Chapter 1064: Unwilling
"Village Chief Li, I’m not sure if this report can be published?"
"Haha, it’s okay, we understand."
Nowadays, people have a strong sense of collective honor, and although Li Yungui wants to make a fortune quietly, he couldn’t resist the temptation of appearing in the newspaper.
"Village Chief Li, Mr. Wei, I’m considering taking some photos of Mr. Wei at the pesticide factory as well as with the corn shaker."
Wei Kaiyun is unwilling, but Li Yungui has already agreed.
Since childhood, Wei Kaiyun was never one to show off. He really didn’t want to appear in the newspaper.
"Mr. Wei, don’t be bothered by it. We definitely need some photos. I will also need to take several shots to choose from later."
Wei Kaiyun thought, since it’s already come to this, he doesn’t care about one more photo.
"Mr. Hu, everyone is keen on production right now. How about we choose noon?"
"Of course, no problem." Hu Mingjin certainly didn’t mind.
"Village Chief Li, I’m heading out for a bit to take some photos of our village."
"Sure, sure, I’ll find someone to accompany you?"
"No need, I can manage on my own, I’m just walking around casually."
There were no issues in the village, so Li Yungui agreed with Hu Mingjin’s request.
Wei Kaiyun spent most of the day outside, and really wanted to go back home.
But upon arriving home, his wife wasn’t there, she went to the fields with the three children.
Wei Kaiyun quickly changed his clothes, grabbed a hoe, and headed to the private plot.
Jiang Xinyu heard from Master Shang that the cotton had sprouted new branches, so she brought the three children to the field as well, fearing aphids as cotton was in a crucial stage.
Hu Mingjin walked alone in the village, taking numerous photos of the low and dilapidated houses.
He happened to come across the Wei Family’s private field, where he saw an elder and a woman fully covered conversing with three children.
Suddenly, he picked up his camera and snapped a photo.
A thought suddenly popped into his mind, "In the fields".
Jiang Xinyu heard a noise and looked up at Hu Mingjin. Seeing the camera around his neck, she realized it wasn’t domestic, he must be a reporter from the newspaper.
Hu Mingjin noticed he was already discovered, so he walked over with a smile.
"Sorry to disturb you, fellow villagers. I just saw the family together and felt it was quite unusual, so I took a photo."
"It’s okay. But we don’t like taking photos."
Hu Mingjin detected they weren’t locals, "Excuse me, comrade, are you a volunteer?"
Jiang Xinyu shook her head. "No, sorry, we have work to do."
Saying that, the family again entered the cotton field.
Hu Mingjin crouched down to inspect the branches the family had been looking at, realizing there were bugs.
This further increased the potential for the report, as it showed the effectiveness of the pesticide.
So, he took a photo of the branch with bugs.
Then he waited on the edge of the field.
"Mr. Hu?"
"Mr. Wei? This is? I want to take a current photo of you." Hu Mingjin said, snapping a picture of Wei Kaiyun carrying a hoe.
Wei Kaiyun felt vexed, "Mr. Hu, why are you here?"
"Mr. Wei, I just saw villagers discovered bugs, and took a photo. I also want one of spraying the pesticide."
"Alright, I’ll inform you when it’s time to spray."
"Mr. Wei, what brings you here?"
"This is my family’s private plot, I’m here to work."
"Were those three children, a woman comrade, and an elder your family?"
"Yes, my wife, kids."
"Haha, understood." This family didn’t like attention and all had the same indifferent expression.
"Mr. Wei, may I ask what that special leaf is?" Hu Mingjin pointed at the carrot field.
"It’s a vegetable, carrot, with high nutritional value. Especially for those prone to mouth ulcers, eating it often helps."
"There’s such a vegetable?"
"Yes, it has a unique taste, not many like it."
"I see."
"Mr. Wei, can you plant anything in your private fields?"
Wei Kaiyun shook his head. "No, private plots are for households to plant vegetables. Our plot is big because we have breeding tasks.
This year, the village’s 200-plus acres of cotton were planted from seeds we bred last year here. It’s quite successful. The yield reached 200 pounds per acre."
"That’s quite high-yielding."
"It’s alright."
Kids working in the field heard their dad’s voice but didn’t come out because of the earlier visitor.
"Mr. Wei, this watermelon plot is impressive."
"It’s fine. We supply them to the supply and marketing cooperative, as well as to the city’s cooperative."
"So, you’ve categorized yourselves as farmers?"
"Not really, last year was a trial. The watermelon yield was okay, but locals couldn’t bear to eat them. So, they’re supplied to the cooperative.
But it’s a village initiative, and we receive work credits for growing melons."
Hu Mingjin nodded knowingly. Personal trading is absolutely forbidden.
"Mr. Hu, I need to get back to work, sorry."
"No worries, Mr. Wei, I need to move elsewhere too."
When the three kids saw Wei Kaiyun.
"Dad, was that person a reporter?"
"Yes, he wants to write an article about Li Family Village, so he’s taking photos everywhere."
This year the cotton field is still just an acre, and the five of them already completed more than half of the work. So an hour later, they finished completely.
"Xinyu, tomorrow when I spray the pesticide, Mr. Hu will take pictures."
Jiang Xinyu chuckled, "That’s nice, the photos might be in the newspaper."
"I don’t want to." Wei Kaiyun really didn’t want to stand out.
Jiang Xinyu laughed and nodded. Seeing it wasn’t late, she thought she might as well collect some wild vegetables.
So only Master Shang carried all the tools back home.
"Dad. When are we going up the mountain?"
"Want to go up the mountain?"
All three kids nodded.
"In ten days, I’ll have time then, and we’ll go for a day."
"Mom, you should come too?"
"Shi Xian would probably cry all day; you four should go."
Shi Xian could walk a few steps without support now. He is quite clever, and if nobody’s home, he’ll certainly fuss.
"Mom, Shi Xian likes Sister Jing Chu. Let Sister Jing Chu watch him." Shi Jing suggested to his mom, hoping the whole family could go up the mountain. Such an opportunity was really rare.