After walking for half an hour, the group finally arrived at Zhang Xiao's house.
It was around four o'clock in the afternoon when Hong Baobao and the others arrived at Zhang Xiao's door. Zhang Xiao was just coming out of her house, and it looked like she was about to go out.
Zhang Xiao was overjoyed to see Hong Baobao and the others, and quickly greeted them.
“Xiaoxiao, it’s like this, we see that you have quite a lot of houses. Do you think we could rent two rooms?” Hong Baobao asked.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiao immediately wanted to say that she didn't need to rent it to them and that they could stay for free, but she held back when she was about to say it.
She felt that if she didn't accept the money, they definitely wouldn't agree to what had happened at noon.
So, how much should we charge?
A house rented on the street costs 1,000 yuan a year, so it costs 100 yuan a month.
After thinking for a moment, Zhang Xiao said, "How about this, I'll rent you two rooms, and you can just pay me one hundred yuan a month."
In that case, a room would cost fifty yuan a month, which is actually quite cheap.
However, after hearing this, Hong Baobao felt that the money was too little. She thought for a moment and said, "Xiaoxiao, isn't what you said a bit too little?"
Zhang Xiao shook her head and said, "There are quite a few. That's how the housing prices are here. Otherwise, you can go ask around on the street another day. Besides, I've been living alone at home lately. If you guys stay with me, you'll keep me company."
Zhang Xiao did think so too. Although she had been living alone at home for a few days and wasn't scared, it would always be better to have more people around.
Her parents have been away from home for a while now. When they video chat with her, they always worry that she's not doing well living alone. Now that there are several more people at home, they should feel more at ease.
Zhang Xiao decided that she would tell her parents about this when she video-chatted with them tonight.
Zhang Xiao's family does indeed have quite a few houses. Hong Baobao and Li Qing share one room, and Chen Yong lives in the other.
The rooms Zhang Xiao rented out to them were two rooms that had been built not long ago and had never been lived in before.
These two rooms are prefabricated houses with insulated panels.
Although such a room looks quite ordinary from the outside, it is extremely comfortable to live in.
The weather here is quite cold, but it's very warm living in these prefabricated houses.
The bedding on the bed was all new.
Changing the bedding would be too much trouble, so Zhang Xiao simply changed their sheets and duvet covers to clean ones.
There wasn't much furniture in the room. The room wasn't big, but because there were so few things, it felt quite spacious.
After Hong Baobao paid Zhang Xiao, the three of them stayed at Zhang Xiao's house.
In the evening, Zhang Xiao cooked porridge, and each person drank a bowl.
This time, Zhang Xiao didn't take the money, but instead had Chen Yong wash the pots and pans.
After dinner, they sat at Zhang Xiao's house watching TV and discussing how to make money.
Making money is hard, but spending it is easy.
And look, today is only the first day, and they've already spent 130 yuan.
They only have 1,000 yuan. If they keep spending it like this, they won't be able to survive for long.
Hong Baobao rubbed her chin, pondering what method she could use to make money as quickly as possible.
Zhang Xiao was sitting to the side, and naturally, she heard what they were saying.
Seeing that they looked rather worried, Zhang Xiao gave them a suggestion, saying, "If you want to make money, why don't you try picking up wild herbs on the mountain?"
Upon hearing Zhang Xiao's suggestion, Hong Baobao and Li Qing asked in unison, "What is 'earth softness'?"
Yes, this was the first time either of them had ever heard of *Gastrodia elata*, and they had no idea what it was.
As for Chen Yong, since he grew up in the countryside, he did know what "earth softness" was.
"Ground soft is ground fungus. I think Xiaoxiao's suggestion is great. It doesn't cost much. Otherwise, let's go to the mountain to pick ground soft tomorrow."
Neither Hong Baobao nor Li Qing knew what "ground softness" was, but since Chen Yong thought it was a good idea, they decided to give it a try.
Zhang Xiao's suggestion was affirmed by everyone, which made Zhang Xiao very happy.
They weren't familiar with the area, while Zhang Xiao would often go for a stroll in the mountains when she had free time. So she said, "Then I'll take you up the mountain tomorrow."
Hong Baobao and the others did not refuse and agreed.
With Zhang Xiao leading the way, they're sure to have a fruitful day tomorrow.
Because they didn't know anything about *Gastrodia elata*, Hong Baobao and Li Qing consulted Baidu (a Chinese search engine) to learn about it.
I must say, this lichen is actually quite good.
The group chatted for a long time, then watched TV for a while before going to bed early.
They were going up the mountain the next day.
The three of them are now full of energy.
Hong Baobao stayed with Chen Yong and Li Qing the whole time, while the others had no idea what they were doing.
Each group was followed by a cameraman, but the cameraman only appeared at the designated time; at other times, he was nowhere to be seen.
In short, Hung Bo-bo thinks this is a good thing.
A day passes quickly; you close your eyes and open them again, and a new day begins.
Hong Baobao and Li Qing got up quite early in the morning. When they got up, it was still dark and not yet dawn.
Hong Baobao created a group chat for the three of them, and then she added Zhang Xiao to the group as well.
She sent an emoji in the group chat, but Chen Yong didn't respond at all. She figured he was probably still asleep.
Anyway, it's still early, I can sleep a little longer.
Zhang Xiao doesn't seem to have woken up yet either.
Here, they use a washbasin for washing and other chores. It's also quite cold outside. Although the two of them are already awake, they are still lying in bed, planning to get up later.
They should at least wait until Zhang Xiao wakes up before getting together.
When Zhang Xiao and Chen Yong woke up, it was already 8:30.
At that time, it got dark quite late; it wasn't until 8:30 that it started to get light.
Zhang Xiao boiled water for the group, and after they washed up, Zhang Xiao cooked some porridge.
After having breakfast, they each took a plastic bag and went up the mountain together.
Although it's called a mountain, it's actually quite flat and not steep at all.
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