Chapter 203 Chopping Wood
The snow continued to fall all night.
The next day, the snow fell even harder. It was icy and snowy outside, and a thick layer of snow had accumulated on the ground.
Fortunately, it does not affect travel.
However, if the snow continues to fall, the mountain will be blocked by heavy snow and the villagers will not be able to go up the mountain to chop firewood.
I don’t think I can go to the county town either.
The vegetables grown at home cannot be taken away from others for the time being, and at this critical juncture, it is not convenient for Liu Yinyin to live in the county town.
He only told Gu Cheng that if the snow was too thick and the road was difficult to walk on, he should stay in the house over there in the compound at night.
Liu Yinyin was not idle at home either. After working for so long, the sweet potatoes in the field still could not escape the fate of being dug up.
The weather is so cold that sweet potatoes can't grow at all.
If they are not harvested in time, the sweet potatoes in the field will be frozen and destroyed in no time.
So, Liu Yinyin is busy harvesting sweet potatoes at this moment.
Fortunately, there were not many sweet potatoes planted in the yard, so she could harvest them all in half a day.
The problem is the sweet potato field on the mountain. Like the sweet potatoes at home, the potatoes are not very big and have not yet fully matured.
But at least there was some gain.
It would be a big waste if we didn't collect them.
Liu Yinyin has been struggling for so long, but this is not the reason.
What she is struggling with now is how to deliver these sweet potatoes smoothly to the villagers.
At first, Liu Yinyin chose to grow sweet potatoes on the mountain, not for herself, but to help the people in the village...
Just as she was thinking about it, she suddenly heard a knock on the door and Huang Xiaoyue was calling her from outside.
Liu Yinyin put down the hoe and went to open the door.
Not only Huang Xiaoyue, but Liu Mingyuan also came, carrying a large sack on his shoulder.
Liu Yinyin was slightly stunned: "... Third brother and third sister-in-law, come in quickly."
There is a fireplace in the bedroom, so it's very warm when you walk in.
Liu Yinyin poured two cups of hot water for them.
Huang Xiaoyue held the steaming enamel cup in her arms and smiled shyly, "Yinyin, didn't I tell you last time that my dad wanted to exchange for some white flour or cornmeal? Look, we brought a sack of sweet potatoes over here."
Originally, Huang Laizi was not in a hurry to change to white flour, but he saw that the weather was not right and was worried that it would snow continuously.
The road to the county town will be blocked, and it will be troublesome to go to the county town to exchange for white flour.
The sack of sweet potatoes that Liu Mingyuan carried looked quite heavy, weighing at least a hundred kilograms.
Liu Yinyin thought for a moment and said, "Third sister-in-law, my family is in need of sweet potatoes. Can you sell me this bag of sweet potatoes? I will exchange it with you for flour."
It is suitable to eat sweet potatoes when the weather is cold. Both Liu Yinyin and Gu Yanyan, mother and son, like to eat roasted sweet potatoes.
And there is Gu Cheng...about a hundred kilograms of sweet potatoes, which his whole family can finish.
Huang Xiaoyue was a little surprised: "......But, weren't you just digging sweet potatoes in the yard? Isn't this enough to eat?"
If she remembered correctly, Liu Yinyin also planted a lot of sweet potatoes on the mountain, so they should not be short of sweet potatoes to eat.
Liu Yinyin groaned, "You know that the sweet potatoes in the yard are only a little bit big. They weigh less than 100 kilograms. They are not enough to eat."
The sweet potato field in the yard is not very large, less than one mu.
The sweet potatoes are not fully mature, so the output is naturally not high.
Since Huang Xiaoyue has sweet potatoes, she can exchange some and store them at home, so she doesn't have to go back and forth.
Liu Yinyin was happy to exchange for sweet potatoes, so Huang Xiaoyue naturally had no objection. She smiled and said, "It's up to you."
She doesn't have anything else. She can't say how many sweet potatoes you want, but the quantity is still quite considerable.
Moreover, the Huang family also planted a batch of sweet potatoes on the back mountain. There was a hot spring there, so no matter how cold the weather was, it would not have much impact on the sweet potato fields.
Liu Yinyin asked Liu Mingyuan to weigh the bag of sweet potatoes. It weighed more than 110 kilograms, so she calculated it as 120 kilograms.
According to market conditions, one pound of flour can be exchanged for five pounds of sweet potatoes.
One hundred and twenty kilograms of sweet potatoes...is equivalent to twenty-four kilograms of white flour.
Liu Yinyin thought for a moment and said, "Third sister-in-law, I'll give you half of the flour first, and I'll give you the remaining half in a few days."
Taking out 24 kilograms of flour at once was a bit conspicuous.
Huang Xiaoyue said, "Just give me 20 kilograms of flour in total, and then another 8 kilograms will be enough."
Even if you take them to the county town, 120 kilograms of sweet potatoes cannot be exchanged for 24 kilograms of white flour, and those who trade in grains have to make a profit from the difference.
Liu Yinyin often helps them change things, so she can't be working in vain.
Liu Yinyin smiled and did not reject her suggestion: "Then thank you, Third Sister-in-law."
"Thank you." Huang Xiaoyue said nonchalantly, "I'll need your help again in the future if I need anything."
Liu Yinyin packed twelve kilograms of flour for Huang Xiaoyue, and then she remembered another thing...
It was already August, and Jiang Zhiqing had not yet received this month's rations.
In the past few months, Liu Yinyin would unfailingly sell 20 kilograms of cornmeal to Jiang Zhiqing.
There's no way, making sixty dollars in one transaction is just too tempting.
The cornmeal sold to Jiang Zhiqing before was all smuggled out of the system by Liu Yinyin.
Now... since I have decided to join the army, I have to find a way to deal with the food stored in the cellar.
Liu Yinyin thought that it was time to move the grain out and grind it into flour.
For the next few months, she wouldn't need to smuggle food out of the system.
The food in the cellar was enough for her to use for a year or so, whether she was eating or selling it.
In the afternoon, after Liu Yinyin harvested the sweet potatoes, she checked the vegetables in the pigpen. The key to growing vegetables there is to control the temperature. The temperature cannot be too low, but it cannot be too hot either.
After finding nothing unusual.
Liu Yinyin brought Gu Yanyan to the Liu family, and she prepared to go up the mountain to chop some firewood.
In the past two days, the Liu brothers did help her family cut down a few trees.
But Liu Yinyin couldn't just sit back and take charge of the business, especially since it was snowing today.
It is not very convenient to go up the mountain now. If it snows again in the next few days, the snow on the road will be too thick and the villagers will not be able to go up the mountain.
Liu Yinyin's family needs a lot of firewood now, so they have to chop more firewood and store it in the next two days before the mountain is blocked by heavy snow.
There were a lot of people going up the mountain to chop firewood these two days. Liu Yinyin had limited physical strength, so she chopped down a tree of similar thickness and wanted to walk down the mountain dragging the tree.
We met many villagers along the way. Everyone was used to it. Many people went up the mountain to chop firewood, and many of them did the same thing.
Halfway through the journey, Liu Yinyin met a young educated youth named Jiang, who also came to the mountain to chop firewood.
"Comrade Liu, is it convenient for me to go to your house to get food today?" Jiang Zhiqing was thinking about his food.
Liu Yinyin: "...It's convenient. Come to my house to find me later."
Coincidentally, Liu Yinyin also had something to discuss with him. Even if she hadn't met Jiang Zhiqing today, she would have gone back to the village to talk to Jiang Zhiqing about something.
"Okay." Jiang Zhiqing agreed immediately.