Chapter 693 Chapter 698: Buying fake medicine
After Zhou Huaian loaded up the goods and was heading from Baicaoping to Funiushi, he saw a pig dealer pulling pigs from his house. There were four big fat pigs, the smallest of which weighed 200 kilograms, and the fattest one weighed more than 230 kilograms.
Ma Chunhua pulled Yang Chunyan and Zhou's mother to ask them curiously what they used to raise pigs. She also said that the weight difference between her four pigs and the ones they bought the day before and after was nearly 200 kilograms.
Yang Chunyan did not hide anything and told her that they were grown with the ramie leaves, mulberry leaves, Jerusalem artichokes, angelica seeds, and flowers and plants in her family's forest.
"I also sow some ramie seeds in the spring and take the leaves home to raise them." Ma Chunhua said, and then looked at Zhou's mother, "Aunt, I bought piglets from Old Chen's house just like you. Is there anything particular about choosing piglets?"
Mother Zhou smiled and said, "Just pick the one with a round head, a short mouth with even lips, a moist nose, broad shoulders and a straight back, upright hind legs, a short and thick tail, and a loud voice and take it home. I guarantee you won't go wrong."
There are also some rules to follow when buying piglets. If the first person you meet at the house is strong and quiet, the pigs you buy will be obedient and will not climb over the fence. If that person is picky about food and is often sick, the piglets will not only be difficult to raise but also fail to grow fat.
After hearing this, Ma Chunhua thought that her mother had taught her the same thing, so this year she followed Chunyan's advice and planted some Jerusalem artichokes and ramie.
"Aunt, I know a little about this. Also, I heard that the price of Lao Chen's piglets has risen to 2.5 yuan per catty. If we calculate based on a piglet weighing 30 catties, my family will buy four piglets. Not counting other things, the cost of buying the piglets will be more than 300 yuan. I don't know if the price of pigs will be good next year."
"Whether it's good or not, we have to raise pigs. If we don't raise pigs, we won't have manure water. Without manure water, what can we use to farm?"
"Yes, how can we farm without manure? We have to raise the crops even if it means losing money." Ma Chunhua shook her head and walked away.
After the pig dealer and his helper loaded the fat pigs into the wooden frame in the tractor's bucket, they took out a stack of greasy money from their bag and said, "Auntie, here are 979 yuan, count them."
Mother Zhou took it and handed it to Yang Chunyan, "Can you count it and see if it's correct?"
Yang Chunyan took it and counted it, "Correct!"
The four pigs were sold for nearly a thousand yuan, and there were still two left at home, to be kept for slaughtering on the ninth day of the first lunar month for the New Year, if the family had no other income.
This money is the largest sum of money their family has earned this year, and next year's expenses depend on this money.
Zhou's mother said, "We'll kill the New Year pig on the ninth day, and then go to Old Chen's house on the twelfth day to bring back the piglets."
Yang Chunyan counted out five hundred yuan and gave it to her. "Sister Ma said the price of piglets has increased this year. Is five hundred yuan enough for six pigs?"
"Each pig weighs about 20 to 30 kilograms. Six pigs weigh about 170 to 180 kilograms. We still have 500 yuan left!" Zhou's mother put the money in her bag. "The money for the fat pigs of the boss is also in it. You can keep it there and give it to them when they come back."
"Okay!" Yang Chunyan looked at the time, "Huai'an will be back soon, I'll go bring Xiao Jiuer back to cook."
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law got up early in the morning, received the truffles sent by Uncle Chen, went to Zhou Yiding's house to give a confinement gift, came back to sell the big fat pig, and it was noon in a blink of an eye.
After hearing this, Zhou's mother picked up the vegetable basket and said, "You go over there to see Jiu'er. I'll go to your sister-in-law's house to cut a cauliflower and pick a handful of peas to make soup."
"Okay!" Yang Chunyan put the money away and went to the baking room. When Xiao Jiuer saw her, she rushed over and said, "Hey hey..."
The little guy is talking nonsense, and he can say something from time to time.
Luo Haili smiled and patted his little butt, then said to her, "The third-class goods are almost out, is the youngest one back?"
"It should be here soon." Yang Chunyan carried the child on her back and returned home. The little guy was a little sleepy. He whined and tugged at her clothes, and his head was nodding against her chest.
After coaxing the child to sleep, Zhou's mother had not returned yet. Yang Chunyan scooped two bowls of rice and washed them and put them in the pot. Thinking that there was no fresh pork at home, she took the chopsticks and opened the jar of fried pork. Fortunately, there were still two small pieces in it.
The fried meat in the house had been eaten up long ago. This meat was brought over by Zhao Huifang and Zhang Xiuxiang before they left. The New Year pig was slaughtered on the ninth day of the first lunar month, so more meat had to be fried and kept for later consumption.
Zhou's mother came in carrying cauliflowers. "The cauliflowers this year are not well packed. They are all loose."
"Loose cauliflower tastes the same." Yang Chunyan thought that in later generations there was a special kind of loose cauliflower, and it had a nice name called pine cauliflower.
Just as the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law put the rice in the steamer, Zhou Huaian walked in, "I'm back."
Yang Chunyan turned her head and said, "Are you hungry? The meal will be ready in a while."
"It's okay, I'll unload the goods first."
Lin Wu and the Lai brothers were still digging truffles in the mountains. When the tractor came back at noon, they had to unload and load the goods by themselves.
Zhou Huaian put down his jacket and went outside. Zhou's father had already taken down the baffle that was inserted into the carriage board. The old man put the wooden ladder on the truck bed, and the others began to unload the goods.
The three of them first unloaded the bamboo baskets and placed them against the wall. Yang Chunyan, Jiang Yu and others also came to help carry them to the oven. Country women were used to doing heavy work, so they carried a basket of truffles weighing 50 kilograms easily.
It didn't take much effort for a dozen people to move more than 200 baskets of truffles to the drying room, and they also moved the dried truffles over there.
Father Zhou said to Zhou Huaian, "This batch has 150 baskets of third-class goods, 100 baskets of second-class goods, and 80 baskets of first-class goods. Are they all going to be transported over at once?"
"Pull them all over." Zhou Huaian picked up two baskets of truffles and walked towards the tractor.
I was delayed for the whole morning on my way to Baicaoping today. I delivered the goods to Ning'an, and then I had to go to the flower market and Tonglin to pick up the goods. I went to Sancha Road only after I came back.
After the goods were loaded and Zhou's mother prepared the meal, the old man locked the door of the oven, and the family gathered together to eat.
There are fried pork with garlic sprouts, fried cabbage with oil residue, and a bowl of pea tip and egg soup. After eating the hot soup, my stomach feels very comfortable.
Zhou Huaian took out a handkerchief and wiped his mouth, "I'm leaving!"
"Wait, I've filled a pot of water for you to drink on the way." Yang Chunyan put down her chopsticks and stood up to pick up the kettle from the stove. "The weather forecast says it will rain today, so drive slowly."
"You believe this? The weather forecast here is never accurate!" Zhou Huaian walked outside with a kettle covered with a cloth stuffed with cotton.
Wangcai wagged his tail and walked him to the front of the four-wheel drive vehicle. He watched him climb into the cab, start the tractor and drive away before he went back and lay down at the door.
After unloading the goods in Ning'an, Wang Zhen came out with a celadon jar containing ten kilograms of wine. "I have made the Ganoderma lucidum wine you asked for. Take it back and put it in the wine cellar for half a month before you can open the jar. If you have trouble sleeping, drink a small cup half an hour before going to bed."
Zhou Huaian took it with a smile, "I didn't expect you to be so quick, just deduct the money from the account!"
Wang Zhen smiled and said, "Xiao Mei bought the wine for Dong Ge. He didn't ask for money. Go find him for you."
Zhou Huaian was happy after hearing this, "Then I'll get some more next time, and you can soak it in such a beautiful jar!"
Wang Zhen spread his hands and said, "No more, this was also given to me by someone else."
"Stingy!" Zhou Huaian put the wine away, and the two went to the bank. He left money for the three purchases and deposited the rest.
After the two men came out of the bank and said goodbye, Zhou Huaian drove the tractor towards the flower market. The roads here are almost all asphalt roads, and they arrived at Secretary Xu's purchasing point at two o'clock.
There were already quite a few villagers waiting to be weighed in the yard. Secretary Xu, his wife, and Xu Laosan's wife were busy selecting and weighing.
Secretary Xu saw him coming and hurriedly asked the villagers who usually helped load the goods to load the bamboo baskets onto the tractor, "Where's Yiding? Why are you here today?"
Zhou Huaian took out a cigarette and lit it for him, "Xue Jiao went last night... today she went to Bailing Mountain with Brother Xu San."
Secretary Xu smiled and said, "Great! If we have a son in the first pregnancy, Yiding and his old man won't have to worry anymore."
Zhou Huaian nodded repeatedly, "Yes, sons are better."
The man who was helping with the work interrupted, "Of course not. Those people always say that country folks value sons over daughters. Why don't they think about the fact that country folks have to do manual labor, and if they don't have sons, they have no labor force, and they are also scolded as extinct families."
Another person said: "Having too many sons is also a worry. In my family, what's the point of having too many sons? Three out of five are bachelors. It hurts my eyes to see them."
Secretary Xu: "Old Gou, your family is so lucky this year. The money from selling truffles is enough to repair the brick house. As long as you repair the house, your daughter-in-law will come to you naturally."
Lao Gou: "That's the plan. Next year, we'll build the house and find a third wife to live with us."
Secretary Xu suddenly remembered something and patted Zhou Huaian, "Youngest, wait a minute. Someone sent some Gastrodia elata here yesterday. Can you help me take a look at it?"
"Great!" Zhou Huaian helped carry down two baskets of truffles, and Secretary Xu came out with a basket. "Look, I bought five pounds at two yuan a pound."
"Two yuan per pound is not expensive." Zhou Huaian picked up a piece and looked at it, then weighed it. He felt that the weight was a bit off for such a large piece. "Uncle, let me break it and see!"
Secretary Xu frowned when he heard this and asked, "What's wrong? Did you buy a fake product?"
"It looks a bit wrong." Zhou Huaian broke the Gastrodia elata with force, took a bite and tasted it. It had a light sweet taste and was a little sticky to the teeth.
He didn't expect that even a shrewd man like Secretary Xu would be fooled. "Uncle, this is fake Gastrodia elata. It should be made of dahlia tubers."
"Fuck you, you've fooled me." Secretary Xu cursed and said angrily, "I felt something was wrong yesterday, but I didn't expect it to be true."
Zhou Huaian smiled and comforted him: "Sacrifice money to avoid disaster! Uncle Xu, if you need any medicinal herbs in the future, just tell me and I will buy them for you."
Secretary Xu threw the colander aside and said, "Your second uncle came to see me a few days ago. He told me that he had a headache recently. I thought that eating Gastrodia elata would help with headaches, so I didn't think too much about it."
"I'm going to go to Bailing Mountain tomorrow to have a look. The quality of the Gastrodia elata they send over there is better than what we have here."
"Okay, I'll leave it to you!" Secretary Xu looked at the Gastrodia elata in the basket and asked, "What should we do with this?"
Zhou Huaian smiled and said, "This thing is also a medicine. It has the effect of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, but it is not valuable."
"Then they are still useful. Let's keep them for now!" Secretary Xu thought about it and said, "What kind of herbs do you collect? Which ones can be used to make medicinal wine?"
(End of this chapter)
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