After spreading the manure, the father and son reinstalled the manure curtains and rear panels they had previously removed, and Wang An casually tossed the burlap sacks containing the fishing nets back onto the cart.
After checking the long harnesses on the first two horses, the two of them drove the cart back.
The reason for checking the harnesses was that livestock like mules, horses, and oxen aren't perfectly still when standing; they are constantly thinking about eating the wild grass in the fields.
Whenever they shifted back and forth, the harnesses would loosen and sag to the ground, and with another movement, the ropes could get caught on the inside of their legs.
If the ropes weren't freed in time and they continued driving, it wouldn't take long for the mule or horse's thighs to be chafed raw.
On the way back, several times when Wang An spoke to Wang Dazhu, he found that Wang Dazhu was daydreaming, remaining completely oblivious to what Wang An was saying.
Clearly, Wang An's skewed theory had truly struck a chord with Wang Dazhu, and Comrade Wang Dazhu was now feeling the pressure.
After all, anyone knows how to do math, especially when it comes to spending money.
A simple calculation was enough to know exactly how much money it would cost to contract all those barren mountains and wasteland.
Regardless of who it was, spending that much money to lease land would leave them feeling uncertain.
One must realize, this was over 300,000 yuan! 300,000 yuan in this era!
In terms of purchasing power, 300,000 yuan in this era was roughly equivalent to over 40 million in later generations.
Of course, calculating by purchasing power wasn't entirely accurate, but if calculated by wage standards, it was likely close.
It wasn't until the carriage reached the spot where Wang An had previously baited the river that Wang Dazhu failed to call the horses to a stop, letting them continue forward. Wang An finally couldn't help but raise his voice and shout
"Dad, Dad, stop! We're here."
To be honest, Wang An completely understood his father's current state of mind. For an ordinary farmer, spending a small amount of money was fine, but once the sum became slightly larger, their hands might tremble while counting the money, and their whole body might shake.
This was entirely understandable.
Hearing Wang An's shout, Wang Dazhu gave a sudden start and finally snapped out of it, quickly shouting "Whoa!" to the green horses pulling the cart.
Once the three horses stopped, Wang Dazhu didn't care about the fishing; instead, with a face full of worry and hesitation, he said to Wang An
"Xiao An, if we contract all that land and it doesn't make money, what then? Won't our leasing money just go down the drain? That's over 300,000 yuan."
Wang An laughed upon hearing this. His father, a man in his forties, was currently plagued by anxiety over gain and loss.
Wang An comforted him in a joking tone
"What's there to worry about? Some day I'll find another cellar treasure or something, and the two of us can go dig it up together. Maybe we'll pull out another few hundred thousand."
The nervous Wang Dazhu froze for a moment upon hearing this, and after reacting, he laughed and scolded
"You little brat, always teasing your father."
After Wang Dazhu spoke, Wang An burst into laughter.
Truthfully, at this moment, Wang Dazhu didn't have the steadiness one would expect from a man in his forties; instead, he was like a child without a backbone, desperately needing someone who could make decisions to stabilize his spirit.
Seeing Wang An laugh, Wang Dazhu perhaps realized something, and he began to laugh along.
Fortunately, after laughing, Wang Dazhu's tension visibly eased.
Looking at Wang An's very calm demeanor, Wang Dazhu's face suddenly became filled with gratification.
Wang Dazhu suddenly realized that his eldest son had truly grown up and could now handle things.
After the two of them finished laughing, Wang An said with a smile
"Dad, stop obsessing over this. That land is leased for 70 years. We can just simply plant some apple trees or something and then leave them be. Think about it, how much money would we make a year just selling apples?"
Wang Dazhu's eyes instantly lit up.
Wang An struck while the iron was hot
"Besides, didn't you just say that if we're too busy, we can sublease the land? Why have you changed your mind in such a short time?"
Wang Dazhu said somewhat embarrassedly
"I'm just worried that once we get the land, we won't be able to sublease it, and we won't be able to handle it ourselves. If that happens, wouldn't all that money be wasted?"
Wang Dazhu's concern wasn't without reason. After all, in this era, regardless of what you did, you had to rely purely on manual labor. As for the phrase "mechanized management," it was still in its infancy and certainly impossible in the short term.
Trying to transform one or two thousand acres of land relying on manual labor was truly like a joke.
At this point, Wang An suddenly said
"Right, Dad, I'm thinking of buying a crawler tractor, and maybe a four-wheel tractor or a walk-behind tractor. If we have these big machines, wouldn't the amount of land cease to be an issue?"
Upon hearing "crawler tractor" and "walk-behind tractor," Wang Dazhu's eyes grew even brighter. He asked Wang An hopefully
"Can those things even be bought? I've seen the agricultural machinery station in the county town, and they only have some diesel pumps and forage cutters; they don't have four-wheelers or walk-behind tractors."
In this era, four-wheel or walk-behind tractors were in a state of extreme shortage. Before they were even produced, the quotas were basically carved up by various units or collectives.
Therefore, if an individual wanted to buy one, they couldn't do it on their own without pulling strings through connections. Furthermore, people who could afford a tractor were truly rare.
However, this problem didn't exist for Wang An. In his view, if Wu Dong, Zhang Shuya, and the others didn't have the channels to buy a four-wheel or walk-behind tractor, then the capabilities of these "second-generation" elites would be highly questionable.
Hearing Wang Dazhu's question, Wang An said cheerfully
"We won't buy them at the county machinery station. I'll let Sister Zhang and Brother Wu look into it in Harbin. They're well-connected; buying a tractor should be a piece of cake for them."
Wang Dazhu pondered for a moment and said somewhat hesitantly
"If it's possible, have them help buy two. With all that land we'll have, I reckon one won't be enough."
Looking at his father's current state, Wang An felt like laughing.
Mainly because the deal for those barren mountains and wasteland wasn't even finalized yet, but the way Wang Dazhu spoke about the land made it seem as if it already belonged to the family.
It must be said that from Wang Dazhu's behavior, it was easy to see just how deep the love of Chinese farmers for their land truly was.
Wang An replied with a smile
"Mm-hmm, sure. Let's cast the nets first, otherwise the fish will be gone and the baiting will have been for nothing."
(End of Chapter)