Chapter 58 Picking Wild Walnuts
Zhou Min rarely comes to see Shen Jiale.
So when Shen Jiale saw Zhou Min coming to her with a bag of cakes, she thought Zhou Min wanted to borrow money from her.
After chatting for a while, Zhou Min did not mention borrowing money, but asked about Lu Mingfeng's job.
Of course, Lu Mingfeng's job could not be made public.
Shen Jiale said that he was doing hard labor and the salary was not high.
Zhou Min asked if she could help Lu Mingqi get in.
Lu Bailing had already come to tell Shen Jiale about Lu Yongsheng's job search for Lu Mingqi.
Originally, Shen Jiale wanted to tell Lu Mingfeng to remind Lu Mingqi not to be fooled again.
After knowing that Zhou Min disagreed, Shen Jiale had a new understanding of this sister-in-law. She
was not tempted by formal workers and was a very rational person.
Shen Jiale promised to ask Lu Mingfeng for her after she woke up.
After Lu Mingfeng woke up, Shen Jiale talked about Zhou Min coming to see her.
"Sister-in-law wants you to find a job for big brother."
"Big brother's personality is not suitable for working in the black market. I will keep an eye on it for him. Right now, there is something suitable for them to do and they can make some money."
"What is it?"
"Brother Jin told me that people in big cities like to eat nuts. There is a mountain behind our village. I went to the mountain and saw that the wild walnuts on the mountain are almost ripe.
People here don't eat these, but they can be sold to other provinces. I have a way to sell them. If my brother and sister-in-law want to make some money, they can go pick wild walnuts. However, this matter cannot be known to outsiders."
Shen Jiale said, "If nuts can be sold, there should be more than wild walnuts on the mountain."
Lu Mingfeng nodded, "There are pine nuts and chestnuts in the deep mountains. At the very least, there are mushrooms. I have picked mushrooms before. They can be preserved for a long time after being dried. Brother Jin said that they can also be sold."
Shen Jiale told Zhou Min about this, and Zhou Min was very happy.
During the newlywed period, she didn't want her husband to go out to work. If he could make money at home, it would be the best.
Shen Jiale said that this matter must be kept secret, after all, individuals are not allowed to buy and sell in the general environment.
Zhou Min asked: "Then can I tell my family?"
Shen Jiale said: "There are not many wild walnut trees on the mountain. If you tell your family, and your family tells other relatives, how much money can you make by then?"
Zhou Min thought so too, and when he made money, he could buy wine and candy for his parents.
...
The next day, Lu Mingfeng led Shen Jiale and Lu Mingqi to the back mountain.
After finding the wild walnut tree he discovered, Lu Mingfeng cut two bamboos, one for each of them, and used bamboo poles to knock the wild walnuts down, and Zhou Min and Shen Jiale were responsible for picking them up on the ground.
In half a day, all the wild walnuts on a tree were knocked out.
Wild walnuts need to be placed in a dry and cool place to dry, so that the outer shell will fall off by itself. After that, the surface of the wild walnuts needs to be cleaned with clean water to give it a clean appearance.
Finally, they are exposed to the sun and can be packed after drying.
The current problem is that wild walnuts placed in the mountains will be taken away by squirrels, and taken home, and will be discovered by villagers.
Zhou Min said, "It would be great if we had a yard."
Shen Jiale also thought so.
Lu Mingfeng said, "Put these wild walnuts in sacks first, and I will take them away at night. I will rent a yard to dry them first, and then deal with them later."
This is the only way for now.
In the days that followed, the four people often went to the mountains to pick wild walnuts. When they came back, they sometimes brought back some wood, saying that they were preparing for building a house, and sometimes they brought back some dry branches.
In this way, half a month passed, and the wild walnut trees in the mountains were picked by the four people.
The next step was to wash the dried wild walnuts and expose them to the sun.
A week later, Lu Mingfeng brought back 210 yuan, which he and Lu Mingqi divided equally, 105 yuan each.
Lu Mingqi took the money in disbelief: "You have so much money in less than a month?"
Zhou Min smiled and said, "The money is in your hands, what are you still doubting?"
Lu Mingqi chuckled and said, "I'm afraid I'm dreaming."
Zhou Min took out 5 yuan and handed it to Lu Mingfeng. Lu Mingfeng looked at her: "Sister-in-law, what are you doing..."
Zhou Min said, "I never dreamed that one day I would make so much money. It's all because of your help, my second brother. You have done a lot and are responsible for selling the goods. You should get more money. I'll give you the change of 5 yuan. Don't think it's too little."
Lu Mingfeng refused. After several refusals, Zhou Min left the money and ran away.
Lu Mingfeng wanted to chase her out and return the money, but was stopped by Shen Jiale.
"Take it, use the money to buy some meat, and we can have a meal together as a family."
...
After returning with the money, Lu Mingqi closed the door, counted the money over and over again in the room, and said with a silly smile: "It would be great if I could count money every day."
Zhou Min took the money from his hand and said: "Look at your silly look, which one is better than the formal job that Brother Mingxuan is going to find for you?"
"Of course this one makes more money. By the way, Xiaomin, Mingfeng divided the money equally between us, why did you give him 5 yuan."
Zhou Min rolled his eyes at him and asked: "Do you want to make so much money again in the future?"
"Of course I do."
"If you do, don't talk nonsense."
"Mingfeng and I are brothers, he doesn't need to give me any benefits for helping me."
Zhou Min sat down and said to Lu Mingqi solemnly: "Second brother can do this by himself. If he doesn't ask us, the 210 yuan will be all his, but if he asks us, it's like giving us money. 5 yuan seems like a lot, how about 100 yuan?"
"Of course 100 yuan is more." Lu Mingqi knew the answer to such a simple question.
"If you really understand it, don't take it for granted that second brother should help you. As long as your sister-in-law says something in front of your second brother, he may make money without us."
"You mean, this money is actually for your sister-in-law?"
"Not really, it just shows our attitude."
Lu Mingqi didn't understand what his wife meant, but he thought what she said made sense, so he just listened.
With the 100 yuan, it was enough to build a house, so Zhou Min asked Lu Mingqi to go to the village to apply for a homestead, and then buy materials.
Lu Yongfu came over to ask where they got the money. Lu Mingqi was about to say that his brother earned it, but Zhou Min said that he borrowed it.
Lu Mingqi didn't understand why his wife didn't even tell her father.
Zhou Min said, "Have you forgotten what your sister-in-law said? If Dad knows, what will happen if he tells the people of the first and second uncles? Don't say Dad won't do it, I'm sure he will."
Lu Mingqi realized that he almost cut off his financial resources.
Lu Mingqi prepared the materials, and Lu Mingfeng also prepared to build a tiled house. He wanted to build a four-room tiled house with a yard.
Lu Mingfeng asked his eldest brother how many rooms he wanted to build. Lu Mingqi said that he had enough money to build two rooms, but not three. Zhou Min asked him to build two rooms. Lu
Mingfeng said that he could build three rooms after a while when he led them to earn more.
Zhou Min came over and said, "Two rooms are enough for us to live in. We will need to build more in the future."