Chapter 28 Chapter 28-Two in One Just after shouting "Ji Mushroom", people...
Zhang Dayong asked, "You're bringing so much pork neck to treat us?"
Pei Ying smiled and said, "We need to hire someone to grow crops at home."
Zhao Guang looked at Pei Ying in surprise. "What are we going to plant at this time of year?"
"Corn." Pei Ying said.
Zhao Guang pursed his lips, about to speak again. Pei Ying smiled and said, "My wife said it might be a little late, but any harvest is welcome. We're living separately this year, and if we don't plant, we won't have any food by the end of the year."
Zhang Dayong also fell silent, feeling sorry for Pei Ying for wasting so many seeds.
But Pei Ying had a smile on his face when he talked about his wife, so they didn't say anything more and had to give up and start working.
For fear of damaging the chicken mushrooms, Lin Chuntao walked very slowly along the way. By the time she arrived at the market, many people had already finished their shopping and were preparing to leave.
Thinking of the old man she had bought red mushrooms from last time, who had said he could carry some to him if he had any chicken mushrooms, Lin Chuntao went to the medicine shop first, but there was only a medicine boy there. The boy said, "The boss has gone to the market. Madam, go look for him there."
Lin Chuntao smiled, rented a beam scale at the market entrance, and entered the market carrying the chicken mushrooms.
She found the previous place, put down the backpack and bamboo basket, removed the weeds on the backpack, and started selling.
As soon as she shouted "Ji Mu", people rushed over from all directions and surrounded her tightly.
Everyone exclaimed in amazement at the fresh and plump chicken mushrooms.
"Oh, girl, this is all chicken mushrooms?"
"Where did you find it? It's in such good condition."
"How much is one pound?"
Lin Chuntao looked at the people in front of her with a smile and estimated a number.
"Thirty and a half wen a jin."
As soon as he finished speaking, the man in front said, "Oh, that's so expensive. Give me two pounds."
The man said it was expensive, but he still wanted to buy it. Lin Chuntao thought that the price of chicken mushrooms sold before might have been about the same.
I could only hear people talking at once, "Give me two pounds, give me three pounds."
Just as Lin Chuntao was about to start weighing, she looked up and saw the old man who had just squeezed in. He looked at her and said, "Miss, didn't we agree last time that if you pick up any chicken mushrooms, you should come to my shop? I'll buy them all for you."
Before Lin Chuntao could even say she was leaving, the man next to her said, "Doctor He, don't keep all the good stuff in your pharmacy. Buy two pounds of this chicken mushroom for everyone to try!"
The woman next to her also took over and echoed, "That's right." As she agreed, she said to Lin Chuntao, "Miss, please help me weigh two pounds and I'll count the money for you."
As she spoke, she started counting the money. Lin Chuntao had no choice but to pick up the scale, pick out the chicken mushrooms and weigh two kilograms for her. The woman carried the basket and looked at the whole and fresh chicken mushrooms in it with a smile on her face.
The man who wanted two kilograms stopped arguing with the old man and asked Lin Chuntao to weigh it for him quickly.
The old man watched Lin Chuntao picking up chicken mushrooms for the man, then glanced at Lin Chuntao's small basket, estimated the amount in his mind, and said hurriedly, "Girl, I want fifteen pounds."
As soon as he said this, the man who had just shouted for three catties became anxious. He glared at the old man and then said to Lin Chuntao, "Girl, I said it first. Three catties, you have to weigh it for me first!"
There were people gathered around, staring at Lin Chuntao and saying, "Girl, we all got here before this old man. You can't sell it all to him. Give us two pounds each. We haven't eaten chicken mushrooms this year, so let everyone try some."
Lin Chuntao was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, and first put down the scale that had been mentioned as weighing three pounds.
After the man left, the people gathered around him and said to the old man, "Doctor He, can you share some with everyone to try? When she picks up more, can you carry them all back to your shop? Don't let us see them."
The little old man looked at the group of people surrounding him, as if if he didn't understand, they would not let him go.
He frowned, gritted his teeth, looked up and said to Lin Chuntao: "Okay, give them a few pounds, and leave five pounds for me."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Old man, can I weigh five pounds for you first?"
There was no other way, so I weighed him five kilograms.
The old man gave Lin Chuntao some money and said, "Little girl, next time you pick up some chicken mushrooms, carry them to my shop first and I'll give you some extra money!"
Lin Chuntao nodded repeatedly, "Okay, I will definitely do it next time."
After taking away five pounds, the backpack was almost empty. The person in front took away one or two pounds, and soon the backpack was empty.
Seeing the empty backpacks and the dejected look of those who didn't buy anything, Lin Chuntao looked at the bamboo basket behind them and estimated that there were about five or six pounds. She asked loudly, "There are still three pounds left. Who wants it?"
"Me!" A woman rushed back as she spoke. She looked at Lin Chuntao awkwardly and said, "Sell me."
Lin Chuntao smiled and took the grass off the bamboo basket, took out some, and weighed three pounds for her.
The woman looked out and saw the bamboo basket of chicken mushrooms in front of Lin Chuntao. She smiled and said, "Miss, why are you hiding the chicken mushrooms you're selling? There are more than three pounds in the bamboo basket!"
She had a loud voice, and two of the people who had just left came back!
"Where?"
The people who came back peeked out and saw the small bamboo basket that Lin Chuntao had hidden behind her, and they all looked at her with heartache.
"Girl, how could you do this? I want two pounds."
"I want two pounds too."
Lin Chuntao: "...I'm sorry, Auntie, I want to keep the rest for myself and not sell it."
The woman said, "Sell it to the aunties. You can go back and pick more. We can't even pick up the blue mushrooms. Sell it to us first, and you can go back and pick some and keep them for yourself. I'll count the money for you. Two pounds! Just two pounds!"
As she spoke, the woman took the purse and began to count the copper coins. Lin Chuntao took a deep breath and weighed two kilograms for her.
The other party also wanted two kilograms of the remaining weight, but it was obviously not enough. Without waiting for Lin Chuntao to say anything, she spoke first.
"Girl, even one jin is fine. Just weigh one jin for me."
There was no other way, so Lin Chuntao weighed another pound for her.
Finally, there were only three chicken mushrooms left in the small bamboo basket. Lin Chuntao sighed helplessly. She had only picked chicken mushrooms once, and she still wanted to eat a meal? Only three were left...
But when he touched the heavy copper coin, he didn't seem very sad. He reached out and covered it with the weeds he had just taken out.
Three flowers are enough, you can also make some soup to enjoy the flavor.
She passed by the meat stall with a basket on her back. There were still many people buying meat. Thinking Pei Ying was still busy, she went to the grain store first.
I bought two and a half dou of millet and two dou of buckwheat noodles.
Now I have a piglet and two chickens at home, and the shells from pounding rice can be fed to them.
After leaving the grain shop, Lin Chuntao quickly opened the control panel and exchanged eight kilograms of soybean seeds, which she would plant together with corn.
As soon as she completed the exchange, she felt the backpack become heavy. Lin Chuntao felt like her shoulders were about to break from the fifty or sixty kilograms of food. She held on to her last breath and carried the food on her back to find Pei Ying.
When she arrived at the butcher shop, Pei Ying was busy, just moving meat out from the backyard.
Lin Chuntao greeted him and quickly walked to the corner to put down the backpack.
Helan recognized Lin Chuntao and turned around to smile at her. Lin Chuntao smiled and greeted her: "Good morning, Shopkeeper He!"
"Good morning, Madam Lin!"
Pei Ying went to the backyard to move the meat. Helan was busy cutting the meat, weighing it, and collecting the money. Lin Chuntao put her things away and went over to ask, "Shopkeeper, is there anything I can help you with?"
Helan was also straightforward and said with a smile, "Then could you please weigh it for me?"
"No problem." Lin Chuntao took the scale with a smile. Helan cut the meat according to the portion the customer wanted. Lin Chuntao weighed the meat and the customer paid, and Helan collected the money.
The two of them cooperated for two rounds very smoothly. When Pei Ying brought out the meat again, he saw that Lin Chuntao had already started working.
After Pei Ying finished moving the meat, he came to cut the meat. Helan weighed the meat and collected the money. Only then did Lin Chuntao rest.
Helan saw Lin Chuntao's backpack and asked with a smile, "Are you here to buy food, madam? Why don't you ask Xiao Pei to carry it back?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I went into the mountains this morning and picked some mushrooms and brought them back to sell, and bought some food at the same time."
Helan looked at Lin Chuntao, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
"I'm busy all day, and I heard from my neighbors that there's a woman selling mushrooms here for several days in a row. Could it be you?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "It might be me."
"My lady, have you found any chicken mushrooms? If you have, please leave me a few pounds."
Listening to Helan's words, Lin Chuntao was stunned for a moment and nodded quickly.
Helan noticed her mood and said with a smile, "Could it be that you have found some chicken mushrooms today?"
Lin Chuntao smiled awkwardly, nodded, and then said, "Don't worry, boss. Next time I pick it up, I'll keep it for you."
"Then I have to thank you very much, ma'am. Last year, I only saw my neighbors buying Alternaria albuminosa, but I didn't buy any at all."
After Helan finished speaking, he started chatting with Lin Chuntao about family matters.
"My wife doesn't know that my little girl cries every year because her neighbors make her cry because she doesn't get to eat chicken mushrooms."
Lin Chuntao took a deep breath. She only had three chicken mushrooms left. It was not enough for her to eat, and she felt embarrassed to give it to others. But it would be embarrassing if someone found out after chatting for a while that she had hidden three more chicken mushrooms.
He simply smiled and said, "If the shopkeeper doesn't mind, there are three flowers left. You can use them to coax your baby."
As she spoke, she brought over the small bamboo basket and removed the grass covering it, revealing three plump white chicken mushrooms. Helan's eyes lit up and he looked up at Lin Chuntao. It was obvious that Lin Chuntao kept them for herself. She wanted them but how could she be loved by so many people?
Just as he was about to open his mouth to push it back, the little girl in the house smelled something and rushed out.
"Mom! Did you buy the chicken mushrooms?"
Helan wanted to say no, but Lin Chuntao spoke first, "Yes, but there are only three. Go get a colander to put them in."
The little girl hurried back to the house and took out a small colander. Lin Chuntao picked up the chicken mushrooms and put them in it. The little girl walked into the house very slowly, as if she was holding some priceless treasure.
Helan was so amused that she said to Lin Chuntao, "I'll give my wife some money."
Lin Chuntao waved her hands quickly: "No, no, it's not much."
Seeing her refusal, Helan did not insist. After all, what matters between people is frequent interactions and there is no need to rush.
It was almost the end of the Si hour, and there were fewer people in the market. The meat on the other two stalls was sold out, so Zhang Dayong and Zhao Guang also closed their stalls and came back here. The accountant calculated their wages. Pei Ying had slaughtered four pigs today, and seeing that the stall sold the meat from two pigs, he gave him 130 coins.
Zhang Dayong and Zhao Guang used their wages as a cushion, which was much lighter than yesterday's.
The three of them left the house together. Pei Ying ran to pay for the meat, but it turned out to be two hundred and six coins, which was not enough for his wages that day.
He went to Lin Chuntao and asked for seventy-six cents, and then he paid for the meat.
Lin Chuntao took a lotus leaf and placed it in the bamboo basket, then put the meat in. Pei Ying carried the backpack and then the bamboo basket. The two of them turned around, said goodbye to Zhang Dayong and the others, and left.
Zhao Guang frowned slightly as he watched Pei Ying work all day without a single penny left.
Zhang Dayong patted him and said with a smile, "Let's go to my house for a drink."
"With Xiao Pei's help, my old waist finally feels a little better today."
Hearing what Zhang Dayong said, Zhao Guang smiled and said, "Let's go to my house for a drink."
Watching Pei Ying and Lin Chuntao walk away, the two of them also walked away arm in arm.
Lin Chuntao looked at the meat in the bamboo basket and asked softly, "Isn't this meat a little cheaper?"
Pei Ying nodded, "Shopkeeper He said the shop assistants are giving the meat a discount."
Lin Chuntao calculated that on average one pound cost a little over twenty-two yuan, which seemed a lot cheaper.
She asked Pei Ying, "Have you had breakfast?"
Pei Ying replied, "I ate it. Are you hungry?"
“A little.”
After Lin Chuntao finished speaking, Pei Ying asked, "So, go buy something to eat."
Lin Chuntao shook her head slightly. Pei Ying was puzzled. He didn't know whether she didn't want to eat or was reluctant to spend money.
"I want poached eggs."
Pei Ying smiled when he heard this and said, "Then buy some eggs and take them back."
"Forget it, let's go back to the village to buy some. Eggs are hard to carry with us, and it would be a shame if they got spoiled."
Pei Ying thought so too.
When the two returned to the outskirts of the village, they saw from afar the villagers carrying hoes and backpacks and heading home.
We have finished our work and are ready to go back for dinner.
Lin Chuntao was just wondering whether Lin Chunxing and the others had returned home when she heard a clear voice coming from the side of the mountain.
It was Lin Duoer calling her sister at the top of her lungs.
Lin Chuntao was not used to shouting, so she waved at her.
When the villagers who were returning home heard Lin Duoer's shout, they all turned around and saw Pei Ying and Lin Chuntao.
Started to discuss in whispers.
"What's that carrying? Food?"
"That should be it."
"It looks like a full basket. Did you really make that much money just by picking mushrooms and selling them?"
"Everyone goes into the mountains to pick mushrooms, but they don't pick up many?"
"Didn't you hear what Mrs. Chen said? She said Chuntao knew about the mushroom dens and could go into the mountains in the dark of night and still find mushrooms."
As soon as these words were spoken, there was a burst of taunting all around.
"We don't believe it either. Chuntao has opened her third eye? We can just take Chen Saozi's words at face value. I also heard that she asked Chuntao to take her two daughters to pick mushrooms, but Chuntao refused. So she went to block Chuntao in the middle of the night, followed her into the mountains but didn't find any mushrooms, and when she came out she kept complaining about Chuntao."
"There's such a thing? Who told you that? We don't know anything about it."
The woman who said this glanced at the person who asked the question and said, "Who cares who said it? Just listen to it. Do you really need to ask?"
"Just curious, just chatting."
A group of people walked and talked to each other until they entered the village and went back to their homes.
Lin Chunxing and a few others ran down from the fields on the mountainside and rushed to Lin Chuntao.
"Sister, what did you buy?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I bought meat, millet, and buckwheat noodles. I can go to the village later and buy some eggs."
Lin Duoer looked at Lin Chuntao in surprise: "Should we buy eggs?"
Lin Chuntao smiled without saying a word, while Lin Duoer jumped for joy in front.
Lin Chunxing was carrying a backpack full of pig grass. Lin Duoer and Lin Chunhe were holding sickles and jumping around, looking very dangerous.
"Walk carefully, with a knife in your hand."
After Lin Chuntao finished speaking, Lin Duoer finally stopped, but she was still shaking her head, unable to stop being happy.
She asked Lin Chunxing, "How was the harvest? Are you hungry?"
Lin Chunxing replied, "We just mowed a piece of land. We're not hungry. We went there this morning and brought some sweet potatoes. We picked up some firewood and cooked them in the fields. We can mow the grass while we wait for the sweet potatoes to ripen."
"It's okay. We'll go cut it together after we finish eating."
After returning home, Pei Ying put down his things and took out the sack from his backpack.
"Why did you buy beans?" Pei Ying asked.
“Make seeds and plant them with corn.”
Pei Ying didn't say anything. Just as he was about to take the backpack away, he heard the sound of copper coins colliding. He looked down and saw a lot of copper coins at the bottom of the backpack.
The younger sisters also heard the sound and looked over at the same time.
I was dumbfounded to see so many copper coins. I had already bought the food, so how could there be so much money left?
Lin Chuntao ignored their inquiries and hurriedly took out all the copper coins. When she went, she didn't know how many mushrooms she would pick up and how much they would sell for, so after taking out the money for the cow rent, she took the remaining three hundred coins with her.
Who would have thought that I could pick up so many chicken mushrooms and sell them for nearly a string of coins? After deducting the money spent on meat and grain, there were still so many left.
She asked Pei Ying to bring a piece of hemp rope, and sat on a chair, counting and stringing the coins. After stringing out one string of coins, there were still thirty-eight coins left.
Not only the sisters were shocked, Pei Ying was also very surprised.
"Is all the money earned from selling chicken mushrooms?"
Lin Chuntao looked up at him and smiled slightly: "Yeah."
Lin Duoer stared at the money, her mouth wide open and her eyes blinking.
"Sister, we are rich now, right?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and patted her. "You don't have to worry about having no food to eat, but we are still far from being rich. We have to save money to make new clothes and build a house. Don't tell outsiders about how much money we have."
She said this last sentence very seriously, and her sisters all nodded in agreement.
"Sister, when are we going to make new clothes? Can I have red ones? Like my aunt's." Lin Duoer asked Lin Chuntao expectantly while lying on the table.
Lin Chunhe patted her head and said, "Why do you want red? My sister is going to wear it when she gets married."
"Then I want blue. What color do you want, sister?" Lin Duoer asked again. Lin Chuntao looked at her and said softly, "I like black, gray, and white."
Listening to Lin Duoer asking Lin Chuntao about her preferences, Pei Ying pricked up his ears and frowned again after hearing Lin Chuntao's answer.
Young girls like black, white... and gray?
Just as he was thinking this, Lin Chunxing spoke out what was in her heart.
"Sister, the old ladies in our village only wear these colors."
Before Lin Chuntao could refute, Lin Chunhe spoke up.
"Nonsense, the most common thing worn by old ladies in our village is blue with dots."
Lin Chunxing was speechless for a while, while Pei Ying and Lin Chuntao laughed out loud at the same time.
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Gray is more resistant to stains. We work every day, and bright colors can't be cleaned if they get dirty."
"When you have money, you can make a few more and wear them separately."
When Pei Ying finished speaking, Lin Chuntao smiled, and Chun Xing beside her also agreed: "That's right."
"Then when we have enough money, we can go to the cloth shop and choose some cloth." She put away a string of copper coins and then said, "Let's light the fire and cook. What do you want to eat? Or buckwheat rice?"
"It will be all right."
"Then light a fire, boil some water, and steam the buckwheat rice. After the rice is cooked, I'll go to the village to buy some eggs and make some scrambled eggs with tomatoes for you guys to share."
As soon as the words fell, everyone started to move, carrying firewood and fetching water.
Lin Chuntao took a clay basin and scooped out some buckwheat noodles. She first mixed the noodles with water and made them into soybean-sized lumps. Then she poured the lumps into the steamer and started steaming them. Even after they were cooked, the grains were still distinct.
She had made it several times, and Lin Chunxing already knew how to do it. After the rice was steamed, Lin Chuntao took a small bamboo basket, took some money and prepared to buy eggs. She also wanted to go to Aunt Guizhi's house to buy two colanders, which were very convenient for carrying meat, rice and vegetables.
Before leaving, she looked at Pei Ying and said, "Can you help me cut a bamboo? It should be something that I can hold in my hand, not too thick or too thin."
Not knowing what she was going to do, Pei Ying nodded, took the sickle and followed her out.
When she went there, Aunt Guizhi was at home. She asked her to get two scoops and two winnowing baskets. After several refusals, she finally accepted ten cents from Lin Chuntao.
"What are you doing with the bamboo basket?"
"Ask who has eggs so I can buy some and start planting tomorrow."
"Then I'll go there early tomorrow."
"Thank you, auntie, but are you going to sell vegetables?" Lin Chuntao asked.
Aunt Guizhi waved her hand: "It doesn't matter whether the dish is sold two days earlier or later."
Lin Chuntao hissed coldly. How could it be the same? The vegetables would age, change color, and look different. Lin Chuntao hurriedly said, "Aunt, go and do your thing this morning. Grandpa and Grandma can help me plant the crops. We don't have any manure, so we can just plow the land and plant the seeds."
"Planting?" Aunt Guizhi frowned, somewhat puzzled. Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I'm planting corn, aren't I? Once the land is plowed and the trenches are built, I can use a stick to poke a hole and put the seeds in."
“…Will this work?”
"It can be done."
But Aunt Guizhi was a little skeptical, "How come you have so many ideas?"
"I'm just thinking about it. I think this is the way to do it. Go do your thing first. When you come back and have time, come over and help me plant the seeds."
After hearing what Lin Chuntao said, Aunt Guizhi smiled and said, "Okay, I'll come over in the afternoon to help you. I can help you plant for a few more days."
She then added, "To buy eggs, go to the fourth grandmother's house next door. She has a lot of chickens. Come on, I'll ask for you."
The two of them left the yard together and turned to go next door. "Fourth Aunt, are there any eggs at home?"
As Aunt Guizhi finished speaking, an old lady came out of the house carrying a winnowing basket. The sun was shining brightly at that moment, and the old lady squinted her eyes at them. "Why, do you want to buy eggs?"
Aunt Guizhi said, "It wasn't me, it was Chuntao."
"Also, how many do you want to buy?"
Aunt Guizhi looked at her, and Lin Chuntao hurried forward and said, "Fourth Aunt, how many do you have? Can you sell me thirty?"
"Okay, wait a minute."
As she spoke, the old lady came into the house and brought out a bamboo basket full of eggs. The eggs were quite clean and not stained with any chicken manure.
There are many free-range chickens in this rural area. Sometimes the hens will sit on brood and hatch eggs. You can't see it from the surface, but you can see the shadow inside the eggshell through the sunlight or light.
Lin Chuntao looked at the eggs in the sun, picked out thirty, and gave the old lady thirty cents.
Aunt Guizhi felt a little painful when she saw the thirty cents she took out.
After leaving the yard, she said to Lin Chuntao, "If you have some spare money, go buy a few hens. Hens are not expensive and they will lay eggs in a few months. This way you don't have to buy eggs."
Lin Chuntao agreed with a smile. She had this intention, but she wanted to eat it now and it was too late to buy a hen.
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