Zhou Dachun entered the yard carrying a basket on his back, "Please move aside. What are you doing blocking the way here? Are you going to let people in?"
"It's so crowded, don't you have eyes?" The dissatisfied man in front turned around and saw it was him, and his voice softened a little, "Mother Zhou said to line up."
Zhou Dachun glanced at him, "Who am I to him? Why do I need to queue up?" Then he shouted to Zhou Huaian who was keeping accounts on the steps, "Youngest, come here and bring my basket in to be weighed."
Zhou Huaian raised his eyelids without even moving his butt, "Dad, I told everyone to line up in order, you can't let me go back on my word!"
The man sneered, "Look, you are a family, so you can't get any special treatment!"
Zhou Dachun was so angry that he pointed at Zhou Huaian and said, "You son of a bitch, go get your old man to come and tell me."
Mother Zhou couldn't help but roll her eyes. She clapped her hands, stood up, looked at him and said, "Brother, there is an old saying that there is no order without rules. The youngest brother just said to follow the order. You can't ask him to take back what he said in front of so many people!"
Zhou Dachun's face turned red and white, and he stood there, not knowing whether to leave or stay.
Zhou Datian came out and patted him on the shoulder, "Brother, you see, we are all from the same village. You are the elder, so you should support the work."
He quickly took advantage of the situation and said, "Yeah, yeah! It's time to support it."
Seeing more and more people coming in, Zhou Huaian shouted at the villagers who were crowding into the yard, "It's freezing cold. Those who are late should go back and change into something warmer and eat before coming back."
The villagers waiting in line behind were also anxiously waiting, "Zhou Laoyao, when will you receive it?"
Zhou Huaian shouted, "Don't worry, we won't stop until we collect all the truffles that everyone has dug up today."
"It's freezing. Let's go back first." The villager behind him walked out of the yard carrying a basket on his back.
Zhou Dachun also left angrily.
The villager who received the money said to Zhou Huaian, "Zhou Laoyao, can you go to the city tomorrow and bring me two pounds of rib meat?"
I promised my kid that if he works hard today, he will give me some meat to eat as a treat. After selling the meat, I have to fulfill my promise, otherwise I won’t be so motivated tomorrow.
The villager who had walked to the door turned back and said, "Please bring me two kilograms..."
"I want two pounds too!"
Zhou Huaian nodded readily, "Okay!" He took out a notebook and pen and placed them on the tree stump, "Anyone who wants to bring meat, please come and register, write your name and the weight you want."
The villagers who had sold truffles crowded in front of the tree stump and started writing down their sales in notebooks.
The children who came together to sell truffles all grinned at their parents who were now much more generous than before, thinking that it would be great if they could dig truffles every day so that they could eat meat every day.
Ye Xiaoshuang saw the villagers in front of him also came forward to hand in the truffles, and looked at the Zhou family members busy on the steps, feeling a little uneasy.
After the man put the truffles into the bamboo basket, she stepped forward with a smile and said, "Aunt Chen, hurry up!"
Zhou's mother glanced at her calmly and said, "Pour it gently onto the straw mat!"
"Hey, hey!" Ye Xiaoshuang diligently poured the truffles on the straw mat. He originally thought that the Zhou family would ridicule him, but he didn't expect that they didn't even say a word.
Seeing that the Zhou family didn't make things difficult for Ye Xiaoshuang at all, the villagers behind started to discuss in a low voice.
"Ye Xiaoshuang once snatched the Zhou family's business, why didn't they make things difficult for her?"
"Can Ye Xiaoshuang be the same as the Xiong family? Think about what his family has done. No one would let it go easily."
"That's right. Let's not talk about the Niu and Xiong Laoer stealing cement. Just think about the recent hemostatic medicine incident. If it weren't for Zhou Laoyao, Xiong Laoyao would have bled out.
What did his family do? He wanted to report them, but when Xiong Laoer failed to extort money, he asked someone to steal Zhou Laoyao's tractor. Someone might even die!"
"Yeah, his family didn't feel they were wrong at all, and they even blamed Zhou Laoyao for not informing them when he caught Xiong Er."
"What's so strange about this? Shameless people can do anything with a clear conscience!"
"Hey! I think I saw the big bear couple with their two kids digging truffles in the mountains today."
"They wrote on the notice that they would not accept truffles from Old Bear's family, but they still went to dig them up. Their shamelessness is thicker than the city wall!"
"Hurry up and catch up. Aren't you hungry?" Zhou's mother shouted with a smile, while several people were talking to each other excitedly.
The woman stepped forward with a smile, "Here comes Guilan, she's pretty fast!"
Zhou's mother said cheerfully, "It's so cold and everyone is waiting. We have to hurry up!"
"Gui Lan, if my kids can make as much money as yours, I'd be happy if they kept me busy every day!"
"It looks very lively, but they just make some money by running away."
In the backyard, Zhou Jiaming and his brothers and Zhou Xiaoqian and their sisters were sticking their butts out, helping to drag the washed truffles from the sink to the baking room.
The old man and Zhou's father poured the truffles into bamboo baskets according to their grades to filter the water. They then hurriedly returned the empty bamboo baskets to the pool and handed them to Zhang Xiuxiang.
Zhou's father and grandfather poured the drained truffles into bamboo flats, brought them into the baking room, and spread them out on the drying racks to dry.
The baking room, which originally had a circle of grills placed against the wall, is now filled with rows of grills.
The father and son put the bamboo baskets out, and Zhou's father said thankfully: "Fortunately, we made a lot of bamboo baskets a few days ago, otherwise we wouldn't be able to hang them out to dry."
The old man nodded happily, "Can we harvest over a thousand kilograms today?"
Zhou Huairong came over carrying two baskets of truffles. "Grandpa, most of the families in the village have gone there. At least two to three thousand kilograms."
Even if three kilograms of fresh truffles were dried into one kilogram of dry truffles, the total would be over a thousand kilograms of dry truffles. He was fully motivated when he thought that he could send these truffles to Ning'an in two days and exchange them for bundles of great unity.
The old man smiled and said, "We have to work overtime tonight!"
Zhou Huairong nodded. "It's easy to find in the first few days, so everyone has to work harder. It will be harder in the next few days, so we have to relax."
Father Zhou took over the conversation, "Boss, you are wrong. In a few days, people from other villages will know about this, and the number of truffles sent will increase."
Zhou Huairong slapped his head and said, "The old man is right. How could we forget that other villages will also deliver goods when they know the news? I have to tell the youngest one later."
More than a dozen people worked until dark, lighting lanterns and using flashlights for more than two hours, and finally sent away the villagers who had gone home to eat and then came back.
After seeing off Zhou's mother, who was busy going back to cook postpartum meals for Zhou Yumei, and Zhou San's aunt and her daughter-in-law, Li Qiuyue bent over and pounded her sore calves, "I'm so tired."
Luo Haili smiled and said, "There's no one here. Go sit on a chair and lean back for a while!"
"No, my sister-in-law and the others are washing truffles, let's go cook."
"I'm going too." Yang Chunyan handed the shoulder bag to Zhou Huaian and followed him to the backyard.
After the two stoves in the baking room were lit, they cooked in the backyard. The charcoal fire in the stoves was burning brightly, and they could steam rice, stir-fry vegetables, and cook soup much faster than before.
Zhou Huaian and Zhou Yiding saw off a villager selling truffles and leaned lazily on a rattan chair, "Did you receive any special items today?"
Zhou Yiding narrowed his eyes and said, "No, the first-class ones are OK, but there are more second- and third-class ones. There are several hundred kilograms of inferior ones. The wine at home is not enough."
Zhou Huaian: "They should be sending wine over tomorrow, let's soak the remaining three jars of wine first."
Xu Hongbing walked to the outside of Zhou Huaian's house with a flashlight and saw a woman standing under the wall. "Who is it? What are you doing there?"
"Me!" Xiong Da's wife's eyes lit up when she saw him, and she stepped forward quickly, "Hongbing, help your sister-in-law."
Xu Hongbing glanced at the basket she was carrying and asked, "What can I do for you?"
Mrs. Bear whispered, "Help me sell the truffles, and I'll give you 20%."
"Tsk~" Xu Hongbing glanced at her, "Zhou Laoyao said that he will not accept your Xiong family's goods. Sell them to me. Do you think I am as shameless as you?"
After he said that, he walked towards the gate without even looking back.
"..." Xiong Da's wife was so choked that she couldn't even respond.
Xu Hongbing walked into the yard with a basket on his back. "I'm smart. I came back and saw so many people. It's just right for me to go back, eat, and take a nap!"
"I was wondering why I didn't see your baby!" Zhou Huaian waited for him to come closer and took a look, "Hey~ Did your baby step on poop today? He dug so much!"
"Today's mountain luck is incredible!" Xu Hongbing proudly took pieces of mushrooms from his backpack and handed them to him. "Not only did we dig a lot today, but we also got some big ones. That bastard with a big head tried to trick me into selling to him!"
Zhou Huaian took the truffle that was as big as a small ball, thinking that he would feel guilty if he counted it as first-class since the other party hadn't replied yet. "Yes, this one is considered special. I'll give you an extra dollar per pound."
Xu Hongbing looked at him in surprise, "Really two yuan per pound?"
"Really!" Zhou Huaian let him fall on the straw mat on the eaves and asked Zhou Yiding to pick it up.
Xu Hongbing came forward and lowered his voice and said, "Youngest brother, Big Bear's wife is outside your courtyard wall, carrying truffles to sell."
Zhou Huaian looked towards the gate and said, "I don't want anything from the Xiong family even if they give it to me!"
Xu Hongbing hesitated for a moment, "Youngest, let me tell you something, don't be angry!"
Zhou Huaian looked at him, "You say!"
Xu Hongbing: "If you don't take it from him, he can sell it to someone else at a lower price, and in the end it will still end up in your hands."
Zhou Huaian: "I knew this was possible a long time ago. No matter who he sold it to at a low price, as long as I didn't see it, it's their business! But if I saw it, from now on, I won't buy any goods from that buyer. They can say whatever they want!"
Zhou Yiding shouted to the outside, "The Zhou family would rather earn a few less dollars than accept the Xionggui Sun family's things."
After hearing this, Mrs. Xiong, who was outside the courtyard gate, stomped her stiff feet in hatred, rolled her eyes a few times, and spat triumphantly towards the courtyard gate.
"Damn it, do you think that if you don't collect the truffles from my house, I won't be able to find anyone to collect them?" After saying that, he left in a hurry.
After hearing this, Xu Hongbing admired them even more. "To be honest, she asked me to help her just now... but I didn't agree. To be shameless, my family's laborer used to steal things from the production team to make a living, but he never did anything that was against the law." (End of this chapter)
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