Chapter 28: The Season of Grass, Birds, and Blooming Flowers
"I have a way to make money. Do you want to hear it?" Hua Xiali asked with a smile.
She is not being kind and asking for help from everyone, but she really needs help. She can't ask her mother to pick bamboo shoots, her mother still has to take care of her father at home!
I need people to do the work, and Lu Xiaozhi also needs money to live. You can say that this is called cooperation between the two of them.
Lu Xiaozhi was excited, "Sister Xia Li, if you have any way to make money, please tell me!"
Hua Xiali took out bamboo shoots from the basket and said, "There is a pig farm owner who needs bamboo shoots to feed his pigs, so he asked me to help him break bamboo shoots. I charge one cent per pound. If you are willing, you can break them with me. If you are faster, you can make several dollars a day!"
"Really?" Lu Xiaozhi was very excited. "Sister Xia Li, can I break it with you?"
"Of course you can, but you have to keep it a secret and not tell anyone, otherwise the factory manager will get angry and won't let us help him break the bamboo shoots, and I'll lose the opportunity to make money. I won't let you go." Hua Xiali put the bamboo shoots into his palm and said, "The broken bamboo shoots are hidden in the bamboo forest. The factory manager will send people to get them. We are only responsible for breaking the bamboo shoots. We don't have to worry about other things. I'll find you in the bamboo forest tomorrow."
Hua Xiali left as soon as he finished speaking, without wasting any time.
If Lu Xiaozhi is willing to do it, she will take him in as her subordinate. If he is not willing to do it, then forget it.
"Xia Li, why did you come back only now?" Seeing that Hua Xia Li came back so late, Hua's mother said unhappily, and then took the basket from her hand, "There are plenty of Amaranthus on the ridges of the fields, why do you need to go out specially to pick them?"
Hua Xiali knew that her mother was also worried about her, so she just smiled and didn't argue too much. To her, being beaten and scolded by her parents was actually a happy thing. In her previous life, when she was in her middle and late age, she dreamed of going back to the age when her parents could beat and scold her.
Because it means that both parents are still alive and she is still young.
Hua Xiali had lunch, packed up, and set off. There was only one bus in the afternoon, and if she missed it, she would not be able to go that day.
After coming to the shade of a poplar tree on the roadside and waiting for a while, Hua Xiali saw a minibus coming. He immediately waved and when the bus stopped, he quickly got in and sat down.
This season is the time when grass grows, birds sing, and flowers bloom. Along the way, you can see large areas of golden flowers. Some are rape flowers, and some are cabbage flowers in people's vegetable fields, but they are all golden and look particularly beautiful.
Hua Xiali is busy making money now and really has no time to think about outings or spring trips. Besides, given her family's current situation, they can't go out either.
But we are all still alive and well, and there will always be a chance for the whole family to go on a spring outing together in the future.
When he arrived at his fourth uncle's house, he saw that the door was closed. Hua Xiali knew that they were picking bamboo shoots on the mountain, so he went directly to the mountain to find his fourth uncle and his aunt. When he arrived at the bamboo forest, he saw his fourth uncle and his aunt picking bamboo shoots enthusiastically.
"Fourth uncle, fourth aunt." Hua Xiali walked over with a smile.
"Xia Li, you're here. You must have worked hard. You should go back and rest for a while." Fourth aunt took out the key to the courtyard gate and handed it to Hua Xia Li, asking Hua Xia Li to go home and rest.
After all, after sitting in the car for so long and being jolted for so long, anyone would be tired.
"Okay, then I'll go home first. Fourth uncle, fourth aunt, you guys take your time, there's no rush. There are so many bamboo shoots on the mountain, enough for you to make a fortune." Hua Xiali smiled, took the key, turned around and went down the mountain.
Fortunately, the mountains here are not those tall and steep mountains, but small slopes. It takes about half an hour to walk from the foot of the mountain to the top.
Arriving at her fourth uncle's house and seeing the bamboo shoots neatly piled up in the yard, Hua Xiali couldn't help but laugh. With so many bamboo shoots, how much money would she make if they were processed into food!
Looking at these bamboo shoots is like looking at white silver waving at you.
Hua Xiali came to the kitchen and added a little spiritual spring water into the water tank. Then he filled the iron pot with water and started a fire. This way, he could take a bath when his fourth uncle and his aunt came back.
The temperature in April is already very high, especially at noon, the temperature is almost approaching that of summer. My fourth uncle and aunt have been busy all day, and they must be tired and hot. They will feel more comfortable if they take a shower when they come back.
In the evening, the three of them weighed the bamboo shoots in the yard together, and found that there were more than 3,000 kilograms. They didn't expect that the old couple actually broke off so many bamboo shoots.
Hua Xiali took out thirty yuan on the spot and handed it to her fourth aunt, putting the remaining bamboo shoots aside. She would wait until they fell asleep at night and then put the three thousand kilograms of bamboo shoots into the space.
Holding the money in her hand, the fourth aunt was very excited. "It's only been a few days, and we've earned thirty-six yuan. We can earn one or two hundred yuan a month, which is not much worse than working outside!"
"Yes!" Hua Xiali also echoed. This income is indeed quite good. Although the average monthly salary at that time is around a hundred, ordinary people do not actually have such a high income. There are many people who earn more than a hundred per month, but not many people can get a high salary of four or five hundred.
Zhang Yongfeng worked in a brick factory and worked hard for only about 80 to 120 yuan a month.
If Hua Xiali had not started the bamboo shoot business yet, she would have wanted Zhang Yongfeng to quit his job and work with her, because working in a brick factory was such a waste of time and too hard. Otherwise, Zhang Yongfeng would not have passed away from exhaustion at the age of thirty-something in his previous life, leaving behind his elder sister and two children.
At night, after her fourth uncle and aunt fell asleep, Hua Xiali went to the yard to put the bamboo shoots into the space, returned to her cousin's room, locked the door, and went to the Lingquan space. When she was about to arrange the bamboo shoots neatly, she saw that there was some space between the bamboo shoots that had been arranged before and the bamboo wall.
Hua Xiali was very surprised and didn't understand what was going on, so she had to move the bamboo shoots to the wall and place them next to the courtyard wall. She had a bit of obsessive-compulsive disorder, and things had to be placed neatly so that they would look more comfortable.
The next morning, after having breakfast at her fourth uncle's house, Hua Xiali went back home. Now her fourth uncle and aunt helped her to pick bamboo shoots. Whether to add more people was also decided by them. Hua Xiali didn't have to worry about it. She just came over occasionally to settle the bill and take the bamboo shoots away.
Moreover, the equipment she ordered from the blacksmith will be almost ready today. She will try it out to see if it works well. If there is no problem, she will hurry up and open a stall to make money tomorrow.
After all, her sister will be registering for university in mid-to-late August, and the tuition and living expenses combined will be three to four thousand per semester. Although three to four thousand may not seem like a lot, it is 1990, when the average monthly income is more than one hundred yuan. Three to four thousand is several years' income. If she doesn't make money quickly, her parents will be anxious.