Chapter 317 Chapter 318: He has many tricks
In the afternoon, Miss Zhou San came to Zhou's house carrying a basket of mushrooms on her back. "Second sister-in-law, we have more red mushrooms than here. I took my eldest son's wife up the mountain at dawn and picked up most of the baskets."
"The more the better, we can earn more money by selling them!" Zhou's mother helped her take the basket and called Yang Chunyan, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law began to pick mushrooms.
Zhou Sanxiao saw Zhou's mother take out a few mushrooms with worm holes, and Yang Chunyan picked out a few mushrooms with open umbrellas. Soon, the basket was filled with half a basket of unqualified mushrooms.
The more she looked at it, the more distressed she became. She couldn't help herself and picked up a flower and said, "Chunyan, look how beautiful this one is. It should be usable, right?"
Yang Chunyan took a look and said, "Miss San, they paid us such a high price to help collect mushrooms. We should at least do things in a way that is worthy of our conscience, otherwise they will find someone else to collect them next year."
Mother Zhou also said, "Third sister, we gave this job to Chunyan because we trust her. If she doesn't do a good job, we won't be able to earn this money next year."
After hearing this, Miss Zhou San looked at the two of them awkwardly and said, "Yes, yes, yes! Just pick the good ones, because they will be sold for money next year."
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law picked out all the mushrooms in the basket and filled a bamboo basket with unqualified ones.
Mother Zhou: "Third sister, take it home, clean it up and dry it. Buy some shanks and make soup at home. It won't cost much and it's good for your health."
She used to think that buying bones was not cost-effective, but since Yang Chunyan and her husband bought some bones every now and then and stewed them, she found them really good, and the children have grown a lot taller in the past few months.
The old couple and the old man also felt that their previous back and leg pain problems had improved a lot.
Miss Zhou San: "Second sister-in-law is the one who has time. I think it's better to buy half a pound of meat home than to spend a few dimes on the bone. It will be oily after frying."
Yang Chunyan took out a beam scale and weighed it. After removing the skin, there were still 23 pounds and 6 ounces. "That's 11.8 yuan in total. Do you think it's correct?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" Miss Zhou San smiled so hard after receiving the money that she couldn't close her mouth. She happily pulled Zhou's mother and said, "That's great. Four people worked for half a day and we only made more than ten yuan. If we could collect it earlier, we wouldn't have to worry about not having enough money to repair the house and find a wife for the youngest son."
"Your youngest is still young, you can repair it next year when you earn some money, it doesn't matter if you do it a year earlier or later."
"Second sister-in-law is right. As long as we have a new house, why worry about not being able to find a wife?" Zhou Sanniang said, looking at Yang Chunyan beside her, and said enviously, "The youngest son is lucky to have found such a capable wife."
Zhou's mother nodded happily, "Yes! Everyone knows what the youngest was like before Chunyan came into the family. He has become a completely different person in the past six months, all thanks to my Chunyan."
"That's right." Miss Zhou San picked up her backpack and said, "Second sister-in-law, it looks like it's going to rain, so I'm going back too. I passed by my second sister's house today and showed her the red mushrooms, but she didn't believe you would pay for them. I'll show her the money when I get back."
"If she goes to pick it up, tell them your requirements."
"Yes, then I'll leave!"
"Okay, I have a lot of things to do, so I won't send you off."
Mother Zhou brought the red mushroom to the eaves and said, "It's going to rain. Why haven't Huifang and the others come back yet?"
"It's only four o'clock. They won't be back until at least five o'clock."
Yang Chunyan brought the dried mushrooms into the house and put them away. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law went to the backyard and brought the red mushrooms and herbs that were drying on the bamboo rack to the steps in the front yard.
"Mom, let's carry the bamboo rack to the front yard. We need to string the mushrooms together and hang them on the rack to dry in the evening."
"Yes, it's rainy and there's a lot of moisture. If we don't hang it up to dry, it will go bad."
The two men carried all three bamboo racks to the steps and placed them there, then began to pick up the red mushrooms they had just harvested.
After cleaning most of the mushrooms, Yang Chunyan went to the backyard and took out a handful of silk strips that had been cut into thread-like thin strips. She strung the cleaned red mushrooms together and hung them on a bamboo rack.
Mother Zhou looked at the red mushrooms hanging on the bamboo rack and said with a smile, "They look pretty red."
“It’s pretty nice.”
"Where did these little creatures go?"
Yang Chunyan turned around and saw Zhou Jiaming carrying Zhou Xiaolin into the yard, followed by Zhou Xiaoqian and others.
Zhou Jiaming put Zhou Xiaolin down and said, "Grandma, Auntie, Daddy got a lot of fish."
Zhou Xiaoqian said: "Auntie fried some small fish for us."
"Aunt is frying small fish." Zhou Xiaolin also joined in the fun.
Seeing Zhou Jiaming and his friends all dirty like mud monkeys, Zhou's mother asked, "Did you go fishing in the ditch?"
Zhou Jiaming said hurriedly, "No, my father said it was a trap set by Uncle Ding, and he collected it when he went to the river to sift sand."
Mother Zhou thought about it and said sternly, "I'll ask your father when he comes back. If you dare to sneak into the water to catch fish, tell your mother later and see how she punishes you."
Zhou Jiaming made a bitter face and said, "It was really done by my father. If you don't believe me, ask him when he comes back."
Zhou's mother glanced at him and said, "You are getting more and more disobedient as you grow older. You have to go to school right after the Mid-Autumn Festival, and you haven't finished your homework. You go out and have fun every day. There is no fried fish to eat, but there is bamboo shoots and fried meat."
Zhou Xiaoqian whispered, "It's not that we want to eat it, it's that Daddy said Auntie is pregnant with a little brother, and eating fish will make the little brother grow smarter."
"That's right, my dad said I was stupid because my mom didn't eat fish when she was teasing me."
Yang Chunyan's face turned red. "Don't pay attention to your father. Our Jiakang is the smartest."
"That's right, he's not stupid at all, he's the only one who has more tricks every day." Mother Zhou drooped her face and picked the water plants out of Zhou Xiaolin's hair, "Your hair is wet, did you play in the water?"
Zhou Xiaolin pointed at the bucket and said, "We caught some fish."
Mother Zhou looked back at Zhou Jiaming and the others and said, "Why don't you go get some hot water and wash yourself and change your wet clothes."
She said as she took Zhou Xiaolin's hand and walked towards the kitchen, "We are so busy every day, and you are still making trouble. Next time your mother hits you, I will yell for her to come on and hit you!"
A few kids followed behind with their heads down.
Yang Chunyan looked into the bucket and saw quite a few steelhead loaches and small white stripers. She saw that it was time to cook, so she carried the bucket to the kitchen.
Zhou's mother was washing Zhou Xiaolin's hair and bathing her. When she saw her come in, she said, "They are all thorny. I wonder what's the point of eating them?"
Yang Chunyan put down the bucket with a smile and said, "Small fish are nutritious. Frying them and giving them to Grandpa and his friends to eat with wine is a good idea."
Zhou's mother thought of how she was extravagant in adding oil, "Put it there and I'll take care of it, so you don't have to use up all the oil for the day in one meal."
"Oh!" Yang Chunyan put down the bucket awkwardly, "I'll go to the vegetable garden to pick vegetables."
"You are the only one who spoils them." Zhou's mother glared at Yang Chunyan in reproach. "They come back one after another and ask you about it. I know you will help them to blow it up. Mom tells you, you should love your children in your heart and not show it on your face. Children are very smart. It will be too late to regret if you spoil them."
Yang Chunyan also realized that she might have been a little unprincipled with her children because of past events. "I understand."
Zhou's mother nodded with satisfaction and picked up Zhou Xiaolin to change her clothes.
(End of this chapter)
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