Wang Chunhua followed them for a few steps, and then he became a little worried about the livestock at home. "Brother, the pig food is not cooked yet. I'll go back and check."
Wang Lao Da knew that she couldn't leave the mess at home, so he nodded and said, "Don't fight with him when you go back. Tomorrow morning, we will take that bastard Cai Ermei up the mountain to dig truffles."
"I understand. Tell mom."
After Wang Chunhua said goodbye to his two brothers, he walked to the brigade's drying dam and saw Xu Erchun coming over with a basket on his back. "How many truffles did you dig today?"
"Alas!" Xu Erchun sighed, "There are even fewer than yesterday. I've searched all the easy places. It will probably be even harder to find them from now on!"
"Yes! It will become harder and harder to find truffles in the future. When I went down the mountain today, I heard that our village went to another brigade's forest to dig truffles and was driven out."
"I've heard that, too. I think it's better to look for the forest that was dug first than to go to other brigades to dig."
"That's right. Go look for it in the forest where we dug before in a few days!"
After saying goodbye to her, Xu Erchun went to Zhou Huaian's house and shouted as soon as he entered the door: "It's getting harder and harder to dig! Wang Xiaoer's New Year is getting worse every year!"
Zhou Huaian turned his head and asked, "You can't do it today?"
Xu Erchun poured the truffles in the basket onto the straw mat and said, "Look, there are only so many."
Zhou Huaian took a look and said, "You are pretty good today. Xu Hongbing doesn't have as much as you!"
"They were looking nearby, but I walked farther than they did."
"I see that Ma Chunhua's family and the Ye family have started work again today. Why haven't you started work yet?"
"I was just about to tell you to take some time to go to the brick kiln factory and help me pull a few tractors of tiles back. A few craftsmen will be here to start work tomorrow."
"Okay, I'll go after New Year's Day."
Luo Haili and the others quickly picked out the truffles and weighed them. Xu Erchun put the money in his pocket and said, "Let's go home and pray for our ancestors."
Zhou Huaian sent him to the gate of the courtyard, thought about it and reminded him: "No matter what, don't go to the old forest. You have to live to spend the money you earn."
"Don't worry, brother, I won't do such a thing!" Xu Erchun smiled and came forward, "You left before you even had sex. You'd be embarrassed to tell the King of Hell."
Zhou Huaian slapped him, "Go to hell! Don't you know what you are talking about? It's already the twelfth lunar month, hurry up and say spit!"
After hearing this, Xu Erchun said hurriedly: "Pooh! The bad ones don't work, but the good ones do!"
Zhou Huaian returned to the steps, and Zhou Huairong came over from the backyard, "It seems that there is a little less goods today!"
Yang Chunyan took a look at the account book and said, "We have only collected less than 2,000 kilograms so far. If it weren't for the goods sent by Village Chief Qu, today would be the least in this period of time."
Zhou Huairong thought about it and said to Zhou Huaian, "Seeing that the truffles are getting less and less every day, the fields at home have been cleaned up. After New Year's Day, the second and third brothers and I will go to the forest farm with Uncle Daqing to dig them. You and Yiding will stay at home to take care of them."
This time, Zhou Daqing used a chicken cart to push more than 200 kilograms of truffles down the mountain. It only took him two days to dig so much.
Zhou Huaian thought for a moment and said, "How much can you dig in the mountains? Why don't we wait until after New Year's Day, and then I'll ask Secretary Xu for a letter of introduction, and we'll go out and harvest the crops with a tractor."
After hearing this, Li Qiuyue said, "There are more truffles on the mountain near my mother's home than here. Why don't we go there to collect them?"
Zhou Huaian did what he said, "Okay! I'll go find Secretary Xu to get a letter of introduction. My third and second brothers will go to deliver the goods tomorrow morning. Yiding and I will go to a few nearby villages to promote the goods. We'll drive the tractor to collect the goods the day after tomorrow!"
Zhou Huaishan nodded excitedly, "That's right!"
Zhou Huairong said regretfully: "It would be a pity not to dig up those truffles in the forest farm."
Zhou Huaian: "That's easy. Uncle Daqing can go after New Year's Day, and we can ask Lao Xu, Erchun, Li Wu, and Huaigang to go to the forest farm together."
"These guys are all willing to work and have a lot of strength."
Yang Chunyan thought of Su Tianfen who brought four or five kilograms of truffles for Zhao Meina and her siblings, and heard that the younger one had caught a cold.
"Huaian, tell Uncle Daqing to bring Mina and her siblings along. The two younger ones can help them cook."
After hearing this, Li Qiuyue also said, "Yes, youngest brother, talk to Uncle Daqing and ask him to bring the kids along. It's not easy for a teenage girl to take care of two kids."
"Okay, I'll go get a letter of introduction first, and then go to Uncle Daqing's house."
Zhou Huaian pushed his bicycle and rode towards Secretary Xu's home. The villagers he met on the way greeted him one after another.
"Zhou Laoyao, all the truffles near the village are gone. Can you take some people to the old forest to dig for two days?"
Zhou Huaian said with a smile: "Old Linzi, don't dare to go! You go ask Lao Xiazi how fierce the wild boars and other animals are in the mountains these days? Don't let yourself fail to dig up truffles and then feed your 100-plus pounds to the wild animals. It won't be worth it!"
"That's right! It's just as good if you save your life for next year."
"Zhou Laoyao, my family also grows some herbs, you have to harvest them when the time comes!"
Zhou Huaian smiled and said, "Don't worry, as long as the quality is good, the pharmacy will accept it even if I don't."
"You also grow herbs at home?"
"Well! Guilan said she wanted to collect herbal seeds, so I saved some and scattered them. They are growing well."
Zhou Huaian saw them walking away on their bicycles, and he could vaguely hear voices talking behind him.
"I never dreamed that we would have the day to follow Zhou Laoya."
"Yeah, who would have thought that the kid who used to be lazy would become so successful now."
"That's because his wife is lucky. He got a virtuous wife who took him to the mountains to dig herbs at dawn..."
"Look at the Dasong couple and the old man..."
"That's right, the old man is wearing a leather coat made of badger skin..."
…
Zhou Huaian went to Secretary Xu's home and told him the purpose of his visit. "I'm afraid they won't believe it. A certificate will be more convincing."
Secretary Xu looked at him with a smile, "Not bad, you are becoming more and more experienced in doing things."
Zhou Huaian scratched his head, "Uncle Xu's advice is good!"
"Smooth talk!" Secretary Xu smiled and patted him, then went back to the house to get the letter of introduction. "There are the Baicaopao Brigade and the Baicaoping Brigade in the mountains over there."
"The brigade secretary of Baicaoping is my comrade-in-arms. His name is Zhang Guolin. I will give you two more letters of introduction. Please write a few copies of the notice posted in the village."
Zhou Huaian took the letter of introduction and put it away. "I'll write it when I get back. Let Third Brother deliver the goods tomorrow morning. We'll deliver it to Baicaopao and post it there. We'll drive the tractor to collect it the day after tomorrow morning."
Secretary Xu thought for a moment and said, "If it's too troublesome to run back and forth, you can ask Lao Zhang to rent a room at the brigade headquarters and bring a few people to collect the goods."
"The truffles need to be cleaned as quickly as possible and sent to the drying room for drying. There is no drying room over there, so we have to run back and forth."
"That's true. If we don't have enough manpower here, I'll ask your aunt to come over and help."
"Okay! I'll be leaving first then!"
"Okay!" Secretary Xu waved his hand and went back to the house.
When Zhou Huaian arrived at Zhou Yiding's house, Zhou Daqing was repairing farm tools. "Uncle Daqing, why are you still repairing your bamboo basket? Just go to my house and get two pickaxes to use."
"It's still useful after repairing it." Zhou Daqing put down the bamboo strips. "Yiding and Xuejiao went to the backyard to dig taro. Do you want to get some too?"
"No." Zhou Huaian handed him a cigarette and pulled a bamboo chair to sit down. "Uncle Daqing, are you going to the forest farm the day after tomorrow?"
"Let's go the day after tomorrow morning!" Zhou Daqing took out his lighter and lit a cigarette for them. "If you're not busy, call your big brother and the others to go with me to the forest farm to dig truffles."
"I think... the day after tomorrow you can bring Li Wu, Xu Hongbing, Erchun, Huaigang, and the Zhao brothers and sisters from the Guanyin Brigade with you. Do you think it's okay?"
"The Zhao siblings from Guanyin Brigade are the ones whose mother and husband are returning to the city, right?"
"Yes! On the first day they came to my house to deliver truffles, the older one fainted from hunger. He looked so pitiful..." Zhou Huai paused, "The three siblings are all sensible and hardworking. Bring them with you and they can help you cook."
"Okay! Uncle will take them with him!" Zhou Daqing said angrily, "How could there be such a person who could abandon such a good child? He doesn't even understand the most basic principles of being a human being. Such a person is not worthy of being a parent."
Zhou Huaian clasped his hands together and said seriously, "I curse them to never be able to have children after they get married, and to come back dejected and beg them to go back."
Zhou Daqing glanced at him and said, "You're the only one who could think of that."
"Hey~ Why are you here?" Before he finished speaking, Zhou Yiding came over with a bamboo basket.
"Get ready to do something big." Zhou Huaian said as he took out the letter of introduction, "Ask Secretary Xu to issue it..."
Zhou Daqing said: "It's closer to the flower market, and there are more truffles in the forest than here. The downside is that it's too far away, and it takes six or seven hours for a tractor to go back and forth."
Zhou Huaian nodded, "It's okay, we can just take my brother and sister-in-law and run back and forth."
After hearing this, Zhou Yiding said, "Call Uncle Datian, and bring a few more people with us when we go."
"Okay!" Zhou Huaian stood up and said, "I'll go find Uncle Datian, and we'll go to Baicaopo early tomorrow morning."
Zhou Yiding nodded, thinking about riding such a long mountain road, and said with a bitter face: "My butt will suffer tomorrow!"
Zhou Daqing smiled and patted him on the back. "It's always hard to make money. You guys have it easy."
…
Zhou Huaian came out of Zhou Yiding's house and went to Zhou Datian's house. When he got home, he saw Zhou Jiaming and others squatting beside the big wooden basin to help wash the truffles.
When they saw him coming back, they poked Zhou Jiaming. He shook his hands and walked over, "Dad, we'll come back during the winter break to help wash the truffles. Can you pay us for it?"
Zhao Huifang, who came out of the oven, patted him on the head and said, "Who did you learn this from? You need to be paid for doing some housework, but you don't need to pay for food?"
"Mom~" Zhou Jiaming shouted in dissatisfaction, looking at her and rubbing her head, "The teacher said that you can't hit her head, or you'll become a fool."
Zhao Huifang rolled her eyes at him and said, "You're not made of tofu. If you get beaten silly, I'll support you for the rest of your life."
Zhou Jiaming ignored her and said, "Dad, can you give us some wages? We will work hard."
Zhou Huaian smiled and stroked him, "You haven't even grown all your hair yet, and you're already thinking about saving money for a wife?"
Zhou Jiakang hurriedly said, "Dad, I don't want a wife. My wife wants to pull my ears."
"Haha!" Aunt Jiang and the others burst into laughter. "It seems Xiuxiang has pulled the second child's ears a lot!"
Zhou Xiaoqian glared at him, "..." You're such a nagging old lady!
Zhou Jiakang was suppressed by his blood, and he shrank his neck and looked at Zhou Xiaoqian, "Sister, I didn't say it, they said it." (End of this chapter)
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