This time, Qu Qiulin brought more than 3,000 kilograms of truffles. He told Yang Chunyan that these truffles were found in an old forest that they had never been to before.
There were a lot of truffles in that pine forest, but there were also ferocious wild animals. They carried guns and several villagers were injured. Fortunately, no one died, and everyone decided not to go there again.
Yang Chunyan was afraid that something might happen if they went to the old forest to look for truffles, so she said hurriedly, "The old forest is too dangerous. It's right for you not to go."
Qu Qiulin was also a little scared. "Even if they wanted to go, I would not organize them to go again. If something happened, I would not be able to take the responsibility."
It's not easy to be a brigade secretary. It's good to make money with everyone, but if something goes wrong, there will be people complaining and finding fault...
"Yes! Human life is at stake, safety is more important than anything else!"
After Yang Chunyan gave him the money, she saw Qu Qiulin and his party off.
In the afternoon, a few villagers brought truffles to sell, the most was about 20 to 30 kilograms, and the least was only about 10 kilograms.
Zhou Huaian and his party returned only after the sun had set. The truck bed was filled with several bamboo baskets as tall as a person, and they also brought back dozens of kilograms of winter honey.
"Village Chief Qu said..." Yang Chunyan told him what Qu Qiulin said.
Zhou Huaian nodded. "Secretary Zhang went into the mountains to look for truffles for a few days but didn't find many. They were almost eaten by wild boars. Most of what we collected today were from Baicaopo and Bailing Mountain. They also asked me to go there every three days."
Yang Chunyan saw that his eyes were dark, "It's better to go once every three days, so you don't get too tired. Look at the dark circles under your eyes."
Zhou Huaian rubbed his face and said tiredly, "I just took a nap on Erchun's bed last night. They were playing poker outside and making a lot of noise."
Yang Chunyan handed him a cup of honey water and asked, "Will you help send Uncle Xu up the mountain on the ninth day of the lunar month?"
Zhou Huaian shook his head, "Grandpa said I couldn't go. I told Erchun, and he also said Aunt Xu said I couldn't go and told me not to go."
Yang Chunyan thought it might be because she was pregnant, "There must be some rules here, if you can't go, then don't go."
"There should be some special reason!" Zhou Huaian finished drinking the honey water in the cup. "Uncle Daqing went to work today. Ding Dingmao asked me to go to the forest farm with him tomorrow to dig up the wild honey from the big rock."
Yang Chunyan frowned and said, "I think it's better not to go! It's not like we're waiting for money to be used. Why do we have to work so hard every day?"
"Don't worry!" Zhou Huaian looked at her with a playful smile, "Your man grew up drinking goat's milk, he's very strong, and he'll be full of energy after a good night's sleep."
Yang Chunyan thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll send the ones from Huangqinggou to the baking room tonight and then go to rest."
"Okay!" Zhou Huaian handed her the waist bag, "Put the money away."
Yang Chunyan nodded, thinking of the money hidden at home, "I have to save the money when I go to Ning'an on the eighth day of the New Year."
"Yeah! I remember it!"
More than a dozen people worked until dark to clean the truffles sent by Qu Qiulin and send them to the baking room. Those collected from Baicaoping would be left for tomorrow.
After Zhou Huaian washed up and put down his accounts, he lay down on the bed and started snoring without saying a word.
Yang Chunyan knew that he was too tired. He helped to keep watch last night and went to Baicaoping early this morning. Even a strong man could not hold on.
The next morning, Zhou Huaian and Zhou Yiding went to the big rock in the forest farm to collect honey. They came back when it was completely dark, bringing back two wild goats, several pheasants, hares, turtledoves, and more than ten kilograms of winter honey.
Yang Chunyan felt that they seemed to have a grudge against turtledoves during this period. Every time they went up the mountain, they would bring down a few and braise or stew them with mushrooms. Last time, they also brought back some bamboo shoots to braise.
On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Huang Yongcai’s tofu pudding restaurant opened, and Wang Zhen will also come to Funiu today.
Zhou Huaian and Yang Chunyan put the money in their pockets, picked up Zhou Yiding and Wan Xuejiao at the door of his house, and the four of them walked towards Ning'an together.
He and Zhou Yiding searched in the mountains for several days and found a total of 36 kilograms of winter honey. They split it half and earned more than 100 yuan.
It was Wan Xuejiao's first time to deliver goods to Ning'an. Seeing the eggs and vegetables in the truck bed, she asked Zhou Yiding in surprise, "With so many eggs, how many chickens does Brother Zhou have? Is there anyone who wants these in the city?"
Zhou Yiding nodded, "Yes! These eggs were collected by Er Niang in the village. She has been giving them away for more than half a year."
Wan Xuejiao said happily, "Oh! Then I will raise more chickens in the future. With Er Niang collecting them, I won't have to worry about where to sell them. I will also raise four pigs. I will kill one during the New Year, and I can save some money by selling three."
"Yes!" Zhou Yiding pulled her over and leaned her against his shoulder. "As long as you don't feel tired, you can raise as many as you want."
It was already bright when they arrived in Ning'an, and they went to the guesthouse to deliver food as usual.
Zhou Huaian saw that Huang Yongcai, who was originally white and plump, had become even whiter and plumper like a white bun after not seeing him for a few days. "Brother Huang, I haven't seen you for a few days and you have gained weight again!"
Huang Yongcai patted his face, which had grown a lot bigger. "During the Chinese New Year, I drank alcohol and ate meat every meal. I would gain weight even if I drank plain water. After these days of drinking alcohol and eating meat every meal, I gained weight just like steamed buns!"
Zhou Huaian said with a smile: "Brother Huang is so lucky, others can't gain weight even if they want to!"
Nowadays, you rarely see a fat person on the street, everyone is very skinny. Being fat has become something to be proud of, proving that the family is well-off and the food is good, so they are fat.
Huang Yongcai burst into laughter and walked to the tractor bed. "Did you two go up the mountain? Did you get anything good?"
Zhou Yiding pulled the backpack to the side of the truck bed and said, "There is a half-wild goat in it."
Huang Yongcai looked at it and said, "Leave half here, and send the rest to me."
"Okay!" Zhou Yiding picked up half an egg and handed it to Zhou Huaian, and sent the eggs and vegetables required by the guesthouse to the kitchen for weighing.
Wan Xuejiao and Yang Chunyan sat on the driving seat and chatted while waiting for the two to come back, and then went to Douhuazhuang together.
After arriving there, Zhou Huaian took out two hares from his backpack. They were shiny and had been smoked to a yellowish yellow. He gave them to Huang Yongcai and said, "I caught these in the mountains a few days ago. Take them with your wine."
Huang Yongcai happily took it and said, "Meat smoked on the stove looks more comfortable! Send some more over in the future. Some people in the restaurant like to eat homemade smoked meat."
Zhou Huaian thought that Yang Chunyan couldn't eat rabbit meat because she was pregnant. "There are still a few left. I'll send them to you next time."
"Okay!" Huang Yongcai handed the money to Zhou Huaian, "Come over after you go to Desheng Hall. I'll call the landlord over later and you can talk face to face."
"OK!"
Zhou Huaian took the money and went out, and Zhou Yiding had already started the tractor.
After crossing the intersection, there are fewer people setting up stalls to sell goods after the New Year. Some people have set up clothing stalls on the street with racks, and business is pretty good.
When we arrived outside Desheng Hall, Wang Zhen and Yang Dongmei were still busy treating patients.
Zhou Huaian jumped off the tractor, said hello to Wang Zhen, went to the backyard, opened the door, and delivered the truffles to the backyard.
Zhou Yiding stayed and waited for Wang Zhen to come and weigh the money. Yang Chunyan went to the bank with him to deposit the money, and only then did she feel relieved.
When the two came out of the bank, the sun had already come out. It was warm on their bodies and soon they were sweating.
Zhou Huaian took off his jacket and wiped the sweat off his face. "Yan'er, will you go take a look at the house later?"
Yang Chunyan thought for a moment and said, "Let's negotiate the price with the owner before going."
Zhou Huaian whispered, "How much do you think is appropriate to give them later?"
"Two thousand three is best, two thousand four is also fine."
"Hmm!" Zhou Huaian thought about Wang Zhen's trip to Fu Niu, "We'll grill the mutton left behind. There's a lot of preserved meat at home, so we'll have to go get some fresh meat to bring back."
"Okay!" Yang Chunyan followed him back to Deshengtang and saw Yang Dongmei guarding the clinic alone. "Go to the backyard and help out. I'll sit here for a while."
Zhou Huaian nodded, said hello to Yang Dongmei and went to the backyard.
Yang Dongmei poured a cup of hot water for Yang Chunyan, "Sister, how many people are selling truffles in your area? Someone sent truffles to my family to sell on the third day of the Chinese New Year."
Yang Chunyan smiled and said, "We started receiving the goods on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, and we only received less than a thousand kilograms yesterday. Fortunately, there were more goods in Huangqinggou and Baicaoping, so we received several thousand kilograms."
"That's good!" Yang Dongmei looked at her with a smile, "The day you and your brother-in-law left, I heard the old man telling mom that he felt your pulse and thought it was probably your nephew." She thought about it and added, "But taking the pulse isn't 100% accurate!"
Yang Chunyan then remembered what Yang's father and Zhou Huaian said, that it was a naughty little kid, and that guy didn't react at all, and even said that the child was well-behaved and that he was a sympathetic person.
Thinking back to when he first got pregnant, he kept calling her son, son, "your brother-in-law didn't think it was a girl."
Yang Dongmei looked at her worriedly after hearing this, "Sister, my brother-in-law is not also a son-loving person, right? Some male classmates in our class said that in fact, most men like sons, and those who say they don't like sons and prefer daughters are just trying to please their wives or girlfriends."
The person who said this is most likely the straight male chauvinist that Xiaoqian is talking about!
Yang Chunyan smiled and said, "I don't favor boys over girls, I just like sons more."
She had seen in her previous life that some men in the village felt that they had no status in the village because they had no sons. They thought that no matter how much they earned, it would belong to others and they would be deprived of their entire family, so they just lay down.
"Brother-in-law is quite frank!" Yang Dongmei was relieved to see her relaxed face. After thinking about it, she asked again, "Wang Zhen told me yesterday that he wanted to go to your house. Did you know?"
"Yes, your brother-in-law had already agreed with him before the New Year. They shot two wild goats yesterday, and we saved half of them today and will roast them for you to eat when you get there."
Yang Dongmei said happily, "I like roasted lamb the most. Last year, a classmate from Liangshan invited us to her home to eat roasted lamb. She separated the lamb and the lamb fat and skewered them together. She told me that the taste was good. The lamb and the lamb fat tasted oily and fragrant."
"I like it, too." Yang Chunyan looked at her with a smile, "Your brother-in-law has saved all the sheep fat. The wild goat fat is even better when roasted. We also have smoked turtledoves and bamboo rats at home. I'll cook them for you when I get home." (End of this chapter)
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