The four of them rested for one night at Baicaopao, and headed back early the next morning. They had a nice lunch at Baicaopao, rested for a while, and then continued on their journey.
Soon after we got down the mountain and onto the asphalt road, the sky became overcast and the north wind blew towards us with gusts of cold wind.
Zhou Huaian, Li Wu and the other two who were sitting on the tractor hurriedly took out the tarpaulin and covered the bamboo basket with it.
If medicinal materials are soaked by heavy rain, not only will their price be much lower, but their efficacy will also be greatly reduced.
The wind blew hard, and Zhou Yiding, who was driving the tractor, couldn't even open his eyes. "Fuck! Fortunately, we got on the asphalt road. If we were on the mountain road, we would have been in trouble."
Zhou Huaian said to him, "Ding Ding Cat, just stop by the roadside and wait until this gust of wind passes before leaving."
"Yes!" Zhou Yiding climbed onto the tractor, and several people squatted under the tarpaulin. A drop of rain fell on the tarpaulin with a "plop".
The heavy rain was like beads that had broken off the string. It first hit the ground and raised dust. Even the raindrops seemed to emit a fishy smell of earth.
The four of them squatted under the tarpaulin, occasionally looking outside. They saw the heavy rain falling like a curtain connecting the sky and the earth, and they couldn't even tell the directions.
Zhou Yiding shook his head. "Oh my god, it hasn't rained this hard in the first half of the year. It's already the second half of the year, why is it still raining so hard?"
Li Wu said, "Yiding, you are still a farmer! You will soon sow rapeseed. A heavy rain will soak the soil thoroughly and the straw in the field will rot and serve as fertilizer. Only then will you have a good harvest next year."
Zhou Huaian squatted there holding up the tarpaulin, "Old Li, why are you telling him this? This kid is just a fake farmer!"
Zhou Yiding rolled his eyes at him and said, "Fuck you, the crow is laughing at the pig, don't you realize that your kid is just like me, you don't understand football!"
Several people were arguing under the tarpaulin while listening to the sound of rain. Fortunately, the heavy rain came and went quickly, and the four of them set out again to rush back half an hour later.
It was already dark when I got home.
Zhou Yiding helped move the goods into the wine cellar and then rode back on his bike, while Zhou Huaian and Yang Chunyan were sorting them out inside.
They stored the goods they collected before and those they collected these two times separately. They collected more than 30,000 last time and more than 10,000 this time. Together with the goods they collected and stockpiled before, they already had more than 70,000 goods stockpiled at home.
Zhou Huaian and Yang Chunyan discussed it and decided to sell some of the low-quality goods to free up some capital.
The two of them were busy for an hour or two before they picked out and packed the goods to be stockpiled and the goods to be sent to Ning An tomorrow.
Zhou Huaian handed the old mountain ginseng to Yang Chunyan, "Yan'er, take a look, they said this is old mountain ginseng!"
"Old mountain ginseng?" Yang Chunyan sniffed the scent and took a look. "I haven't seen it either. I'll take it to Wang Zhen to have a look tomorrow!"
"Well! I think I have no choice but to ask him to check it out." Zhou Huaian put the old mountain ginseng away, "Yan'er, everyone says that this thing is very nutritious, and they also say that the landlords and rich people in the past all ate this, is it true?"
After hearing this, Yang Chunyan laughed and said, "How should I know? You can ask Grandpa. This thing can nourish the body, but you can't take tonic medicine carelessly. It will be more troublesome if you have problems after taking it."
"That's right, Wang Zhen often said that medicine is three-quarters poison, so it's best not to take medicine if you can avoid it."
The two men cleaned up the wine cellar before closing the door and walking out.
The old man was sitting on a recliner holding Little Jiuer. When he saw them coming, he handed the child to Zhou Huaian and said, "You guys should go to bed early too."
"I slept on the tractor for half a day today. Let me sit with you for a while." Zhou Huaian held his son and sat down beside him. The two talked for a while. After Yang Chunyan helped prepare hot water and brought clean clothes, they took a shower and rested.
The next morning, Zhou Huaian went to Ning'an with the medicinal materials and things the restaurant needed. After arriving at Deshengtang, he sold the Ganoderma lucidum and herbs he had selected, and then he took out the old mountain ginseng to show Wang Zhen.
"Look, is this old mountain ginseng?"
"Yes!" Wang Zhen said with a look of regret, "We have very few of these here, but unfortunately they don't know how to dig them and broke the roots."
Zhou Huaian was relieved when he saw that it was old mountain ginseng. "They said that the herbal medicine dealer over there...how much do you think we should charge him?"
"It's in poor condition, but it's old enough, so 500 yuan is a bit low!" Wang Zhen thought for a moment, "How about this, give him 1,000 yuan, and you can earn 200 yuan with hard work."
After hearing this, Zhou Huaian said with a smile: "Making two hundred dollars for one trip is already good. You keep the things, and I will give them the money next time."
Wang Zhen nodded and gave him the money for the old ginseng. "Go and tell them next time that they must dig out all the roots when they see ginseng, and don't do it when it's almost broken. If the roots of this one were intact, they could sell it for at least twice as much money."
"I'll remember that!" Zhou Huaian thought about it and said, "Are the roots of old mountain ginseng so valuable?"
"Yes, it is so valuable." Wang Zhen put the old mountain ginseng away with a smile, "Have you arranged the purchase point?"
Zhou Huaian looked at him proudly, "Alright! I told them that I wanted to set up a purchasing point, and they were so happy that they couldn't wait for us to move in right away."
"People in the mountains have few ways to make money, and you are not like other dealers who keep the price low. They know that only by keeping you can they get real benefits."
"I think this is good enough. I can earn this much income just by making the difference. I am satisfied."
"Yes, as a person, you should know how to be content!"
…
After several purchasing points were arranged here, half a month passed in a flash. The beams of the new houses in the city were also installed, and the five new baking rooms also had beams installed and started to cover tiles. Master Xue and his two sons also came to Yang Chunyan's house and started to dig a wine cellar.
The second branch of the Zhou family was busy plowing and harrowing the fields, digging up the furrows and hoeing, and spreading fertilizer and rapeseed seeds.
When the villagers saw that their family still worked together, they were very envious. They felt that there was no family like theirs in the three nearby villages. Although they had already separated, they still worked together as a whole family.
After the fields were prepared, Zhou Huaian went to Guanyin to help Zhao Meina and her brother plow the fields, and then he and Zhou Yiding continued to go into the mountains to collect herbs.
The three eldest brothers took the strong laborers hired from the village to the newly contracted mountain land to cut down the useless wood.
Zhou Huairong and Zhou Huaijun carried chain saws to cut down the miscellaneous wood, while Zhou Huaishan led people to dig up all the tree stumps that could be dug, in preparation for planting honey tree seedlings next year.
By the time Xue's father and son finished digging the wine cellar and the oven, there were five houses in a row, and only two wing rooms were built on the southwest sides. In the remaining open space, two water reservoirs and two drainage gutters were built against the wall, which could accommodate more than 20 people at a time to wash truffles together.
Zhou Huaishan and Xu Laosan drove the tractor several times, and the coal they brought back filled the brothers' warehouses and the room reserved as a warehouse in the new kiln.
After all the preparations were done, Zhou Huaian and Secretary Xu went to Sancha Road and decided on the last purchasing point. Now they just had to wait for the truffles to go on the market.
The days passed quickly in the busyness, and it was time to transplant the rapeseed seedlings in the fields. The old man, Zhou's father, mother, daughter-in-law, and several children sowed the rapeseed seedlings and wheat seeds in the fields.
With only half a month left before the truffle harvest, the other family hadn't made any movement yet. Zhou Huaian was secretly happy, thinking that the family must have gone to the neighboring Yun Province.
That day, Yang Chunyan was digging Jerusalem artichokes at the door when Yang Xiaoxue came hurriedly and said, "Chunyan, I have something to tell you."
"Come inside and talk!" Yang Chunyan saw that she looked anxious, so she put down her hoe and walked over to take her inside and sat down. "What's wrong? What happened?"
Yang Xiaoxue said anxiously, "Just now two city dwellers came to ask if my house is for rent. They also said they would pay me and Zhiqiang two yuan a day to help collect truffles. Is that bastard Xiong Laoya up to something bad again?"
Yang Chunyan smiled and said, "It's not him. We knew a few months ago that a truffle collector from the provincial capital would come, but we didn't hear from him and thought he wasn't coming! What are they going to do with the rented house?"
Seeing that she was not anxious at all, Yang Xiaoxue did not worry either, "They said they would set up a purchasing point here and asked us to help them collect the goods according to their requirements, and they would send people to take them away.
Also, they only accept first, second, and third class goods, no special or last class goods, and the price of the other goods is the same as yours."
Yang Chunyan: "How much rent do they give you? Did they tell you where to dry the truffles after they are harvested?"
Yang Xiaoxue shook her head, "No! They paid me five dollars a month for a room in the west wing, and I had to help them move the goods. Zhiqiang and I didn't agree. I saw them go to the neighbor's house to ask."
Yang Chunyan: "It seems that they have been here for a long time. They should have built a baking house in the town or county."
Yang Xiaoxue said angrily, "Didn't you see the expressions of those two people? They thought that we mountain people had never seen money. They said that the salary was two yuan a day. The two of us only make 120 yuan a month, which is almost as much as the county magistrate's monthly salary."
Yang Chunyan smiled and said, "Don't be angry. They don't know that you go into the mountains to dig truffles. If you are lucky, you can earn more in one day than in a month."
"That's right. You really think I've never seen money!" Yang Xiaoxue looked at her with a smile. "My family was also digging Jerusalem artichokes today. I also learned from you to plant flowers, grass, and ramie behind the house. I also planted Jerusalem artichokes next to the house. I also plan to catch six piglets to raise next year."
Yang Chunyan smiled and said, "Brother-in-law Fang is so happy. He got a good wife who is diligent and manages the household well!"
"He is a taciturn person!" Yang Xiaoxue wrinkled her nose. "But he is much better now than before. He no longer sides with his mother and speaks for me in front of relatives."
"That's good enough. Have you guys been digging herbs during this time?"
"I went there. I had good luck yesterday. I dug up dozens of kilograms of Polygonatum sibiricum and two roots of Polygonum multiflorum. I sold them for about 100 yuan. I was going to go there today, but I didn't go because it was getting cold and I wanted to dig Jerusalem artichokes."
"Hurry up and get it done, then go into the mountains to dig truffles in peace."
"Well!" Yang Xiaoxue stood up and said, "I'm going back, otherwise I won't be able to finish digging today."
"That's fine!" Yang Chunyan sent her out. "If your neighbor has rented the house to them, find out where they have put the oven."
"Okay, I'll go back and ask around." Yang Xiaoxue rode away on her bicycle. (End of this chapter)
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