"Oh my!" Zhou Huaian looked wronged. "I've been very diligent. I haven't had a single day off this year. I've been going up the mountain, collecting herbs and mushrooms, driving the tractor back and forth every day. The calluses on my butt are thicker than the city walls."
Wang Zhen was amused by his expression, "Brother-in-law, Lao Zheng said that the gift he delivered that day was taken away by a friend who had just returned from abroad..."
"Yo~" Zhou Huaian laughed, "We walked quite far!"
"Even my grandfather likes the chicken mushroom oil and mushroom sauce that my eldest sister fried. Also, go back and tell my eldest sister that Lao Zheng asked her to help make another 50 kilograms of mushroom sauce, the same flavor that was sent last time, and also remitted 500 yuan."
Zhou Huaian looked at him in surprise, "Five hundred yuan, is that too much?"
Wang Zhen waved his hand, "Not much. If this deal goes through, he will earn an untold amount of five hundred!"
Zhou Huaian felt relieved after hearing this. "The last time we fried the sauce, Chunyan added several kinds of mushrooms, such as chicken mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, big-foot mushrooms, and green bar mushrooms. She also bought more than ten kilograms of beef in the town and fried it together."
If I spend 500 yuan to buy dozens of kilograms of mushroom sauce, I should still make a profit of 300 yuan, but it’s too troublesome. Chunyan and my mother need at least a day to make dozens of kilograms of mushroom sauce. "
Wang Zhen nodded, "Making delicious food is tiring."
Zhou Huaian thought so too. "I don't have any nice-looking jars here. If Boss Zheng's friends are not particular, why not use the earthen jars we used last time?"
"Just use the one from last time. Lao Zheng said his friend likes that style and said it has a kind of ancient beauty!"
It's still simple and beautiful!" Zhou Huaian winked at him, "I think I've seen too many delicate things and I'm a little disgusted. I want to change it with something rough."
"Correct!" Wang Zhen gave him a thumbs up. "Old Zheng said on the phone that the ones you sent last time had some beeswax applied to the mouth of the jar. Old Zheng also said that you used beeswax to seal the mouth, which was very good."
Zhou Huaian smiled proudly and said, "Chunyan did it. She said that food should be sealed tightly so that it can be preserved longer."
"Aren't you two hungry?" Yang Dongmei came out and said, "The wontons are ready, you two go in and eat, I'll count."
"Okay!" Wang Zhen took two steps and turned back to ask, "Have you eaten?"
Yang Dongmei nodded, "I was a little bored, so I ate two boiled eggs, a bowl of soy milk and a steamed bun."
"Then remember not to help move things." Wang Zhen thought about it and said to her, "Wait for grandpa to come over and let him feel your pulse."
"Why are you panicking?" Yang Dongmei glared at him in disapproval. "You said it's still early in the month. Why don't you just do it again in a few days?"
"Okay!" Wang Zhen had no choice but to turn around and go to the kitchen, and the two sat down to eat.
Zhou Huaian wiped his sweat after finishing his meal, "It's too hot in the county town. If you are not busy, you might as well go to Funiu to live. You still need to cover yourself with a quilt at night."
"In the county town, you have to cover yourself with a blanket even when you sleep in the middle of the night, but it's much hotter than your place during the day."
The two put away the dishes and chopsticks and put them in the pot, then went to the next room. Wang Zhen handed him the faxed list, "The purchase price for first-grade morels is the same as that for bamboo fungus. The second-grade ones are ten yuan less per pound, and the big-foot mushrooms are all five yuan per pound."
"Okay!" Zhou Huaian handed him the delivery note. "There are only 60 kilograms of dried bamboo fungus, 106 kilograms of first-grade morels, 95 kilograms of second-grade, and first-grade red mushrooms... Please check."
"I'll settle the bill for you first, and then we'll go to the bank and transfer the money to your account." Wang Zhen said and began to calculate the bill, "Bamboo fungus 4,500 yuan, first-class morel 7,500 yuan...
"Okay!" Zhou Huaian responded briefly, then leaned back in his chair and listened to the clacking sound of the abacus.
After he finished calculating, he took the list and said, "I still need to go to Baicaoping to take a look. A section of the road collapsed last night, and my brother and his friends were almost stuck on the road..."
After hearing this, Wang Zhen hurriedly warned: "Brother-in-law, on rainy days, the roads in the mountains are prone to landslides. You should return earlier in the future to avoid being too late and the roads being unsafe."
"Let's go in and check the situation today. If it doesn't work, we'll have to suspend operations for a while."
"Safety is the most important thing." Wang Zhen took the letter and said, "Should we wait until you come back to take the fan away, or should we take it away now?"
"Leave it here for you. I'll come back to get it." Zhou Huaian went out with him and saw that the goods had been unloaded. "Check the number later. If there is any discrepancy, tell me. I'll refund you for any excess and make up for any shortfall!"
"Okay, I won't ride my bike, I'll ride your tractor instead."
"Okay!" Zhou Huaian waved at Yang Dongmei, "Little sister, go to the mountains when you have time. We saw a bunch of red orchids in the woods yesterday. They were very beautiful."
After hearing this, Yang Dongmei hurriedly asked, "Brother-in-law, did you dig up the seedlings and plant them at home?"
"I've dug it. I'll bring you two pots when they're planted." Zhou Huaian opened the door of the cab and got on the tractor with Wang Zhen and drove towards Yinxing.
After the two men deposited the money, Zhou Huaian said goodbye to Wang Zhen and went to Douhua Village. When Zhou Huaishan saw him coming, he quickly took the crank to start the tractor, and the two brothers drove towards Baicaoping together.
When they reached the landslide section, Zhou Huaishan felt that the collapsed area was wider than what he saw last night. Looking at the narrow mountain road, the two brothers became worried.
"What should we do, youngest brother?" Zhou Huaishan looked at the sky. "I'm worried that if the sun gets hot and it rains in the afternoon, more landslides will occur. By then, we won't be able to get out once we get in."
"We have to go in once. Those people are still waiting at the sunbathing area. There are also people from Bailing Mountain who got up in the middle of the night and are heading this way. If we don't go, their trip will be in vain."
"Alas!" Zhou Huaishan sighed, "I know, the key is that if we can't get out after entering, the money we spent on the mushrooms will be wasted."
Zhou Huaian thought for a moment and said, "Third brother, take the bicycle down. I'll go in and ask them to deliver the mushrooms to the side of the asphalt road. You can get a tarpaulin out here and build a shed in the woods so that we won't have any shelter when it rains."
"This is a good idea, but they will have to walk two or three more hours." Zhou Huaishan climbed onto the tractor, untied the bicycle tied in the bed, and handed it to him.
Zhou Huaian took the bicycle he handed over and said, "Don't even mention walking two or three more hours. As long as they can make money, they will go even if you ask them to go to Funiu."
Zhou Huaishan smiled and said, "They will, but I don't know if my uncle Yuanbao will give it to me." At this point, he suddenly remembered that his two elder sisters-in-law would also give out mushrooms today. "Youngest, Qiuyue and her sister, I don't know where they hid from the rain last night?"
"Alas! Money is hard to earn, but shit is hard to eat!" Zhou Huaian thought about it and sighed, "We get up early and go to bed late every day, and we are more tired than Wangcai and Laifu in my family, but it's all for the sake of making money."
"That's true." Zhou Huaishan handed him the raincoat and water bottle. "Go slowly on the road, especially on downhill roads. See clearly before going down."
"I know!" Zhou Huaian put on his water bottle, clipped his raincoat on the back seat, got on his bicycle and rode into the mountains.
When he reached the collapsed area, he turned into the woods, poked the mud off the tires and fenders with a stick, then got on his bike again, drove out of the woods and onto the mountain road.
Fortunately, there was less yellow mud on the road ahead, but the mountain road was slippery, making riding much more difficult than usual.
Along the way, he found that there were two or three sections that had also collapsed. If there were two more heavy rains, these sections of the road would collapse on a larger scale.
He felt a little heavy-hearted and thought the bicycle was heavier than usual. He got off the bike and used a wooden stick to poke the clay out of the mudguard before continuing forward.
We set out at around nine o'clock and didn't arrive at Baicaoping until around twelve o'clock.
The villagers who were anxiously waiting at the drying dam saw him riding his bicycle down the slope and surrounded him, "Boss Zhou, what's going on? We've been waiting all morning."
"Yeah, we thought you guys weren't coming!"
"Make way, make way!" Secretary Zhang squeezed to the front and asked Zhou Huaian worriedly, "Youngest, is there a collapse on the road?"
Zhou Huaian nodded, "Yes, it collapsed near the asphalt road. It's about seven or eight meters wide. It has collapsed to the edge of the woods. There are two or three more places... My brother and his friends..."
Secretary Zhang: "That's what I told you. There must be a collapse somewhere on the road. You couldn't get through, so you didn't come."
"Secretary Zhang, let's take the hoes and shovels and repair the road right away." The onlookers said anxiously after hearing this.
"Yes, we will go back and get the hoe and plow to repair the road."
"It has to be repaired. The mushrooms have just started growing! This year we have added a few more varieties. My family is counting on making money this year to repair the house and find a daughter-in-law!"
"Secretary Zhang, please turn on the loudspeaker and call for the strong laborers who have gone out to pick mushrooms to come back and take their tools to repair the road."
Secretary Zhang said hurriedly: "Don't worry, everyone. It won't do much for us to repair it now. We have to send the mushrooms out first."
"Quiet! Everyone, listen to me!" Zhou Huaian raised his hand to ask everyone to be quiet. "We have already driven the tractor to the asphalt road and are waiting. Hurry up and carry the mushrooms with me to deliver them."
"Oh! Youngest Zhou, wait two minutes. I'll go back and get some food."
Zhou Huaian nodded, "Those who don't have anything to eat should go back and get some food, and those who have eaten should leave first."
Secretary Zhang thought about it and said to everyone, "If you have saws or machetes at home, bring them with you. When we come back, we will take a look at the collapsed area to see if we can cut down some trees. Let's drive a tractor in from the forest."
"Oh oh!" The villagers in the courtyard, those who lived nearby ran back to their homes, and those who came from far away brought dry food and their own mushrooms and walked towards the village entrance.
Li Laoer, squatting on the steps, saw that some people went home to get dry food, while others were walking towards the village entrance with mushrooms on their backs. He looked at his own full basket of mushrooms and felt a headache at the thought of having to walk such a long way.
Turning his head, he saw Xia Tiezhu's cousins coming over with mules and horses. He walked over to them and ordered them confidently, "You guys, take my mushrooms out and sell them, and bring back every penny of the money." (End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com