On the way home, Chen Kai said, "Dad, that weed is so big, it must be worth a lot of money. Let the village chief take some people to dig it up and sell it, and then we can share the money with everyone."
Old Man Chen scolded, "Don't be silly! My good son, that's a great immortal. He's cultivated himself to such an advanced age in our village with great difficulty. How can we sell him to others? It's a blessing for our village that the great immortal lives here!"
Uncle Zhou said earnestly, "This is an auspicious omen. Other villages would love to have something like this. Your village must take good care of this great immortal tree; it will protect your village."
Uncle Zhou also said, "Yes, our village couldn't even ask for it."
When these ancient people encountered things that violated the laws of nature, they would think of gods, ghosts, and supernatural forces. Oh well, he understood.
As soon as I returned to the village, the news spread that the village chief's third son had gone up the mountain to cut down trees and found a wild grass spirit a little further in, a very tall and large one that was almost immortal.
Upon hearing this, everyone in the village was overjoyed, regarding that blade of grass as a lucky charm and a great deity!
Seeing his father's cheerful expression, Chen Kai explained the event they were planning.
Old Man Chen looked at his good son, then at his wife.
Zhou hugged Chen Kai and shouted to Chen's father, "Good son, do it if you want! If you're unwilling to spend the money, I'll pay for it."
Old Man Chen laughed and said, "Good, good, let's organize a big event."
We'll have all their family members participate in the competition and win the prizes.
Zhou said, "My good son, change the competition rules again, and subdivide the age divisions further. I want to participate too."
Chen Kai said with a smile, "Okay, I'll change the rules right away and let Mother participate too."
Zhou turned her head and asked, "Eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, third sister-in-law, fourth sister-in-law, would you like to join us?"
Chen Kai's four aunts happily exclaimed, "Of course we'll participate!"
Zhou said happily, "Great, let's form a team and participate in every competition we can."
Chen Kai's second aunt said, "Okay, let's play them all."
Zhou said, "Then we need to find some more old women to form a team."
Old Man Chen also chimed in, "Then my older brother and I will join in too."
Chen Kai clapped his hands and said happily, "Dad, Mom, you two have to do your best!"
Old Man Chen laughed and said, "Alright, good son, I'll win first place for you."
Zhou Shi boasted, "Mother won first place in every competition she participated in."
His mother is a real braggart.
At this moment, Chen Nong ran over with a skateboard and said, "Uncle, Uncle, my dad made that skateboard you mentioned. Come on, Uncle, teach us how to play with it."
Chen Kai looked at the skateboard and thought it was pretty good. He asked his second brother to make two kinds of skateboards: one was like a modern skateboard, but made entirely of wood; the other had handles, which were made of bamboo tubes, but were also entirely of wood.
Given their limited resources, making a fully wooden bicycle wasn't very practical, so Chen Kai asked his second brother to make a few skateboards.
Chen Kai found the smallest skateboard with a handle and tried it out. The friction was quite high, but it was still playable.
Xiao Bao's second brother clapped his hands excitedly and said, "Uncle is awesome! I want to play too!"
Chen Kai said, "Come on, let's go outside. I'll teach you how to play."
Chen Kai found a small slope and taught them how to play on the skateboard without handrails.
Chen Nong and his friends were thrilled to receive their new toys and had a wonderful time playing with them.
Chen Kai saw that their family's kite had been thrown onto the grass not far away, so he ran over with his short legs.
When Chen Kai arrived, he saw Xiao Bao and their fluffy little donkey lying asleep on the grass.
The two little cuties were lying on the grass, sleeping in the sun. They looked so adorable! Chen Kai's heart was almost melted by their cuteness.
After observing the kite for a while, Chen Kai walked over to it, picked it up, and asked, "Xiao Tian, do you want to play with me?"
Xiao Tian said, "You can play!"
Chen Kai took the kite and ran, and soon the kite was flying.
As Chen Kai flew the kite, he said, "Xiao Tian, have you ever played with helium balloons? If you tie hundreds of helium balloons together, you can make someone fly."
Xiao Tian snorted and said, "Go play with your kite, or the string will break."
As soon as Xiao Tian finished speaking, the kite in Chen Kai's hand lost its pull, and the kite string really broke.
The wind blew, sending the kite higher and higher.
Seeing the kite fly away, Chen Kai immediately shouted, "The kite string broke! Help me chase it!"
Da Ya and the others treasured this kite; they must be sad to lose it.
When Chen Nong and the others heard Chen Kai's voice, they looked up and saw the kite flying further and further away. They immediately dropped their skateboards and chased after it.
When they returned to the village, the grass had already been transplanted to the lawn in the village square and fenced off to prevent anyone from touching it.
Zhou sat in the courtyard, deep in thought. Their clothes dyeing business was getting worse and worse.
Previously, she always thought that clothes dyed with plants would not fade, but as time went by, reality shattered her dream. Clothes dyed with plants do fade, and the fading is quite severe.
Over time, plant-dyed clothes will gradually fade and lighten in color; this is a natural phenomenon.
If it weren't color bleeding, but just fading, people could barely accept it because of the cheap price. However, there's another problem with the clothes they dye.
Fading is only one of the reasons why their business is bad now. There is another important problem: for some reason, the clothes they dye change color.
So for various reasons, they had no choice but to lower their prices. The only benefit of this was that their competitors couldn't make money and withdrew from the market.
In fact, Zhou and her good son had discussed how to solve the fading problem. Her good son said that they needed to add other things to fix the color, but they couldn't find them here. Otherwise, anyone could open a dye shop.
Color fixing requires the use of mordants, which are substances used to dye fabrics by applying dyes through a medium.
The only coal dye they could find here was alum, but alum was quite expensive, so he didn't tell his mother.
An old woman advised, "Little Sister Zhou, are you still making dyed clothes? I suggest you give it up; there's hardly any profit to be made at this price."
Mrs. Zhou sighed and said, "Let my family continue doing this."
Although they don't earn much, at least they make some money. Their clothes dyeing business has almost no costs, and all the money they earn is pure profit. Why give it up?
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