When Yang Chunyan returned home from the old house, the old man and Zhou's father had already taken the glutinous rice flour down from the beams.
Place two large bamboo flats on the roof, drain the glutinous rice ball flour, break it into small pieces and spread them out to dry. As long as there are no rice weevils, it can be eaten for any length of time.
Just after lunch, Zhou Huaian and his party arrived home. Jiang Yu and others who were waiting at home hurried forward to help unload the truffles and take them to the sink. Everyone started to get busy.
This batch weighed more than 3,000 kilograms. More than a dozen people stood by two pools, while others sat in front of a large wooden basin. The bamboo baskets were soon filled with cleaned truffles.
The old man kept the fire going, and several people took the drained truffles into the oven to bake. Zhou Huaian stood in front of the oven and took the special goods into the oven to dry.
The last batch of goods were delivered to the baking room before four o'clock.
Jiang Yu and the others took off their aprons and said to Yang Chunyan and the others, "We will go back first and come back to work on the sixth day of the New Year."
Yang Chunyan then remembered that she had forgotten to buy New Year's gifts for them. "Aunt, I'm still busy here. Come to me tomorrow at noon to settle your wages."
"Okay!" Jiang Yu and the others readily agreed and left.
Yang Chunyan said to Zhou Huaian who was standing in front of the oven, "Tell my sister-in-law and the others later and ask them to buy some meat and two bags of sugar from Ning'an. Give some to Aunt Jiang when calculating her wages."
"I forgot about this yesterday." Zhou Huaian pointed at the basket, "I received several kilograms of white truffles this time. I picked out the small ones and will dry them later and make soup and steam eggs for you."
White truffles have a lighter smell and taste better when steamed with eggs than black truffles. Ever since he heard Wang Zhen say that truffles are good for pregnant women, he sold the big ones and kept the small ones to dry and eat at home.
After Zhou Huaian and Zhou Huaishan dried the first-class and special-class truffles, they continued to use the oven to dry the other truffles.
The four brothers took turns guarding the oven and were busy until it was time to eat.
Zhou Huaian washed his face and walked to the stove. "Yan'er, I'm so hungry. Is there anything delicious?"
Yang Chunyan: "Sausages, carrot soup, and stir-fried rapeseed. They will be ready soon. If you are too hungry, go to the main hall and eat some rice cakes first."
Zhou Huaian: "I'll go eat a piece of rice cake first."
Yang Chunyan nodded and took the rice steamer from the pot to the stove. Zhou's mother cooked sausages with round radish, and a layer of bright red oil floated in the radish soup.
She picked out the sausage with chopsticks and placed it on the chopping board. Mother Zhou came over with a clay bowl filled with carrot soup.
Yang Chunyan cut the sausages that had been drying for a while into thin slices and placed them on a plate. The sliced sausages were as bright in color as red agate, with distinct red and white colors.
The sausages were smoked for only one day before being hung up to dry. After drying, the smoky aroma of the sausages had been completely released. They had a rich meaty aroma, and tasted spicy, salty and fragrant, and tasted particularly good.
Zhou's mother brought the stir-fried sweet rapeseed to the table, "Jia Ming, Xiao Qian, quickly take out the bowls and chopsticks and eat."
"Hey!" Several children hurriedly got bowls and chopsticks to help serve the rice.
During the meal, the old man said to Zhou's mother, "This year is the first year that the children have moved here. Don't go to the old house for the New Year's Eve reunion. Let them eat at home. It will be more lively at home."
Mother Zhou nodded after hearing this, "Okay, let them eat at home!"
After hearing this, Zhou Huaian looked at the old man with a smile, "Grandpa, it's so lonely for Chunyan and I. I think you should come to my house to have the New Year's Eve dinner together."
Yang Chunyan also smiled at Zhou's mother and said, "Yes! Come over here, so we can have more fun."
The old man pondered for a moment and said, "Okay! We will come to your house for dinner, and then go to your eldest brother's house for the New Year's reunion."
"Okay!" Zhou Huairong agreed and then asked, "Grandpa, are you guys going to Ning'an with me tomorrow morning?"
The old man shook his head and said, "Let your mother and father go, and the youngest and I will stay at home to put up the New Year gifts."
Zhou Jiakang turned his head and looked at him curiously, "Grandfather, why do we have to put up New Year gifts and set off firecrackers during the New Year?"
The old man laughed and said, "When I was a child, I heard adults tell stories about the ancient times. They said that Nian was a kind of monster that lived in the deep mountains and forests. It had fangs, long pointed horns, was as tall as a hill, and was extremely ferocious...
Every 365 or 366 days, the Nian beast would emerge from the deep mountains and forests, go to people's places and eat the livestock raised by people, destroy crops, and even eat people.
Later, everyone discovered that the Nian monster was afraid of the color red, fire, and explosions, and would flee when it heard the sound of firecrackers. From then on, everyone would set off firecrackers and put up New Year gifts at the end of the year to drive it away..."
Zhou Jiakang asked curiously, "Why didn't I see the Nian beast come last year?"
Zhou Jiaming: "Ha, the People's Liberation Army has cannons, and the Nian beast is afraid of cannons and dares not come out!"
Zhou Jialiang: "That's right. The cannons can flatten the mountains. If the Nian beast dares to come, it will be beaten into a paste."
Zhou Jiakang: "We don't have the People's Liberation Army here..."
Zhou Jiaming rolled his eyes, "Huh! The People's Liberation Army has planes..."
Several children started discussing when the People's Liberation Army would arrive if the Nian monster came...
After dinner, Zhou's father, Zhou Huaijun and Zhou Huairong brought out the dried truffles from the oven. Zhou Huaian and Zhou Huaishan continued to bake truffles, trying to deliver all the goods at home tomorrow.
Yang Chunyan fed the pigs, cleaned the pigsty, washed up, and went to sleep.
When I woke up, I saw Zhou Huaian sitting there counting the accounts.
She looked at the alarm clock. It was already past twelve o'clock. "Huai'an, go to bed early. We'll figure it out tomorrow."
"It's ready." Zhou Huaian closed the account book and put it away, took off his coat and got into bed, "Yan'er, our income this month is higher than last month."
Yang Chunyan looked at him sleepily and asked, "After we divide the money tomorrow, how much will we get this month?"
"It's more than 40,000!" Zhou Huaian kissed her, "Yan'er, this is good. You don't have to worry about having no money in the future."
Seeing his happy look, Yang Chunyan was worried that he might get cocky, so she reminded him, "There are still many places to spend money after the New Year! You want to buy a yard, buy land, these are huge amounts of money.
Once the construction of the house in the county begins, money will flow out like water to buy bricks, steel bars, cement, wood, and the wages of craftsmen. After the house is built, it needs to be decorated..."
Zhou Huaian thought she was distressed, so he comforted her: "Don't feel bad about the money you spent, your man can still make money! Besides, once the house is repaired and the hotel is opened, there will be money coming in!"
"Yeah! I don't feel bad!" Yang Chunyan pulled him with care, "Go to sleep quickly, you have dark circles under your eyes."
Zhou Huaian stared at her, "Do you really have dark circles under your eyes?"
Yang Chunyan suppressed her laughter and nodded, "Really? If you don't believe me, go look in the mirror!"
"No wonder my eyes feel a little sore. I have to go to bed quickly, and you should go to bed too!" Zhou Huaian said, then he blew out the oil lamp and lay down, and soon began to snore.
Listening to the sound of his deep sleep, Yang Chunyan thought about buying a hen tomorrow to stew truffles for him to nourish his body. In the past two months since she started collecting truffles, he has been getting up earlier than chickens and sleeping later than dogs, and has not had a good rest for a single day.
She pulled the quilt up for him, lay down on her side, and fell asleep listening to his deep sleep.
The next day, just after dawn, Zhou Huairong and his friends came to Zhou Huaian's house, put the undried truffles into the oven to dry and put them into bamboo baskets.
After Yang Chunyan and Zhou Huaian had finished their meal, Zhou Jiaming and several other children who were waiting to go to Ning'an for the market ran back and forth several times, fearing that their parents would abandon them and run away.
By the time all the truffles were dried and loaded onto the tractor, it was almost nine o'clock.
The batch of dry goods shipped today, together with those shipped yesterday, totals more than 1,200 kilograms. The special and first grade goods only total 300 kilograms, and most of them are second and third grade goods.
Zhou Jialiang muttered, "People who were going to the market have already left. Look, the sun is already so high. When we get to Ning'an, all the vendors on the street have gone home..."
Zhao Huifang glared at him and said, "If you're afraid that no one will come, don't go. Just stay at home and put up the Spring Festival couplets!"
Zhou Jialiang crossed his arms and said, "I want to go. Dad said Ning'an has a lot of delicious food."
Mother Zhou took a straw mat and spread it in the tractor bed. "If you want to go, go out and call your brother, Qiaoling and the others back."
"Okay!" Zhou Jialiang ran towards the gate of the courtyard.
"Let's go to Ning'an! Let's go to Ning'an!" Several children waved their hands and ran in like a swarm of wind.
Zhou Jialiang hurriedly climbed onto the tractor and squeezed next to Zhou's mother, "Grandma, what delicious food does Ning An have?"
Zhou's mother smiled and said, "Ning'an has a lot of delicious food and many kidnappers, so don't run around when you go to the city."
"Hold on tight, let's go!" Zhou Huaishan pulled the handbrake, turned his head and shouted.
The back of the tractor was crowded with people. Except for Zhou Yumei who was breastfeeding her baby, Yang Chunyan and her husband, and the old man, everyone else in the family went to catch up with Ning An.
Yang Chunyan and Zhou Huaian stood on the steps, watching the tractor slowly drive out of the yard, looked at each other, and smiled, "Finally, we can have a few days of leisure."
Zhou Huaian spread his hands and said, "I will go to the mountains to look for winter honey after I come back from my mother-in-law's house on the second day of the New Year."
Yang Chunyan thought for a moment and said, "Huaian, why don't you and Yiding go check out the beehive you found in the back mountain when you come back on the second day of the Chinese New Year? The forest farm is too far away. Just stay home and have fun for a few days during the New Year holidays."
After hearing this, the old man said, "Chunyan is right. We have been busy for half a year. We should just stay at home and have a good time for a few days during the New Year."
"Grandpa!" Zhou Huaian looked at him with some pride, "You don't know, Doctor Xiao Wang found me another job before the New Year. If I'm lucky these few days, I can make some money!"
After hearing this, the old man immediately changed his tone and encouraged, "You're right, playing at home is also fun, take the dog to the mountains for a stroll, and you can make some money!"
Zhou Huaian nodded, "Yesterday Secretary Zhang and Secretary Lin said that they would go up the mountain to look for truffles on the third day of the New Year. I told them to go into the mountains to find some winter honey, and I will go to collect it on the sixth day of the New Year."
The old man looked at him in surprise, "They're going there in the third year of junior high school?"
Zhou Huaian: "Yes! Secretary Zhang and Secretary Lin asked me last time whether we would still buy truffles next year. I said we don't know yet and we have to wait until the goods are sold out."
"They decided to take advantage of the fact that they could still make money by selling truffles. They organized the young and strong people in the village and went to the distant forest to look for truffles. They have tasted the sweetness of digging truffles and selling them this month, and they are reluctant to give it up!"
The old man sighed, "There are few ways for people in the mountains to make money, so it's right to take advantage of the opportunity to earn more." (End of this chapter)
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