Chapter 750: Excited Huang Laogen

As soon as I entered the silkworm room, I saw Huang Laogen bending over in front of a row of racks, carefully observing the condition of the silkworms.

This row of shelves are filled with plump, white silkworms that are almost as thick as fingers and are about to spin cocoons. They no longer eat much and are lazily crawling on the shelves. Some have already started to spin silk.

"Uncle Huang, how are you these days? Are you used to it?"

Hearing the sound, Huang Laogen, who was concentrating on observing, suddenly straightened up and hit his head on the shelf above his head.

With a "bang", several male workers in the silkworm room were startled. When they saw Huang Laogen covering his head, they couldn't help but hold back their laughter.

Master Huang was invited by Ranran to teach everyone how to raise silkworms. He is usually very serious and his requirements for them are extremely strict and he will not tolerate any negligence.

Unexpectedly, such a serious and strict person would make a fool of himself in front of them today.

Huang Laogen covered his forehead with one hand, looked up and saw the person coming, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he didn't care about the swelling on his forehead, he took his hand down, and replied with a smile:

"Well, I'm living a good life! Better than at home before. Thank you, boss, for bringing me here to work. I'm satisfied every day! Boss, you said before that I should think about it for three months. If I'm still willing to stay here after three months, we can sign the contract. Does that still count now?"

Qiao Ran didn't expect him to say this. She took out a small bottle of ointment from the small cloth bag and handed it to him, saying with a smile:

"Of course it counts! What, uncle, have you thought about it?"

Huang Laogen took the small bottle with both hands gratefully, but did not apply the ointment immediately, as he was worried that the smell of the ointment would spread and affect the silkworms.

While carefully putting the medicine bottle in his arms, he nodded quickly:

"Master, I have thought about it. I have thought about it a long time ago! I am willing to stay here forever. As long as you need me, I am willing to work here until I die. Or when I can no longer work, you can just have someone send me back to the village."

Such a good place, such a good boss, and such good people in the village, how could he not want to stay here?

"Master Huang, what are you talking about? We are not those black-hearted landlords. We can't do such a bastard thing as throwing things away after use. Aren't you insulting Ranran by saying this?"

Before Qiao Ran could say anything, a man who was feeding mulberry leaves to the silkworms and shoveling silkworm litter became unhappy and spoke up.

Huang Laogen hurriedly explained: "That's not what I meant! I meant that I will be useless when I am old. What else can I do if I can't work here? Send me back, and there are villagers to take care of me and bury me."

"Brother, why did you get so caught up in that? If you really can't move, don't we still exist? If one family sends you a meal a day, you won't starve. We can also bury you. When you are dying, tell us where you want to be buried. If you want to go back to your village, we will send you back for burial. If you want to be buried here, there are dozens of miles of mountains here so you can choose a Feng Shui treasured place."

Stone Dad said this half jokingly and half seriously.

Huang Laogen looked at his host and saw that she also smiled and nodded to show her agreement with Shitou's father. He was very touched.

"Of course, if the boss doesn't mind, I would actually like to die here. Then you can burn me and scatter me in any forest. I don't have any descendants to worship me anyway, so it would be a blessing to add some fertility to these flowers and plants."

"Hey, you're getting more and more excited. They say that a teacher is a father for life. You taught us the skills of raising silkworms, so you are our master, right? We, your disciples, will take care of you in your old age and see you to the end of your life! On your death anniversary and Qingming Festival, we will burn incense and paper for you, and offer you fruits and wine. In short, we won't let you become a lonely ghost."

Li Daqiang also spoke half seriously and half jokingly.

Seeing that their words were getting more and more outrageous, Qiao Ran quickly stopped talking.

"Okay, those are things for the future. Isn't it scary to talk about them now? Uncle, since you are willing to stay here, then stay! The workshop will expand in the future, and we may have to recruit a lot of people. Then we will have to trouble you to continue to teach us your experience in raising silkworms and train our new workers."

Huang Laogen naturally agreed when he heard this:

"That's all very well! As long as you can use me, I'm fine. I'm afraid I won't be needed. I really don't want to leave here."

"Okay, after dinner, come find me to sign the contract! You guys go ahead and do your work, I still need to go check out some other places."

After Qiao Ran finished speaking, she turned around and was about to leave, but was stopped by Huang Laogen.

Qiao Ran looked at Huang Laogen and saw that he was puzzled:

"Boss, there is something I can't figure out, I want to ask you for advice."

"Oh? Uncle, what's the matter?"

"Boss, didn't our silkworms hatch just two months ago? It's only been two months, and they're already spinning cocoons. My family has been raising silkworms for decades, but we can only raise three or four batches a year. Why are our silkworms so good at spinning cocoons? If they can produce a batch every two months, doesn't that mean we can raise silkworms all year round?"

There was both doubt and excitement in Huang Laogen's eyes. He didn't expect that the silkworms here could hatch batch after batch. If he could raise silkworms all year round, he would be busy all the time!

Qiao Ran smiled and gestured to Huang Laogen:

"Uncle, take a look at this silkworm room, what do you find?"

Huang Laogen looked around, thoughtfully:

"It's a lot bigger than my old silkworm house, and the windows are closed."

Qiao Ran nodded: "Not only should the windows be closed, but also insulation should be done when it is cold, and cooling should be done when it is hot, so that the temperature in the silkworm room can be kept neither too hot nor too cold, and the silkworms can grow in such a temperature. In addition, the mulberry leaves needed for silkworm breeding are generally only available in warm seasons. The reason you can only raise three or four batches of silkworms is that there are no mulberry leaves to feed the silkworms when the weather is cold. As long as there are mulberry leaves to feed the silkworms and a warm environment suitable for the growth of mulberry silkworms, you can raise silkworms all year round."

"So that's how it is! Do we have mulberry leaves here in winter?"

Huang Laogen asked with some concern.

Qiao Ran nodded: "Yes, we picked mulberry leaves to feed the silkworms in winter, don't worry. The Devil Valley is quite special. Even in winter, many trees here are still green."

"That's good, that's good! Then we can continue to raise silkworms all year round."

"Yes, so our workshop needs to be expanded. Not only does the scale of silkworm breeding need to be expanded, but we also need to hire people for silk reeling, weaving and other crafts. Everyone has to work while taking care of the crops and fruit trees. I'm afraid we won't be able to handle it."

Qiao Ran had already made a plan: raising silkworms, spinning yarn, and weaving cloth to sell for money. This was just one of the projects to get rich in Qingshui Village.

When the fruit trees grow up next year, the fruits from the trees watered with spiritual spring water will surely become sought-after treasures in the capital.

In addition, next year I will lead everyone to grow medicinal herbs. Wouldn’t the pharmacies be scrambling to buy the herbs that are irrigated with the spiritual spring water?

After two or three years, when everything is on track and the villagers can get rich and live a well-off life, she can lie back and enjoy life.

Coming out of the silkworm room, Qiao Ran was about to walk towards the silk reeling room when she heard a commotion outside.