Chapter 30 Late Night Visitor

"Tell me, what's going on."

At the doorstep, Xia Wu sat on a high stool and took the French fries from her mother. Yang Mingyuan stood in front of her, lowering his head and picking at his blackened fingernails.

"Last time I stole some strawberries and brought them to school to eat," Yang Mingyuan was silent for a long time before finally speaking hesitantly, "I lied to them and said my mom bought them for me. Yang Rongrong told them that my mom didn't buy the strawberries, but that I stole them. They insisted on following me, and I couldn't stop them... Seeing them picking them, I picked some too."

Yang Mingyuan had dark skin, so even if he blushed, it wouldn't be noticeable. But under Xia Wu's gaze, he could indeed feel his face getting hot.

"Stealing is wrong," Xia Wu emphasized again.

"I, I want my sister and grandma to try the taste of strawberries. They have never eaten them before."

Last time, Yang Mingyuan stole some strawberries and asked him to take them to school to eat. He also shared some with his classmates, but he himself didn’t have enough.

"But stealing is wrong. You're still young now. When you grow up, stealing will be illegal. Do you want to go to jail?"

Yang Mingyuan remained silent again, and shook his head after a long time.

"If you do something wrong, you have to find a way to make amends. How about this? Today is Friday. You come and help me with the work tomorrow, and we'll be even. How about that?"

Yang Mingyuan looked up at her and asked, "What kind of work are you doing?"

Xia Wu pointed to the strawberry garden and said, "I'm going to sell these strawberries. They're two kilograms for fifty yuan. Come and help me pack them tomorrow. I'll pay you the labor fee and use it to make up for my losses."

Yang Mingyuan agreed immediately, "Okay! What time will you come?"

It just so happens that tomorrow is Saturday and they don’t have classes.

"Six thirty in the morning, can you get up?"

"Yes! That's a deal," Yang Mingyuan agreed and was about to run away, but Xia Wu quickly called him back, "Come back."

"What else?" Yang Mingyuan ran back, wiping his nose with his sleeve, looking dirty.

"Change into clean clothes tomorrow and trim your fingernails. You can't work for me with a runny nose," Xia Wu said in a commanding manner, looking like someone you shouldn't mess with. She was so clean and beautiful that Yang Mingyuan instinctively tucked his hands into his sleeves. His face felt hot again, and he whispered, "Got it."

"Here, these strawberries have been picked. You can take them back. This is my advance payment to you."

"Next time you want something, you have to work for it. No more stealing, understand?"

Yang Mingyuan opened her arms and took the strawberry that Xia Wu handed to her. Without saying anything, she turned around and ran away. It was unknown whether she heard anything or not.

"It's not easy for his parents. They can take care of the child but not raise him. If they don't go out to work, there will be no money for the whole family to spend at home. If they go out to work, look what they have done to the child," Liu Guizhen's tone was full of emotion. She watched Yang Mingyuan and his brother grow up. Yang Mingyuan was born in another place and was sent back to his rural hometown at the age of three. When he first came back, the child was fair and clean, and he knew to call people when he saw them. The villagers liked him and said that the child would have a promising future when he grew up.

But after being left at home for a few years without adult supervision, the child's nature became indulged. Not only did he have poor academic performance, but he also developed bad habits of stealing and lying.

Liu Guizhen didn't necessarily want to argue with the child about some strawberries. They were all from the same village, so there was no need to make a fuss about such a small thing. But if Yang Mingyuan was not disciplined, who knew how far he would go astray.

Those children were so ruthless that they pulled out some strawberry seedlings while stealing them. After picking the strawberries, they threw the seedlings aside, with flowers still blooming on them and fruits that had not yet turned red.

Xia Wu felt very distressed when seeing this.

She replanted the strawberry seedlings and secretly watered them with some spiritual spring water before she felt relieved.

The result of the group chat came out. Seventy-three people wanted to buy strawberries. Xia Wu didn't want to chat privately with each of them to get their addresses, so he set up a WeChat store overnight. Currently, there is only one link on it. Two kilograms of strawberries are 50 yuan, free shipping.

After sending the store information to the group, Xia Wu went to sleep.

Xia Wu was woken up by the alarm clock at five o'clock. He saw that there were more than eighty orders in the WeChat store. He felt both sad and happy.

The weather was getting colder and getting up became difficult. Xia Wu got dressed, went out to wash, splashed cold water on his face, yawned, and went to the strawberry garden to pick strawberries.

Breakfast was not ready yet. Liu Guizhen was busy in the kitchen, and Yang Guojun was helping his daughter pick the food. Xia Wu felt sorry for her brother who liked to sleep in, so she didn't wake him up.

The first two batches of strawberries planted have ripe fruits every day, and ripe strawberries can also be found in the greenhouse, but in small quantities.

Maybe it’s because Xia Wu was willing to water these strawberries with the spiritual spring water, so these strawberries are very good at bearing fruit, with a large patch of red fruit every day.

At daybreak, the father and daughter were busy in the strawberry field. After picking a full basket, they put it in the aisle, waiting to be packed.

At about six o'clock, when Yang Guojun got up, he saw two figures walking towards him. He looked at them curiously for a few seconds, and when they got closer, he saw that they were Yang Mingyuan and his sister.

Yang Mingyuan's sister, Yang Mingyue, is only thirteen years old. Standing by the roadside, she watched Yang Guojun busy working in the strawberry field and said sheepishly, "Uncle Yang, I've brought my brother to help you with your work."

Xia Wu straightened up and asked, "Have you eaten yet?"

"Not yet."

"Okay, come here first and I'll teach you how to pick strawberries."

"good."

Yang Mingyue was also very slender, but she worked very skillfully. Xia Wu taught her how to pinch off the strawberries from the roots and carefully put them into the basket. She quickly got the hang of it.

Yang Mingyuan worked beside his sister without any intention of slacking off.

"Pick the red ones, and wait until tomorrow to pick the dull ones."

On a morning in early winter, dew condensed on the strawberry seedlings, and soon soaked people's sleeves and trouser legs. By seven or eight o'clock, the aisle was full of picked strawberries. Xia Wu saw that there was almost enough, so he called the brother and sister to come back.

Yang Mingyue took her brother and stood at the door of the Yang family. Both children could not speak much and waited blankly for Xia Wu's next instructions.

Xia Wu asked them to sit down and eat. Yang Mingyue felt a little embarrassed and said, "We can just go home and eat."

Xia Wu said directly and forcefully, "Eat quickly. You still have work to do after you finish eating."

The two children then sat down.

Xia Wu gave them buffalo milk to drink, an egg each, and Liu Guizhen's custard buns, dipped in her homemade strawberry jam, which was a rare delicacy for the two children.

After they started eating, they became even quieter and focused on eating.

After breakfast, Yang Mingyuan wiped his mouth and asked, "What else do you want to do?"

Xia Wu saw that he not only changed his clothes today, but also seemed to have washed his hair, and looked much cleaner and pleasing to the eye.

Then I started teaching the brother and sister how to pack strawberries.

Weigh them first, two kilograms as one portion, then wrap each strawberry with foam net and place them in a foam box, separating them and trying to avoid squeezing and collision.

The packing boxes Xia Wu bought were of relatively good quality. Considering that strawberries are fragile, no one could pack them quickly.

After working for most of the morning, they only packed more than 50 pieces. Xia Wu took a photo and sent it to the group. The orders in the background were still increasing.

She could only say in the group: "The order volume has been saturated. Those who place orders late can only be shipped tomorrow."

After packing over 80 orders of strawberries, it was already noon. Yang Mingyue pulled her brother over to Xia Wu and timidly said, "Sister, can my brother and I go home now?"

Xia Wu shook his head, "No, we can't leave yet."

Yang Mingyue's face was gloomy, and she felt a little embarrassed: "Sister, my grandma is waiting for me to go home and cook."

"Don't worry, it won't take long. Let's calculate your salary."

"Salary?" Yang Mingyue's already big eyes widened even wider. She lowered her head and looked at her brother in surprise, then moved her feet awkwardly.

"Yes, it was Yang Mingyuan who stole the strawberries yesterday. I just asked him to make amends alone. You didn't do anything wrong and helped me with so much work, so you should be paid. Here is fifty yuan, take it."

Xia Wu took out the change he had prepared long ago and handed it to Yang Mingyue.

Yang Mingyue initially backed off and didn't want to take it back, but Xia Wu was firm in his attitude.

"Take it, and set an example for Yang Mingyuan. People with hands and feet can make money, and they can't always think of taking shortcuts."

After hearing her say this, Yang Mingyue accepted the money and whispered a thank you: "Thank you, sister. Sister, how much are your strawberries per pound? Can I buy some to take back?"

"Of course, how much do you want?"

"I want to buy the twenty-dollar one."

Xia Wu took the money and gave her thirty yuan in change. She hadn't packed all the strawberries she'd picked that morning. "I'll give you ten yuan per pound. I'll weigh two pounds for you."

Yang Mingyue was obviously much more lively than at the beginning, and kept saying thank you to her sister. Yang Mingyuan couldn't wait to stuff a strawberry into his mouth without even washing it, and Xia Wu didn't have time to call him.

The brother and sister were going home. Xia Wu waved goodbye to them. The two of them walked slowly for more than ten meters, as if they were talking about something. After a while, Yang Mingyuan ran back.

"Sister, do you need someone to work tomorrow?"

Yang Mingyuan wiped his nose, with some anticipation in his eyes.

It's no wonder that the two children are very nimble and the work goes very quickly with them around. Xia Wu thought that picking and packing strawberries is not a hard job. It's a good thing to find something for the two children to do and let them earn some money.

However, as business was business, Xia Wu changed his mind about the salary: "Come on, I'll give your sister fifty for working all morning, but you can only take thirty because you can't work as fast as your sister."

"Okay! That's a deal, we'll come again tomorrow!" Yang Mingyuan was extremely excited. For rural children, even ten yuan was enough for them to buy a bunch of cheap snacks at school to attract their friends, and thirty or fifty yuan was a windfall.

"You can't just work. Don't let your homework delay your studies. Finish your homework today, otherwise you can't come to work."

Xia Wu was not very good at getting along with children, and in the past she even kept her distance from creatures of that age. However, her attitude changed as she interacted with Yang Mingyuan and his sister.

“Okay, I’ll definitely finish it!”

Yang Mingyuan jumped and skipped happily and ran away. After telling Yang Mingyue the good news, the brother and sister were very happy and took strawberries from the bag to eat.

Xia Wu felt helpless and amused.

After lunch, Yang Guojun helped Xia Wu load the express delivery onto the tricycle, and she took it to the town to deliver it.

A total of 83 express parcels were packed, and Xia Wu spent 663 yuan on express delivery. However, she earned 50 yuan for each parcel of strawberries. After deducting the express delivery fee, she made a net profit of 3,487 yuan a day.

It seems like a lot, but Xia Wu’s initial investment in the strawberry garden and the hidden labor costs have not been taken into account. So, with this calculation, there is still some profit to be made from selling strawberries online.

According to the speed at which strawberries ripen, she can send out seventy or eighty express parcels every day. When the strawberries in the greenhouse are ripe, it will be no problem to send out hundreds of parcels a day. How much can she earn then?

Xia Wu felt a little hot in his heart when he thought about it.

As a result, a new problem arose. There were only one or two hundred people in the group, and even if they bought every day, they could not keep up with her sales speed. As expected, she still had to continue shooting videos and expanding her customer base.

Fantasizing about a bright future, Xia Wu turned the accelerator to the maximum and drove at lightning speed all the way. The cold wind made her cheeks hurt a little.

When she has money, she will definitely buy a four-wheeled vehicle!

Ninety percent of this batch of express deliveries are within the same city and can be sent out before six o'clock in the evening. It is estimated that buyers will receive the goods tomorrow.

While waiting for everyone's feedback, Xia Wu continued to shop online for packing boxes and foam nets.

Knowing that strawberries could be sold for a lot of money, Yang Guojun and Liu Guizhen were very happy and worked with more energy.

That night, Xia Wu carefully edited the recently shot footage and finally updated the video after almost a month.

After finishing his work, Xia Wu saw that it was almost ten o'clock. He yawned, covered himself with the quilt, hugged Bugs Bunny and fell asleep.

At night, Xia Wu was kicked awake by Bugs Bunny.

The khaki rabbit kept kicking her face with its hind legs. When Xia Wu opened her eyes, she saw Bugs Bunny kicking her while looking anxiously towards the window. It was pitch black outside and she couldn't see anything clearly.

When turning on the light, Xia Wu was immediately startled to see a snake coiled on the windowsill!

The snake was yellow-green all over, with its upper body raised up and its tongue hissing. It kept probing the glass window, as if looking for a gap to get in.

Realizing that the snake couldn't get in, Xia Wu's heartbeat gradually returned to normal, and he began to observe the snake's appearance leisurely. What was strange was that there was a faint word "王" on the snake's head.

Xia Wu took a photo and sent it to the WeChat group. It was just after two in the morning.

"Does anyone know anything about snakes?"

Not long after Xia Wu sent the message, someone replied: "I know a little bit. Did you encounter a snake?"

The person's note happened to be related to snakes, called [rabbit snake]

"Yes, there is a snake outside my window. I don't know if it is poisonous."

"Take a picture and send it to me."

"Let me add you. Maybe someone in the group is afraid of snakes."

"good."

Xia Wu added [Cauliflower Snake] as a friend and was accepted immediately. She sent him the photos she took.

【Rapeseed Snake】: What a coincidence, this snake is the name of my group.

"Cauliflower snake?"

"Yes, its scientific name is Elaphe King. Look at the markings on its head. Animals with these markings are no ordinary creatures, like the tiger, the king of beasts. Don't worry, it's a non-venomous snake. Wherever it's found, no venomous snakes will appear within ten miles. Although it's non-venomous, it's a special enemy of venomous snakes."

After hearing this explanation from the [Corn Snake], Xia Wu was no longer afraid of the snake brother outside. She even approached the window curiously and knocked gently through the glass.

"Xia Xia, the ecological environment there is really good. This king snake must be two meters long. It's very rare. Don't provoke it easily. It may be looking for a place to spend the winter because it's cold. Close the doors and windows, and it will leave on its own."

Xia Wu sincerely thanked the [Cauliflower Snake]. She was not stupid enough to let such a big snake in.