Chapter 157: Spending money like water, the season of colorful forests has arrived [6k]
"Brother Lin, come with me. Someone gave you something."
Wang Zhou looked at Lin Heng, said something, and took him to the backyard.
Lin Heng was stunned for a moment, and asked curiously: "Who is it, and what did they send?"
"It's the uncle who sold you red dates, Brother Lin. He came here last time and said that his old father died because he couldn't make it through that ordeal. Then he thanked you for sending you this."
Wang Zhou walked to the backyard and pointed at the things in the basin.
"Giant salamander!!" Lin Heng was stunned. In the wooden barrel was a giant salamander that looked to weigh two or three pounds. It wagged its tail when it saw people and was a little frightened.
"Yes, if you don't come down, I would like to send you up. I'm afraid that if you raise it to death, I won't be able to complete my mission." Wang Zhou looked at Lin Heng and said with his hands spread out.
"Don't worry, this thing isn't that easy to kill." Lin Heng smiled.
He looked at the giant salamander in the basin and said with emotion: "I didn't expect this person to be so grateful."
Nowadays, these things are all wild and not cheap. It was really thoughtful of you to give him one.
He gave the extra fifty dollars just to gain reputation and do business, and he didn't care whether he got something in return.
This is a pleasant surprise.
There were a lot of these things in the mountain streams a few years ago, but they have been rarely seen in the past two years. He has not even encountered one this year.
By 1988 this species will be protected, and it will be illegal to catch it in the wild.
There is also great potential in breeding giant salamanders. He had done research on related technologies in his previous life, but he entered the market too late at that time and could not make any money, so he did not do it.
After a few years when you have enough capital, you can start the first giant salamander breeding business, then sell the seedlings to other people and make a lot of dividend money.
"Indeed, most people would have sold it long ago. That uncle is really a good man." Wang Zhou nodded.
"Is that all?" Lin Heng asked. He thought something big had happened.
"Yes, that's all." Wang Zhou said with a smile.
"Be more careful next time. I won't ask you to compensate even if it dies. Look how scared you are." Lin Heng smiled and patted his shoulder.
"Okay, Brother Lin." Wang Zhou nodded.
After Lin Heng finished talking to him, he went to take a look in the storage room. There were a lot of Coriolus polyphylla and Turmeric piled up there. These were the goods that Lin Heng deliberately saved and did not sell.
Because the prices of these two items will increase next year, although the increase will not be large, only about one dollar, but you can still make a small profit.
Of course, he did not stop selling, but he sold one-tenth each time and kept nine-tenths.
This is also a means of covering up so that people in the city don't think it's normal.
After taking a look, he looked at the account book again, then found a bag, put the giant salamander in it and left.
Then he went to the only shop in town that sold sand and stone. Unlike the cement resellers in town, the sand field was state-owned.
The price is also fixed, 7 yuan per cubic meter of sand and 5 yuan per cubic meter of gravel. If you want to transport it to Hongfeng Village, you have to add 3 yuan per cubic meter for transportation fee.
In fact, Lin Heng could also find someone to secretly dig in the Shiban River. Many people did this.
But when I thought about the time and effort it would take to hire someone, I just bought ten cubic meters of stones and sand.
However, we cannot load the goods for him immediately. We have to wait until tomorrow morning.
He signed the contract and paid the deposit, then turned around and went to sell cement, leading the tractor back.
It was already past eleven o'clock when we arrived at Hongfeng Mountain. A group of people who were leveling the ground stopped and looked on curiously when they heard the roar of the tractor.
"What are you buying?" someone asked curiously.
"We bought cement to build the stone sills of the factory building." Lin's father replied. Lin Heng had told him about these things.
"Building a brick house?"
The people on the construction site were stunned and shocked.
"The houses you live in are all made of mud, right? Why do you build brick houses to raise fish?"
"This price is too high, it's not worth it."
A group of people don't understand what this is all about. If you have money, you can really build something. Isn't it better to build a brick house yourself?
"It's all the same. There's no difference in living here." Father Lin said with a smile.
Anyway, the brick house won’t break down if it’s built there, so it’s a win-win situation.
"Everyone continue working, I'll go and help." Father Lin said and walked to the side of the road.
The road from the highway to Hongfeng Mountain was not wide to begin with. Last time when he dug a fish pond, Lin Heng used the extra soil to widen it so that the tractor could come up.
Lin Heng rode his horse and brought the tractor all the way underground.
"It's right here." Lin Heng said.
"Okay." The two people in the car nodded. They were going to unload it.
"Dad, go get some wood. We need to pave the cement. Otherwise, it will be useless if it gets wet when it rains." Lin Heng said to his father who was walking over.
"Okay." Father Lin turned around and went to find someone to move the wood.
The wood was brought in and set up, and the people moving the cement brought a large waterproof tarpaulin and laid it out, and then started moving the cement.
This waterproof tarpaulin was originally intended to be purchased, but because Lin Heng bought too much cement, the boss gave it to him for free.
Lin's father and elder brother wanted to help, but Lin Heng stopped them, saying that moving cement was bad for the body.
"When will the bricks be delivered? What about the sand and stones?" Father Lin asked Lin Heng.
"It can only be brought here tomorrow. They are transporting sand to other places today." Lin Heng said, spreading his hands.
"There's no rush anyway. We can't get much work done today." Lin Yue said with a smile.
"Yes, it can't do much work. You guys just watch over it. I'll take it home and raise it. Don't let it die."
Lin Heng said while holding the bag.
"Giant salamander! Did you buy it or catch it?"
Father Lin was stunned and asked, and both of them walked over to check the giant salamander.
"No, someone else gave it to me." Lin Heng told the story again.
Both of them found it a little unbelievable. There are so few people who are so grateful.
"Are you ready to eat?" Lin Yue asked.
"Let's keep it for now. We're not going to eat it." Lin Heng shook his head. If he was going to eat it, he wouldn't have put it in the water and brought it back.
"This thing is very nutritious. It's better to keep it first. The Banhe fish have been almost extinct in the past two years." Father Lin nodded.
Lin Heng rode his horse back home. Xiulan was taking care of the baby at home. She was curious when she saw him coming back with the giant salamander.
Xiaoxia was so scared that she hid behind Xiulan and dared not look.
Lin Heng looked at his wife and asked, "Do you want to eat it? If you want to eat it, I'll kill it and stew it for you right away."
Xiulan shook her head: "There's a lot of meat at home recently, let's keep it, and we'll talk about it when there's no more meat."
"Then keep it."
Lin Heng nodded, went to the backyard and threw the giant salamander into the fish pond, letting it stay with the grass turtle, grass carp and grouper.
A hiding place was built for it with stones at the stream channel. Both the fish pond and the stream area were surrounded by large stones, which were fifty centimeters high, so it was impossible for it to escape.
And even if he got out, he couldn't escape from the yard.
"Drink the water I poured for you."
Lin Heng entered the room and Xiulan brought him some cooled black tea.
"Didn't you drink the brown sugar water?" Lin Heng asked curiously.
"No, but I cooked brown sugar, lotus seeds and red dates porridge. Xiaoxia and I ate it, and I left some for you." Xiulan said with a smile.
"I bought you some pears from town. Do you want me to make brown sugar pear soup for you?" Lin Heng asked again.
"Dad, I want candy~" When Xiaoxia heard the word candy, she ran over, hugged him and started acting coquettishly.
"Just one." Lin Heng gave her a White Rabbit milk candy.
"Then cook it for me at noon." Xiulan thought for a while and said, she really wanted to eat it.
"Okay." Lin Heng nodded, took a sip of water, chatted with Xiulan for a few words, and then rode his horse to Hongfeng Mountain.
This time he came to tell everyone to disperse. None of the people working wore watches and didn't know the time.
Father Lin originally wanted to invite Lin Hengsand's father and Lin Hai to come home for dinner, but he didn't.
In the end, Li Baiquan and Li Shiwei returned to the old house together, and Lin's mother cooked for them.
Lin Heng brought Xiulan and Xiaoxia over to eat without any hesitation. After eating, he went home and stewed a rock sugar snow pear for Xiulan.
"Try one." Xiulan took a bite and picked up a piece of pear from the bowl for Lin Heng.
Lin Heng shook his head: "You eat it, if I want to eat it, I will just take a pear and eat it."
Xiulan blinked her eyes, puffed her cheeks, stared at him and asked, "What's the matter? Do you dislike me for having eaten?"
"Okay, okay, I'll eat it." Lin Heng opened his mouth helplessly and was fed a bite, mainly because it was a bit too sweet.
Xiulan nodded in satisfaction and fed her daughter some more.
After eating, Lin Heng read a story book to them for a while, and then they set off for the construction site at 1:30.
There was no change in the afternoon's work. The cement delivery team made four more trips, and the rest will be delivered the next day.
"You know how to mix cement, right?" Lin Heng asked the six people who were laying the stone embankment.
"Not really." They forced a smile, feeling a little embarrassed.
"One part cement, two parts sand, three parts gravel, and then add water and mix them." Lin Heng said, and took six people to the creek to dig some sand and gravel, and taught them how to mix cement.
When using it, it was found that the quality of the current cement was too poor, so Lin Heng asked to increase the proportion of cement, otherwise it might not have much effect.
After they made peace, they could use small buckets to build the embankment. Lin Heng also taught them how to use cement to build the stone embankment.
His three rows of fish ponds from the bottom to the mountain are at different heights, so they definitely need stone embankments to retain the soil. However, embankments built with stones will not work. They must be made of concrete to have sufficient strength.
A foundation was dug 50 centimeters underground, and large stones that required two people to lift were used to build the foundation up bit by bit, with cement used as a bonding agent.
This job is not easy at all, but fortunately it only needs to be built two or three meters high.
The next day, gravel and sand began to be transported in, making the work much easier.
On the fourth day, all the materials were delivered, and Lin Heng went to the town to settle the bill: 1,350 yuan for cement and 180 yuan for gravel, which added up to 1,530 yuan.
After giving out this money, Lin Heng was left with only 7,500 yuan in his hand. Building a fish pond really costs money like water.
And there are also red bricks and tiles being transported here. By the time all are delivered, he will owe the owner of the Tuanjie Brick Factory one thousand yuan.
"We still have to keep working in the mountains to make money." Lin Heng sighed.
Early in the morning on October 29, Lin Heng walked to the construction site. The first row, namely the grass carp pond and the row on the west side, had been completely leveled, and the stone steps were almost completed.
"Lin Heng, is our work speed okay?" Third father Lin Xutao asked with a smile.
"Yes, of course." Lin Heng nodded with a smile. This speed was much faster than he expected.
Farmers are like this, as long as the money is in place, they will do any job for you.
"But your price is really a bit high. These materials alone must have cost a lot of money, right?" Li Shiwei asked curiously.
Lin Heng grinned: "It's not just a little big, it's very big. When all the red bricks and tiles are brought in, I have spent almost 5,000 yuan."
“Oh my god!!”
“Five thousand!!”
There were sounds of people gasping for air on the construction site. They couldn't even imagine spending so much money, let alone spending it like Lin Heng did.
Lin Hai sighed: "The investment in digging a fish pond is so huge, and we haven't even started raising fish and shrimp yet."
Lin Heng smiled and shook his head: "It will definitely not cost so much for you to dig a pond. My scale is large and I have to build several houses, so it will definitely be different."
However, as all the materials have been gathered, it doesn't cost much money, and the remaining big expense is the workers' wages.
"Anyway, if we had so much money, we would never dare to spend it so recklessly." Li Baiquan shook his head. Lin Heng's spending was too huge, too incredible for a farmer who earned only one or two hundred yuan a year.
"Everyone, continue working. Help dig the foundation and build the stone embankment for the second row of fish ponds." Lin Heng said with a smile and stopped discussing the issue.
After arranging the work, he slipped away again.
This time he did not go to the city, but took the money to Liu Ciwen's house. He heard that a calf in Liu Ciwen's family was killed in a fall, so he went there to buy some beef, which was also considered as helping his family.
Before he arrived there, he saw Liu Cihua grazing cattle on the hillside and immediately walked over with a smile.
"I'm going to your house to buy beef. Is your father at home?" Lin Heng asked.
Liu Cihua glanced at Lin Heng and nodded: "At home, we should grow vegetables behind the house."
"I see."
Lin Heng nodded and said, "By the way, let me ask you a question. Do you have someone you like now?"
"Ah!" This startled Liu Cihua, and she immediately lowered her head, feeling very shy.
"Is there?" Lin Heng asked with a smile.
Liu Cihua looked at her feet and shook her head: "Why are you asking... asking this?"
"Let me introduce you to someone. It seems like you don't have anyone you like. I'll bring him to meet you next time."
Lin Heng said this with a smile and walked towards her house, while Liu Cihua was still standing there in a daze, not knowing whether she was frightened or in yearning.
Although Liu Cihua's father Liu Haizhou was a little demented and hard of hearing, he was still sensible. When Lin Heng asked him to buy beef, he quickly understood and took Lin Heng into the house.
There was a pile of beef hanging in the room, which showed that the calf that had fallen to its death was quite large, probably weighing about 100 to 200 kilograms.
"I want to buy this beef hind leg." Lin Heng said, pointing at the uncut beef hind leg meat.
I took the meat down and weighed it, and it was a little over 35 pounds.
"How much?" Lin Heng looked at Liu Haizhou and shouted loudly, but he was afraid that Liu Haizhou would not be able to hear him if he spoke too softly.
"How much do you think is appropriate?" Liu Haizhou smiled innocently, he was not sure about the price.
"Then it's one dollar per pound, that's the price." Lin Heng took out thirty-five dollars and handed it to him.
Liu Haizhou counted the money, put it in his heart pocket, and said with a simple smile: "Thank you, come in and have a drink of water."
"I'm not going to drink anymore. I'm going back now. I still have work to do." Lin Heng waved his hand and left.
On the way back, Lin Heng saw Liu Cihua and said a few more words: "I bought 35 kilograms of beef and gave it to your father at one yuan per kilogram. Tell Liu Ciwen."
"Okay." Liu Cihua nodded softly.
Lin Heng returned home with the meat. Xiulan was speechless when she saw him carrying so much meat: "I told you to buy less. This must be 30 or 40 kilograms."
"Not much. We're going to Hongfeng Mountain for a barbecue the day after tomorrow. This may not be enough for us." Lin Heng said with a smile.
He plans to let everyone rest for two days tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, and then come back the day after tomorrow so that his family can relax as well.
During this period, the leaves turn yellow and red. Looking up, you can see red and yellow trees everywhere on both sides of the river in Hongfeng Village, especially maple trees. This is also the origin of the name of Hongfeng Village, because there are many maple trees here and the autumn is very beautiful.
If you want to know the most dazzling tree, it must be the ginkgo tree in the center of the village, with its golden yellow, fan-shaped leaves, no other tree can compare to it.
If you want to know which place has the most beautiful scenery, it is undoubtedly Hongfeng Mountain. The forest is dyed with various colors of red and yellow. It is definitely like a fairyland on earth.
"Is everyone going?" Xiulan asked curiously.
Lin Heng smiled and shook his head: "No, I told my parents, they are entertaining my third uncle and others at home, and the young people of our generation are going to Hongfeng Mountain for a barbecue.
It’s not fun for two generations to play together, so let’s separate them. After a few days, we can have a family reunion.”
Anyway, if we have a barbecue now, we must invite other people. It is impossible for only our family members to come together, so we might as well separate and have a gathering for young people first.
It just so happens that tomorrow and the day after tomorrow are both Sundays, and Caiyun doesn’t have to go to school, so we can come over for dinner.
"That's fine. I'll prepare some things today and we'll pick them up tomorrow morning." Xiulan nodded and agreed.
"You prepare first and do it the day after tomorrow. We'll go fry fish tomorrow." Lin Heng said with a smile.
"Okay, then I'll prepare first." Xiulan nodded.
"Then I'll go first." Lin Heng nodded, turned and went to Hongfeng Mountain.
Xiulan looked at Lin Heng's leaving figure, breathed a sigh of relief, pouted, and turned around to deal with the beef.
Lin Heng walked onto the road, wearing a double-layered jacket which was just right for him. This was the north, with a high altitude, so it got cold quickly.
Walking to the ginkgo tree in the center of the village, Lin Heng looked up and saw golden ginkgo leaves hanging all over the treetops. The leaves swayed slightly in the autumn wind and looked sparkling. From time to time, a few leaves fell down, as if it was a rain of time.
Lin Heng bent down and began to pick up ginkgo leaves, just like some of the other kids around him.
"Why are you picking these leaves?" Uncle Liu asked curiously.
Lin Heng smiled slightly: "Nothing, just picking them up for fun."
"Young people are just weird." Uncle Liu shook his head and went back to the house. His old cold legs started to hurt again with the change of seasons, and he needed to go back to warm himself by the fire.
After picking up a bunch of ginkgo leaves, Lin Heng took them to Red Maple Mountain. Walking on the path leading up the mountain, there were red and yellow leaves everywhere, as if they had arrived in a fairyland.
After crossing the stream, we arrived at the wooden house. There were already many fallen red maple leaves on the ground, and they felt soft when we stepped on them.
Walking in the maple forest, maple leaves fell slowly from all around from time to time. The cabin under the autumn scenery also looked very harmonious. Lin Heng opened the door and found that a lot of things had been moved here.
Pots, pans, charcoal, etc. were all brought by them every time they came. The cooking stove was also ready, and in order to prevent fire, wind shelters were built around it.
After being busy here for a while and feeling the beautiful autumn scenery in the forest, Lin Heng went downstairs to tell everyone to disperse and go home for lunch at noon.
On the way back, Lin Heng looked at his uncle and Li Shiwei and said with a smile: "I plan to take two days off tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Let's go to Huangtan River to fry fish."
Li Shiwei smiled and said, "Okay, I just want to ask you when you can go."
"Yes, it won't be good if it's any later." Li Baiquan also nodded.
"Dad, brother, you two can go with us. I'll take you fishing." Lin Heng asked.
Father Lin shook his head: "I won't go. I'll do other work. Let your eldest brother go."
"Then let's go. Let's go fishing with Dad next time." Lin Yue said with a smile.
Lin Heng had no choice but to do this.
When I got home, I had lunch at the Lin family's house, and they had stir-fried beef with green peppers. Needless to say, the taste was amazing. Beef is an ingredient that tastes great no matter how you prepare it.
"This calf meat tastes better than old cow meat." Father Lin said with emotion.
"Of course, I bought a lot, everyone can eat as much as you want." Lin Heng said with a smile.
After a pause, Lin Heng continued, "Let's fry some big fish tomorrow, and we'll grill the fish together with the beef and pork the day after tomorrow."
"That means we have to catch a big grass carp. Let's get up early tomorrow morning and find two places to dig a big nest. Then we can kill it with a blast in the afternoon." Li Shiwei said with a smile.
"Hey, as long as the nest is well built, it is not impossible to catch a big fish weighing fifty or sixty kilograms." Li Baiquan smiled.
The group of people finished their lunch while chatting and laughing, rested for more than an hour, and then set out to work at Hongfeng Mountain again in the afternoon.
Lin Heng did not leave. He waited for his wife to pack the things and put them into the backpack. Then Lin Heng took his daughter and the things and walked towards Hongfeng Mountain.
"Didn't you say you would pick it up the day after tomorrow? Why did you start today?" Xiulan looked at him helplessly and said.
Lin Heng smiled and said, "It's the same if I take it today. I changed my mind."
Xiulan shook her head: "There's really nothing I can do about you!"
Helplessly carrying her things, Xiulan went to Hongfeng Mountain with Lin Heng. Walking into the forest of Hongfeng Mountain, she was dazed at the beautiful scenery around her.
So beautiful!
She didn't have the time to appreciate it before, but now that her life is better and she has started to pay attention to the scenery, she realized how beautiful Red Maple Mountain is, especially the slow and leisurely red maple rain which is even more intoxicating.
Xiaoxia was also stunned. She stretched out her hands to catch the fallen maple leaves, her big eyes full of curiosity. She couldn't fully understand why the leaves turned red and yellow at this time.
"Dad, what is this~"
Her little head was full of questions.
"These are yellowing leaves. In autumn, the leaves will turn red and yellow." Lin Heng said with a smile.
"What is autumn?" Xiaoxia asked curiously.
…
After explaining all the way, they finally arrived at the cabin. Lin Heng put his daughter down and let her pick up maple leaves on the ground to play with.
Then he took out the key, opened the door, walked in, and packed his things with Xiulan.
"What's in it?" Xiulan asked as she looked at the wooden basin on the table and removed the wooden cover.
“Oh my god!!”
The moment the wooden cover was removed, Xiulan stood there in shock, unable to believe it.
(End of this chapter)
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