Lin Erhu was too seriously injured, and Ge Xiangqin was a pregnant woman and could only look after him from the side. Lin Sanmeng was needed to help with other errands. This guy was playful and loved the hustle and bustle. He would keep the guests company at night and basically go out for a walk on the streets during the day. He would only show up at mealtime.

Seeing Meng Tao, Lin San puffed out his cheeks and said, "You came without saying anything, I didn't eat your food."

Meng Tao stood up and said, "I'm not hungry. You guys take your time eating. I should leave too."

Ge Xiangqin hurriedly tried to persuade Meng Tao to stay: "Sit for a while."

He stared at Lin Sanmeng helplessly: "You were not here when Taohua came, why did you say anything? Can't you just go get another meal?"

Lin Sanmeng muttered a few words, put down his lunch box and soup bowl, and was about to go out. Meng Tao stopped him: "No need to go, I want to go back to my friend's house for dinner. My friend's house is in the county town."

"Really? You said so yourself."

"nonsense."

Meng Tao said goodbye to Ge Xiangqin and left the ward. Ge Xiangqin asked Lin Sanmeng to see her off.

Lin Sanmeng followed Meng Tao to the stairs and said, "Hey, do you really have friends living in the county?"

"Why would I lie to you?"

Meng Tao looked back at Lin Sanmeng. He might have been tanned from doing farm work during this period. His skin was dark and he was tall and strong, like a black iron tower. In addition, he was aggressive and never gave up, and he had brute force, so he was quite suitable to be a bodyguard. However, qualified bodyguards usually kept their mouths shut and didn't make any noises. As for Lin Sanmeng, it would be impossible to stop him from speaking, as his mouth was too mean.

Lin Sanmeng said: "It's not bad to have friends in the county. If something happens to you here, someone will protect you."

"Who do I need to protect me? It's not like I haven't beaten you before."

"Don't be so complacent. I just thought you were a woman and gave you a few tricks. If we really fight, do you think I can't beat you?"

Lin Sanmeng snorted, "I'm kindly reminding you. You also know that the Tian family bought a courtyard house in the county town and settled here. No matter how capable you are, you can only use your fists and feet. They have many brothers. If they catch you and beat you up, you can't get away. Besides, they are rich now. If they don't show up, it's easy for them to pay street thugs to bully you. You won't find them to settle the score."

Meng Tao asked: "How do you know that the Tian family is rich?"

"Of course I know, I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Tell me about it."

"My brother is always sleeping and not very energetic. Since my sister-in-law is watching over him, I like to go out for a walk. I went to the black market yesterday and found it really fun. I went there again this morning and ran into Tian Lao Si, Tian Lao Liu and Tian Lao Qi. The three brothers were selling things and their business was really good. I know that's called 'speculation', but who wouldn't want to do it when they see someone making a fortune? Who wants to live in poverty all the time? I'll do it if I have the guts to do it!"

"What did the Tian brothers tell you?"

"It was just a few questions. They asked me why I came to the county town. I told them about my brother, but I didn't tell them that you were in the county town. Don't worry, if they dare to touch you, as long as I'm here, I will definitely help you."

Meng Tao chuckled: "You want to find a way to make money. I just happen to know one. As long as you are willing to work hard, you can make a fortune. You can earn as much as those workers and cadres every month. If you are willing to endure hardships and have a smart mind, you may even earn more."

Lin Sanmeng's eyes lit up: "Really? Tao, Taohua, tell me what the job is? I'll do it!"

"Just like the Tian family, engaging in 'speculation and profiteering', are you afraid?"

"I... am not afraid of anything! They can do it well, I don't believe I can't do it!"

"If you do the same business, there will definitely be competition. If you want to make more money, you have to expand your stall, go from street to street, and even go to villages and towns in the countryside. If you do this, in the eyes of the Tian brothers, you will become someone who steals their business and cuts off their financial resources, which will probably lead to fights."

"Fight if you want, who's afraid of who? They are no match for me! If you want to rob others, I'll think about it, but these bastards are not good people. Just rob them, there's nothing to say!"

"Okay, after ten days or half a month, you go find this person, take the job, and he'll teach you how to do it. You can find two or three more partners, who must be tight-lipped and know the rules, to form a group, or you can work separately."

Meng Tao took out a pen and paper from her handbag, tore off a piece of paper, wrote a phone number and Zhang Fu's name on it, and handed it to Lin Sanmeng.

Lin Sanmeng read the note again and again, folded it carefully and put it in his pocket. He was so happy that he hurried to take Meng Tao downstairs. Meng Tao didn't let him do it, and asked him to go back to the ward to take care of the patients and share more of the work so as not to let his sister-in-law work too hard. Lin Sanmeng agreed repeatedly, nodded and bowed like a little brother in an instant. Meng Tao was still a little uncomfortable with it.

After leaving the hospital, Meng Tao did not go back to Zhang Fujia's house, and she could not return to Yanchong Commune or Linshui Village for the time being. Tomorrow she had to go to Yangjia Village in Qingxiagou to purchase bayberries.

So she rode her bicycle to the outskirts of the county town, found a secluded and deserted place, slipped into the space, practiced and rested in the space. The vegetables, fruits and melons in the space could also be harvested. There was a lot of work to do, which kept her busy.

The next day, Meng Tao came out of the space when it was already dawn. She drove a jeep straight to Guanshan Commune and made an agreement with Captain Yang and Accountant Yang of the Yangjia Village Brigade in Qingxiagou: loquats can be picked in advance, but in order to ensure freshness, bayberries have to be picked today. In the hot summer, bayberries are easy to deteriorate and will have a sour smell overnight, so they cannot be eaten.

At seven o'clock in the morning, Meng Tao arrived at Guanshan Commune. Yang Da Che and Accountant Yang from Yangjia Village were already waiting for her. Meng Tao still parked the car in the commune yard, got on Yang Da Che's ox cart, and went along the rugged and narrow mountain road to Qingxiagou.

The mountain road was barely passable only by an oxcart and a rickshaw, but not by a jeep, let alone a truck or lorry. So Meng Tao and the Yangjia Village Brigade agreed to put the picked loquats and bayberries in bamboo baskets and have the members transport them to the roadside, and then Meng Tao hired a truck to take them away.

Meng Tao could have hired a truck driver from the county, but she thought it was troublesome. Besides, she didn't know how much the bayberries would be wasted if they were moved back and forth on and off the truck, so she didn't want to pretend. Qingxiagou was very remote anyway, and the only county-level road was in tatters and there were few cars passing by for several days. As long as the members transported the bayberries and put them on the roadside, and waited for them to return to the village, she would just wait for the right time to put them into the space.

Meng Tao rode in a ox cart into the village, only to see that the villagers had already started picking bayberries inside and outside the village. They stretched the long bamboo poles with hooks tied to them to the branches, covered the bunches of bayberries, twisted and pulled them, and a full hook of bayberries was poured into the bamboo baskets, and they continued to twist... There is strength in numbers, and soon several bamboo baskets were filled. They simply broke off the bayberry leaves and used them to cover the baskets to seal the mouths.

The bamboo baskets were all newly woven, which Meng Tao specifically requested.

The whole village was mobilized. In addition to the main labor force, young and old joined in picking bayberries. It was not until after five o'clock in the afternoon that all the bayberries were picked. Of course, there were still some scattered fruits on the trees, which belonged to the children in the village.

(End of this chapter)