Chapter 298: Caring for the Villagers

When Fangzheng saw this scene, he frowned. Indeed, as the System had mentioned, scriptures were not to be readily instructed. Similarly, things were not to be readily given! If not, not only would they turn worthless, there would be more trouble as well.

Therefore, Fangzheng set up a sign the next day, forbidding the digging of bamboo shoots on the mountaintop.

At present, who in the surrounding villages did not know who Fangzheng was? Fangzheng was long since being treated as a divine monk by everyone. With him prohibiting digging, the villagers immediately stopped. However, the tourists did not care about that. They continued digging, and it was unknown who did it, but someone pulled up and threw away Fangzheng’s sign.

Fangzheng was rendered helpless as he kicked Lone Wolf, “Jingfa, it’s showtime.”

Lone Wolf looked at Fangzheng bitterly. Indeed, he was always the one who had to act the bad guy. He was always the one to take the rap. Why was his life so tragic!

After Lone Wolf let out a howl, he charged forward and crouched by the bamboo forest. As long as anyone approached the Frost Bamboo, he would bare his fangs, giving a bloodthirsty look. The tourists were finally frightened.

But…

“Doggy, come eat some buns. We are good friends. Let me dig some bamboo shoots, alright?”

“Doggy, have a bone. It’s a meaty bone!”

“Here’s a chicken drumstick.”

As for Lone Wolf, he looked askance at them as though they were retards. Without any form of courtesy, he swept the meat bone, chicken drumstick and bun away. Lone Wolf was no silly dog. Who knew if there was poison in them. What would happen if he ended up with diarrhea or ended up dying? He had to be wary…

After resorting to all sorts of means to no avail, the crowd had no choice but to give up.

It was forbidden to dig the bamboo shoots on the mountain now, but how were they to obtain such delicious bamboo shoots? Some of the attention fell onto the back mountain. Despite being better than what was offered on the market, the bamboo shoots obtained from the back mountain were far inferior to the ones on the mountaintop. There was instantly a bout of complaints. However, there were smart people that turned their sights to the villagers of One Finger Village. Pretty much all of these villagers had at least some of the mountaintop bamboo shoots. Therefore, people began coming to the villagers to buy them at ten yuan a piece. The villagers were instantly delighted when they learned of this. They could sell bamboo shoots at a price much higher than grain.

When Wang Yougui heard that outsiders were buying bamboo shoots at a high price, he discussed with Yang Ping and immediately felt that there was a business opportunity in all of this. He gathered all the villagers with Yang Ping and told them not to be in a hurry to sell. They checked the market conditions before setting an agreed-upon price to be sold to external parties.

The villagers naturally agreed to it. If not for this intervention, they would not even have known it if they sold their stocks too cheaply.

Therefore, Yang Ping went to do the market research, while Wang Yougui went to sit in front of Fangzheng. His dark skin forced out a wrinkled smile and said, “Venerable Fangzheng, about the bamboo shoots…”

Fangzheng put down the bowl in his hand and said with a faint smile, “Patron, as you noticed, This Penniless Monk does not mind if everyone digs some of the bamboo shoots. But once there are too many… The bamboo shoots are ultimately finite. If this continues, the bamboo might end up gone. Besides, the peace on the mountaintop will be destroyed.”

“I know. Let’s see if this is possible instead. We will send people from the village every day to dig some. You can decide how many we are allowed to dig. Then, we will take them down to be sold, increasing the income of the villagers. How about that?” Wang Yougui asked probingly.

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Fangzheng smiled, “Patron, why do you think the bamboo shoots on the mountaintop are so well-received?”

“Because they are delicious! I specially went to the city supermarkets to buy those from the south as well as even imported bamboo shoots. The difference in taste is like night and day. Compared to our bamboo shoots, they are completely unpalatable. No one is an idiot. Once the city folks eat our bamboo shoots, who would want to eat those kinds of bamboo shoots?” said Wang Yougui matter-of-factly.

Fangzheng continued asking, “Then are the bamboo shoots at the foot of the mountain comparable to the bamboo shoots out on the market?”

Wang Yougui was stunned. Upon careful thought, although the bamboo shoots at the foot of the mountain were incomparable to those at the mountaintop, they were still much more delicious than what was available on the market!

“Patron, there is a limit to the number of bamboo shoots on the mountaintop, but the bamboo shoots have already proliferated at the foot of the mountain. Why should you vex yourself over a few bamboo shoots on the mountaintop? Without the bamboo shoots from the mountaintop, those patrons will naturally buy the ones at the foot of the mountain.

Wang Yougui smacked himself in the head and chuckled, “Hehe, look at this brain of mine. All I could think of was the good bamboo shoots on the mountaintop, but I actually forgot such a huge business opportunity! Still… Abbot Fangzheng, are the mountaintop bamboo shoots really not be given?”

Fangzheng smiled, “This Penniless Monk only has a few companions living in the monastery. How much can we eat? If you need to, you can dig a hundred mountaintop bamboo shoots a day. Anymore, and it will destroy the grounds.” Fangzheng did a rough calculation. Frost Bamboo grew rapidly and digging a hundred bamboo shoots a day would not cause any harm to the bamboo forest. Simultaneously, it could prevent the Frost Bamboo from growing too quickly and would prevent its rapid spread. Although the bamboo was good, a good thing was not necessarily a good thing if there was too much of it.

Wang Yougui beamed the moment he heard that. His mind began whirling. One Finger Village could stop doing everything else in the future. It could focus on selling bamboo shoots! And the mountaintop bamboo shoots were not to be easily sold. If they were packaged and sold as top gifts, wouldn’t the days of One Finger Village escaping poverty be at hand?

However, Wang Yougui also knew that such a beautiful future would all be the result of One Finger Monastery. It stemmed from Fangzheng, so he said, “Venerable Fangzheng, don’t worry. What you do for the village, the village will definitely return you several fold. Once we earn enough money, I’ll help you expand the monastery!”

Fangzheng pressed his palms together, “Amitabha. This Penniless Monk was taken care of by all the patrons when he was young. It’s just repaying the gratitude and a manifestation of karma. Patron, there’s no need to be too caught up about it.”

Wang Yougui laughed, “Don’t conflate the two things together. It was right for us to take care of you back then. Alright, that’s about it. I’ll be returning. There is still some need to ponder about this matter.”

With that said, Wang Yougui ran off. The hastiness in him did not make him look like a man in his forties. Instead, he looked like a kid.

Fangzheng smiled. After all these years, he was finally able to help the villagers and repay the karma that he had incurred. Immediately, he felt somewhat satisfied.

As for the villagers earning money, Fangzheng thought nothing of it. Since the System prevented him from doing business, the bamboo was just bamboo in his hands. By leaving it with the villagers, he could still help them and end the karma. Why wouldn’t he do so?

After Wang Yougui reached the foot of the mountain, he sought out Tan Juguo and after waiting for Yang Ping’s return, they gathered all the able ones in the village and shared their grand plan. Since the bamboo shoots were that profitable, why would they keep farming some ordinary rice and corn? They might as well focus on taking care of the bamboo forest. In fact, the huge bamboo forest looked like it would continue expanding from the way it was going.

“I think it’s possible. Since the nation has been encouraging reforestation, we can reforest our fields with a bamboo forest. It will also be considered as answering the nation’s calls. Besides, bamboo shoots grow quickly. They are big, and they are hefty in weight. The price is even higher, so it will be far more worth it than ordinary economical crops.” Tan Juguo always started his pitch with governmental policy.

Yang Ping said, “The most important thing is the price! Do you know how high the unscrupulous merchants in Songwu County City have priced our Mt. One Finger’s mountaintop bamboo shoots?”

Everyone shook their heads.

Yang Ping extended one finger, “This much!”

“A hundred a piece?” asked the nouveau riche Yang Hua.