could Weidong's horse be worth 5,000 yuan plus a tricycle? That tricycle looks brand new, and I heard it costs over 5,000 yuan."

Li Dong was both amused and frustrated. "Could you wait until I'm far away before gossiping? It's really helpless to buy a horse and get criticized." He patted the horse. "You need to be more spirited and prove your worth."

Back at the farm, he tied the horse, added some hay, threw in a block of coarse salt, and filled the water trough. Li Dong carried a hoe out of the yard, with the wild boy following behind. In the vegetable garden, he thought about the current situation: the autumn cucumbers were ready to be picked in a couple of days.

The tomatoes were mostly red and could be picked for Jiajia and her colleagues to enjoy. There were also red peppers, autumn eggplants, winter melons, and pumpkins that could be picked for fun. "First, I need to clear the weeds and make a path."

This task wasn't difficult for Li Dong. Compared to carrying water and pushing a wheelbarrow, it was much easier. He worked for a while, then rested, and by noon, the weeds in the vegetable garden were mostly cleared.

"Wild boy, let's go back."

At noon, Li Dong called the wild pheasant, which was following him, but it suddenly flapped its wings and started fighting something. It was really troublesome. Li Dong quickly ran over and saw something good.

A gray snake, which wasn't venomous and was common in the area. This one was quite large, probably weighing a kilogram or two. The wild boy was fighting the gray snake, pecking it occasionally, while the snake curled up and flicked its tongue.

Li Dong swung his hoe and smashed the snake's head, then picked it up and put it in a basket. He went back to skin and dry it, planning to make a snake soup when Jiajia came over. "Well done, I'll give you extra food later."

The gray snake was just a small side event, and selling one could earn a hundred or two, which was a small gain.

Back at the farm, Li Dong fed the horse, took a break, and prepared two small dishes: cold cucumber, tomato and egg stir-fry, and some braised beef. He heated up two steamed buns. "The grapevine in the yard will be ready to make a grape arbor next year."

This year, the grapevine had been transplanted for too short a time, but the gourds were growing well. Li Dong didn't like eating them, but they looked nice hanging there, so he left them alone. "I'll tidy up the arbor later."

Girls might like a gourd arbor. He could set up a round wooden table and a few tree stump stools, and get a teapot. After lunch, Li Dong started working, and the time flew by.

The next day, Li Dong didn't rest either. He drove the carriage to town to buy some small bamboo baskets, glass jars, and other items. The bamboo baskets were for Jiajia and her colleagues to pick vegetables, and the glass jars were for storing dried goods like mushrooms, black fungus, wild grapes, hawthorns, dates, and chestnuts.

When arranged, the jars looked quite nice. "This is really good. I'll buy more and get a shelf to display them; it will look interesting."

"It's not easy, but I've finally tidied up."

Li Dong looked around. The stone path in the yard extended to the village entrance. Unfortunately, the small water channel around the village was dry, which would have been a nice feature. The clear stream with small fish swimming in it was now dry, and Li Dong couldn't do anything about it.

For the fishing arrangement, Li Dong went to the reservoir, opened the bait dispenser to feed the fish, and set up nets to catch some fish and shrimp. He thought most of Jiajia's colleagues were girls and might not like fishing.

Especially with a large reservoir, fishing wasn't easy. "Maybe I should use a net to enclose an area and put more fish in it." Li Dong thought this was worth a try.

Jiajia bringing friends over was a challenge for Li Dong. This kind of rural farm didn't have many unique features, just fishing and eating home-cooked meals.

Jiajia's good intentions couldn't be wasted, and after two days of hard work, everything was almost ready.

Li Dong took the time to train the two swans. While looking up swan feeding information, he saw a picture of two swans forming a heart shape, which was beautiful with the reflection in the water.

Li Dong decided to try to get the two swans at the reservoir to do the same. It took a lot of effort, but he finally succeeded, and he was very pleased. This would be a great attraction, and the girls might forget about fishing.

After a few more practices, the swans became more skilled and could form the shape on their own.

Back home, Li Dong slapped his forehead, realizing he had almost forgotten something important. "Uncle Weiguo, there will be guests tomorrow at noon. Please come early. Okay, thanks."

After hanging up, he sent a message to Jiajia, asking what time they would arrive and if he should pick them up, whether they were driving or not.

"We won't drive."

Jiajia quickly replied. "The mountain roads are difficult, and we are all girls, so we decided to take the bus."

"How many people?"

"Six."

Not many, Li Dong thought the carriage would be enough. "When you get close to the intersection, give me a call, and I'll come to pick you up." The bus stop was a few stops away from the farm, so he planned to pick them up.

"I'll remember and call you when we get there."

"Is there anything you need to bring? I can buy it in town."

"No, we have everything at home."

They really didn't need anything, Li Dong said with a smile. "Do you have any dietary restrictions? Ask them and let me know, so I can tell the chef to prepare accordingly."

"I'll ask them."

Jiajia hadn't thought of this.

They chatted for a while, and Li Dong hung up, feeling the difficulty of the past two days. "At least there are no other guests tomorrow." He smiled wryly, as there had been no guests for the past two days.

How could the farm make money? He needed to come up with some unique features. Even if it didn't make much money, at least it shouldn't lose money, and the losses shouldn't be too much. "I'll bring some things from 1978 to attract attention."

To attract attention, Li Dong thought the alcohol was a good idea. If he could get all the famous domestic wines from 1978, it would be the first in the city. With some promotion, the farm wouldn't lose money.

How smart I am, he thought, imagining a group of wine enthusiasts gathering at the farm. He felt excited about the idea. The wine prices were low in those days, and with some connections, it wouldn't cost much.

Thinking about it, Li Dong had a big appetite that night, eating two large bowls of rice and finishing three dishes.

The next morning, Li Dong got ready and hitched up the carriage. Jiajia and her group were on the earliest bus, arriving at the Xiangshan intersection around 7:20. "Brother-in-law, we're almost there."

"I'll come over now."

Jiajia hung up and her friend asked, "Jiajia, what delicious food has your brother-in-law prepared? I haven't even had breakfast."

"Qing, not just you, we all haven't eaten." Xu Yue, a short-haired, slender girl, was the shortest among them