Yang Chunyan looked at the brother and sister with amusement, pointing at the pile of truffles that were at the bottom of the list, "You want to make some money, right? Wash that pile today, and once we've inspected it and it's passed, we'll give you a chance to make some money during the holiday."
"Okay!" Zhou Jiaming patted his chest loudly, "Don't worry, Auntie. I won't charge you if I don't wash it well."
Zhou Huaian nodded, "Okay, I'll wait for the inspection."
"I guarantee you'll be satisfied!" Several kids rolled up their sleeves and got to work.
…
The next morning, not long after Zhou Huaishan and Zhou Huaijun left, Zhou Huaian and Zhou Yiding went out to Baicaopo. Before leaving, they asked the old man to buy a black goat.
After breakfast, the old man planned to go to Fangtian to buy black goats, and Yang Chunyan followed him towards Guanyin Brigade.
Seeing the cattle grazing past, the old man asked, "Are you still going to raise cattle in the spring?"
Yang Chunyan thought it was a pity to leave the tiankeng empty. "If there are suitable young oxen, I'll buy three or four of them, and forget about the sheep. After the Chinese New Year, I'll catch three piglets, and that should be enough manure for them."
The old man nodded and said, "The fat from the six pigs and three cows is enough. Youngest, have you also contracted the forest and the sinkhole next to your house?"
"It's a contract. The price is much cheaper than renting a mountain forest."
"As the saying goes, barren land is not cultivated, but cultivated land attracts competition. Although I have to pay for the lease, it saves me a lot of trouble. I am afraid that there will be changes, just like those years when bad luck came and went. Who knows?"
"You see, this time is different from before, and it will only get better!"
"I hope it won't change so much. Ordinary people don't ask for much. As long as they can live a good life, it's fine. If the whole family works hard, no matter how much they earn, it's theirs."
"Yeah! As long as we have food and clothes, it's a good life."
"Who said no?"
Seeing that they had reached a fork in the road, Yang Chunyan said, "Grandpa, you buy it and ask them to send it home. I'll go to Guanyin to take a look and then come back."
The old man waved his hand and said, "Go and see if you can help."
Yang Chunyan went into the village to ask for directions. When she found Zhao Meina's house, she saw Xiu Na and her brother weeding in the vegetable field behind the house. "Xiuna, Xiao Chuan is here!"
Zhao Xiuna and her brother greeted her in surprise, "Aunt Yang, why are you here? Come to my house and sit for a while."
"Okay!" Yang Chunyan followed them back, "Mina went to dig truffles? Is Xiaochuan feeling better from his cold?"
Zhao Xiaochuan nodded and said, "My sister went up the mountain with Aunt Su early in the morning. I feel much better after taking the medicine you brought."
Yang Chunyan smiled and patted his head, "So good!"
Zhao Xiaochuan said shyly: "My elder sister and second sister want to dig truffles to make money. If they catch a cold, they can't go up the mountain, so I will be a hindrance."
Yang Chunyan felt sad after hearing this. A girl who was only fourteen or fifteen years old had to take on the responsibility of raising her younger siblings. She didn't know how they had been getting through these years.
Zhao Xiuna opened the gate and said, "Aunt, come in and sit down!"
Yang Chunyan followed the siblings into the yard and saw that it was clean and tidy. There were two clumps of rose-red and bright red roses planted in the corner of the wall. "They are so beautiful!"
Zhao Xiuna brought a stool and said, "Aunt Yang, I'll cut a few branches for you in the spring. You can plant them by cutting them."
"Okay!" Yang Chunyan pulled her to sit down. "Uncle Yiding's old man is in the forest farm... He's going up the mountain to dig truffles tomorrow. He's worried that he'll be too busy and have no food to eat when he returns. He wants you to go up the mountain with him. You can help with the cooking, and your sister will go up the mountain with them to dig truffles. When your sister comes back, ask her if she's willing to go."
Zhao Xiuna nodded happily, "No need to ask sister, we are willing to go!"
"Okay! They will go up the mountain early tomorrow morning. You should pack two pieces of clothing for the trip. Grandpa Zhou will come to pick you up tomorrow morning." Yang Chunyan stood up and said, "I have a lot of things to do at home. I will go back first."
Zhao Xiaochuan looked at her reluctantly, "Aunt Yang, are you leaving now?"
Yang Chunyan looked at him with a smile, "Would you like to come to my house to play together?"
Zhao Xiaochuan shook his head and said, "We need to pull out the weeds in the vegetable field. My elder sister is going to make salted vegetables."
Yang Chunyan gave a thumbs up and said, "Sister is really capable."
Zhao Xiaochuan proudly held Zhao Xiuna's hand and said, "My second sister is also very capable. She always ranks first in every exam."
Zhao Xiuna glared at him embarrassedly, "How can I always be first?"
Yang Chunyan didn't expect that the siblings were still in school under such conditions. "What grade are Xiu Na and Xiao Chuan in? Is the eldest sister still in school?"
Zhao Xiuna shook her head sadly. "After Dad left, my eldest sister only studied for one year and then stopped. Xiaochuan was in the first grade and I was in the fourth grade."
She said this and looked at Yang Chunyan proudly, "Aunt, my elder sister is very capable. She can borrow Aunt Su's Yanhong's books at home and finish her homework and papers, and she got all the answers right!"
Yang Chunyan looked at her in surprise, "Big sister is really amazing. At what grade did you stop going to school?"
Zhao Xiu Na lowered her head and said in a low voice: "My father passed away when my eldest sister was in the first semester of the third grade. After she finished the second semester, the Zou family said that the money they sent was not enough to pay for the tuition for my sister and me, so my eldest sister didn't go to school and let me go to the first grade.
When I was in the second grade, even my father stopped sending money back. Uncle Zou’s family gave us a bag of cornmeal and told us to survive on our own. They also said they would not give us any more food in the future. So my eldest sister took care of us on our own.”
Yang Chunyan patted Zhao Xiuna on the shoulder and said, "You are all good kids. You will get better and better in the future!"
Zhao Xiuna looked up at her, "My elder sister said the same thing! She sold the truffles and paid off all the tuition she owed. Teacher Chen also asked her to go back to fifth grade and take the junior high school entrance exam next year."
"Did the elder sister agree?"
"No, my eldest sister said that she would go to town to attend junior high school. After she left, no one would take care of the fields or us."
After hearing this, Yang Chunyan thought that if there was a bicycle, it would only take an hour to go back and forth from the town. "Wait until you come back from the forest farm, and I'll help you think of a solution."
Zhao Xiuna nodded happily, "Aunt Yang, tell my elder sister that I can stay at home to take care of the farm and take care of my younger brother, so that she can go to junior high school."
Zhao Xiaochuan pulled her and said, "Aunt Yang, there's me too. I'll grow up soon, and then I'll be able to do the heavy work at home."
Yang Chunyan felt a little sad when she looked at the two children. She couldn't understand how good the big city was. Why did the couple give up such good children?
"There are always more solutions than problems. Auntie will find a solution!"
"Thank you, Aunt Yang!"
…
Zhou Huaian and Zhou Yiding had just climbed a steep slope and were rushing down it. They held the steering wheels tightly and let the biting cold wind blow past them.
After riding downhill along a bumpy and uneven dirt road, a row of earthen-walled houses, a spacious drying dam, and a large red family planning slogan appeared in front of us.
Zhou Yiding squeezed the brakes, put one foot on the ground, turned his head and looked at him, "I've arrived only when my butt is broken into eight pieces."
Zhou Huaian got out of the car and said, "Let's go see if there is anyone at the brigade headquarters first?"
The old man who was leading the old yellow cow on the roadside said, "Young man, don't look for him. There is no one at the brigade headquarters."
Zhou Huaian took out a cigarette and handed it to him with a smile, "Uncle, do you know where Secretary Zhang lives?"
The old man took it and pointed to the left of the tractor road, "It's the fifth yard past it."
"Thank you very much! Thank you very much!"
The two men rode their bicycles to the fifth yard, found Secretary Zhang, explained their purpose, and gave him the letter of introduction.
"We were originally going to go to another brigade, but Secretary Xu said that you and he were comrades-in-arms, so he asked us to come look for you."
Secretary Zhang laughed after hearing this and quickly asked someone to bring out stools for the two to sit down. "So it was Old Xu who asked you to come." Then he asked, "Is he okay?"
"good!"
Secretary Zhang glanced at the content and asked, "Do you really want to collect truffles?"
Zhou Huaian nodded and handed him the advertisement he had already written. "We are collecting the money on behalf of the pharmaceutical factory in the provincial capital. We have been collecting the money at Funiu for more than half a month."
Secretary Zhang's eyes lit up after seeing this. "One dollar for the first class, and...cash on delivery?"
Zhou Huaian nodded, "Yes, after we classify them, we will pay them in cash after weighing them. We won't issue IOUs. Please post the notice in the team and tell everyone what to pay attention to. We will come around nine o'clock the day after tomorrow."
"Yes, yes!" Secretary Zhang agreed and slapped his thigh happily. "Don't worry, I will definitely do as you said."
Zhou Huaian smiled and said, "Then please notify them. We still need to go to the Baicaopao Brigade and ask them to dig it up and send it here."
Secretary Zhang nodded readily, "Baicaopao is still far from here. I'll ask my wife to make you something to eat. You can eat before you leave."
Zhou Huaian and his companions knew that their village was much poorer than Fu Niu's, so they didn't feel comfortable eating here. "Thank you, Secretary Zhang. We brought some dry food with us. We have to go back this afternoon!"
Secretary Zhang said, "If you want to hurry, I won't keep you here. Go back and tell Old Xu to come and play with you."
"Okay, let's call Uncle Xu to come along the day after tomorrow."
Zhou Huaian and his companion came out of Zhang's house and headed towards the Baicaopao slope inside.
Secretary Zhang hurriedly called his family members and asked them to go up the mountain to dig truffles. Then he went to the brigade and turned on the loudspeaker to shout.
The two men followed the winding mountain road to Baicaopo and sighed at the scene in front of them. It was too poor. The only place in the whole village that was better was the brigade headquarters, which had a row of tiles on the roof.
The village was full of low thatched houses, and the brigade secretary was wearing clothes covered with patches. When he heard that they wanted to collect truffles, he agreed without even asking the price.
When he learned the price they offered, he opened his mouth for a long time before coming to his senses, "Young man, are you kidding us?"
Zhou Huaian said with a smile: "Secretary Lin, we came all the way here, and you have seen the letter of introduction."
Secretary Lin scratched his head and said, "It's not that I don't trust you, but I just find it a little hard to believe that someone would spend money to buy that thing."
"Don't worry, I'll pay you once you deliver it to White Lawn and weigh it."
"Great! Great! Thank you! Thank you so much!" Secretary Lin agreed readily.
When the two of them returned to Funiu after a round, it was already almost seven in the afternoon.
Zhou Yiding had a bitter face, hunched over the handlebars of his bicycle, and walked two steps like a duck wagging its tail. "You go back first. I have to go home and check my butt. It's probably rubbed raw."
Zhou Huaian nodded, "Me too, it hurts so much, I'll go back and apply some medicine first. When you're done, come over with Uncle Daqing and the others!"
"Yeah!" Zhou Yiding pushed his bicycle into the yard. (End of this chapter)
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