The Happy Farmer Wanderer-Chapter 802: People are the Rivers and Lakes

The old saying often goes, "A brief parting is better than a new marriage," and this phrase really seems to hold true.

Nowadays, many couples, who are together every day, begin to grow weary of each other after a while, finding fault in all sorts of trivial details. But if they separate for a period of time and then reunite, their affection appears to immediately intensify, turning into a blazing fire.

Li Qing had only been away for a few days, yet the women at home all seemed quite eager.

Wu Xingxing was one example, and even Qin Wenjun was boldly speaking, her eyes sparkling with endless charm.

It wasn’t surprising to see this behavior from Tian Yue’e and Wu Xingxing, but Qin Wenjun, a woman who liked women, was usually much more composed. She was willing to do anything now, with no hint of refusal, though she seldom displayed the kind of coyness she was showing now.

"Wait and see how I take care of you tonight," Li Qing said as he lightly scraped Qin Wenjun’s nose. "Let’s take care of the serious matters first."

Qin Wenjun threw a killer coquettish look at Li Qing and said softly, "I’ll prepare the gear for tonight."

"Sister Wenjun, what secret weapons do you still have?" Wu Xingxing asked curiously.

Qin Wenjun, with a playful smile in her eyes, leaned toward Wu Xingxing and whispered a few words.

Suddenly, Wu Xingxing’s eyes lit up, "You have that too? Let me see it first later."

"Sure, we’ll explore it together later," Qin Wenjun laughed.

Li Qing, curious about their secretive manner, said, "What’s with these little secrets of yours? Tell me too."

"You’ll find out tonight. Let’s get down to business first," Qin Wenjun said, waving her hands.

"Still keeping secrets from me." Li Qing chuckled and nodded, "Alright, serious matters first."

Outside the small shop, almost all the villagers who were supposed to come had arrived, and Li Qing walked out with Qin Wenjun.

"Qingzi, you had Secretary Qin call us over. What’s the big deal?"

Just as Li Qing stepped out, someone urgently called out.

Li Qing raised his hand to gesture for everyone to be quiet for a moment, then said, "I called everyone here today not for a major issue, but it does concern our villagers’ actual income, and if handled well, it could become a substantial side business for everyone."

"Qingzi, are you talking about the accommodation issue?" Tang Jianmin shouted.

He and a dozen strong men from the village were sitting in the farthest corner; they were not only villagers but also Li Qing’s employees.

Li Qing smiled and nodded, "Old Tang, you’re sharp. I haven’t even started, and you’ve guessed it right. You all must have noticed, our BBQ stall has been doing much better than before, and more people want to stay overnight. So, I think we need to introduce some essential standards and treat this matter seriously."

"You don’t mean to have all of us work for you, do you?" a woman spat out melon seed shells and chided, "We’re all from the same village; don’t overdo it. Those people indeed come to the village because of your shop, but their lodging has nothing to do with you. They want to stay, and we want to host—that’s our business."

"Qingzi hasn’t finished speaking, what are you opposing?" someone angrily mocked, "You can speak your mind, but at least let Qingzi finish his piece. If it weren’t for his shop, how many people would want to stay at your place?"

Where there are many people, there is society, and it’s normal to have conflicting opinions; dissenting voices are to be expected.

Li Qing was mentally prepared for this, and he had refrained from getting involved in the lodging business precisely because of this.

It was too troublesome.

But now, having invested money in advertising and seeing tangible results, and especially with Tang Rou’s strategy linking dining and accommodation, it really wouldn’t do to ignore this opportunity any longer.

Although there were dissenting opinions, Li Qing still had significant influence in the village.

Especially with people like Tang Jianmin, who had made a good amount of money with Li Qing’s help over the past six months.

Li Qing had always paid better than other places, and from the new rural project to his own house, there was continuous work.

How others might react was uncertain, but people like Tang Jianmin would absolutely support Li Qing, as long as it didn’t severely harm their own interests. By now, they were Li Qing’s core connections in the village.

"Although Qingzi hasn’t really said anything yet, I think I can guess what it’s about," a middle-aged man with glasses slowly said from the crowd. "Qingzi obviously wants to centralize planning and manage this business himself, right?"

"Doing so is both right and necessary—as the saying goes, no rules, no standards. However, this shouldn’t be solely handled by Qingzi. I think we should choose a few villagers under the village committee to supervise and manage this affair," he continued.

"Originally, it was indeed Qingzi’s small restaurant that attracted guests to our village, those truck drivers who stopped for a meal and a rest, and that’s Qingzi’s contribution—he deserves a major share."

"But, I don’t know if everyone noticed the article that was posted on Tongcheng’s integrated media. I think that article, which led to a sudden increase in local traffic, is the main reason behind the traffic boost, and they’re mostly locals. This illustrates the power of official support and shows that our region is promoting our village. This achievement should not be considered solely Qingzi’s contribution."

"If we are hashing this out, we should clarify matters before deciding on profit distribution. It would be best if the village unitarily coordinates this, with the village committee selecting a few villagers to manage everything regarding dining, lodging, and sanitation," he argued.

His lengthy discourse won the general agreement of most villagers.

Of course, there were still those who opposed, feeling that it was their own business how they handled it and that it didn’t concern anyone else.

Li Qing looked toward the speaking middle-aged man; he wasn’t quite sure of his name.

However, he used to be a private school teacher and ran a private school for several years. He liked to speak and act pretentiously, and the villagers seemed to have forgotten his real name, always calling him Old Scholar.

This wasn’t exactly a term of praise, but the Old Scholar seemed to quite like it, even going so far as to refer to himself as such, behaving contentedly and comfortably.

"I mostly agree with what Scholar Uncle said, but there’s a misunderstanding here—it wasn’t an official effort. I paid someone to write the advertisement, spending quite a lot," Li Qing explained.