Chapter 9: The Curing Barn (Seeking Collection)

  Zhang Lei didn't expect Zhang Baosheng to be so direct, and for a moment he was unprepared, stunned, before saying: "Before that, I want to say that we need to sign a liability waiver contract, otherwise if things don't go well, I'll end up being the one to take the fall for Qin Luofeng."

  "What is a disclaimer contract?" someone asked.

  "An exemption contract means that I have a way to process tobacco leaves into finished products, but I haven't actually practiced it myself yet, so whether it will work or not is uncertain. Therefore, if anyone is willing to let me try, we can sign a contract stating that you voluntarily provide the tobacco leaves for me to try, and if it doesn't achieve the expected result, I won't take any responsibility."

  "Hey, this kid is still so steady, Bao Sheng, I really don't know how you taught him." A robust man in his thirties or forties joked.

  The son is making progress, and as his father, it's only natural to be delighted. After hearing the praise, Zhang Baosheng was also very pleased and said: "This is indeed a natural talent! Now that everything has been made clear, who among you wants to come and try?"

  Someone shouted: "Hey, don't you have tobacco at home? Try using your own first."

  His words immediately received a response from everyone. Zhang Lei looked at Zhang Baosheng, and Zhang Baosheng hesitated for a moment before saying, "Okay."

  Zhang Chen rubbed his fists and palms together, his face filled with excitement. "Brother, tell me what to do, haha, if we succeed, we'll make history!"

  Everyone burst out laughing, Zhang Lei cursed in his heart, indeed, no matter what era, selfishness is human nature. He opened his mouth and said loudly: "Fellow villagers, this is not just a matter of my family, now that the tobacco leaves are all stored at home, I think it won't take long before these tobacco leaves become completely unusable. Of course, this is not what I care about, anyway, when the time comes to build a curing barn, the first batch will also use our family's tobacco, and after half a month of processing, I estimate that this will take a total of one month's time. One month later, even if my method is effective, your tobacco will be useless too."

  In fact, tobacco has a long shelf life because nicotine is originally a toxic substance, so there is no situation of snakes and insects eating it. Zhang Lei said this just to scare them temporarily.

  "What? How can this be good? I was still hoping to make a profit from Qin Mangzi to have a good New Year, but it turns out he's cheated me again. If the tobacco is useless, how am I supposed to pay off my family's debt? Zhang Xiaoge, do you have any way to get our stuff back too?" Everyone was shocked by Zhang Lei's words, and they thought that rather than letting the tobacco go to waste at home, it would be better to let Zhang Lei try his luck. Maybe he could succeed, and wouldn't that be a turnaround from despair to hope?

  Zhang Lei hummed softly and said, "This is what you guys said, if things don't go well, don't blame me."

  "Of course, of course..."

  Zhang Lei took out a piece of paper from his pocket and said, "So, let's go back to what we were just talking about. This is the draft disclaimer I made. Whoever wants to take out tobacco can sign on this."

  "Zhang Xiaoge, this won't do. This is all dense and black on white, they recognize us but we don't recognize them. If someone reads it out loud for us to hear, once we understand, naturally there won't be any more doubts." A villager said, his words were also the voice of everyone's heart, and so he gained everyone's agreement.

  Zhang Lei handed the disclaimer to Zhang Chen and said, "You've also attended private school for a few years, you come read it to them."

  Zhang Chen took it over, cleared his throat and was about to read it out loud when a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed the disclaimer. A sly voice then said, "Hold on."

  Everyone looked towards the source of the sound, an old guy with a hat and a small goatee, resembling a skull, holding a ridiculously large abacus in his right hand and Zhang Lei's disclaimer in the other. Behind him, a fat man shaped like a big wine barrel puffed out his belly, with his hands clasped behind his back, beaming with pride as he looked at the crowd before him.

  Zhang Lei turned around and pointed at the fat man, saying: "Who are these two?"

  "They are Xie Yuanwai and Mr. Zhang of the accounting room, all the land we cultivate is rented from their family." Zhang Chen said in a low voice as he came over.

  Xie Yuanwai couldn't help but narrow his already small eyes and examine Zhang Lei carefully, dressed in the finest silk, and said in a dull tone: "Isn't this the young master of the Zhang family? Not seen for several months, you've become prosperous, eh, dressing so well."

  Zhang Lei smiled and said, "Oh no, oh no, how can we compare to your esteemed family's thousands of hectares of good land? Even just sitting at home, the money keeps coming in endlessly. We common folk are just barely scraping by."

  Xie Yuanwai gave an account to Mr. Zhang, and then said with a smile: "It's not what you said, the world is not peaceful now, it's hard for everyone to make a living, this year's rent should be paid."

  Mr. Accountant pulled out a large and thick account book from his blue cloth bag, flipped to the middle page, and read aloud: "Zhang Baosheng, three people in the family, rented 45 mu of land, rent 45 taels. Chen Laochui, six people in the family, rented 60 mu of land, land rent 60 taels, purchased seeds on account 5 taels. Qin Luofeng, seven people in the family, rented 100 mu of land, rent 100 taels. Li Dingyi, five people in the family, rented 50 mu of land, rent 50 taels."

  Qin Luofeng had his heart set on getting rich from tobacco, so he also planted the most. Now that the accounts were settled, he was deeply in debt. Adding to this, other people's debts were also counted towards him. Two hundred and fifty-five taels of silver, even if his eldest son's pork stall could make a profit of one or two taels per month, it would take several decades to pay off.

  "Didn't we agree to settle the account after the New Year? It's not auspicious to ask for accounts before the New Year." After a moment of silence, Qin Luo Feng squeezed out from the crowd with his cane, his face flushed as he spoke.

  Xie Yuanwai said, "It's not even the end of the year yet, I heard you messed things up. When you rented the land, you swore it was no problem, now you're making excuses and pushing back, are you playing me?"

  "No, no, no, I wouldn't dare joke with you. But we indeed encountered difficulties, however the trouble has been resolved now. Zhang's kid can help us out, please ask Mr. Xie to give us a few more days. We're just a bunch of rough men, we don't know anything else, but we do have some brute strength, so it'll be better for us later..."

  Qin Luofeng's words were not yet finished, when Xie Yuanwai waved his hand impatiently and said: "Stop stop, this group of poor devils, making me come here in vain again. I'll give you another month's time, if after a month I still can't get the money, then you're all waiting for it, humph."

  Xie Yuan's face relaxed, and Qin Luo Feng smiled with a flattering expression: "Yes, yes, thank you, Lord Xie, for your kindness. If I become successful in the future, I will definitely not forget to repay your kindness."

  "Haha, you still want to prosper? Maybe next life." Xie Yuanwai flicked his sleeve, turned around, and strode away with his head held high, surrounded by the crowd's cheers.

  Qin Luofeng wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Fortunately, we're all on the same side." He turned to Zhang Lei and said, "Big nephew, you see that there's only a month left..." He picked up the disclaimer statement that had just been discarded by the accountant, saying: "I don't understand what's written on it either. You're an educated person, I trust you won't set me up here. So, I'll sign first, and press my fingerprint to confirm?"

  Zhang Lei nodded, with Qin Luo Feng taking the lead, and since Xie Yuan Wai had already issued the final ultimatum on the other side, there was no other way but to believe that Zhang Lei could bring them hope. So very smoothly, all those who grew tobacco in the family pressed their handprints on it one after another.

  "Alright, alright, now everyone can see what's going on with you. What do we do next? If there's anything we can help with, let's all work together." Chen Lao Chui said. Although he was not yet fifty years old, he looked prematurely aged. His son, Chen Da Yong, had grown up playing with Zhang Lei, so the two families still got along pretty well. As soon as Zhang Lei put away the disclaimer statement, Chen Lao Chui immediately started shouting.

  "Alright alright, let's get started quickly. It's still early now, it's best to prepare everything needed by tonight and start tomorrow." Everyone echoed in agreement.

  Zhang Lei wiped away a bead of sweat. Why were these people all like this? They would hesitate for so long at the beginning, and once they made up their minds, they couldn't wait to get it done immediately.

  "Alright, since that's the case, I'll just say it directly. Tobacco leaves need to be dried of their moisture in order to proceed with the next step of processing. Since the weather isn't cooperating now, my idea is to build a tobacco drying house, light a big fire inside, and raise the temperature inside the house. Then we can put the tobacco leaves inside and achieve our goal." Zhang Lei said simply.

  He took out a piece of paper as big as a Ba Xian table, on which several drawings were drawn. Zhang Lei pointed to the first drawing and said: "Look, this is the external shape diagram of the smokehouse I drew, which is similar to our house, but there are no windows. This can keep the temperature inside. The chimney is for removing moisture."

  He replaced it with another picture, pointing to the row of wooden frames on it and said: "There are many holes in the wall of the smokehouse. Later, the tobacco leaves will be tied to the wooden sticks one by one, using these holes to hang them all up, which is conducive to even heating of the tobacco leaves."

  "How can you tell if the tobacco leaves are done without windows?" Someone questioned Zhang Lei's design.

  Zhang Lei was not surprised by this question, as if he had expected someone to ask it. He continued to talk freely: "This is why I asked you to sign a disclaimer. Roasting tobacco and cooking dishes are similar, and the timing of the fire is crucial. I have never done this kind of work before, which means that in this aspect, I am still a blank slate and need to explore step by step. As a result, it's inevitable that there will be situations where the timing of the fire is not mastered. However, everyone can rest assured that our family's tobacco leaves will definitely be the first batch to go into production."

  "Oh..."

  It seems that everyone can't think of any other loopholes, Zhang Lei said: "Well, next, please help me build this smokehouse. Right in my family's courtyard, I don't know how you all feel about it?"