Chapter 430 432: We Don’t Do Life-threatening Things
When they arrived at the back mountain, they saw Zhou Huaian and Yang Chunyan spreading straw in the medicinal fields.
Zhou Yiding waved to the two of them and said, "We are back."
"Woof woof!" The dog rushed into the medicinal field and played around the two of them!
Zhou Huaian rubbed the dog's head and looked at them with a smile, "How was the harvest?"
Zhou Huairong smiled and said, "Yes, the four of us weigh about 70 to 80 kilograms together!"
Yang Chunyan walked to the fence and looked at the truffles in the basket. "Wow! They are all so big?"
She remembered that in her previous life, the large pieces Zhou Jiakang and his men dug up were only the size of eggs, while these were some that were larger than a child's fist.
Then I thought again, no one digs this thing now. Even if they want to dig it to make wine, they will wait until it is fully ripe before going up the mountain to dig it.
After another thirty or forty years, more and more people started collecting truffles, and the price of mature truffles increased from a few dozen yuan per kilogram to several hundred yuan per kilogram.
Good quality dried goods can cost up to several thousand per pound.
The mountain people have no other income, so they won’t wait until the truffles are ripe before going up the mountain. Most of them go up the mountain to dig truffles in August or September.
The truffles were not mature at that time. The better ones were as big as eggs, while the smaller ones were smaller than quail eggs.
After the truffles are dug up and cut open, the flesh inside is still white and the smell is light and not strong at all.
Zhou Huaijun said: "We dug in the pine forest in the south. We dug so much before we even entered the forest."
Zhou Huaian smiled and said, "Now is the time to dig truffles, of course there are more!"
After Yang Chunyan looked at the truffles, she felt that they would not have to worry about sales if they were of such quality. "Huaian, heat up the oven. I'll call my sister-in-law. We can clean and dry the truffles by roasting them over a fire."
Zhou Huaian nodded, "Okay!"
The group went down the mountain. Yang Chunyan went to Zhao Huifang and Zhang Xiuxiang's home and asked them to go home together. They saw that Zhou Huaian had already lit the fire wall of the baking room.
An iron pot that had been prepared long ago was also placed on top, and the pot was filled with water.
Seeing the three people coming, Zhou Huaian took a machete and went up the mountain with Zhou Yiding to chop firewood.
Yang Chunyan and her two sisters-in-law picked through the truffles, picked out the ones with more worm holes, and took out a dozen truffles that were bigger than an adult's fist and put them aside. The other truffles that were in good condition were piled together into three grades: large, medium and small.
Zhao Huifang rubbed her nose and said, "The whole room is filled with foot odor!"
Yang Chunyan smiled and said, "Smell it for a few days, and you'll be fine once you get used to it."
"Yes, once you get used to the smell of stinky tofu, you'll still find it fragrant!" Zhang Xiuxiang said as she took off her cotton coat. "It's so hot in the baking room that I can't even wear a coat anymore."
Yang Chunyan: "I took off my jacket and changed into a jacket before I came in."
Zhang Xiuxiang picked up a truffle and said, "They say that truffles come in male and female varieties. The male ones have a dark, dark skin covered with thick nodules and a strong smell like stinky feet, while the female ones have a smoother skin and a lighter smell."
Yang Chunyan looked through it and said, "Brother, they should all know, you see, all the ones we picked up are male."
"Yeah! If you don't choose the best things when you sell them, why would anyone pay for them?"
Zhao Huifang smiled and said, "I heard there is a kind of white fleshy worm that likes to eat truffles the most. Some people like to dig up that kind of worm and roast it. I heard it tastes better than bee pupae."
"Bee pupae are better to eat, but the thought of eating insects in the ground makes me feel uncomfortable."
Zhang Xiuxiang took a piece of peeled chestnut and took a bite. "When you chew the ripe chestnut, it tastes like raw chestnuts, but it's not as good as chestnuts. I used to eat this when I was so hungry that I had nothing to eat. It tastes terrible without peeling the skin, just like chewing wood residue."
Yang Chunyan and Zhao Huifang both shook their heads, "I don't like it either."
The three sisters-in-law chatted and laughed as they picked out the truffles and weighed them.
The dozen or so pieces that are larger than an adult's fist weigh more than ten pounds, and the ones that are larger than goose eggs weigh twenty to thirty pounds.
The ones that are the size of duck eggs weigh about 17 or 18 pounds, and the ones that are the size of chicken eggs weigh about 20 pounds. They are then classified and recorded in the account book.
Yang Chunyan found that they were very careful when digging. There were only about ten pieces that were rotten, and only a few pieces that were broken and incomplete. They were put to the other side and some of the damaged parts were cut off with a knife.
After the truffles were selected, Zhao Huifang and her partner weighed them. She went to the kitchen and got out a dozen soft-bristled brushes. She scooped some water from the iron pot and added it to a large wooden basin. When she touched it and it felt a little warm, she stopped adding hot water.
"The water has been icy cold these past two days. My knuckles are so cold that they ache after washing for a while. Fortunately, I left a stove so I can heat water for washing."
"It's not cold in the oven at all!" Zhao Huifang smiled and picked up a brush to scrub gently. "Fortunately, the oven was built early, otherwise, with continuous cloudy days like this, the truffles and red mushrooms would have gone moldy after two days of drying."
"It's been windy upstairs these past two days, so it's still okay to hang clothes out to dry." Zhang Xiuxiang put the cleaned truffles in another basin. "Yesterday I washed Jiakang's jacket and hung it upstairs for a day and it dried."
Zhao Huifang nodded after hearing this, "Then I will hang the clothes upstairs next time."
After Yang Chunyan washed them clean, she scooped the water out of a large colander. The three sisters-in-law worked together and quickly washed dozens of kilograms of truffles. After draining the water, they poured them into bamboo flats and spread them out to dry in the baking room.
The bamboo flat used for drying truffles is specially made for drying mushrooms. The gap at the bottom is a little big. The bamboo flat is placed on a bamboo rack close to the fire wall, and the moisture on the surface of the truffles will dry quickly.
Zhao Huifang added a few pieces of firewood to the stove, "Chunyan, don't forget to turn it over every once in a while, so it will be easier to dry."
"Got it." Yang Chunyan wiped her hands, "You guys aren't warming yourself by the fire anymore?"
Zhang Xiuxiang put on her coat and said, "No, I'm going to go back and see Xiaoqian. She should be back soon."
Zhao Huifang said happily: "Jiaming and Jialiang have studied a lot recently. They start doing their homework without being called home."
"I'm going to be in the fourth grade soon. How can I get into junior high school if I don't study hard?"
The two sisters-in-law walked away while talking, and Yang Chunyan began to prepare dinner.
…
After Zhou Huaian and his companions went up the mountain, they told each other about the fight they had with Xiong Lao Er today.
"Fuck his ancestors..." Zhou Yiding cursed after hearing this, "I'll find a chance to teach that bastard a lesson!"
Zhou Huaishan was also furious. "He gave the bastard the medicine for nothing and he's still not satisfied. He even wants to put the youngest guy in jail. Let's go together and give that bastard a good beating."
Zhou Huairong also nodded. "Ever since the last time Xiong Laoer came to steal cement, our family and the old Xiong family have had a deep feud. We shouldn't have gone to find Secretary Xu and the others at that time. We should have sent him directly to the police station."
Zhou Huaijun said angrily: "The old man always says that we live in the same village, and we will see each other sooner or later. Let's leave a way for us to meet again in the future.
But you see, when have families like Lao Xiong in the village ever suffered losses? Those who suffered losses were always honest people like us.”
Zhou Yiding smiled and nodded, "My old man also said that people with Second Dad's personality are most likely to suffer losses."
Zhou Huaian smiled and said, "In fact, the old man is much better now than before. You see, last time I took money from Lao Xiong's family, he didn't scold me. If it were in the past, he would have knocked on me with his pipe a long time ago."
Zhou Huairong and the other two thought so too.
Zhou Huaishan said, "Youngest brother, tomorrow my second brother and I will deliver vegetables to the city and deposit the money while we're at it."
Zhou Huaijun said excitedly: "Youngest, is it true that a one-year deposit would yield the highest interest?"
Zhou Huaian nodded, "That's right! The interest rate for a one-year deposit is the highest."
Zhou Huaijun rubbed his hands and chopped off a piece of firewood. "Then we'll save it for a year."
Zhou Huaian: "If I drive the tractor, I'll drive to your house after I get down the mountain, so as not to disturb you so early in the morning!"
Zhou Huaishan shook his head. "Forget it. It's so cold, so it's more comfortable to ride a bicycle."
A few people talked as they worked, and soon they had cut the shrubs into short sections half a meter long, and kicked off the branches and tied them with hemp ropes.
Zhou Huaian bundled up the firewood and touched his stomach. "I only had two bowls of porridge at noon. I'm already hungry!"
Zhou Yiding smiled and said, "It would be better for us to eat baked cakes comfortably in the mountains."
Zhou Huaian thought of something, "Have you trained the dog to find truffles?"
Zhou Yiding: "I gave them a few pieces to eat, but the two lazy guys couldn't find any."
"It should be enough if we go there a few more times."
Zhou Huaishan rubbed his hands and said, "I found that it was even colder this afternoon than when we were in the mountains. I'm afraid it will snow tonight!"
Zhou Huaijun smiled and said, "It's better to keep it colder. The colder it is, the better the truffles will grow."
Several people bundled up the firewood piled there, and Zhou Huairong carried a bundle on his back. "It's windy, let's go down the mountain to eat!"
The brothers piled the firewood under the eaves at the back of the house and went home to eat.
…
While Zhou Huaian was looking for an opportunity to deal with Xiong Lao Er, the other party was not idle either.
At dusk, Xiong Laoer went to a thatched house in Fangtian with bruises all over his face.
He stood outside the tattered fence and took a look, then walked in and said to the bald man squatting on the steps eating potatoes, "Fang Baldy, are you going to do what I told you last time? If not, I'll find someone else."
If this bastard couldn't drive a tractor, he wouldn't have asked him for a share of the money and would have done it himself long ago.
Fang Tuzi glanced at him, waved at him, and the two of them went to the main hall. "Have you found the next buyer?"
Xiong Laoer sneered, "There are a lot of people who want it. I heard that if you send one that is 90% new, you get this much!" He drew a number 10 on the broken wooden table.
Fang Tuzi's eyes lit up. "One thousand?"
Xiong Lao Er curled his lips and said, "One thousand is already cheap. That thing is hard to buy even if you have money now. You can see it too. That damn treasure is in great condition. After cleaning it up, it's no different from a new one!"
I heard that the better ones can be sold for around 1,300 or 1,400 yuan, and you can get cash as long as you deliver them.
Fang Tuzi looked at Xiong Er, whose face was bruised and swollen, and said, "I'm worried that the two of us can't defeat Zhou Laoyao. Even though that bastard looks like a woman, he was very fierce in fighting when he was out there."
After hearing this, Xiong Laoer's already bruised face turned even more blue. "Do you have any balls? Men are afraid of tigers before doing things and cats after. Forget it, I'm going back now."
"Why are you panicking?" Fang Tuzi leaned over to look at him and said in a low voice, "You think robbing a tractor is just a child's play. If you get caught, you'll be in prison for at least ten years. You must think of a foolproof plan before you can do it!"
(End of this chapter)
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