The singing of birds awakened the new day. A gentle breeze blew the fresh and delicate smell of the earth upon one’s face. Today, the entire Dongshan Village, contrary to the usual peaceful and quiet mornings, was bustling with noise and excitement due to certain news.

“Did you guys hear about it? The Zhou Family’s factory wants to buy a large quantity of sweet potato flour!” The villagers chatted as they waited in line at the entrance of Yu Xiaocao’s house, where the Yu Family was collecting oysters and spoon worms.

Another villager was surprised and said, “Really? Last fall, my family harvested a lot of sweet potatoes. We were afraid that they couldn’t be kept for too long, so we dried them and stored them in the cellar! After I sell these oysters, I’ll go home and tell my husband to grind them all into flour—but, I wonder what the price would be?”

“The Zhou Family does honest business, unlike those black-hearted merchants who deliberately lower the price. I heard that it will be a little higher than the market price!” The person who spoke was a capable-looking man.

Another simple and honest-looking man with a strong-build looked at the cleaned spoon worms in his own basket and chuckled, “Yes, that’s right! Ever since the Zhou Family started buying oysters and spoon worms at our village, my family’s living...