After Zhou Huaian and the other two returned, Yang Chunyan and Luo Haili had already cooked the noodles. The two-dou bowl was filled to the brim with a sour and fragrant aroma.
Zhou Yiding picked up a few pea tips and praised, "These pea tips are so good! The pickled cabbage sauce made by my sister-in-law is also delicious. I will go buy a few pounds of pork belly tomorrow and make a jar for me to eat slowly."
"Yes, I'll make it for you if you harvest them tomorrow." Yang Chunyan brought the basket over and said, "Grandpa planted a lot of peas in the herb field on the back mountain. We can't eat them all when they grow.
I picked up the plump and tender ones and brought back a basket of vegetables. I will bring some back to my eldest and second sisters-in-law when I leave tomorrow."
Zhou Huaijun smiled and nodded, "There aren't many vegetables in the mountains. I'm going to pick some lettuce and chop some Chinese cabbage and Chinese cabbage when I get back."
"Second brother, please get more and bring some to eldest brother. There are even fewer vegetables over at Bailing Mountain, just some garlic sprouts, green vegetables, and radishes." Zhou Huaian said as he swallowed the noodles.
"Okay, I'll make some more tomorrow morning." Zhou Huaijun drank all the noodle soup in the bowl and wiped his mouth. "I'm going home."
"Second cousin," Luo Haili called him and pointed to the wooden barrel next to the stove. "There's hot water in the barrel. Take it back and use it."
"Thanks!" Zhou Huaijun picked up the bucket and walked towards the baking room in the alley.
Zhou Yiding quickly finished his soup and said, "Youngest brother, push the bike out. I'll ride it back."
Zhou Huaian hurriedly said, "Ding Ding Cat, take a piece of venison back."
After hearing this, Yang Chunyan said, "Huaian, Xuejiao is pregnant, and eating venison will easily cause her to get irritated. It's better to use musk deer meat."
"Okay, then let's get the musk deer meat." Zhou Huaian took the key and went to the wine cellar to get a piece of musk deer meat. He sent Zhou Yiding out, and then Zhou's father came.
After washing up, Yang Chunyan carried the child back to the room and gently placed him on the bed. Zhou Huaian walked in, wiping his hair.
"Yan'er, did you see those things?"
"You mean deer antlers, bear gall, and musk?"
"Yeah!" Zhou Huaian put down the towel, walked forward, hugged her and gave her a kiss, "These three families heard from Old Yin and sent the things to Secretary Yang at Bai Lingshan, asking him to let me help sell them."
"They didn't even see you?"
"Yeah!" Zhou Huaian said with a smile on his face, "The bear gall they sent is much better than what we sold before, and it's already processed. They left a message saying that I would sell it for them as long as I could get 600 yuan."
"I remember the bear gall you sold last time was also sold for 600?"
"Yes!" Zhou Huaian pulled her to sit on the edge of the bed, "This bear gall will definitely sell for more than 600 yuan. I plan to do the same as before. I will take a maximum of 100 yuan from the extra money from the sales of these things, and give the rest to them."
He felt that earning two or three hundred yuan per trip was not a small amount, as many people only earned that much in half a year.
Besides, their family is not relying on the extra money from the villagers to make a living, but the extra money can be of great use to them.
Yang Chunyan understood what he was thinking and nodded with a smile, "Okay! You decide."
Zhou Huaian nodded happily and handed her the list in his pocket. "Take the pick-up list from the eldest brother, the second brother, and the third brother and write it down. Don't forget to write it down in a separate book."
"I know, I've got it all ready." Yang Chunyan took the list with a smile, took out the account book and started to record the accounts. "It's past twelve o'clock, go to bed quickly, you have to get up early tomorrow!"
Zhou Huaian nodded, went to bed and kissed Xiao Jiuer, then lay down and turned to look at her, "Yan'er, when I get up tomorrow morning, you don't have to get up, you should sleep a little longer."
"Hmm!" When Yang Chunyan finished writing down the three accounts and looked up, she saw that he had already made slight sounds of snoring.
She put the account book away and walked to the bed. Looking at Zhou Huaian with messy hair, she pulled up the quilt for him, carried Xiao Jiuer to the other end, and lay down to sleep.
The next morning, Zhou's father had just gotten up and filled the furnace with coal when Zhou's mother came over. "I'll make them some food, boil a few eggs, and cut off a piece of their pickled wild boar meat for the youngest to eat on the road."
"Well! You watch the charcoal fire, I'll go over there and help the old man load the basket."
"I didn't go back to the old house last night, why don't you go back and take a look!"
"The pigs, chickens and ducks have all been brought here to be raised. All that's left are some old bedding and clothes. What's so interesting about them?"
"Yeah, then go ahead!" Zhou Huaian came to the backyard just as Zhou's mother washed the rice and put it in the pot, "Why don't you sleep a little longer?"
"It's okay. I'll take turns sleeping with my second brother on the way." Zhou Huaian went to the oven to take a look. "It looks like the ones here won't be dry until the afternoon."
"The fire here started late and not as fast as over there. We'll just send it to Ning'an tomorrow." Zhou's mother soaked the bacon in hot water. "I'll take care of it here. You go to the next door and help your grandfather and the old man load the baskets."
"Okay!" Zhou Huaian just walked out of the yard and saw Zhou Huaijun coming over with a basket on his back, "Second brother, have you found the vegetables?"
"Okay!" Zhou Huaijun put the backpack into the yard and went to the new baking room with him.
Half an hour later, Zhou Yiding also came. The three strong laborers, together with the old man and Zhou's father, quickly put all the last and third grade truffles into bamboo baskets. They also put the truffles that had been washed and drained last night into bamboo flats and sent them into the baking room.
Several people moved the packed truffles onto the tractor and loaded them. Zhou Huaian looked at the cargo list. A basket of truffles weighed thirty kilograms, and there were a total of 150 baskets.
Among them, there are 72 baskets of lowest-grade goods, 78 baskets of third-grade goods. The lowest-grade dry goods are sold at two yuan per catty, which can be sold for more than four thousand yuan, and the third-grade goods are sold at five yuan per catty, which can be sold for more than ten thousand yuan.
He took 10,000 yuan and gave them to his eldest and second brothers, and kept the rest with Wang Zhen first, waiting for Yi Ding to take the first and second grade over to sell, and save the extra money.
Zhou Huaian took the shipping list into the room and saw that Yang Chunyan had also gotten up, while Xiao Jiuer was still sleeping soundly on the bed. "Yan'er, this is today's shipping list, take it and put it away."
Yang Chunyan took it and looked at it. "Yiding has to go to the flower market to buy more truffles after selling them. I will use the money I have at home to make up for the money I have collected from the truffles today."
"This is the only way. I originally wanted to take you to Ning'an, but then I became worried that it would be unsafe for you to carry so much money by yourself. It would be better to wait for Yiding to come back and then give it back to you."
Zhou Huaian said as he changed out of his coat and put on a jacket, "Village Chief Qu and his men should be delivering the goods at noon today. Last time he said he wanted to go into the mountains to dig up Gastrodia elata and Paris polyphylla to sell. You can buy them at the last purchase price."
"Got it!" Yang Chunyan put the sheet away and carried Xiao Jiuer to the crib to sleep. The crib had guardrails, so there was no need to worry about him climbing to the edge of the bed and falling off.
Zhou Huaian and Zhou Huaijun had their meal and set off with the dry food given by Zhou's mother.
Yang Chunyan heated up the pig food, fed the pigs and went to check on her son. She saw his little hands on his head and his face was red from sleep. Then she went back to cleaning the pigpen.
At half past seven, Uncle Chen and twenty or thirty villagers came to Yang Chunyan's house pushing a chicken bus.
Seeing the group of people with sweat all over their heads and trouser legs soaked by dew, Zhou's mother hurriedly found Zhou's father's pants for her younger brother to change into, and also cooked a bowl of noodles for him.
Yang Chunyan and Luo Haili scooped a pot of boiling water, poured some ginger powder and brown sugar into it, brought it outside for them to drink, and then began to select and weigh.
Mother Zhou looked at her brother who was eating noodles with big mouthfuls and said happily, "It is said that this year is a good year. How was your harvest yesterday?"
Uncle Chen nodded repeatedly, "Okay, my family dug more than 100 kilograms, and also found more than 10 kilograms of special goods."
Zhou's mother whispered, "You guys work hard and save some money during the New Year. Then you can go to the city and buy a piece of land to build a house. Then you can rent it out to others and have money for your retirement."
Uncle Chen looked up at her and said, "Sister, did the youngest really go to the city to buy a house? Is the land in the city expensive?"
Zhou's mother said with some pride: "It's more than 900 yuan a piece. All the brothers bought one, and Yumei also bought one."
Uncle Chen looked at her happily and said, "Sister, your family is going to be city dwellers now!"
Zhou's mother glared at him in disapproval. "In the city, you have to pay for even a scallion. What's so good about that? The youngest brother and his family bought a house mainly to renovate it and then earn rent."
Uncle Chen thought that the youngest was now a capable person, and he was also a little tempted, "Sister, is there really anyone who wants to rent a house in the city?"
"Why not?" Zhou's mother lowered her voice, "Dr. Xiao Wang from the city is now Chunyan's brother-in-law. He told the youngest child that the more time passes, the more people will go to the city to do business and work. As long as you have a house, you won't have to worry about renting it."
"What educated people say must be right!" Uncle Chen thought for a moment, "I've been selling truffles and red mushrooms for the past two years, and I've saved some money by learning from the youngest brother who farmed the forest and grew herbs to sell. I'll go back and discuss it with him. If you want to buy, you can tell the youngest brother."
Zhou's mother warned: "Don't tell anyone. I didn't tell anyone except my family!"
"I know. My brother-in-law said it last time. Those people are jealous of your family's better life." Uncle Chen said with a smile, "The youngest ones are promising, and I, as their uncle, have face."
Zhou's mother smiled with wrinkles all over her face, "That's right, otherwise why do you say that my mother is older than my uncle!"
Uncle Chen felt a little guilty when he thought about the past. "Sister, I don't have much ability, and I didn't help you in the past few years. It's all thanks to my nephew that our lives have improved in the past two years."
Zhou's mother patted his shoulder and said, "Don't think too much. Your family was in trouble in the past few years. You couldn't even get enough to eat. What can you do to help us?"
Uncle Chen thought about it and said, "Yes, I never thought in my dreams that I could have enough food to eat and eat meat every now and then."
Zhou's mother was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling, "The good days are still to come!"
The brother and sister were talking happily in the backyard. A villager in the front yard said to Luo Haili, "Haili, there are also truffles on the chicken bus that were brought for the villagers. After you sort them out, give us a list according to the names written on the baskets."
"Great!" Luo Haili and Yang Chunyan poured the truffles into the bamboo sieve and began to screen them. It only took a short while to sort them out.
"Special price 6.7 jin, first price 30 jin..." Yang Chunyan wrote down the bill, paid the money, and then wrote a separate bill to the villager. (End of this chapter)
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