Zhou Huaian and his men climbed onto the tractor and started working. Xu Erchun and his men looked at the cargo on the tractor and said, "Are these all from Sancha Road? There don't seem to be many!"
Zhou Yiding nodded and said, "Yeah, it was okay some time ago, but today there are very few."
Xu Erchun laughed and said, "It's a little too little. We brought more than 2,000 kilograms down this time. We almost broke our wrists!"
Zhou Yiding only brought back less than 4,000 kilograms of truffles this time. There are several brigades in the township of Sancha Road, so this amount is a bit small.
Several people ran back and forth a few times and unloaded dozens of baskets of truffles.
There were many people helping to unload the goods tonight, and the Lai brothers refused to take any wages. Zhou Huaian pushed them away for a few times, but seeing that they refused to take any, he went back and got two packs of cigarettes for them.
After seeing off the Lai brothers, he said to Zhou Yiding and the others, "I see my mom and Chunyan are cooking. Can we go in and have a drink and a meal before we leave?"
"Let's have a drink!" Zhou Yiding and Xu Erchun walked towards the yard arm in arm.
Yang Chunyan and Zhou's mother cut a piece of garlic sprouts stewed with meat in oil and a plate of fried eggs. Seeing that Zhou Yiding and the others wanted to stay for a drink, they fried a plate of peanuts and cut a plate of cured pork liver cooked in the evening and brought it to the table.
Mother Zhou said, "Youngest, you guys still have work to do tomorrow, how about I bring you a can of glutinous rice wine?"
After hearing this, Zhou Yiding said to Xu Laosan and the others, "My sister-in-law's family has a big brother who makes wine. The glutinous rice wine he makes is quite strong. Go home and have a good sleep after drinking it. We'll have two more drinks after we're done with this!"
After hearing this, Xu Laosan nodded and said, "Yes, my husband said that glutinous rice wine is a health-preserving wine, so let's drink this!"
Zhou Huaian said with a smile: "It's not pleasant to drink glutinous rice wine from a wine glass. I'll go get a bowl and we can drink it from the bowl!"
Xu Hongbing: "That's right, men should drink big bowls of wine and eat big chunks of meat!"
Yang Chunyan carried the wine jar to the table and said, "Drink slowly."
"Excuse me, sister-in-law." Zhou Yiding took the cork and poured a bowl for several people. "Brothers, don't say cheers later with this!"
Xu Lao San said with a smile: "No cheers, just a mouthful of stew!"
As they drank, several people talked about how Fang Tian caught gamblers and discovered a den of thieves. They all said that the arrest was a good thing, because there was a den of thieves living next door, and the villagers were living in unrest.
The few of them drank up the whole jar of glutinous rice wine. Zhou Yiding shook his head, "Fuck! I feel a little dizzy!"
Zhou Huaian looked at them with a smile, "This is a five-jin can. We almost drank it all. It would be strange if we didn't feel dizzy!"
Xu Hongbing looked at Xu Laosan, whose face was red from drinking, and pulled Li Wu aside and said, "Lao Li, I think they are in danger. Let's just walk back."
Xu Laosan pulled him and said, "It's just a few steps. What are you afraid of? I can drive back with my eyes closed."
Li Wu also smiled and said, "Don't worry, if something goes wrong, I'll just pull you down."
Zhou Huaian sent the few people who walked out arm in arm to the gate of the yard. After he saw them start the tractor and leave, he closed the gate and went back to wash up.
He carried the bucket into the bathroom, his legs went weak and he almost fell. He quickly held onto the wall and said to himself, "Damn it, I didn't expect this glutinous rice wine to have such a strong aftereffect!"
He took a shower and felt less dizzy. He returned to the room, wiping his hair and seeing that Yang Chunyan and her son were already asleep, he took out the cargo list and wrote down the accounts before blowing out the oil lamp, lying down on the bed beside her and soon fell asleep.
The next morning, Zhou's mother cooked the noodles but he didn't get up. She walked to the window and knocked on the glass. "Youngest, it's already a quarter past five, why haven't you gotten up yet? I've cooked the noodles. If you don't get up, they'll get clumpy."
Yang Chunyan heard the shout and woke up from her dream, "I know!"
Zhou Huaian was also awakened by her shouting, and looked at her with sleepy eyes, "I think I heard my mother shouting!"
"Hurry up and get up, Mom said it's already five-fifteen!" Yang Chunyan said as she got out of bed and lit the oil lamp. She saw that the alarm clock was still on the cabinet, as both of them had forgotten to wind it up.
Zhou Huaian sat down and rubbed his face, "I drank glutinous rice wine last night, and fell asleep as soon as I lay on the bed."
Yang Chunyan handed him the clothes and said, "Put them on quickly. Mom said she has cooked noodles for you."
Zhou Huaian turned over and got out of bed. He went up to Xiao Jiuer and gave her a kiss before he started to put on his clothes. "Yan'er, today is the 27th. Aren't you going to Ning'an to buy New Year's goods?"
"No!" Yang Chunyan handed him a clean scarf. "Sister Haili has to go back to town today to help sell New Year's goods. Mom has to go to the market to buy New Year's goods. Village Chief Qu and his men will come again in the morning. If I leave, there will be no one left."
Zhou Huaian took the scarf and put it in his canvas bag. "Then I'll tell my little sister to go see if there are any nice fabrics and shoes and buy you two sets."
Yang Chunyan opened the closet and took out a small checked suit from it. "Look, this is a new suit that my mother made for my sisters-in-law and me when we went to buy land last time. I haven't worn it yet."
Zhou Huaian took it and looked at it. "I've never seen you wear this. You've been doing this for so long, why don't you wear it?"
"I think it's more convenient to wear without a coat, and it doesn't matter if I wear it during the Chinese New Year." Yang Chunyan's requirement for clothes has always been that they just need to be comfortable and relaxed.
Zhou Huaian felt that his wife was too easy to take care of, so he went forward to hug her and said softly: "Yan'er, I want to buy you something for the New Year. You have new clothes again, so why don't I buy you some gold jewelry!"
Yang Chunyan thought that buying gold was no different from saving money, so she looked at him and smiled, "Okay, just buy whatever you like."
"Then I'll go first!" Zhou Huaian thought about going to Ning An to tell Yang Dongmei and ask her to pick out two fashionable ones for him.
Yang Chunyan sent him to the door and said, "Be careful on the road, don't drive too fast!"
"Don't worry!" Zhou Huaian turned around and kissed her, then walked away triumphantly.
When Zhou's mother saw him coming out, she glared at him in reproach, "You are so slow at such a young age. Look, the noodles in the bowl are all clumping together."
Zhou Huaian took a look and said awkwardly, "It's okay, I can eat like this. I'll come after I brush my teeth."
Zhou's mother didn't respond to him. She took the eggs out of the pot, put them in a lunch box with a cotton cover, and gave them to him to eat on the road.
Luo Haili came in with a backpack, "Aunt, I'm done packing. Is the youngest up yet?"
"He's brushing his teeth in the backyard!" Zhou's mother put down the lunch box, and the two of them went outside to help pick up the truffles.
After Zhou Huaian finished his noodles, he took his lunch box and went out to drive the tractor. He saw Wangcai lying under the courtyard wall guarding the bamboo basket. He hurriedly opened the car bed and started loading the goods.
The old man came out carrying a basket of truffles. "Why did you get up so late this morning? Are you feeling unwell? Why don't you stay at home and rest for a day?"
Zhou Huaian smiled and said, "Grandpa, I'm not feeling unwell anywhere, I just drank two bowls of glutinous rice wine last night."
"No wonder, as long as you're not feeling uncomfortable." The old man put the bamboo basket on the truck bed. "Yesterday your mother and your husband were whispering to each other, as if they were saying something about your father saying something about you guys again, right?"
The couple acted sneakily, afraid that they would be overheard. It must be the eldest brother's wife, who has a heart as small as a rapeseed, who is causing trouble again.
My own nephew was collecting truffles, but he insisted on sending them to the construction team to sell. What a guy whose head was caught in the door! Which man is like him? He listens to his wife no matter what. Even his wife's fart smells good!
Zhou Huaian suddenly had an idea and said with a grin, "Grandpa, people say that an old man in the family is like a treasure. With you, my treasure, in my family, we are getting more prosperous day by day. My eldest dad said that you help me make money here every day, and they are very jealous!"
The old man said happily: "I am an old man who only knows how to spend money, what's the use of it!"
"Of course I'm your baby! If you weren't at the helm of the oven, I don't know what a mess it would be! Thank you for your hard work!"
"Grandpa is just helping your old man now. Your mother and old man are the ones who have worked really hard. Your family's current situation is earned by your own hard work. It's useless for your eldest father to be jealous!"
Zhou Huaian agreed with a smile, "That's right, it's useless to die of jealousy!"
The old man helped to hand him the bamboo basket under the courtyard wall, "Did your mother cook anything for you?"
"I ate! I cooked a bowl of noodles and some eggs. I put them all in my bag." Zhou Huaian turned his head and asked, "Have you eaten?"
"I have it. Your mother cooked some noodles and brought them to me."
"How was your experience after drinking that Lingzhi wine? Did you sleep better at night?"
"Okay, your husband should pour me a small cup every night. I didn't feel anything during the first two days, but these days I feel that I sleep more deeply than before, and I don't start dreaming as soon as I lie down like before."
"Drink it. I'll ask Wang Zhen to make you another jar of it."
"It's such an expensive thing, it's enough to do it once, why do so much?"
Zhou Huaian came up to him and said, "I have money. You know, I sell tens of thousands of kilograms of goods every day this year. I make a lot of money!"
After hearing this, the old man also came over and whispered, "I know better than you how much goods you bring in every day. We can make a lot this year, but we still have to save money where we should. If you don't treat money as money, money will not come to your house."
Zhou Huaian nodded repeatedly, "I know, but you and my mom and I can't save money on food!"
The old man patted him with satisfaction and said, "If you want to make more, wait until we finish this jar!"
I use purple Ganoderma lucidum, which costs dozens of yuan per pound, to make wine, just so that this old man like me can drink it and sleep better at night.
The happiness that I didn't enjoy from my son in this life, I enjoy from my grandson.
"Okay!" Zhou Huaian took the bamboo baskets and stacked them on top. Father and mother Zhou also moved out the last two baskets. The two of them helped move all the bamboo baskets outside into the truck bed. It was almost six o'clock.
Father Zhou handed him the list and said, "Youngest brother, there are a total of 80 baskets of the lowest-ranking goods and 75 baskets of the third-ranking goods. Remember this."
Zhou Huaian signed the account book and took the list. "Okay! Call mom and Sister Haili out. I'm leaving."
"Here they come, here they come!" Zhou's mother and Luo Haili ran out with the bag on their backs. The two squeezed in beside him as the tractor rumbled out of the village with black smoke. (End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com