Chapter 52: Inspired by 'Wild Strawberries'...
The Lantern Festival was spent amidst such laughter and merriment.
In the days that followed, with only three people left working in the shop, the days passed by as if they were on fast-forward.
By the time Guo Baiwen finally recovered and rested for a while, it was already two days after the spring planting season.
Business at the shop has been so-so lately, with few customers and the amount of food ordered has been reduced by half. Roughly calculated, after deducting miscellaneous expenses, the monthly income is about four or five taels of silver.
Grandma Guo now only saves two taels of silver a month, and the rest of the money is naturally used for household expenses.
Xiaohua doesn't help out at the shop anymore, but I worry that she might need to buy some silk thread every month, or she might crave some snacks.
Grandma Guo thought about it and decided to give her two hundred coins every month as pocket money.
Guo Baiwen's monthly allowance is now the same as Yang Qiaomai's wages. Although he keeps telling his grandmother that he doesn't need an allowance, his grandmother says that Xiaohua doesn't help but give her money, so she can't be too biased.
After the remaining portion was divided, sometimes she would have a tael or two, which she would save half a tael of. Other times, she would only have a few dozen coins, which she would keep for her own use.
Grandma said she's getting old now and doesn't have as many expenses.
It's only early March now, and including the money she saved last year, she has a little over fourteen taels of silver in her hands.
This money is definitely enough to pay the rent, and even if the shop doesn't earn much each month, the remaining money will be enough for our family's food and drink.
Grandma Guo said this to comfort Guo Baiwen and to reassure him that his upcoming trip to the academy would interfere with the family's income-generating work.
But hearing her say that made Guo Baiwen feel a little uncomfortable.
He hasn't told Grandma yet that even if the rent for this house needs to be paid, it will be paid to him.
So they laughed it off and changed the subject.
During the spring planting season, their shop needs someone to stay. Even if they want to check on the rented-out fields, they have to wait until the Qingming Festival.
Grandma Guo thought this timing was good; while the shop was closed for two days, she could also go to Guojia Village to help sweep the graves of her husband and son.
I'll also tell them about what's happened at home in the last six months.
So that they won't worry down there.
However, now that the shop is open for a break, Grandma Guo also discussed it with Guo Baiwen. Now that the weather is hot, fewer and fewer people are coming to the shop to eat spicy hot pot.
Every day at noon, when there are fewer customers, she can't help but feel like taking a nap.
Summer hasn't even started yet, and Grandma Guo is already thinking that with business so bad, she should just close the shop for three months in the summer.
Upon hearing this idea, not only was Guo Baiwen startled, but Yang Qiaomai also wrinkled her little face.
If the store closes for the summer, then there will definitely be no need for helpers anymore.
That means he won't receive his wages for almost three months.
Although I had thought that it would be nice to be able to take a break when the store was busy before.
But this break has been too long, and he's starting to have headaches again. He doesn't know if the family can hold on if there's no income for three months.
Guo Baiwen knew that Grandma had become much more open-minded recently because she had some savings.
But he didn't expect that Grandma, who had previously experienced a decrease in revenue, would suddenly decide to close her shop.
So he quickly said, "Grandma, don't worry, our shop has only been open for about three months."
"If you close down for the summer, people will just think your shop went out of business! What will your regular customers think then?"
“I think the shop should still be open. Since there are fewer people now, we can just sell hot pot dishes in the evening when it’s cooler.”
Guo Baiwen tapped his fingers on the table, then impatiently knocked them again. "But this method can only be used in spring and autumn. When summer comes, we'll have to think about whether we can sell something else."
Summer here is different from the past; the mala tang restaurants have air conditioning, which helps retain some customers.
In this sweltering, humid weather, it's no wonder we can't expect to have any customers eating oily and spicy hot pot!
If only he could have access to electricity.
There's no need to dream about air conditioning or anything like that; a powerful electric fan would be just fine.
Grandma Guo stared at him longingly, not knowing what he was thinking.
Guo Baiwen scratched his chin with a wry smile. "Let me think about it some more." Although he had briefly considered this matter before the New Year, it certainly couldn't be delayed any longer. "For now, the shop will only be open in the evenings."
"I'm sure I can figure out what to sell in the store during the summer before the Dragon Boat Festival."
Upon hearing this, knowing that Xia Ri should still be able to work normally, Yang Qiaomai's worries instantly subsided.
With things on his mind, Guo Baiwen couldn't help but toss and turn at night these past few days, even though he only worked in the evenings. He hadn't been able to sleep well.
When the day of Qingming finally arrived, Grandma Guo originally wanted the three of them to go back together, but Guo Baiwen also wanted to check on the cultivation of his twenty acres of land first, so they had to split into two groups.
Grandma Guo and Xiao Hua went first in the morning, and after noon, he took the oxcart to Guo Family Village to burn paper money and pay respects to Grandpa Guo and the others.
Fortunately, the store can close for two days during the Qingming Festival.
After finishing today's work, I can have another good rest tomorrow and recharge.
Guo Baiwen didn't know if it was because he had been working here for a long time, or because he was now working for himself, but although he no longer had a two-day weekend or a one-day weekend like in his previous life, he felt that his energy was still pretty good.
When they arrived at the twenty acres of land and saw the owner coming, the farmers who were working in the fields put down their hoes, took a short rest, and were able to talk to each other.
Because the two acres of land in Guojia Village are located halfway up the mountain, they are mainly planted with millet, and sometimes buckwheat is also planted.
However, even if these twenty acres of land are not medium-sized fields with abundant soil fertility, they are all located in the warmer foothills, so they are mainly planted with rice, and may also be intercropped with some soybeans.
Although water usage is a bit more troublesome, the yield is much higher than that of the two mu of land in Guojia Village.
Their chatter didn't last long, because the farmers had a fixed amount of farm work to do each day, and they couldn't afford to waste too much time.
Having said their piece, they picked up their hoes and prepared to go back to work.
Guo Baiwen patted the dirt off the corners of his clothes that had gotten on him from squatting on the ground.
Then he realized that there was still someone standing in front of him.
He looked up and realized the face looked somewhat familiar.
I took a closer look and realized that this person was the farmer who had given me tamarind before.
Is there anything else?
The man rubbed his hands together, a sheepish smile on his bronze face. He hesitated for a moment, but still tentatively asked under Guo Baiwen's gaze, "The boss said before that the land rent for these plots is still 40%, is that true?"
The farmers had already asked him about this when he came last time.
Guo Baiwen nodded and let out a long sigh of relief. "That's great! I wasn't there when the boss said this before, and I was worried that they might have misheard me."
"It's good if it's 40%, it's good if it's 40% complete."
He seemed to relax a lot, and when he saw Guo Baiwen still looking him over, he felt a little embarrassed.
“My family is large, and we rely on this rented land to make a living.” As she spoke, she pulled out a handful of fruit from somewhere and, without saying a word, stuffed it into Guo Baiwen’s hand. “These are wild fruits that are common by the roadside in the village at this time of year. I just picked a lot. Share some with the landlord so you can have a taste.”
The white, round fruit, like the tamarind from last time, was a wild fruit that Guo Baiwen had never seen before.
Seeing that Guo Baiwen hesitated, he took one out himself, wiped it casually on his clothes, and popped it into his mouth. "It's so sweet!"
So Guo Baiwen tried one, and after just one bite, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.
Not counting the tamarind from last time, he couldn't even remember the last time he had eaten fruit here.
He couldn't resist popping another one into his mouth. It was sweet, and he couldn't help but ask, "What's the name of this fruit?"
Why hadn't he seen this thing in a supermarket in his previous life?
“I call this wild strawberry, but some people call it something else,” the man thought for a moment and came up with a name, “something like big white rice strawberry.”
"If you ask me, the name 'wild strawberry' is easier to remember."
Guo Baiwen nodded upon hearing this, then suddenly seemed to remember something, "You really like eating fruit?"
This time it's wild strawberries, just like the tamarind last time.
"Hey!" The man's face turned a little red. "It's not that sugar is too expensive, and wild honey from the mountains and forests isn't easy to find either. These wild fruits are the only ones that are easy to find, sweet, and delicious."
He seemed a little embarrassed that, as a man of his age, he still liked sweets like a child.
But Guo Baiwen suddenly realized something from those words, and looking at the farmer again, he felt much more relaxed.
"There's nothing shameful about liking sweets." Sugar is expensive these days, and everyone says brown sugar is good for you, so people only buy it a few times when they're sick or entertaining guests.
As for those things like maltose and sugar nowadays, Guo Baiwen has also tried them.
Although they are sweet, they have gradually been phased out compared to other mature and convenient sugars from the previous life.
Although he can't make complicated things like cakes, he can still use the things in the warehouse to try other things!
So, after thanking the other person for the wild strawberries, Guo Baiwen, despite the other person's attempts to refuse, grabbed a handful of sesame and peanut candy that he had brought with him.
When Guo Xiaohua went out in the morning, she packed a bag full of candy. Grandma Guo was worried that she would have a toothache from eating too much candy, so she insisted on giving her half to keep.
This proved to be useful at this time.
When he got back on the oxcart to Guojia Village, Guo Baiwen couldn't help but spread his arms and lean back against the cart frame.
There were fewer people around, and he was in a good mood.
I did get a taste of what the joy of spring outing is all about.
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