Actually, to announce, they just used the village's big loudspeaker. So, Shen Jun and Shen Yao had only walked a few hundred meters when they heard the village's loudspeaker blare to life.
"Tomorrow morning at eight o'clock, each household is to send one representative to the village committee meeting room. Repeating, tomorrow morning at eight o'clock, each household is to send one representative to the village committee meeting room..."
The next day.
Shen Yao, Shen Jun, and Shen Huaisang, who insisted on tagging along, arrived at the village committee meeting room.
The moment they entered, all eyes turned to the three of them.
"My heavens, is the young girl beside Elder Shen the little girl from his family? It's been a while; she's as beautiful as a movie star."
"They said this girl was pretty from a young age, and now she's incredibly stunning."
"Which young man could possibly be worthy of her? Such a lovely child, she'll surely marry someone rich."
...
Listening to the villagers' chatter, Shen Yao, who thought she had developed a thick skin, couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed.
She knew that these uncles and aunts meant no harm, but being praised for her looks continuously was overwhelming.
Fortunately, Shen Jun, standing beside her, spoke up, "Not at all, not at all. Yao'er is just trying to look good now that she's in college. Your daughter, Auntie, is also beautiful, and she married a rich and loving husband. We don't expect Yao'er to marry someone rich; as long as they treat our child well with all their heart..."
Shen Yao looked at Shen Jun, who was chatting animatedly with everyone, and felt her father was truly amazing.
People say that if you walk through a crowd of aunts and grandaunts, even a dog would get talked about. It seemed her father had infiltrated the enemy camp.
Shen Yao and Shen Huaisang sat to the side, watching Shen Jun, who was enthusiastically conversing with others, in silence. They had never realized that Shen Jun possessed such strong social skills.
After a short wait, Shen Jianguo arrived with the village committee leaders.
Getting straight to the point, Shen Jianguo announced Shen Jun's family's intention to contract the barren land and mountains.
"Shen Jun plans to contract it for seventy years. The contracted fee, after a portion is set aside for village development, will be distributed equally among all households."
As soon as Shen Jianguo finished speaking, everyone began to murmur.
"Two million. When did Shen Jun's family get so wealthy? Two million, just like that?"
"With that much money, our family will get tens of thousands!"
"It seems Shen Jun's family has truly struck it rich; they're even contracting the abandoned mountains."
"Didn't you hear Shen Jun say it was his little girl who wanted to contract it? It's hard to understand why such a delicate little girl wants to come back to farm."
"Didn't she also say she's collaborating with children of wealthy families? In essence, she's an employee."
...
The crowd buzzed with discussion, but not a single person voiced an objection. After all, who wouldn't want tens of thousands for free?
What if they angered Shen Jun's little girl and she decided not to contract the village land?
In the countryside, they had plenty of barren mountains and land.
"Alright, since there are no objections, please come and sign your names. From today onwards, those barren mountains and lands belong to Shen Jun's family. Do not cause any trouble, or you'll be sent to jail if caught."
Shen Jianguo did not hesitate to emphasize the seriousness of the matter, fearing that someone might intentionally stir up trouble.
"Then, can we still chop firewood on the mountain?" a villager asked.
Shen Jianguo did not answer but turned his gaze to Shen Yao.
He now understood that Shen Yao was the one making the decisions, not Shen Jun.
"Of course, you can still go up the mountain as long as you don't intentionally cause damage. However, once we plant fruit trees, you cannot casually enter the areas that are fenced off."
Shen Yao did not intend to forbid villagers from accessing the mountains after contracting the barren land.
Although rural areas now had gas stoves and induction cookers, most middle-aged and elderly people were very frugal and still went to the mountains to gather firewood, claiming it made the food taste better.
Despite Shen Yao's good family background, Shen Jun and Song Qiuwan still had the habit of gathering firewood, saying it made their meals tastier.
"Of course, we're not that kind of wicked person."
The rest of the process was much simpler. Shen Yao, majoring in finance, could understand basic contracts.
Seeing that the contract was in order, Shen Yao signed her name on it.
Initially, she had considered taking out a loan to make others believe they hadn't struck it rich.
But then she thought, she had already stated she was collaborating with others. If she took out a loan, would people worry that they were just playing around and lacked sincerity?
Fortunately, with her present, there was no need to worry about others coveting anything. So, Shen Yao did not mention the loan. She directly took out her phone, made a call, and two million yuan was immediately transferred to the village's bank.
Seeing Shen Yao's decisive action, Shen Jianguo felt relieved. She was not short of money and likely wouldn't go back on her word.
Shen Yao took the freshly printed contract and went straight home after the meeting.
She gave Shen Jun a lot more money and asked him to find people to help clear the weeds, trees, and stones from the barren mountains.
Upon hearing this, Shen Jun's first thought was the middle-aged men in the village.
They had worked in farming for half their lives, possessing great strength, but due to their lack of education, they could only find odd jobs on nearby construction sites, often without work.
"That's perfect. We know everyone in the village well, so there's no need to worry about them causing trouble. We don't need to provide food and lodging, and it's fine to pay them a bit more, as long as the land can be cleared quickly."
Shen Yao strongly agreed with this decision. She even considered having the villagers work with her, but she hadn't achieved anything yet and couldn't make others believe in her.
She understood the principle that being too ostentatious was not good, and this applied everywhere.
As long as the villagers' interests were tied to theirs in the end, they would not harm them.
There's a saying: a thief can be on guard for a thousand days, but the guard cannot be on guard for a thousand days. Therefore, offering appropriate benefits was necessary.
"Alright, then I and your third brother will go find people to help, and also see if any neighboring villages want to help."
After speaking, Shen Jun, with Shen Huaisang, left with renewed vigor.
Shen Yao returned home alone and found no one there. She pretended to be on her phone and went out.
She had edited the footage she shot overnight and published it.
She posted it on a V account she had just registered. Today, she planned to record the renovation process of their homestay and publish it after editing it in the evening.
When Shen Yao arrived at the homestay, she discussed with Gao Yang whether he had any objections to her recording their work.
Gao Yang readily agreed, as it was no big deal. Besides, what was there to see in a few rough men building a house?