Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Entire Herb Garden

"Are you sure planting an orchard will make us rich?"
Looking at Zhong Di’s eyes, Shao Hong knew he was serious.
By the time Zhong Di dragged Shao Hong out to the fields, it was already half past eight in the evening.
“Just tell me if you’re in or not. You get ten percent of the net profit.”
Based on the orchard’s current income, after deducting investments, earning four to five hundred thousand a year shouldn’t be a problem.
Doing the math, Shao Hong could get forty to fifty thousand, which amounts to about four thousand a month—a decent income in Shache County.
With some additional income later, earning over a hundred thousand a year wouldn’t be out of reach.
But he wasn’t about to tell Shao Hong all this, letting him decide for himself.
“I’m in. Why wouldn’t I be?”
Shao Hong agreed. Even if he worked elsewhere now, there wasn’t much suitable work. He might as well give it a try—what if it really made money?
After briefly acquainting Shao Hong with the environment, Zhong Di got to work.
Shao Hong, strong and sturdy, helped set up the sheep pen. He wasn’t familiar with other tasks yet, so doing work that didn’t require much thinking was just right for him.
Zhong Di busied himself with odd jobs, pondering as he worked.
His biggest concern now was how to hide the matter of the Wild Sand Immortal Sprout; he needed a good idea.
Before, it was just him, so he could be discreet and no one would notice, but now that wouldn’t work.
He definitely needed help; worrying about all these miscellaneous tasks every day was enough to drive him mad.
“Baa baa baa!”
The bleating of sheep pulled Zhong Di from his thoughts. Looking at them, he wondered why he’d gone and bought them in the first place.
Every day, they bleated endlessly for grass and water, nothing like the obedient rabbits.
Zhong Di grabbed a pitchfork, ready to feed the sheep.
“Zhong Di, keep that pile of wild hemp separate—don’t feed it to the sheep.”
Seeing his son with the pitchfork, Zhong Tian knew he was about to feed the sheep.
“Why keep the wild hemp? It’s such a big pile, and it’s just in the way right now.”
The southern edge of the eastern plot seemed spacious normally, with the jujube trees a good ten meters from the windbreak.
But now there were piles of grass and sheep pens, and space was shrinking fast.
“Wild hemp—I’ll sort it out later. It can be sold for quite a bit; it’s excellent medicinal herb.”
In the vast northwest, wild hemp was abundant. In the fields it was just a weed, but once processed, it became a valuable medicinal herb.
Wild hemp tea from Shache County was famous and could treat many ailments.
“All right, I’ll leave it here then.”
It made sense, so Zhong Di switched to a pile of dry grass for the pitchfork.
Wait a minute...
Wild hemp, medicinal herb? The selling point of his eggs before was using medicinal herbs and flavorful plants as feed, wasn’t it?
He could plant a patch of medicinal herbs, create a herb garden to cover up the Wild Sand Immortal Sprout, and grow shade-tolerant herbs under the windbreak.
That would make harvesting the Immortal Sprout easy, and fertilizing with manure convenient.
Instead of hiding it, why not be open about it? After all, only the ones he picked mattered.
He could even set up a small herb garden behind the homestead, call it the Hundred Herb Garden—a scenic spot and practical, two birds with one stone.
Once he thought of this, Zhong Di’s mind raced. He would arrange it tomorrow.
With this problem solved, Zhong Di worked much faster.
Before he knew it, evening had come.
“Thanks to Shao Hong today, the sheep pen is coming along nicely. We’ll finish the basic setup tomorrow morning and refine it in the afternoon.”
Looking at the sturdy young man before him, Zhong Tian was pleased—there weren’t many so reliable and efficient at work.
Even his own son wasn’t half as swift as Shao Hong.
“Dad, from now on, it’s just Shao Hong and me working. We’re partners now.”
Zhong Di didn’t bother explaining in detail—his father wouldn’t understand anyway—so he kept it simple, knowing it would be clear.
Zhong Tian paused, surprised his son was partnering with someone. But thinking about it, his son hadn’t been back long and had already made money and struck a big deal, so he let him be.
“Good, then work hard and make something of it.”
The older generation always hoped their children would achieve something.
In reality, few people truly succeed in this society—perhaps one in ten thousand.
But every Chinese harbors a dream; what if it comes true?
After seeing his father off, Shao Hong left as well, driving Zhong Di’s electric tricycle.
Shao Hong’s family lived in the county town; his father died young, leaving only his mother to manage everything. She’d worn herself out to put Shao Hong through university, and her health was failing.
That’s why Shao Hong hadn’t stayed in the big city. In his view, rather than struggling outside for a career that might never materialize, it was better to spend more time with his mother.
His mother’s health was poor, and he would always worry if she was alone. If anything happened, he wouldn’t be able to get back quickly. Plus, Xiaoxin was also from Shache County, so he returned home.
Tonight he needed to bring his luggage over.
Once his business took off, he’d buy a car, making visits home easier.
As for his previous job, the remaining salary wasn’t important—it was just a way to make money anyway.
After dinner, Zhong Di began reinforcing the chicken coop perimeter, at least to deal with the hedgehog problem first. The hedgehog he caught last night was still locked up.
It didn’t take long to fix the perimeter. Afterwards, Zhong Di followed his father’s advice and placed a few eggs on a high mound.
“Let’s live in peace. I’ll provide eggs every day—just don’t steal chickens or eggs anymore, all right?”
Muttering, Zhong Di went back inside. It wasn’t a real solution, but what else could he do?
He would observe the situation. After all, if those yellow weasels bore a grudge, his chickens would be in real danger.
Lying in bed, he happily opened Xuan Yin, shot a short video of the hedgehog, and typed: Caught two egg-stealing hedgehogs!
After posting, he didn’t share it in his circle—he only did that for advertising.
He closed Xuan Yin and opened Xiao Xin, seeing several friend requests.
What was going on?
He decided to accept them all.
Counting carefully, there were about ten.
“Boss, do you still have free-range eggs?”
“Boss, I want to buy your free-range eggs.”
No sooner had he accepted than several messages arrived, all wanting to buy eggs. Why were so many people suddenly interested?
Yang Yi? What did he want now?
“Boss Zhong, you’d better thank me! My sports car was bought thanks to your eggs, so I gave you some promotion. These are all wealthy clients—charge as much as you want, no need to thank me.”
So that was it. The reputation of his eggs was spreading fast. Zhong Di still sent a thank you.
It looked like he needed to expand production, make two kinds of eggs: one with Wild Sand Immortal Sprout, and one regular, though he’d definitely add a little Immortal Sprout to the latter.
That would solve the supply issue and boost income.
Times had changed—before, it was just him, and scaling up was overwhelming. Now, with Shao Hong, things were different.