Chapter 42 Cultivating Ganoderma

Tong Chuxue was not at all surprised to see the perplexity on everyone’s faces.

"Actually, it is very simple. Let me explain it to everyone. Suppose we are doing business, Uncle Luo and Aunt Liu each contribute one tael of silver, and I contribute two taels, making a total capital of four taels. Then Uncle Luo and Aunt Liu each hold a quarter stake, while I hold a half stake. When we make a profit, it will be distributed according to these proportions."

Liu Fen thought about it and said, "Does that mean the more you invest, the more you get, and the less you invest, the less you get?"

Tong Chuxue nodded, "That is essentially the idea."

Everyone readily accepted the method of distributing profits based on capital contribution proportions.

"There is one more thing I almost forgot to mention. During the period before we start generating returns, all the grain will be provided by me."

Hearing this, Luo Changhua strongly disagreed, "How can that be? Your family only has one acre of land; how will you manage for food yourself?"

Tong Chuxue chuckled softly, "Uncle Luo, rest assured. Since I’ve persuaded everyone to sell their land, if I don't solve the problem of your meals, who will?"

Next, Tong Chuxue asked everyone to pay their respective capital shares.

Liu Fen had sold two mu of land and still had some silver on hand. Remembering Tong Chuxue’s promise to cover meals, she simply threw all eighteen taels into the venture.

As for Luo Changhua, his situation was rather awkward. While a widow like Liu Fen could produce over ten taels of silver, he had only received three taels from the recent family division, which was utterly embarrassing to take out.

Luo Hui'an noticed his father's predicament and pulled Tong Chuxue aside. "Chuxue, our branch has separated from the main Luo family."

Luo Changhua’s family division was messy, and with people not yet having moved out, very few villagers knew about it. Tong Chuxue had been entirely focused on dendrobium in recent days and hadn't had the chance to follow up on the Luo family's affairs.

"In this family division, our third branch only received three taels of silver, and my younger brother still needs money for private school, so I was wondering if I could borrow money from you first," Luo Hui'an said.

Luo Hui'an didn't need to worry about Tong Chuxue refusing to lend money to the third branch of the Luo family. She agreed readily and even comforted Luo Hui'an, "It's fine. Once the crops are grown, this money can be earned back quickly. Starting the work now, we should be able to harvest the first batch in three months at most."

Tong Chuxue's words piqued Luo Hui'an's interest. What kind of business could possibly be so lucrative?

Tong Chuxue smiled mysteriously, holding back the details for now.

The current investment breakdown stood at eighteen taels from Liu Fen, twenty-four taels from the Luo family's third branch, and eighty-four taels from Tong Chuxue herself.

***

Once the contracts were signed, Tong Chuxue led everyone indoors. Xu Niangniang had already prepared a large table of dishes in the kitchen, featuring a full array of meat and vegetable dishes, with bowls piled high with glistening white rice for everyone.

Luo Huifeng, who was young, became overwhelmingly excited at the sight of the white rice heaped in his bowl. "It smells so good!"

Only then did everyone in the room notice that the rice in Tong Chuxue's household was glossy, plump, and far superior in appearance to the rice grown by their own families.

Seeing everyone staring at the white rice, Tong Chuxue smiled and said, "I bought this from the grain shop in town. The proprietor told me it was the best rice in the shop, so I bought some to try."

Lin Chunyan swallowed involuntarily. "How much is this rice per pound?"

"The proprietor said ordinary rice is three copper cash per pound, and this good kind is fifteen copper cash per pound," Tong Chuxue replied calmly, as if fifteen copper cash was of no consequence.

Lin Chunyan was startled. "Fifteen cash for just one pound?"

"Auntie, don't think it's expensive. Once our business succeeds, you'll be able to eat rice like this every day without any problem." Tong Chuxue began painting a rosy picture of the future. She finally understood why leaders loved making grand promises to their employees—people naturally yearned for a better life.

"Girl Xue, you've been talking for a while now, what on earth is this great business?" Liu Fen asked impatiently, her appetite having been whetted by Tong Chuxue for days.

Tong Chuxue invited everyone to take their seats. "Everyone sit down first, let's eat and talk."

The group picked up their bowls and took a bite of the white rice, expressions of sheer amazement washing over their faces. Luo Huifeng, least able to contain himself, blurted out to Tong Chuxue, "Sister, sister, this rice is so good!"

Tong Chuxue stroked Luo Huifeng's small head. "If you like it, eat more."

After taking two bites, Luo Hui'an said, "Now, you can enlighten everyone."

Tong Chuxue nodded; it had to be revealed sooner or later.

"What I want to lead everyone in doing is—cultivating Ganoderma lucidum."

Liu Fen looked utterly bewildered. "What is Ganoderma? I've never heard of it."

Luo Changhua had a bit more familiarity with it. "It's that gray-capped fungus. Didn't some people come to our village to buy it a few years ago? People were going up the mountain to dig for it every day."

"That thing!" Liu Fen exclaimed in sudden realization. "That's worth a fortune! Five taels of silver each!"

***

This was the first time Tong Chuxue had heard the acquisition price of this item, and she was greatly shocked. The merchants who came to buy it were truly ruthless; reselling it would easily fetch dozens of taels of silver, yet the acquisition price was only five taels—a bitter fruit of information asymmetry.

Tong Chuxue continued, "It seems everyone knows this item is very valuable, which is why I said that if we can successfully cultivate it, eating white rice every day will be no problem at all."

"But that thing only grows deep in the mountains. Can we cultivate it?" Liu Fen asked.

"Of course we can cultivate it!" Tong Chuxue answered resolutely. In truth, she could grow it directly using her supernatural abilities, but if she wanted to lead others, she certainly couldn't rely solely on supernatural acceleration.

Fortunately, as a wood-element ability user, her understanding of most plants far exceeded that of ordinary people, even without her powers.

"Trust me, although cultivating Ganoderma requires some effort, it can definitely be grown."

For some reason, when Tong Chuxue said these words, people felt an inexplicable urge to believe her.

When everyone left Tong Chuxue's house, they all wore excited expressions. In stark contrast, the glances cast at them by passersby on the road were full of mockery and ridicule. How could anyone be so foolish as to sell their land and engage in such a hopeless venture with Tong Chuxue?

Meanwhile, Tong Chuxue was helping Xu Niangniang clear away the bowls and chopsticks.

Having eaten at the same table, Xu Niangniang naturally heard everything Tong Chuxue had just said. She felt a wave of worry. "Chuxue, do you really know how to cultivate Ganoderma?"

Tong Chuxue readily admitted, "Mother, I know. Rest assured, I will never let the uncles and aunts lose money following me."

"But how would you know?" Xu Niangniang's gaze towards Tong Chuxue held a hint of scrutiny.

Tong Chuxue had merely been a heavily bullied farm girl. She had never attended school, could not read, had never worked the fields, and knew nothing of farming. The things she did most often were washing clothes, cooking, gathering pigweed, and cleaning pigsties. How could such a young girl know the profitable secret of Ganoderma cultivation?

While Xu Niangniang had a weak personality and lacked assertiveness, she was not a fool. No matter how she thought about it, Tong Chuxue had no business knowing these things.

Tong Chuxue stood in place. She saw confusion, incomprehension, hesitation, and lingering fear in Xu Niangniang's eyes. Xu Niangniang might not have imagined anything as miraculous as transmigration, but she could definitely perceive that her daughter had changed far too much.