After a while, Yang Chunyan and her group came back. The sisters-in-law checked the mugwort, mainly because they were worried that someone had mixed Artemisia annua or other wormwoods into it.

The plant that is most similar to mugwort is Artemisia annua. It has a thinner trunk and an irregular cylindrical stem. The stems come in two colors: dark purple-red and light green. Some have light green upper stems and dark purple-red lower stems.

The leaves of Artemisia annua are small and long and narrow, with serrated edges and a layer of white hair, and feel soft and smooth.

The stem of mugwort is cylindrical, with a relatively thick and long trunk. When tender, the stem is light green. As it grows taller, it becomes a grayish-white stem with fluffy white hairs, which is several times thicker than Artemisia annua.

The leaves are wide and fleshy, with a gray-green surface and white hairs on the back, exuding a unique fragrance.

Artemisia annua smells like ordinary grass and has a faint odor, and you can distinguish them by smelling them.

The woman in front of the line poured the mugwort in her basket into the yard. Zhao Huifang saw a shorter one, picked it up, sniffed it, and then put it next to the mugwort.

Seeing this, the woman smiled and said, "Don't worry, we have checked it..."

Yang Chunyan could tell the difference at a glance without having to smell it. She picked out the Artemisia annua mixed in and said to the woman, "Auntie, be more careful next time and don't put the Artemisia annua mixed in."

"Yes, I didn't pay attention when I was cutting it. I will pay attention tomorrow." The woman replied embarrassedly.

Yang Chunyan nodded and said to the villagers waiting there, "The price they offered this time is high, but the requirements are also very strict. Please check it yourself. This way it will be easier for us and we can weigh the goods for everyone earlier."

"Yes, let's check it out now. Sometimes we accidentally take some away." The villagers waiting there were also busy pouring out their own mugwort to check if there was any wormwood mixed in it.

Yang Chunyan and her friends put the checked mugwort into a bamboo basket and carried it to the scale to weigh and remove the skin. Li Qiuyue said to Yang Chunyan, "A total of 134 kilograms."

"Okay!" Yang Chunyan wrote down the money in the account book, counted it, and handed it to the woman, "Auntie, it's 10.72 yuan in total. Please calculate it, is it correct?"

"Yes, that's right." The woman happily took the money, called her family members who were watching TV, and left together with the basket on their backs.

The villagers at the back checked it themselves, and Zhao Huifang and Zhang Xiuxiang checked it too, then put it into a bamboo basket and weighed it, and their speed increased.

Zhou's father and Zhou Huairong hurriedly took the weighed mugwort to the backyard, where Zhou's mother and the old man divided the mugwort into small bundles and tied them up.

Gradually, more and more people came, and Yang Chunyan and her sisters-in-law were very busy. The line waiting to sell mugwort stretched outside the yard. When you walked near Yang Chunyan's house, you could smell a strong scent of mugwort.

Yang Chunyan counted the money to a villager and saw Zhou Dalin standing beside him. "Uncle Zhou, what are you doing?"

Zhou Dalin stepped forward and said to Yang Chunyan a little embarrassedly: "Youngest brother, I came here to ask you for a favor."

Yang Chunyan looked at him in surprise, then stood up and said, "Uncle Zhou, go ahead!"

Zhou Dalin pointed at the half-grown child standing under the steps and said, "That child is Xiaoshan, the eldest son of Xiong Laoer's family. He used to bring his brother to your medicinal field to cause damage."

Yang Chunyan took a look and said, "You've grown taller. I wouldn't recognize you if you hadn't told me."

"They have grown a bit taller." Zhou Dalin rubbed his hands and whispered, "After that fool Xiong Er got into trouble, the two children became much more sensible than before, but no matter how sensible they are, it's useless because they still can't keep their mother.

His mother stayed at home for more than a year, but finally couldn't bear it anymore. A few days ago, she remarried and went to the Red Star Brigade with the younger child, leaving the two older children at home.

Dahai was lying on the bed, Sufen and Xiong Laoyao's wife were fighting like two black-eyed chickens. Xiong Da and his wife were indifferent to the matter, and Xiong Laosan, the second-rate guy, couldn't even find a hair on his head.

There was no one to help take care of the two children, and they were so miserable that they could not eat for a day. I heard that your family was harvesting mugwort, so I went with you to cut two baskets and wanted to send them to you to sell.

The two brothers also knew what the old man had done, and were worried that you wouldn't buy them. I was going to help bring them here to sell, but I was afraid that it would never end, so I just brought them here."

Zhou Dalin finished speaking in one breath, rubbing his hands, and looking at her with a red face, "These two kids are really pitiful. They begged me, their uncle, and I couldn't bear to ignore them. Can you please be lenient and take them in?"

Yang Chunyan turned her head to look at Xiong Xiaoshan who was standing in the yard with his head down, then turned back to him and said, "Okay, just ask them to bring it over."

Zhou Dalin didn't expect her to be so easy to talk to, and said gratefully: "Youngest, thank you so much!"

"You're welcome, Uncle Zhou." Yang Chunyan pointed at the villagers waiting to pay the bill, "I have something else to do, so I won't greet you."

"Okay, you go ahead!" Zhou Dalin said happily to Xiong Xiaoshan who was waiting there, "Zhou Laoyao's family has agreed, remember to thank them later."

Xiong Xiaoshan nodded, "Uncle, I understand."

Li Qiuyue looked at Xiong Xiaoshan who was walking towards the courtyard gate with Zhou Dalin. After they left, she lowered her head and said to Yang Chunyan, "Where did He Hongxiu marry?"

"Red Star Brigade." Yang Chunyan replied in a low voice.

"Red Star Brigade, Sister Hai Li's former husband's family, so she didn't marry into the Yan family, did she?"

"How could it be such a coincidence? Last time I heard from Sister Haili that Granny Yan fell and became paralyzed, but Yan Yongxin ignored her and secretly sold the family's grain. In the end, no one even knew where she had gone."

"How could He Hongxiu not know that Xiong Laoer was stealing and cheating in the village? How could she be so cruel as to leave her two children behind and marry so far away?"

"It's going to rain, and my mother is going to get married. Xiong Laoer still has more than ten years to live, and He Hong is only in her twenties. It would be strange if she could hold on." Zhao Huifang said, putting down the mugwort.

"That's right!" Li Qiuyue added a weight, "One hundred and seventy-five pounds."

"Okay!" Yang Chunyan wrote it down in the account and counted the money on the abacus. Suddenly, she thought that there should be computers for sale now. Let Huai'an ask Wang Zhen tomorrow.

It’s still that convenient. Just press a number and the total will come out, saving you the trouble of fiddling with the abacus.

Zhou Jiakang and his friends rushed in, "We are back."

Zhang Xiuxiang glanced at them and said, "Hurry up and do your homework. After you finish, go to the backyard to help tie up the mugwort."

"Oh!" Zhou Xiaoqian agreed and walked towards the backyard. Zhou Jiaming took a few steps and turned back to Zhao Huifang. "Mom, we have an exam next Monday."

Zhao Huifang was stunned for a moment, "So fast! What did the teacher say?"

"The teacher said to review well." Zhou Jiaming went to the backyard with his schoolbag on his back. Seeing the pile of mugwort like a small mountain in the backyard, he sat down on the bamboo chair next to the cradle.

Zhou's mother turned her head and glanced at him, "What's wrong with Jiaming? Did you offend your mother when you got home?"

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Zhou Jialiang responded, "Grandma, my brother will go to the town's central school to take the entrance exam to junior high school next Monday, and he's worried that he won't pass."

Zhou's mother: "Don't be serious earlier. What's the point of worrying now? Hurry up and finish the homework assigned by the teacher. Write a few more words. Don't think about watching TV all day. Do you think you can really fight?"

Zhou Jiaming said listlessly: "No more huhuha ...."

The old man put down the wormwood and turned to look at him. "As the old saying goes, sharpening a spear before a battle is better than sharpening it. The teacher said that if you work harder, there will be hope. So you should work harder. If you pass the entrance exam to Baima Junior High School, I will reward you with ten yuan!"

"Brother!" Zhou Xiaoqian pulled him, "Grandpa will give you a ten-dollar reward! Study harder, maybe the questions you've studied for will be tested!"

"Yeah!" Zhou Jiaming became excited when he heard it. He walked to the small square table, opened his schoolbag, took out the textbook, and made a final effort.

It was getting dark. Zhou's mother asked Zhou Xiaoqian and others to look after the children. After washing the rice and putting it in the pot, she carried the basket and walked towards the vegetable field. She saw many villagers in the yard, watching TV and waiting to be weighed.

When Zhou Dachun and Li Yinfu saw her coming out, they hid aside for a while. They saw that the second wife had finished harvesting truffles and mugwort, and was harvesting red mushrooms next. The couple finally understood that it was impossible for them to catch up with the second wife, and they were afraid that even the third wife would have difficulty catching up.

Mother Zhou glanced at the two of them, too lazy to argue with them. She smiled and greeted a few acquaintances, then walked towards the gate of the courtyard.

When I went out, I saw Zhou Huaishan driving a four-wheel tractor to the grove. From a distance I could see the mugwort in the truck bed, piled as high as a haystack.

"I'll be busy tonight." Zhou's mother muttered to herself, quickened her pace to go to the vegetable garden, picked a dozen tomatoes, a handful of green peppers, a dozen cucumbers and eggplants, and walked back with the fruits in her hands.

After dark, Yang Chunyan and her sisters-in-law finally sent the last villager away. After dinner, just as they were about to unload the cart of mugwort outside, Fang Zhiqiang drove the ox cart into the yard.

"Chunyan, where is the cargo unloaded?"

"We're unloading the truck in the front yard!" Yang Chunyan walked over with a scale in hand. "Brother-in-law Fang, did you check it when you collected it?"

"Xiaoxue checked each one and put it on the scale. We collected more than 4,000 kilograms today. We will bring one truck back first and go for more tomorrow morning."

They bought the goods outside at 7 cents per pound and delivered them to Huai'an's house for 10 cents per pound, which was 2 cents higher than bulk goods. They made more than 100 yuan in one day.

Fang Zhiqiang happily untied the rope, and he and Zhou Huaishan unloaded the ox cart, led the ox out and tied it up, and then everyone started to weigh it.

Yang Chunyan added up the total, "Brother-in-law Fang, the total is 950 kilograms, 95 yuan is yours."

"Okay, I'll go first!" Fang Zhiqiang took the money, pulled the cart out and harnessed it, and when he reached the grove he saw Xu Hongbing driving the ox cart over, "You're back!"

Xu Hongbing smiled and said, "I saw you at the fork in the road. You didn't stop to wait for me even when I shouted at the top of my lungs."

"You're trying to coax me again!" Fang Zhiqiang smiled and patted him, "How much did you collect today?"

Xu Hongbing: "Brother Li and I went to his mother-in-law's house to collect the crops. The brigade secretary turned on the loud speaker and shouted that we had collected about 8,000 to 9,000 kilograms. We only brought back about 1,000 kilograms this time. We will have to make several more trips tomorrow morning to finish the collection."

"You two are smart. We didn't think of going to the brigade secretary to yell at him."

"The harvest will be more on the first day, but less tomorrow." Xu Hongbing waved at him and drove the ox cart forward. (End of this chapter)