Spoiled By the Young Master After Reborn In the 80s
Chapter 617 - 615, cattle shed

Chapter 617: 615, cattle shed

The middle-aged uncle smiled at Luo Shu and Qin Yue, "Were you two ladies frightened? I am the village chief of Caozhuang Village, do you have something to look for me for?"

"Mhm," Luo Shu nodded with a smile.

"Then let’s go inside and sit down to talk," the village chief said as he took a puff from his tobacco pipe, smiling and gesturing towards the house.

Luo Shu and Qin Yue followed the village chief into the house, where they saw the furnishings were very simple with cement on both the walls and the floor. The grey cement made the room seem somewhat dim.

In the fairly small room, there was only an old desk and four stools, one of which had a broken leg that had been fixed with a piece of wood.

The village chief placed his tobacco pipe on the desk and moved two stools over for Luo Shu and Qin Yue. "Please, have a seat. The place is a bit modest, I hope you don’t mind," he said.

"We’ll do it ourselves, village chief," Luo Shu and Qin Yue quickly took the stools from his hands.

The village chief sat down next to the desk and took another puff from his pipe. Looking at Luo Shu and Qin Yue, he asked, "What is it that you’re looking for me for?"

"Village chief, I would like to inquire if there are any available factory spaces in your village," Luo Shu asked.

The village chief shook his head, "No, are you looking to rent a factory space?"

"Yes, we’ve started a cake factory. The place is a bit small, and we want to move to a bigger space," Luo Shu said.

After some thought, the village chief said, "We do have a cattle shed in our village. It’s quite spacious, though it needs some renovation before you can use it. By the way, where are you from?" Ever since the eighties, when the agricultural reform allowed for households to work their own plots of land, the village’s cattle were no longer kept all together as they once were, which left the cattle shed unused. Normally it just stored villagers’ straw and firewood. However, he couldn’t simply rent it out without some precautions; he needed an introduction letter from the renters.

"We are from a training camp," Luo Shu said.

The village chief’s face immediately lit up with a smile, "Would you like to come along and see the cattle shed first?" The renters were from a training camp, which he welcomed to his village. He had a lot of respect for members of the guard, and there were several young men from the village who were members of the guard, too.

"Sure!" Luo Shu and Qin Yue stood up and followed the village chief out of his office.

The cattle shed wasn’t far from the village office, located at the entrance to the village.

When Luo Shu and the others entered the cattle shed, several children were playing hide and seek inside. Because the shed was filled with straw and firewood, it was easy to hide, making it the perfect spot for the village children to play this game.

In this era, children didn’t have mobile phones or computers. Their games were simple—hide and seek, bird egg searching, jumping rope, picking wild vegetables... But they were endlessly fun.

"Are you all hidden yet?" An eight or nine-year-old boy covered his eyes with his hand and shouted loudly with his back to everyone.

"Ready!"

"I’m ready too!"

"Now come find me!" Several tender voices called out at once.

"Here I come!" The boy released his hands from his eyes, his face beaming with a brilliant smile as he hopped and skipped into the cattle shed.

Led by the village chief, Luo Shu and Qin Yue walked into the cattle shed.

Gazing around, the place was indeed as spacious as the village chief had mentioned. However, due to lack of maintenance over the years, there were several holes on the walls and missing tiles on the roof.

Luo Shu withdrew her gaze. The cattle shed was a bit run-down, but she was satisfied with the space; it only needed minor repairs before it could be used.

Turning to the village chief, Luo Shu asked, "Village chief, what are the conditions if I want to rent this place?" She was more inclined to buy the place, but the village chief had mentioned earlier that it was collectively owned, and the decision wasn’t up to him if she wanted to purchase it.

"An introduction letter is definitely necessary. As for the rent, what do you think of fifty yuan a month?" the village chief asked. He was actually unsure himself, not knowing if Luo Shu would find the rent too high.

"Deal!" Luo Shu agreed without hesitation. Fifty yuan a month was quite cheap, given the size of the place and its convenient location at the entrance of the village for transporting goods. Another point was its proximity to the training camp, which made it convenient for the guard’s wives to commute.

Upon hearing Luo Shu’s agreement, the village chief was ecstatic, "When will you come to rent it?"

"Is tomorrow okay?" Luo Shu asked.

"Great! I’ll wait for you tomorrow," the village chief said joyfully. Fifty yuan a month was a significant income for Caozhuang Village.

After seeing off Luo Shu and Qin Yue, the village chief hummed a tune while smoking his pipe on his way back to the village office.

"Village chief, who were those two beautiful young ladies just now?"

"Village chief, you seem so happy, did something good happen?"

It was a busy time for farming, so most villagers were out in the fields working, leaving only a few at home. Nonetheless, there were some who had seen the village chief taking Luo Shu and the other to the cattle shed.

"Those two are from the training camp, and they came to rent the cattle shed," the village chief happily explained. He was delighted at the thought of an additional fifty yuan in the village account every month, as sweet as honey in his heart.

"What are they renting the cattle shed for? To raise cattle?" a villager asked curiously.

"They’re opening a factory. I hear it’s a cake factory," the village chief said. He had seen such things in town, where they were said to be delicious, but he had never indulged himself in buying one.

"Last time my niece visited me, she brought a pack of cake. It was so sweet and soft, really delicious," one villager mentioned. Just thinking about the taste of the cake made him swallow his saliva.

"Once the cake factory opens in our village, maybe we can buy them cheaper."

"Surely it’ll be cheaper than in stores. We’d rather buy a little to taste."

"I’m heading back to the village office. You all go move your stuff out of the cattle shed, as they are coming to rent it tomorrow," the village chief instructed everyone before heading off, humming a little tune towards the village office.

When Luo Shu got home, she called Zhang Xiaoling to share the news.

"Then I’ll come with you tomorrow to have a look," Zhang Xiaoling said happily.

"Okay, but it’s still in pretty poor shape, it needs some renovation. We won’t be able to move in until after the National Day," Luo Shu explained.

"Mhm, Luo Shu, today I taught everyone how to do the catwalk, and they all did very well. You should come over and take a look when you have the chance," Zhang Xiaoling said cheerfully. Having the factory space would make it feel even more like a real factory.