Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 463: Complete Ignorance

Liu Lan’s eyes lit up. She had work to do and didn’t have time to collect cicada husks.

But the village had no source of income, so most villagers just guarded their land.

If this news spreads out...

"No, this matter won’t work if we just talk about it among ourselves. We need to tell Captain Uncle and them,"

Mu Da thought for a moment and agreed it made sense.

"We’ll talk to him when we get back."

Yaozi chimed in, "If the quantity is small, it’s not worth it."

This stuff is light. Even a sackful doesn’t weigh much, sells for little money, and takes up time.

"I wouldn’t deceive you guys."

Mu Da chuckled and shared a little insider tip, "At the beginning of the year, the provincial pharmaceutical factory needs a lot of cicada husks, by the tens of thousands."

Yi Chichi understood, "A new formula is coming out."

Mu Da nodded, and Liu Lan said, "If it’s for a new medicine, waiting for fresh cicada husks won’t be fast enough, right?!"

"Even aged cicada husks are okay."

It doesn’t affect its use.

"Besides, gathering the medicinal materials won’t be that quick either."

In other words, Kao Shan Village still had a chance.

They indeed needed to let the team leaders know in advance.

The mountains allocated to Kao Shantun Team had several areas with many cicadas.

Every year, when cicadas emerge, their husks pile up, and they’ve accumulated considerably by now.

If aged cicada husks are useful, Kao Shan Village could make a profit this time.

That’s great.

When they told the team leaders about it, their eyes lit up. They immediately sought confirmation from Mu Da about the reliability of the news and then began to discuss.

Seeing them start discussing serious matters, Yi Chichi and Liu Lan, realizing there wasn’t anything for them to do, proposed to leave. Unexpectedly, the team leader suddenly said——

"Chichi, you can’t leave yet."

Yi Chichi, who was already at the door, stopped and turned back, "What’s up?"

"Do you still remember last year when the secretary came to you, saying he wanted to work on crochet and tiger head shoes and hats?"

"I remember."

The matter eventually faded away, and she thought it was a dead-end.

After all, Jiangnan doesn’t lack skillful people. Whether it’s embroidery or crochet, they are one of the origin places.

The famous Su Embroidery among the four great embroideries originated there.

Not to mention Hang Embroidery and other regionally distinctive embroideries.

Therefore, even if the Friendship Store there seeks collaboration, they would only look for locals, not outsiders.

However, now that the team leader mentioned it again, she couldn’t help but think more about it.

"Did the secretary manage to negotiate with them?"

If true, the secretary’s achievement is not small.

The team leader’s mouth twitched, "No, but he did negotiate another handicraft job."

"What kind of job?"

"Hats!"

"??? What kind of hats?"

"All kinds of furry hats made from hides."

Yi Chichi’s smile faded, "Where did all these hides come from?"

"The neighboring wolf and wild boar infestations; the armed forces teamed with militias to take out several waves, including bears and tigers."

Goodness, they’re all protected animals.

"They also hunted quite a few roe deer, local dogs, and minks."

My goodness, in the later years, this would be very criminal.

When did the wildlife protection laws come into place?

She thought for a moment and realized she couldn’t recall in her original world because she never paid attention to such news.

Anyway, now pandas, golden monkeys, and northeast tigers aren’t considered national treasures.

And there was no way to explain it to them.

So, she had to ambiguously say, "Excessive hunting might lead to extinction, which isn’t good for ecological development."

"That’s unnecessary worrying."

The secretary replied with a smile, "People who rely on the mountains know better than you. We don’t hunt females in the spring or males in the autumn, unless the wolf or wild boar groups are overwhelmingly large."

These two species are pack predators. In the winter, when the mountains are snowbound, these hungry animals descend in groups in search of food.

They pose a greater threat than tigers and bears.

After all, tigers are solitary and territorial, typically occupying large areas, where you might only find one or two tigers across several mountains.

They are the quintessential territorial beasts.

The bears are hibernators. Though it’s possible they’ll cause harm, it’s negligible.

So, he added, "Don’t worry; this work primarily uses wild boar and wolf hides. Cow and sheep hides can be mixed in, and rabbits breed quite quickly too."

With all that said, what else could Yi Chichi say?

Nothing needed to be said.

Even if she did, no one would listen.

So, she reluctantly asked, "What does the secretary want me to do?"

"Produce hat designs, and if possible, it’d be best to incorporate some of our local characteristics."

Yi Chichi, "..."

It’s a good job, but also a challenge.

Designing hat patterns would be easy, but incorporating local characteristics would be tough.

She’s been here for years and still doesn’t know the local characteristics of Baoshan.

Thinking of looking for external help, gosh, no one seems to know anything.

Yi Chichi was anxious, "Aren’t you locals supposed to know about your local characteristics? Where should I research this? Does the county annals have records?"

That’s a good question. The team leader looked at the secretary, "Do we have a county annals?"

The secretary looked bewildered, "I don’t know either."

Mu Da had lines of frustration on his forehead, "Every place has county annals."

As for where to check, "Chichi, if you want to check the county annals, you’d likely need to go to the county library."

Baoshan County has a library, which was closed before 1970 and reopened to the public at the end of that year. Yi Chichi had seen it when she was in the county.

She also saw people reading and borrowing books there.

But she hadn’t been inside.

"Do I have to go to the county?"

"You could also go to the commune to ask the secretary for relevant documents."

The team leader suggested, and Yi Chichi didn’t feel happy about it. Instead, she looked aggrieved and said, "Uncle, do I have to accept this task?"

The team leader grinned, his palm as large as a fan patted her shoulder, almost pushing her down.

"Uncle, be gentle."

"Forgot you couldn’t handle that."

The team leader withdrew his hand, "Chichi, I know you find it troublesome and don’t want to take it, but you’re the only one for this job, and the secretary won’t let you refuse."

In other words, she had to go either to the commune or the county.

"Why didn’t you say this when I went to the commune?"

"I didn’t expect the secretary to send Little Chen over to notify."

Yaozi asked curiously, "Little Chen came over?"

"Yes, he came about an hour after you left."

Yaozi acknowledged, glanced at Yi Chichi, and rather insincerely consoled, "Nothing we can do; you missed it, so you’ll need to make another trip."

Yi Chichi conceded, "Alright, I’ll make the trip again, but it won’t be possible today."

Having just returned from the commune and not even having entered her house, going back to the commune would mean she might not return tonight.

"I’ll go with you tomorrow to see the secretary."

The kid’s not the main concern, and can’t be left alone to see the secretary, in case she says the wrong thing or loses her temper, which would be bad for her and Kao Shan Village.

It’s a matter of taking credit for something, and it would be a pity if something went wrong.

Although Yi Chichi wasn’t aware of what he was thinking, she could understand the team leader’s determination to back her up.

Instantly, she felt reassured.

"Alright, I’ll go with Uncle Team Leader tomorrow."