Xu Hongbing, Xu Erchun and several villagers happily left with the fish.
Zhou Huaian distributed the fish to Jiang Yu and the others who came to get the fish, and cleaned the fishing net in the fish pond. Zhou Jiaming took it diligently, "Dad, I'll help you take it and dry it."
"Just hang it on the bamboo pole to dry." Zhou Huaian handed the fishing net to him and Xu Laosan and carried the bucket to the yard.
Zhou Jialiang looked at the two people who came in and said, "Brother, did you see clearly what Dad did just now?"
"See clearly." Zhou Jiaming whispered, "Let's go in the afternoon and have a reunion dinner at my father's house in the evening. Even if we are caught, my mother and father will not beat us."
"Oh!" Zhou Jialiang nodded repeatedly, and the two brothers followed him into the yard carrying fishing nets.
Mother Zhou brought out the glutinous rice balls and said, "Yiding, Xu Laosan, come and eat the glutinous rice balls!"
"Auntie/Second Auntie, we came here after eating." Zhou Yiding and Xu Laosan put down the buckets, "We are here to help with shipping."
After hearing this, Zhou's mother said, "The ones here won't be out until noon. Go to the oven and ask Mr. Huairong and the others to come over for dinner."
"Okay, then I'll go over there!" After the two of them walked for a while, Zhou's father and his friends came back. They all held a bowl of glutinous rice balls and pulled up straw stools to sit in a row on the steps.
Several four-season orchids in the flower bed have blossomed, emitting bursts of faint fragrance. A few anxious primroses have also bloomed a bunch of tender new yellow. The roses that have climbed to the top of the wall have already sent out tender green buds.
Several little girls wore red and blue hair flowers and butterfly hairpins with sparkling sequins, and the yard was full of vitality.
Zhou Xiaoqian went up to the flower and sniffed it. "Aunt, I dug up a few orchids in the mountains but they didn't survive. How did you manage to grow these ones?"
Yang Chunyan: "Your father dug these trees up with the soil and planted them. There are many more medicinal fields near the forest in the back mountain. If you like to plant them, it's best to plant them near the forest. Planting them in the yard is not as easy as planting them in the mountains."
Zhou Huaian: "Xiao Qian, you need to dig some rotten soil from the mountains to grow orchids. The soil in the flowerbed won't work."
Zhou Xiaoqian looked at him curiously, "Dad, what kinds of orchids did you plant in the back hills?"
Zhou Huaian pointed at the old man and said, "Don't ask me, your ancestors planted it."
Seeing that the Dendrobium in the big pit could make a lot of money, the old man went up the mountain to find a lot of orchids and Dendrobium and brought them back to plant in the empty medicinal fields. I don’t know how he managed to grow them, but many of them survived.
The old man smiled and said, “I didn’t know the name, but when I saw the beautiful flowers blooming and the ones that smelled so good, I dug them up with the soil and went to the woods to dig up some rotten soil to mix with the fields.
If you don’t like the sun, plant it under a tree for shade. If you like the sun, plant it in an open area. If you take good care of it, it will survive.”
"Ancestor, I'll go dig them up and you teach me." It was the first time Zhou Xiaoqian heard that some flowers and plants like to bask in the sun and some don't.
The old man nodded with a smile, "Okay, I'll teach you."
After the family ate the dumplings, Zhou Huaian and his brothers went to the oven, the old man and Zhou's father went to wander around the rapeseed and wheat fields, and the women were busy washing everything that needed to be washed. After lunch, they killed chickens and fish to prepare for the New Year's Eve dinner.
Zhou's father and mother live in Yang Chunyan's house. The second branch will have the New Year's Eve dinner at her house this year. Tomorrow, they will have it at Zhou Huairong's house after the brothers come back from visiting their mother-in-law's house for the New Year's greetings, and then they will have the dinner at each family's house.
Xiao Jiuer and Xiao Long were handed over to Zhou Jiaming and others, and they had already rented out more than ten comic books at two cents a copy.
The dried truffles are leaving the drying room one after another, and some special goods that are not easy to dry are directly dried in the oven.
Zhou Yiding looked at Zhou Huaian's sweat-soaked cotton sweater, tugged at his own, and said with a smile, "Youngest, how about we go into the mountains after visiting my mother-in-law for the New Year? I haven't run in the mountains for a long time, and my soles are itching."
"I told Wang Zhen that I would take him to the mountains to look for winter honey after he returns from his mother-in-law's house on the second day of the Chinese New Year." Zhou Huaian continued, "There are not many truffles after the Chinese New Year, so we should have enough time to go to the purchasing point every two days.
We have to take advantage of the two months before March to go into the mountains and see where there are many young honeysuckle trees. Once we find a good place, we can ask people to dig them up and plant them."
"Okay!" The two of them said and turned around and went back into the baking room, carrying out the dried truffles and pouring them into the bamboo baskets.
Before noon, all the truffles were out of the baking room and the oven, and the people weighed the day's dry goods, packed them in baskets and sent them to the warehouse.
Zhou Huaian recorded the accounts and said to Xu Laosan and Zhou Huaiqing, "You two go back and call Uncle Xu and Uncle Datian over, and we'll settle the accounts and divide the profits."
Zhou Huaiqing nudged him excitedly, "Youngest brother, how much can you get this time?"
Zhou Huaian smiled and spread his hands, "I don't know either, just forget it and you'll know."
"Oh oh!" Zhou Huaiqing pulled Xu Laosan away in a hurry.
After Zhou Huaian went back to wash up, Secretary Xu, Zhou Datian, and the brother Zhou Huairong came to his house with holiday gifts, account books, and the remaining funds from receiving the goods. They started to settle the accounts in the main room.
Secretary Xu and others checked their accounts first, and Zhou Huaian took out his account book and a stack of passbooks and said to everyone, "From the opening of the market in November to the closing of the market on the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, a total of 59 days, excluding the days when it rained, a total of 1,250,435 kilograms of truffles were harvested.
A total of 20,085 kilograms of special-grade truffles were harvested, and a total of 4,030 kilograms of dry goods were sold. The purchase price was 2 yuan per kilogram, with a total expenditure of 40,170 yuan. The purchase price in the provincial capital was 20 yuan per kilogram, with a total sales of 80,600 yuan, and a net profit of 40,430 yuan.
Then, the first-class truffles collected a total of 247,650, and the total output was 49,530 kilograms of dry goods. The purchase price of one kilogram was 247,650 yuan, and the delivery price was 10 yuan per kilogram. The total sales were 495,300 yuan, and the net profit was 247,650..."
"Ah~" Everyone present stood up in surprise, "Oh my God, I made more than 240,000 just by waiting..."
Secretary Xu and Zhou Datian also couldn't believe their ears. "Youngest, did you calculate it wrong? You made so much money with just these two levels?"
Zhou Huaian patted the stack of passbooks beside him, "Uncle, don't worry, I've recorded every single penny! I have more than ten passbooks. Wang Zhen helped me open accounts at the Agricultural Bank of China, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and the Bank of China. He said the credit union was not safe, otherwise I would have opened two there."
Father Zhou laughed and said, "Secretary Xu, my old man and I, as well as Dashu, Guilan, and Jiang Yu, use a mountain of coal every day in the baking room. Our clothes get soaked several times a day!"
Zhou Yiding laughed and said, "We were running on the road as soon as we opened our eyes every day. Wang Zhen helped us find someone to buy diesel. We bought dozens of cigarettes alone, and the money for diesel cost 16,000 to 17,000 yuan."
Zhou Huaian joked, "Uncle, if you think the money is too much, we can just divide it up. Forget about the rest. I'll just put it in my pocket!"
"Hurry up and tell me how much you sold the remaining items for?" Secretary Xu smiled and patted him. "Tell me how much you sold them for."
Zhou Huaian smiled and said, "We collected 247,650 kilograms of truffles of the lowest grade. The sales rate of this grade is lower, with an average of only 1.5 to 1.78 ounces of dry goods out of 10 kilograms. The purchase price is 0.15 cents per kilogram... The third grade truffles... made a total of 762,962 yuan."
He took out another stack of receipts. "Next is the labor, rent, coal, and diesel expenses for the past two months. A total of 9,060 for 42 people, 16,755 for diesel, and 60 per ton for coal... A total net profit of 584,902."
Zhou Huaian put all the documents on the table, "These are all the documents, everyone check the accounts."
"I just want to see if I really make that much money?" Secretary Xu sighed after seeing it, "I've only worked for two months, and the wages are the cheapest. No wonder we old farmers work so hard but never make a fortune."
If this continues, within ten years, those who have invested in the company will be millionaires, and becoming a ten thousand yuan household will not be a problem at all.
Zhou Huairong: "Uncle Datian, the wages we pay are already high. The one in the county town only pays 1.5 yuan a day!"
The old man took over the conversation, "From ancient times to now, I have never heard of an old farmer getting rich by farming. If you can fill your stomach, it is God's gift."
Zhou Huaian said with a smile: "Grandpa, Secretary Xu, as the saying goes, live by the mountain and eat by the mountain, live by the sea and eat by the sea. While the national policy is good now, we mountain people will make a fortune by selling mountain products!"
Zhou Datian nodded, "You're right. We live off the mountains. There's nothing else in the mountains except mushrooms and herbs. This year, my family plans to plant herbs all over the mountain. The income from one season is higher than that from growing corn."
Zhou Huaian went back to the house and took out the money and put it on the table, counting it out to everyone in bundles, "Salaries and bonuses are all together, everyone count them, take them back and put them away, and save them after the New Year.
Interest rates are high now, and a month's interest cannot cover the expenses of a whole family. Also, don't deposit money in small credit unions, because if they don't keep their word, you'll be in trouble."
Zhou Datian said anxiously, "After the New Year, I will go to the town to withdraw the money from the credit union and deposit it in a big bank."
"Uncle Datian," Zhou Huaian put his half-share dividend and the wages of three people in front of him, "You have to bring Huaiqing and the others with you when the time comes!"
"I know. I'll drive your tractor there when the time comes." Zhou Datian happily put the money into a sack, then put it in his backpack and covered it with something. He looked at the people putting the money in, "Haha! We have responded to the country's call and taken the lead in getting rich."
Secretary Xu looked at him with a smile, "Datian, it's still early! The truffles and red mushrooms in the mountains are available every year!"
"The old secretary is right!" Zhou Datian stood up, stretched out his hand and shouted, "Let's do it again next year!"
Everyone put their hands on his and said in unison, "Let's do it again next year!"
Zhou's mother and Yang Chunyan came out with a piece of bacon, two bottles of wine, and cakes and candies, and put them in their backpacks respectively. "Secretary Xu, Uncle Datian, a prosperous New Year!"
"Good luck in the New Year!" The two men picked up the heavy baskets and walked away with smiles on their faces.
After Zhou Huaian and his father sent the two away, Zhou Yiding came back, holding the backpack that Yang Chunyan had given him, and said to the old people, "Second Grandpa, Second Dad, and Second Mom, I wish you a happy new year, and all the best!"
The old man smiled and said, "As you wish! Call your old man over for a drink."
"That's fine!" Zhou Yiding agreed with a smile, and then looked at Zhou Huaian, "Youngest, come out after dinner, let's go for a walk!"
"Okay, wait for me at home!" Zhou Huaian waved his hand, turned around and gave Zhou Yumei's bonus and Luo Haili's wages to Zhou's mother, "Mom, keep it. Give it to my sister when she comes back on the second day of the New Year."
"Okay!" Zhou's mother happily carried the money into the room, and Zhou Huairong and the others also carried the money back. (End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com