A loud rumbling sound rushed into the Lin family's courtyard.
The screeching sound of brakes followed immediately.
"Where do I get it! Where do I get it!"
As Lin Mo looked up at the window from inside the house, the village chief's howl could be heard.
In the blink of an eye, the village chief appeared right in front of him.
His old face was red and purple from the cold, but that didn't hide his excitement.
"Raspberries! Honeysuckle berries! And this wild beetroot is actually called red beetroot!"
"It's all been raised!"
The village chief shouted as he dragged Lin Mo into the empty west room:
"We won't do beetroot anymore, it only costs a few cents a pound."
"These two paid a lot of money!"
He almost held up two fingers, but quickly realized what he meant and instead smiled and held up one:
"Ten yuan per pound."
"Which mountain can I pick these two things from?"
The village chief, as usual, asked the same questions.
Lin Mo pondered this for a while.
Ten yuan sounds like a lot, but it's not that simple:
"Raspberries are not something to be picked, but something to be grown."
"In this cold weather, this thing can't possibly bear fruit."
"...?" The village chief's eye twitched.
"What do you mean? Didn't you say this is something that can be kept warm in winter?"
Lin Mo rubbed his head, carefully organizing his thoughts, and then slowly and deliberately said:
"Now is the best time to plant raspberries, not the time to harvest them."
"This thing is a bit complicated, let me explain slowly."
"If villagers want to experiment, they can now bring scissors, go into the mountains to find wild raspberry trees, cut back half-meter-long branches, stick both ends into the soil, and cut them in the middle after the branches have taken root."
"These are the two seedlings."
“Take good care of these seedlings, and you can start harvesting the fruit in late spring or early summer. This is the cutting method.”
The village chief listened patiently, his eyes glazed over, and only after he finished did he gradually come to his senses:
"Oh, you mean we can't get the fruit directly yet, we have to grow it ourselves until the end of next spring."
"It will take some time to take care of him."
“Yes,” Linmer added:
"So, ten yuan a pound seems like a lot, but think about it, it takes several months of tending to the plants before you start to see any money."
"The time, hard work, and risks involved are significant. For example, if the seedlings are not cared for properly and die, and if the optimal planting time has passed, there is no way to replant them, so ten yuan per kilogram is only reasonable."
The village chief now fully understood the situation.
After thinking about it, I realized that it might be worth trying. I just wanted to make sure that people in the village could earn money even in the dead of winter.
This is also a way to make money; it just means you see the money a little later.
"Okay! Let's do it!"
Lin Mo scribbled on the notebook again, giving a simple description of what a raspberry looks like.
"The leaves are five ovals forming a 'palm' shape, with a fuzzy surface and serrated edges. The tree is about the same height as a person, and the slender branches have curved thorns."
After dismissing the village chief with a few words, Lin Mo thought he should hurry up and pack his things so he could set off on a long journey early the next morning!
"Lin Mo, are you home?"
They had just entered the east room when they heard shouts behind them again.
However, the voice belonged to Su the carpenter.
Lin Mo wiped the sweat from his forehead and walked out of the courtyard again, just as he heard Carpenter Su say:
"You've produced so many extra bricks, why don't you just stack them up in the store to make kang benches, like those rows of them?"
"Put a big stove in the middle to burn charcoal, and the heat will go directly into the rows of kang benches."
Su the carpenter meant that it was a waste to leave the extra bricks idle; they should be used in the new store to make it warmer.
Build several rows of hollow seating areas so that people can sit on them and the heat from the stove can also flow inside.
Lin Mo was focused on going on a long trip and didn't care as much about the shop as Su the carpenter.
"This is to attract more customers to the store. If it's cold and chilly, people won't want to come here."
Unbeknownst to him, Su the carpenter had become increasingly easy to talk to, rather than the serious man he once was.
Perhaps I had too many worries in the past, but now I can feel the hope for the future.
"Okay, whatever you think."
Carpenter Su explained in more detail that it wasn't good for everyone to be huddled in their small houses watching TV, as there wasn't enough room for so many people to get in, and many villagers had to go home because they couldn't squeeze in.
Therefore, it would be best to get it done today, so that the new store can be bustling with activity tomorrow.
In other words—
Find more people to do the work, and we'll finish it today.
To put it more bluntly—
We need to spend money to hire people.
The money saved on buying a donkey was instead spent on hiring people to do the work.
A strong sense of crisis has struck.
We're out of money. If we keep spending without earning, we'll really be left with nothing.
...
The next morning, Lin Mo was woken up by the commotion outside.
The villagers who came first to watch TV were surprised to find that the big store was even warmer than their homes.
Moreover, the television has already been moved into this large store.
The news quickly spread throughout the village, and a large group of villagers rushed over with odd jobs to do.
Goodness gracious, in just one day, there have been new changes inside.
Two long benches covered with firebricks have appeared on the back half of the large store, and they are surprisingly warm to sit on.
The space between these two long benches is quite spacious, so you can bring a small wooden stool to sit on while still warming yourself by touching the long benches.
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