Just a moment after Xu Hongbing arrived, Xu Erchun and his wife also came back driving a ox cart. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were in the yard collecting the mugwort that the two had brought.
Zhou Huairong and his two sons went outside the yard to unload the mugwort from the tractor. Xu Erchun and Xu Hongbing also went to help. They were busy for more than half an hour before they finally unloaded the mugwort from the truck bed and carried it to the backyard to pile it up.
When the whole family sat down to tie the bodies up, Jiang Yu and the helpers also came. More than a dozen people started working at 7:30 every evening and worked until 11:30, and were paid half a day's wages for four hours.
Yang Chunyan, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, and several children, with these 17 people, tied the grass much faster, and soon finished a pile. Sitting in front of the TV in the front yard, they tied the wormwood into small bundles and piled them together.
The old man and Zhou's father were responsible for transporting them to the backyard, while Zhou Huairong and his brother were responsible for hanging them in the wooden shed and under the eaves to dry in the shade.
I saw a wooden shed built next to the bathhouse in the backyard. From the ceiling to the bottom, there were three layers of neatly arranged hard-head springs tied on the wooden frame. Zhou Huairong stood on the stepladder, picked up a handful of bundled mugwort, split it in two, and forked it on a bamboo pole.
Zhou Huaishan picked up the mugwort that the old man and his father had brought in, placed it on the bamboo pole next to him, and then went to the next level to hang the mugwort.
After a while, people who were watching TV came one after another. Seeing that everyone in the Zhou family was busy tying mugwort, adults and children also sat down and helped tie the mugwort while watching TV.
Zhou's mother happily came into the house and brought out the boiled mint water for everyone to drink.
Ma Chunhua smiled and said, "Chunyan, by the time you receive the wormwood on the mountain on the Dragon Boat Festival, I'm afraid all the wormwood will be harvested. By then, the price of wormwood in town will probably go up."
Yang Chunyan smiled and said, "Every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, my family picks mugwort and calamus from the mountains to hang them. I have never bought them, so I don't know how much a bunch costs."
"Last year, I carried a basket to sell and it took me a whole morning to sell all of them." Ma Chunhua grabbed a handful of mugwort, "I added two calamus to each handful, and they cost two cents each. More people sold to me than bought, and it took me a whole morning to sell all of them."
Zhou's mother: "Everyone in the country knows this thing. Every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, the most people sell it at the market in town. In previous years, it was sold for two cents a bunch, but this year it has increased and can be sold for three cents at most."
Mrs. Xu smiled and said, "I think even if they sell it for 4 cents a bunch, it's still worthwhile to sell it to your family. You can take as many as you can and you don't have to travel so far."
She is now very satisfied with the good relationship between Xu Erchun and Zhou Huaian. Erchun and his wife go to remote brigades to collect mugwort and sell it. They earn much more in a day than those who cut mugwort and sell it.
At this time, the noise of a tractor "thump thump" was heard outside the yard. Zhou's mother said to Zhou Jiakang beside her: "Go and see if your father is back?"
"Oh!" Zhou Jiakang ran out and came back in a flash, shouting, "It's not Dad, it's Uncle Xu."
Mother Zhou waved her hand and said, "Go to the backyard and ask your third and eldest father to unload the goods and weigh them."
"Oh!" The little guy ran to the backyard again.
Zhou's mother said to Yang Chunyan, "It's almost nine o'clock, why hasn't the youngest come back yet?"
Yang Chunyan thought for a moment and said, "I used to get home around 10 o'clock. This time I have to weigh the goods and settle the bills, so I might be even later."
Zhou's mother thought about it and said to Zhou Jiaming and the others, "You still have to study tomorrow, so you can go back and have a shower and go to bed."
Zhao Huifang quickly took out the key and handed it to Zhou Jiaming, "Go back and sleep, and study hard for the exam tomorrow morning."
This happens to several kids every night. They refuse to leave until the TV show is over, and they are not in a hurry even if they have an exam soon.
"Oh!" Zhou Jiaming and others took the keys and walked back.
Mother Zhou stretched out her hand to Yang Chunyan and said, "I'll take Jiuer to take a bath. You go and keep the account and pay."
"Yes!" Yang Chunyan handed the child to her, went into the house to get the account book and money bag, and went to the backyard to help. "Third Brother Xu, did you see Huai'an on the road?"
"No, the few I met were all hauling coal and bricks." Xu Laosan put the mugwort on the scale. "Huai Qing's family asked me to bring you a letter saying that they will be delivering it back tomorrow morning."
"That's great!" Zhou Huairong said with a smile, "There are a lot of them over there, right?"
Xu Laosan smiled and nodded, "There are a lot of them. The four of us have been busy since lunch. When I left, there was still a long line!"
After the mugwort on the tractor was unloaded and weighed, Yang Chunyan calculated, "Brother Xu San, a total of 3,100 kilograms, a total of 310 yuan."
"Okay!" Xu Laosan took it happily. They were charging 5 cents per pound at the flower market, and after deducting the expenses, they still had a profit of 4 cents per pound. They could make a lot of money today.
Yang Chunyan returned to the front yard with the account book and purse, thinking that with the mugwort she collected today, she could fill up the wooden shed, two enclosures, and the area behind the eaves. She would then collect it at Zhou Huaishan's house tomorrow, which would be more convenient.
When Zhou's mother saw her coming back, she handed Xiao Jiuer to her and said, "She's asleep. Take her and put her on the crib to sleep."
"Yes!" Yang Chunyan carried him back to the house and went to sleep. Then she came out and worked for a while. Seeing that it was already a quarter past ten, Zhou Huaian had not come back yet, "Mom, call the third brother and the eldest brother to drive the tractor to pick up Huaian!"
"Okay, I'll go call them right away." Mother Zhou stood up and walked towards the backyard.
…
Zhou Huaian was now parked at the bottom of the slope near the Huangjiaoshu fork in the road, looking at the striking tractor at a loss as to what to do.
He was tired and hungry at the moment, and kicked the tire angrily, "Fuck~ You're not quiet here, it's almost time, why don't you go on strike?"
He kicked his feet twice, sighed, hung the headlight on the armrest, sat on the operating console somewhat discouraged, lit a cigarette and took a few puffs, squinted his eyes and leaned against the rear fender, recalling the two tractor breakdowns along the way.
Not long after driving down the asphalt road from Bailing Mountain, the car stalled. He took apart the parts, checked them, and found that the oil pipe joint was blocked. He cleared the oil pipe, drove here, and the car stalled again.
I had to disassemble the car and check the parts again, but couldn't find the cause of the problem. I had to wipe the parts clean with cotton cloth and put them back. I started the car twice, but it still stalled after starting and taking two steps.
Thinking about the two times the engine stalled after that, the exhaust pipe shook violently and came out with black smoke. I recalled my brother-in-law's car repair record and felt that it was caused by overloading.
He went down and looked at the tall wormwood behind him, muttering to himself, "Do I have to unload all this here and come back later?" He threw his cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out, "Damn it, my head hurts."
Zhou Huaian made up his mind, went back to take down the headlamp hanging on the handrail and put it on his head, went to the front of the truck to untie the rope that bound the mugwort, climbed up and threw the mugwort onto the road at the foot of the mountain.
After throwing more than ten bundles down, I was so tired that my hands and feet were powerless. Suddenly, I saw a four-wheel tractor coming towards me. "Oh my god! This can't be mine, right?"
When Zhou Huaishan got halfway down the slope, he saw a tractor parked on the side of the road. He turned and drove behind it and stopped. The two brothers jumped out. "Youngest, why are you here?"
"This bastard, he drove here to strike!" Zhou Huaian looked at the two of them with regret, "If I had known you were coming to pick me up, I would have sat there and waited."
Zhou Huaishan handed him two corn cobs and said, "My sister-in-law asked me to bring these because she was worried that you would be hungry."
"I've been hungry for a long time." Zhou Huaian took the corn leaf and tore it open, then took a bite. "The glutinous corn is delicious."
"There's another pot at home. I cook it for dinner after work." Zhou Huairong picked up a bundle of mugwort and handed it to Zhou Huaishan. "How much did you put in?"
"We only loaded less than 3,000 when we came out of Bailing Mountain, and added more than 1,000." Zhou Huaian sat on a bundle of mugwort, "We only added a little more. We stopped working twice along the way. We are lucky to be here."
Zhou Huaishan said distressedly: "You don't take care of things at all. This tractor you use like this will last at least two years less than other tractors."
"I won't do this next time." Zhou Huaian finished eating the corn in a few bites and saw that the two brothers had already moved a lot of mugwort to the four-wheel tractor. "Third brother, try to start it. Will it stall again?"
"Oh oh!" Zhou Huaishan hurriedly took the crank, Zhou Huaian climbed onto the tractor, and after he started it, he released the brake and stepped on the accelerator, and the tractor easily climbed up the steep slope.
Seeing him going up the hill, Zhou Huaishan and his brother started their tractor and followed him. Half an hour later, they arrived at their doorstep.
Yang Chunyan was relieved when she saw Zhou Huaian coming back, "You must be hungry! Do you want me to cook you a bowl of noodles or heat up some cold rice?"
"Let's cook some leftovers and have a bowl of noodles." Zhou Huaian followed her to the kitchen. "You must be exhausted today at home, right?"
"Not too tiring!" Yang Chunyan scooped some hot water from the pitcher for him, "Go wash your face first, I'll boil some water for you."
"Yeah!" Zhou Huaian took two steps with the basin in his hand, "Is Jiu'er asleep?"
"Asleep." Yang Chunyan took a handful of pine needles and lit it, then started to boil water and cook noodles. She rolled out some stir-fried meat from the night before as the sauce, and washed a handful of Chinese cabbage. Soon the noodles were cooked.
Zhou Huaian sat down at the table and began to eat voraciously. "I'm so hungry. Luckily you asked me to bring me two corn cobs. Otherwise, I wouldn't have made it home."
"I'll pack some cakes for you next time." Yang Chunyan watched him eat with big mouthfuls, "Eat slowly. Eating too fast is bad for your stomach."
"It's okay. I'm not old. I can finish this amount of noodles by midnight."
By the time he finished eating, all the mugwort on the tractor had been unloaded. It was time for Jiang Yu and her colleagues to finish work. Seeing that the TV was interesting, they did not rush to leave work. They waited until twelve o'clock, when the word "goodbye" appeared on the screen. They then helped carry the remaining mugwort to the eaves and stacked them before saying goodbye and going home.
The Zhou family hung all the bundled mugwort on bamboo poles. The wooden shed and the two barns were already filled with mugwort, leaving only the eaves behind the house unfilled.
Before going to bed, Yang Chunyan did some statistics. She had collected more than 80,000 catties of mugwort today, using less than 7,000 yuan of capital. Three catties of wet goods were dried into one catty of dry goods, and in the end, she could get more than 24,000 catties of dry goods. After deducting expenses, she could make a profit of 5,000 yuan a day. (End of this chapter)
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