Chapter 116 Chapter 116 Oil Press

Huo Xing went out for a few more days and helped Fu Lingyou check on the progress of his oil press.

The people from the escort agency were used to traveling all over the country and learned things quickly. After two or three days, they had already learned the basic steps of oil pressing. The day Huo Xing went there, they happened to be pressing oil independently for the first time.

Huo Xing watched them perform every step perfectly, watching the rapeseed oil gurgle out. Fu Lingyou patted Huo Xing on the shoulder. Huo Xing looked at him and asked, "How will the oil press collect payment then?"

Fu Lingyou decided to assign these ten or so people to the five or six oil presses, and of course he would also put one or two of his own people in there.

"I'll open an oil-collecting shop in the county town. I'll buy the oil directly from the press. The price is not low. I can get 35 wen per jin, so the price of oil pressing won't be too low either." Fu Lingyou thought for a moment and said, "You can calculate by weight. 3 or 4 wen per jin will be fine."

Huo Xing nodded: "Okay."

Fu Lingyou asked again: "Do you have enough manpower?"

"If possible, give me one or two people." Huo Xing used to press oil with Miao Ying, and Miao Dong also helped. Now Miao Ying is still in confinement, and Miao Dong also has his own work to do, so he is the only one there.

Fu Lingyou nodded: "Okay, when do you plan to open? I'm about to start here."

Huo Xing thought about it. Although Miao Ying still had ten days to go before she could leave the house after her confinement, and although he didn't want to leave home, he couldn't stay at home all the time. He had stopped selling things at the stall, and his family still needed income. Just like Miao Ying said, he could go out early and come back home in the evening.

"The day after tomorrow."

After Huo Xing returned home, he told Miao Ying about this matter. Miao Ying nodded in agreement: "You should have gone out a long time ago. You just hang around at home every day."

After saying that, Miao Ying remembered something: "Oh right, the other day I was talking to Brother Feng about his son Erniu. Isn't he ten years old now? He's an apprentice in a martial arts school and I don't think he has much future. Do you think we should put him in the oil press as an apprentice?"

Huo Xing nodded: "Okay."

When Xiaobao came back, the family sat together and decided on Xuetuan's name, Huo Nanxing. This was because Lingzhi said that on the night Xuetuan was born, there was a particularly bright star in the southeast, and he always remembered it.

So Xuetuan was named Huo Nanxing.

After Miao Ying told Ye Feng that Erniu could be an apprentice in their oil press, Ye Feng brought a lot of big and small bags of things to his home, saying that he didn't know how to thank them as he only had some personal belongings.

Miao Ying had no way to refuse and had to accept it. He also knew that in this day and age, being taught a skill was like having another parent.

At the same time, Ye Feng also spread the news that the oil press was going to open, and told them the address of the oil press, so that those who wanted to go there to press oil could go.

Ye Feng was the first one to go. His family also planted a lot of rapeseed this year. They had a lot of land to begin with, and the surplus grain in the past was enough to pay taxes, so they planted more rapeseed this year.

He went to the oil press with Huo Xing when he opened the door. The people arranged by Fu Lingyou had arrived a long time ago. There was a yard behind the oil press where they could live.

The opening of the oil press was very simple. They just set off a string of firecrackers and then began the busy work.

Ye Feng brought Erniu along, and along the way he kept reminding him to be smart, obedient, and to be lively, to look at what he should look at, and not to look at what he shouldn't look at.

Erniu didn't argue, knowing that his father was doing it for his own good.

The oil press was not built in the town. After all, the shops in the town were too expensive. It was on the only way to the town. The surroundings were relatively quiet and the houses looked like they were newly built.

Huo Xing looked at Ye Feng and said, "Brother Feng, this oil press is said to be mine, but it's not actually mine. You should also know that the oil pressing fee is also set by the Fu family. One pound of rapeseed can produce half a pound of oil. The Fu family said that they earn thirty to forty cents per pound of oil, so I charge three cents per pound of rapeseed for oil pressing here."

"It should be." Ye Feng nodded, "Then you can weigh it."

Ye Feng brought about 100 kilograms of rapeseed today. He was the first one to come and was also their neighbor, so they gave him a small discount and charged him 300 coins as wages.

Fortunately, Ye Feng brought a lot of money with him when he went out, and he gave the money to Huo Xing.

Ye Feng looked at the wooden press in the yard with some surprise, as well as a few large-looking, aggressive men. He did not go inside but waited outside. Huo Xing brought Erniu in and asked him to help light the fire.

The oil pressing process was not short. Ye Feng yawned and waited for a while before finally seeing the process. Huo Xing followed the other two big men, constantly performing repetitive mechanical movements, hitting the wooden box with a firing pin. When he got closer to take a look, the oil had already flowed out.

"It's amazing." Ye Feng marveled at it, and then saw Huo Xing and the others sweating profusely, with veins popping out on their necks, and he felt that three cents per pound was already a bargain.

About an hour later, all the oil was squeezed out of the rapeseed that Ye Feng brought. Huo Xing filled his own oil barrel for him and weighed it. He found that a little over a hundred kilograms of rapeseed produced fifty kilograms of oil.

He made the oil barrel himself out of wood. It was very simple to make and Xiaolin also knew how to do it. When Miao Ying was in confinement after giving birth, Xiaolin also made many small oil barrels. Huo Xing thought about it and put them in the oil press. If someone bought them, he would sell them for ten cents each and save all the profits for Xiaolin.

"This oil barrel belongs to me. I'm giving it to you." Huo Xing said with a smile, "You can keep this oil for yourself. If you want to sell it, go to the county town and find the Fu family oil shop."

Ye Feng thanked Huo Xing and said that he would take care of Erniu, as the boy was hardworking and capable of doing anything.

Huo Xing nodded: "Don't worry."

After Ye Feng drove the ox cart away, people soon came to the oil press again. They were also from their village, a couple named Xu, Mr. Xu and his husband. They had no children and came with a basket of rapeseed on their backs.

Huo Xing repeated to them what he had said to Ye Feng. The two of them looked embarrassed. They only had twenty cents on them when they went out, which was not enough to pay the wages.

Mr. Xu looked a little embarrassed: "I left in a hurry and didn't bring that much money." Not only did he not bring it with him, but his family simply didn't have that much money. The oil pressing fee for these fifty kilograms of rapeseed would be one hundred and fifty coins.

Huo Xing thought for a moment and said, "How about this? I'll squeeze out the oil, and you can leave five pounds of oil with me. My harvest is thirty coins per pound, and the price in the county town might be higher."

Mr. Xu nodded quickly: "Sure, sure."

Huo Xing took the backpack. They didn't have much rapeseed, so one pot would be enough. After a while, oil came out. Twenty-six kilograms of oil were produced from fifty kilograms of rapeseed. Huo Xing kept five kilograms, and they took the rest back in oil barrels.

The first day was fine, as there weren't many people coming to press oil. By noon, Huo Xing realized they hadn't gotten any food. Just as he was about to go to town to buy some, Ling Zhi came over and said, "Brother, I thought you hadn't eaten yet, so I brought you some food."

Lingzhi went out later than Huo Xing today. When he was about to leave, Miao Ying stopped him and said that Huo Xing and the others didn't bring any dry food, so he had to trouble him to deliver lunch at noon.

Lingzhi told Miao Ying that he would take care of the oil press's lunch from now on. Miao Ying originally wanted to pay for it, but then he thought that Huo Xing was also making money for his family, so what would be wrong with eating a few of his meals? So he didn't care.

After all, oil pressing is physical work. Three men and Erniu ate the meal that six young men could eat. Lingzhi was busy in the shop, so he delivered the meal and went back. After they finished their meal and rested for a while, more people came. Almost all of them were from their village. Maybe because Ye Feng told them the price, everyone brought enough money when they came.

Some of them brought their own oil barrels, and some didn't, so they bought from him. They made a lot of money at the end of the day, but all three of them were very tired, even Erniu was gasping for breath.

He was making fire all day long, and also helped to shovel rapeseed and wrap the dough for the pancakes. He was really capable despite being so young. In the middle, he was asked to try pushing the firing pin, but he didn't have enough strength, and it was the same as if he didn't hit it at all.

It was getting dark and the oil press was closed. Zhao and Zhang, who came to work for him from the escort agency, were staying there for the night. They said they were going to get some wine in the evening and asked Huo Xing if he wanted to stay. Huo Xing shook his head. He wanted to go home and hug Xuetuan.

I walked home under the moonlight. There was a lamp lit at the gate of my yard, and the lights in the room were not turned off.

When he was eating, Miao Ying looked at him through the crack of the door. Huo Xing simply stopped eating, took a steamed bun and went into the room.

Miao Ying looked at him: "How is it? Is business going well?"

Huo Xing nodded: "I almost never stop working."

Miao Ying got off the bed and pinched his arms. He didn't have much strength, and the pinching felt like a kitten kneading milk.

"Is Xuetuan good today?" Huo Xing pulled him back to the bed and sat him down. He looked at the sleeping Xuetuan and felt soft inside.

"He's so good. Is he ever not good?" Miao Ying poked Xuetuan's face. He didn't know how lucky he was to have such a good child. The child almost never cried and lay down all day without making any noise. Now he could laugh and would smile when teased.

Huo Xing finished eating the steamed bread in his hand: "I'll go wash it and come back soon."

Miao Ying nodded and counted the days on his fingers in bed. Five more days, five more days and he would be able to see the light of day again. This month almost suffocated him to death. If he didn't have a baby like Xuetuan, he would have gone crazy long ago. He also understood why modern people suffer from postpartum depression.

He wanted to go out and make money right now. He felt that his limbs had atrophied in the past month. He pinched his obvious fat belly. He hadn't looked in the mirror recently, so he must have gained a lot of weight.

He was planning his goals for after the confinement period. The first was to lose at least ten pounds and get his abdominal muscles back. The second was to continue setting up the stall. He had to make money no matter what. Huo Xing had his own career, and he had to have one too. At worst, he could just sell less every day and go home early to hug Xuetuan.

It's just hard work for my mother, as she has to help them take care of the child. When Xuetuan grows a little bigger, she can take him with her to set up a stall.

"What are you thinking about?" Huo Xing returned to the room at some point and saw Miao Ying in a daze.

"Think about the future." Miao Ying raised her head, "After I'm done with the confinement, I want to go out and make money too."

Huo Xing nodded: "Okay."