She made that long bamboo cage for catching shrimp and crabs. Actually, fishing nets would have been the best choice. In a waterside village, two out of three households would have fishing nets, but unfortunately, Lin Guoqing's family was one of the last.
Liang Shengdi hadn't been bothered to make this. Crabs and shrimp were so light they wouldn't fill her up, and peeling them was a hassle. But Chen Chunhua said they were fresh and she wanted to eat them. So she made a cage and caught as many as she could.
I heard that hairy crabs can be sold for 1.6 yuan per pound in Shanghai, but unfortunately here the fields are full of river crabs and they are worthless. No one wants them even at 60 cents per pound.
So...is it convenient to get to Shanghai from here? River crabs should sell for one yuan a pound, right?
When Liang Shengdi lifted the cage and looked inside, this was the only thought in her mind.
The cage was very long, about two meters long. She had placed it as close to Chen Chunhua as possible, otherwise Liang Shengdi would have been afraid of being scolded.
At this moment, the place is densely packed with palm-sized crabs. People with trypophobia should be careful when watching.
Liang Shengdi pulled up the cage and headed for the edge of the field. Chen Chunhua had almost finished work, so she ran over to Liang Shengdi and helped her drag the cage back. The weight of the cage surprised Chen Chunhua as soon as she touched it.
"Oh, Mom, this cage is so heavy! It can catch a lot!"
"Didn't you say you wanted to eat? Now you can eat as much as you want!" Liang Shengdi snorted. She admitted that she was proud. In the past, it was always Chen Chunhua who gave her the delicious food, but now it was finally her turn. Humph!
Chen Chunhua smiled so hard that her teeth were showing and she stroked her fur, "Yes, yes, yes! Our mom is the best!"
Liang Shengdi felt a little embarrassed by the compliment and coughed twice. "Hey, Chunhua, I just dumped a water snake out of the eel cage. It's quite big. Can I sell it for money?"
Last time, she heard the young couple mention that snakes seemed to be quite valuable. Although she didn't know where these two got the information, but as long as they were valuable, it was fine.
Chen Chunhua blinked. "Caught another snake?" This mother and son really have a connection with snakes.
"A water snake, it shouldn't be poisonous. I'm not sure how much it's worth. Why don't we wait until we get back from National Day?"
Liang Shengdi nodded. "Then I'll find a stick and pick it out for him later. Even though he doesn't seem to want to eat the eels now, there are so many eels in the bucket. It would be bad if he gets hungry and starts fighting."
***
After Lin Guoqing got a ride to the food station, he was warmly welcomed by Zhuang Zhijie because he only brought two baskets of mushrooms today, and the rest were eggs, including chicken eggs, duck eggs and goose eggs, which together weighed more than 70 kilograms.
If he hadn't taken a ride, he would never have been able to carry so much.
This batch of eggs is actually not very profitable, because all his chickens are gone, and the eggs laid by the remaining five hens are just enough for the family to eat. He can only hope that the new batch of chicks will grow up quickly.
Lin Guoqing took the Mao Zedong notes and 15 kilograms of national food coupons handed to him by Zhuang Zhijie, and told him with a smile that he would not come in the middle of this month because their village was about to have the autumn harvest and was too busy to come.
Zhuang Zhijie felt sorry, but the autumn harvest was most important. He told them to remember to come in December, as the Gaokao was approaching, and egg sales were surging. With the colder weather, eggs could be stored longer, so the more the better.
After thanking Zhuang Zhijie, Lin Guoqing left the food station.
He had brought a lot of containers today, and after a long time of stuffing and stacking them, he still had a basket on his back. He didn't care anymore. He had to buy everything Chen Chunhua asked him to buy before Ye Juncai and the others came back.
By the time he bought the tricycle, it would be dark, and only restaurants would still be open; the supply and marketing cooperatives would surely be closed. He had to hurry.
They went to buy cloth first. Chen Chunhua wanted 15 meters of cloth. The cloth coupons in his hand were in feet, and three feet were approximately equal to one meter. He wanted to buy 45 feet, which made him a big customer, but he still didn't get a good response from the counter staff.
"Forty cents a foot, you'll have to pay me 18 yuan for 45 feet." The staff member coldly counted the stack of cloth coupons and, seeing that there was nothing missing, began to ask for money. Lin Guoqing quickly took out the 18 yuan he had prepared. But he didn't give it right away. Instead, he chose the color of the cloth first.
The family definitely couldn't have the same color clothes. Despite the staff's glares, he insisted on picking out black, red, blue, khaki, and two floral prints. He finally paid.
When Lin Guoqing stood up after putting fifteen meters of cotton cloth into his backpack, he didn't feel that they were lighter than vegetables at all. They weighed at least seven or eight kilograms.
He bought some needles and thread at the counter that Chen Chunhua had asked him to buy, and then went to buy cotton.
Cotton wool, one yuan and fifteen cents a pound, he wanted 10 pounds. From time to time, someone in the supply and marketing cooperative would glance over at him out of the corner of their eye. I didn't know which country bumpkin came to the city to buy goods, but judging by the money and bills, they all looked good.
Actually, everyone has this little money, mainly the tickets. To save up so many cloth tickets and cotton tickets...could this be a joint effort of everyone in the same village?
Lin Guoqing didn't care about the looks people gave him. He just knew his heart was bleeding as he spent the money. Cotton and cloth were more expensive than meat. Just 30 yuan was all he had to spend on winter clothes for his family.
In order to buy cotton and cloth today, he didn't even plan to bring rice back. Fortunately, he took almost all the money at home with him when he left, otherwise he was really worried that he wouldn't have enough money to buy a tricycle!
Carrying the cotton bag as big as a person, Lin Guoqing continued to shop.
I went to another counter and bought some pencils, erasers and exercise books. These were what I had promised my child.
The red-headed flowers cost 5 cents each, and he bought four, two for each of his two daughters.
He'd been a slacker for most of his life, and now his hands and feet were chapped from all the climbing and walking. He thought, "Bang Bang Oil, it's only a dime a tube. It makes my skin feel better." He bought two tubes straight away.
Then came his wife. Pechoin was 20 cents a box, and Vanishing Cream was 27 cents an ounce. The teller asked him which one he wanted?
Of course it's the vanishing cream! I want the best for my wife.
The box it comes in?
Sorry, no.
The teller rolled his eyes. "This is in bulk. What are you going to pack it in if you don't have a box?"
Lin Guoqing scratched his head and thought, forget it, I'll get a box of Pechoin first. When this box is finished, I'll buy some vanishing cream.
Finally, he came to the tobacco and alcohol counter, took out two Class B cigarette tickets, and pointed at the various cigarette boxes in the glass cabinet.
"Give me two boxes of Daqianmen."
This is not for him, but intended to be given to Lin Fuqiang and Lao Shi.
In addition to the efforts of his family, the two outsiders who helped his family the most in saving enough money to buy a tricycle were the two of them.
Lin Fuqiang had borrowed his bicycle so many times, and those in the production team who asked for leave every few days were all taken care of by him; and there was also Lao Shi, because I asked Lao Shi to find tickets and sold them at a low price, so I had to give him some gift.
He originally wanted to give some sugar or eggs, but Chunhua said that he was too stingy and suggested giving a pack of cigarettes instead.
I hope they can continue to take good care of their family in the future.
I just feel so bad about it. Not counting the money for the cigarette coupons, this box of Daqianmen costs thirty-five cents!
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林国庆：除了这个这个还有这个，剩下的都给我包起来！
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