Chapter 41 The Money-Making Goblin Harvesting Team Makes a Fortune at the Market
At this time, Lai was unaware that the autumn hunting team had returned safely; he was picking pine cones on the mountain.
Those five bags of chestnuts, without being shelled, weighed only a few hundred pounds, and they were almost all sold out in three days.
Recently, both the town and the villages have been actively preparing for the harvest festival, and the goods at the market stalls are selling out very quickly.
A day in advance, Lai contacted Iru and asked him to help find three reliable goblins to go up the mountain to pick pine nuts and chestnuts.
He gave them the same price of one silver coin for the day, without the extra twenty pounds of chestnuts, but with an hour of free time at midday. Anything they picked or felled on the mountain during that hour was theirs to keep and they could take it back with them.
As dawn broke, Lai had already set off with four goblins.
There was Iru, a goblin who looked somewhat old, and two other goblins who looked very thin.
According to Iru, he was an old acquaintance of theirs.
They didn't participate when Hru gathered the goblins to do evil. The three of them belonged to the group that wanted to settle down and could be trusted.
Upon hearing that humans wanted to hire them and that they would have an hour of free time, they all eagerly assured Iru that they would work diligently.
In the morning, Lai and his companions went to the pine forest. The goblins' large feet and claw-like fingers made them particularly good at climbing trees.
The four goblins took turns climbing the tree in groups of three to pick the pine cones, while Ray and another goblin who stayed behind picked up the pine cones that had been thrown down from the ground.
There were so many squirrels in this pine forest that Ray could see several squirrels staring at them whenever he looked up.
Therefore, he specifically instructed the goblins not to pick all the pine cones from the trees, but to leave half for them and the various small animals that came to eat the pine nuts.
Soon it was lunchtime, and the goblins had picked two and a half bags of pine cones in the morning.
Lai and Yiru ate the food they brought, while the other three goblins asked for the location of the Chestnut Forest and each took a bag and went there.
Ilu told me that they planned to pick chestnuts there at noon and eat some raw chestnuts when they got hungry.
Aren't you coming with us?
Lai asked Iru, and Iru swallowed the rye bread and replied.
"I'll stay here and help you."
After lunch, Lai chopped some pine branches, tied them together with hemp rope, and took them home that evening to smoke meat.
After dealing with the pine branches, and with nothing else to do, Lai and Yiru found a shady spot and began shelling pine nuts.
While I was shelling pine nuts, a pine cone suddenly fell down.
It's normal for pine cones to fall off naturally when they're ripe, but Lai didn't think much of it and continued to split the pine cones in half with his machete.
Plop, another pine cone fell, and Lei moved to a different spot.
*Smack*
"ah!"
Iru didn't notice and got hit squarely.
Lai looked up at the tree and saw a very fat red squirrel holding a pine cone, ready to throw it down.
When the fat squirrel saw that Lai and Yiru were looking up at him, he immediately threw away the pine cone and jumped from one pine tree to another, making the branches tremble.
"This chubby little squirrel is quite agile."
"I find it funny," Ray said, picking up the pine cones from the ground and throwing them into his bag. Iru grinned, pointing his teeth in the direction the squirrel had fled.
"Be very careful not to let me catch you!"
The rest time passed quickly, and the three dogs returned precisely on time.
Where are your things?
Yilu asked.
He remembered that the three of them went there with bags, so how come they came back empty-handed?
"We've hidden them in the chestnut grove below; we'll retrieve them on our way back."
"Yes, that's fine too."
After a short rest, we continued working.
After picking two more bags of pine cones, Lai led the goblins to a new location. They first carried several bags of pine cones down the mountain and loaded them onto a truck before heading to the chestnut grove to pick chestnuts.
In just half an afternoon, one person and four goblins picked a total of five bags of chestnuts, which was extremely efficient.
Seeing that it was getting late, Lei told the goblins to pack everything up and start heading back.
The cart was full, and the goblins were a little tired after a day's work, but their faces were full of joy.
They were rewarded with a silver coin for this mission, and they also picked a lot of chestnuts, so they wouldn't have to worry about food for at least the next five days.
On the way back, the four goblins sat by the side of the cart, chatting and peeling chestnuts, trying their best to help Lai with as much as possible.
If they perform well, maybe Ray will ask them to do work again next time!
As the sky was ablaze with the color of sunset, Lei and his group arrived at the tunnel.
As agreed, Lai paid Iru and the others their wages. After unloading the goblins' belongings from the cart, Lai turned the mule cart around and started heading towards the small mountain village.
There was a lot of stuff on the cart, and Lai was worried that it would overturn or hit someone, so after arriving at the village, he led the little mule back slowly.
Perhaps because he returned early today, Lai encountered many villagers on the way and exchanged a few pleasantries with them from time to time.
He learned from snippets of conversation that the Autumn Hunting Team had returned and had hunted down a powerful magical beast, which he heard could be sold for a lot of gold coins.
But these things are none of Lai's concern for now; what he needs to do now is to safely transport these mountain goods home.
After walking for more than ten minutes, Lai finally returned home.
Neil rushed out upon hearing the commotion, followed by Lamb.
"You're here just in time, come and lend a hand."
"Okay."
Lamb helped Ray unload the truck.
Four large bags of pine cones, four large bags of unpeeled chestnuts, half a bag of peeled chestnuts, and a bundle of pine branches. What a bumper harvest today!
"Wow, bro, you picked more in one day than the four of us did last time!"
"We paid people to do it, so of course there are more."
After unloading the truck, Lai returned to the living room, drank a large glass of water, and sat down to rest.
"Brother, did you know that Rhys and the others are back?"
"I heard about it as soon as I entered the village. What happened?"
"Nothing much, just asking you."
"oh."
Lamb stammered for a while before finally managing to utter another sentence.
"Brother, the harvest festival is in three days. Have you prepared your clothes?"
"ah?"
Do I need to prepare clothes?
Lei was a little confused.
"These are the clothes we wear for the harvest festival."
"Not yet. What's wrong?"
"Then you'd better hurry up and prepare, I heard this year it will be especially grand."
"Okay, got it."
Lamb hesitated, then swallowed his words.
"Brother, you must remember to prepare."
"Yes, definitely."
After seeing Lamb off, Ray and Neil began peeling chestnuts.
After shelling the pine nuts, there's still a roasting process to go through, which we can't possibly finish today. We can shell more chestnuts, though, to have in reserve.
The next day, after selling all the chestnuts, Ray took Neil to the clothing store.
The clothes at the clothing store are all made too big, so I need to have them altered to my measurements. I'll be picking them up the day after tomorrow.
Originally, I could have had my measurements taken and the clothes made to order, but because of the harvest festival, there were so many people getting their clothes made that I could only buy ready-made clothes from the store.
Lai ordered two more sets of winter clothes for herself and Neil, not caring about the style, just that they would keep them warm.
Before leaving, he checked the wardrobe at home and found that he and Neil's winter clothes were rather thin. Because no one helped them mend their clothes, and neither of them knew how to sew, their clothes already had several holes in them.
The four sets of thick winter clothes, plus two outfits for the harvest festival, cost Ray twenty-two silver coins in total.
Well, all the money I made selling chestnuts today went to clothes.
Lai's desire to sell roasted pine nuts began to stir again.
Because of the holiday, people are spending more freely, buying roasted chestnuts by the pound. The market for roasted pine nuts has also become very large.
After finishing their business, Lai took Neil home.
After dinner, they started peeling pine cones and continued until late at night, finishing two bags in total.
This job is tedious and hard on the hands, and Lai is already considering outsourcing it to someone else.
Birds chirped, dogs barked, and the sky brightened. Today, Lai decided to rest at home for the day.
In the morning, he took out the marinated Gulu meat and placed it on burning pine branches and pine cones to smoke it, while watching the fire and continuing to peel pine nuts.
Lamb came here to wander around and was pulled in by Lei to work as a laborer.
Based on the principle of taking advantage of every opportunity, Lamb brought in George to help with the work.
Rye didn't let them work for nothing. After roasting the pine nuts in the afternoon, Rye specially roasted an extra twenty pounds of sugar-roasted chestnuts. He delivered some pine nuts and chestnuts to both families.
After the cured meats were smoked, Lai hung them in the storeroom near the window to ensure ventilation. He also prepared the pine nuts and chestnuts he wanted to sell.
Tomorrow is the last time I'll be setting up my stall before the harvest festival. We'll have to wait and see when I'll be able to set up my stall again after the festival.
These four large bags of pine cones weighed approximately 600 pounds, yielding over 60 pounds of pine nuts. It took Rye a lot of effort to roast them all.
The next day at dawn, I got up early again and roasted dozens of pounds of sugar-roasted chestnuts.
The market was packed with people, and Ray paid three times more than usual to get a decent spot.
At this point, it didn't matter whether the location was good or bad; as long as it was a stall, there would be several customers standing in front of it.
People were packed together, shoulder to shoulder, as if the entire town had turned out in an instant.
Although pine nuts are expensive, many people still buy them. Some keep them for their own consumption, while others take them as gifts when visiting relatives for the holidays.
Even the usually stingy Blake was unusually generous, giving Jack fifty copper coins to buy some good food.
"Hey! Mr. Victor!"
Jack waved to Rye, and Rye waved back.
"I had no idea you were doing business."
"I picked some mountain produce to sell and earn some pocket money. Come and have a taste."
Rye handed Jack some roasted chestnuts and pine nuts, which Jack devoured with delight.
"Give me a pound, I'll take it back for my sister to eat."
Jack took a handful of copper coins from his pocket, carefully counted out twenty, and handed them to Neil. Rye then packed him two pounds of roasted chestnuts.
"That's too much."
Jack waved his hand in refusal, but Rye forced him into his arms.
“Take it, Jack. This is a harvest festival gift for your sister. Take it quickly, I have business to do.”
Jack looked grateful.
"Thank you, Mr. Victor!"
Jack made way for the old lady behind him who was pulling at him, looking somewhat helpless and embarrassed.
"I'm leaving now. If you need anything, you can find me at Black's Clinic. I'm always there."
"good."
After seeing Jack off, Lai started serving other customers, working until dinner time in the afternoon, and only then could she take a breather after selling everything.
"So busy! Brother, I feel like I'm going to die of exhaustion, but I'm also so happy."
Neil slumped unceremoniously in the chair; they had barely sat down to rest for a moment all day.
Ray looked at him with amusement; this was the first time Neil had mentioned being tired.
"How can you be so happy?"
Neil's sweaty hair clung to his forehead as he shook the money box, making a dull metallic clanging sound.
"Hehe, it's heavy!"
"Let's go home."
"Brother, there are still clothes!"
"Then let's go get the clothes first and then go home."
"Um!"
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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 01:26:25 on July 16, 2023 and 18:43:06 on July 17, 2023!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Custard Pig Bun 20 bottles; wisniz and I am a ghost 1 bottle;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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