The 400,000 jin of watermelons that Heilongjiang Province wanted consumed all the stock in the warehouse, filling four large trucks!

Four cents a pound, 400,000 pounds is RMB!

In this day and age, there aren't even 100-yuan bills anymore, let alone drafts or promissory notes; those are astronomical sums, and no one could possibly carry that much cash on a long-distance trip.

However, Lijiapo Cannery was a collective enterprise and could accept checks from Heilongjiang Provincial Department Store Group.

It's just a little troublesome because the checks need to be cashed at the bank.

The two older brothers from Heilongjiang Province, along with four drivers, finished the dinner prepared by Li Jiapo—white flour pancakes, stir-fried shredded potatoes with meat, and cornmeal porridge—and took turns using the outhouse before driving away that very night.

They left, and others stepped in to fill the gap.

Li Yu, the electrician from Lijiapo, stretched out several wires and hung them on the trees, then connected several 40-watt light bulbs, illuminating the area around the brigade headquarters brightly.

The villagers, without even having dinner, lined up to carry watermelons from their homes to the brigade headquarters' threshing ground.

Next came 200,000 jin from Liaoning Province, 200,000 jin from Jilin Province, 100,000 jin from Henan Province, 150,000 jin from Inner Mongolia, 150,000 jin each from Shanxi and Shaanxi Provinces, 200,000 jin from Yanjing Department Store, and 100,000 jin from Yong'an Department Store.

While waiting, both Master Yu and Master Li made phone calls to their superiors.

Manager Wan approved the order for 200,000 jin, while Section Chief He Zhiguo, after deliberation, ordered 100,000 jin.

The most furious among them were the people from Qin Province. They had just learned from the commune members that the seeds of this Qiongsu watermelon were actually a new variety developed by the Qin Province Seed Research Institute!

The results of our hard work in research have made others a lot of money!

But there's nothing we can do even if we're angry. Although Qin Province has plenty of seeds, it still takes several months for them to mature!

By the time the watermelons were sold out, there were no more watermelons left.

Li Xiangchao, Li Xiangqian, Guo Jinfang, Liu Lanhua, and others led teams to pick melons in the fields overnight.

After arranging for the purchasing managers and drivers from various provincial shopping malls to have a meal and rest, Li Jin went to find Wang Zhenbo to settle accounts.

In short, it took three days and three nights of turmoil before we finally managed to send everyone away!

In the end, after tallying up the accounts, they found that they had sold 1.65 million catties of Qiongsu watermelons, earning 660,000 yuan!

Li Jin highly praised Guo Daming and others, and asked Wang Zhenbo to write down in detail how many watermelons they sold and how much money they made in the provinces they contacted, so that he could give the sales staff a commission bonus according to the ratio!

Li Guoqing, Zhao Xiaojun, Li Xiangjie, Guo Yuxi, and others are also included.

Upon hearing this news, Erhu's father went home, closed the door, and gave Erhu a severe beating with the sole of his shoe!

"You unlucky little beast! You used to get along so well with Xiang Dong, didn't you? What good thing did Xiang Dong not include you in his plans? Don't think I don't know you were making extra money with Xiang Dong! You secretly gave all the money to that girl Gai Feng, and didn't the family say a word to you?"

"And yet you, you shameless little beast, actually broke up with Xiang Dongsheng because of a rapist named Liu Baobao!"

"Don't tell me our family has absolutely no connection to the Liu family. Even if we did, you should still uphold justice and turn against our own family!"

Erhu's father was furious. Look at what kind of future Zhao Xiaojun and the others have if they follow Li Xiangdong.

Then look at your silly son, who has taken the initiative to distance himself from Xiang Dong. Now that Xiang Dong has good things going on, he doesn't include him at all!

Thinking of this, Erhu's father picked up his size 43 shoe sole and slapped Erhu's buttocks twice.

"You're destined to toil in the fields! You'll never eat eight dishes in your entire life!"

Erhu's mother also found it strange that she had given birth to a son who only had eyes for women!

"Beat them! Beat them hard!"

......

Despite being spanked by his parents, Erhu was still forced to go to the field to pick watermelons.

Watching their son limp into the field, Erhu's parents felt no pity. Why not choose a good day?

Then go and suffer in the fields!

Four or five days later, about one-tenth of the watermelons remained in the field, and the rest had been put into the warehouse.

The remaining melons are not yet 80% ripe.

Taking advantage of this free time, the villagers started picking corn. They needed to finish picking it as soon as possible so they could plant wheat!

The autumn harvest is exhausting, leaving one feeling completely worn out.

Li Xiangdong now truly understands the meaning of those words.

After picking corn for a few days, Li Xiangdong felt like his whole body was falling apart and he couldn't get back together!

That night, everyone in the Li family went to bed on the kang (a heated brick bed). They were all very tired these past few days, and they fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.

Suddenly, there was a knocking sound at the door.

Li Jin struggled for a long time before finally waking up from his sleep. He put on his clothes, got out of bed, and opened the door.

Standing outside the door were Li Jinshan, Guo Hailiang, and several elderly men.

Li Jin was taken aback. "What's going on?"

Could something serious have happened?!

His mind raced, but he couldn't think of anything urgent that would require someone to come to him in the middle of the night.

Li Jinshan exclaimed urgently, "The frost is about to fall!"

Li Jin is stunned!

Although it's currently Minor Snow, which is between Frost's Descent and the Beginning of Winter, the weather was warm a few days ago and it didn't snow.

It's getting colder these days, so there's a good chance of frost!

My uncle was a veteran farmer who used to work for landlords, so his understanding of the seasons and celestial phenomena was far superior to his.

Li Jin made a quick decision, waking up Li Xiangdong and Li Zhen and instructing them to call Liu Changhai and Li Tang respectively, as he wanted to organize the brigade members to fight the frost!

Li Jin rang the bell at the brigade headquarters!

The clear, melodious sound of the bell awakened men, women, and children who were fast asleep.

Before 10 p.m., everyone had gathered in the courtyard of the brigade headquarters.

The two production teams of Liu Changhai and Li Tang were divided into forty groups, digging pits around the 100 mu of watermelons that were still growing, and arranging sorghum stalks and dry branches.

In the early hours of the morning, as the temperature plummeted, Li Jinshan, gazing at the wisps of white steam suddenly rising from the dark sky, shouted, "The frost is coming down! Light the fire!"

Someone ran quickly towards the pit, shouting as they ran, "Light it! Light it!"

Piles of sorghum stalks and dry branches were set ablaze, and thick smoke and flames rose everywhere.

Guo Haiguang shouted, "Tell them not to let the fire burn too brightly! Just make sure it produces smoke, lots of smoke!"

Upon hearing the message, people used shovels to throw a few shovelfuls of dirt onto the fire to extinguish it and create thick smoke, the thicker the better.

Smoke is the best way to deal with the frost, as thick smoke rises and traps the frost in mid-air.

Because two different air pressures are created, the frost cannot fall.

This method may seem old-fashioned, but it is the most effective way to deal with it.

This is the wisdom that farmers have accumulated over thousands of years of farming.

Li Xiangdong thought to himself, "If this were in later generations, this method probably wouldn't be allowed!"