Chapter 75 Selling Melons
The manhole cover should be made thicker and heavier, preferably so that children cannot lift it. Although her house is far from other team members' houses and there are not many children nearby, there is no guarantee that a child will suddenly come in one day. Just in case, the manhole cover should be made bigger and heavier.
Lin Qi remembered that there was a jujube tree on the hillside behind the house. Jujube wood was hard and dense, so it should be suitable for making manhole covers.
Lin Qi found the jujube tree and successfully found a small jujube seedling near it. Lin Qi pulled out the jujube seedling and brought it back to the yard. After making sure that no one was around, she accelerated the jujube seedling into a big tree with a trunk as big as a millstone.
At this time, the diameter of the well mouth is about 80 centimeters, and the diameter of the jujube wood is more than one meter. Cut off a piece of the thickest part of the jujube wood and it can be used directly as a well cover.
Lin Qi went to the brigade warehouse to borrow a saw, and came back to cut a wooden stake about 30 centimeters thick from the trunk of a jujube tree.
This is her manhole cover.
When Xu Hexiao came back at noon, he was stunned to see the heavy manhole cover. He walked up to it and tried it, and it took a lot of strength to move the manhole cover away.
When he removed the manhole cover and saw two large, smooth semicircular stones underneath, he was stunned again.
How much effort did she put in to polish the stone into this state?
Xu Hexiao walked towards the kitchen where Lin Qi was cooking. His eyes fell on her palms, which were still fair and tender, without any blisters or even any red marks.
"What do you need my help with?" Xu Hexiao asked.
"Bring the dishes out and then serve the rice." Lin Qi said.
Xu Hexiao did as he was told and asked, "Is it time to make a bed this afternoon?"
"Yes. Not only do we need to make a bed, we also need to make a dining table." Now when they eat, the temporary dining table is two stools put together.
"Take your time first, I'll come and work with you tomorrow." He can finish making the required mud bricks today, and then the mud bricks need to be dried, so he can spare some time for the time being.
Lin Qi did not comment. She had her own rhythm. She could do it without Xu Hexiao. Besides, "You should build the foundation."
Xu Hexiao: “….”
He is such a useless person as a partner.
In the afternoon, Lin Qi started sawing wood. She first made a dining table, then four chairs with backrests. Then she started making her bed. Before dark, she finished the frame of the bed.
While it was still light, she started to make a fire and kill chickens.
When Xu Hexiao and Old Man Xu came over, the rooster was still stewing in the pot.
"The food is not ready yet." Lin Qi said.
"No rush. I'll collect the branches in the yard first and save them for burning later." Xu Hexiao said.
"I'll go and tidy up the branches, and you go and chop up the roots." Old Man Xu said. The trees that Lin Qi brought out from the mountains all had their roots with them. The leaves can be burned, and the roots can be burned too.
The grandfather and grandson worked together to collect all the leaves and roots in the yard and put them in a corner and arranged them neatly before the dishes were served.
That night, the three of them sat on new chairs and ate at the new dining table, and the food seemed to taste especially delicious.
Everything seems to be moving in the right direction.
very nice.
Meanwhile, Luo Laizi was just coming out of the mountain with sore legs. He had been walking and searching in the mountain for a whole day, but he found nothing. He also bumped into thorns and bushes everywhere, and was stabbed several times.
It's really strange. When did so many thorns and bushes appear in the mountains?
Luo Laizi was not giving up and planned to continue to wait for Lin Qi tomorrow.
However, he had been walking on the mountain road for a whole day and was so tired that his legs were shaking, so he slept until dawn the next day. By then, Lin Qi was already sawing wood in the yard.
On this day, Lin Qi successfully made a bed, which was exactly the same as the one in the cave, with the same mutant vines wrapped around it and no need for a bed board. However, Lin Qi put an extra mat on the bed here. Sleeping on the mat made it easier to clean when it got dirty.
In addition to the bed, Lin Qi also made two cabinets. Because there was an extra jujube wood, there was more wood to use, so the cabinets were made a little bigger.
The well has been dug and the furniture has been made, the next step is to grow vegetables.
Lin Qi thought of the seeds that Aliang's mother had given her, which included melon and watermelon seeds. That night, Lin Qi found those seeds, planted them in the planting area, and successfully ate watermelons and melons.
There are no watermelons in Yao County this season, but there are still melons.
Before dawn the next day, Lin Qi left the mountain with a basket of vegetable seedlings and a few melons.
Now she would take a different route every day when she went out of the mountain, and the place she came down from was different, and she never met Luo Laizi again.
Luo Laizi had been squatting for several days without seeing Lin Qi, and guessed that Lin Qi must have discovered him. So, he had to temporarily stop paying attention.
She is worthy of being the woman who hunted fifteen wolves in one night!
I'm afraid my skills are not enough to impress the other party.
Luo Laizi felt a little bit apprehensive.
Xu Hexiao was no longer surprised when he saw the melons, and now it seemed that he was not surprised by anything Lin Qi grew.
"The melon is delicious, the sweetest melon I have ever eaten." Xu Hexiao looked sincere.
Old Man Xu sighed, "It's a pity that you were born in this era. If you were born a little earlier, Qiqi, you would definitely be able to make a fortune by growing all kinds of fruits and vegetables."
"There's nothing wrong with it now. Society is stable and there's no war." Lin Qi said.
Old Man Xu nodded, "That's true."
Today, Lin Qi was going to help Xu Hexiao make a thatched roof. As long as it was related to plants, there was almost nothing that could stump her. In just one day, she had sorted out the thatch needed for Xu Hexiao's two rooms, and tied them tightly, no worse than those aunts who had been doing it for decades.
"Qiqi, you helped me a lot. If it weren't for you, I'm afraid it would take me ten or even twenty days longer." Xu Hexiao's heart softened like a pool of spring water. How could there be such a good person in this world!
Could it be that God saw that he was having a hard time, so he sent her to him?
"I only helped you with the work for two days." Lin Qiyun said calmly, it's just that she was a little too efficient.
Xu Hexiao laughed, "But that's my job for more than 20 days."
Lin Qi didn't care, "It's because I know it will take you a long time that I want to help you."
"Thank you." Xu Hexiao wanted to hug the man, but he restrained himself. "Brother Tan contacted me and said that the milk powder has arrived. Shall we go over to trade with him tonight?"
"Okay."
In the evening, Xu Hexiao carried 40 kilograms of wine and Lin Qi carried a basket of melons to the fork in the road where they had made their last transaction.
This time, Brother Tan did not drive a donkey cart, but rode a bicycle.
As soon as they met, Brother Tan's eyes were always on the wine jar, and he ignored the melons in Lin Qi's backpack.
"Brother Tan, we have something good for you to try." Xu Hexiao took out a dagger, cut a piece of melon and handed it to him, "This is definitely the sweetest melon in the entire Yao County."
Brother Tan took it and said with a smile, "Isn't your statement a bit exaggerated? But there are not many people growing melons in Yao County, and the quality is not that good. If you say yours is the best--"
"Try it first, then talk to me." Xu Hexiao interrupted him.
Seeing this, Brother Tan smiled and pointed at Xu Hexiao. At the same time, he took a bite of the melon.
"How many pounds are there in this basket? Do you have any more besides what you have here? I'll take as many as you can get, and I'll buy it at twice the market price!" Brother Tan's eyes were fiery.
"There are still about 600 to 700 kilograms. If you want, come here to trade tomorrow." Lin Qi said. Brother Tan liked her wine and melon, and she liked Brother Tan's bicycle.
Maybe she should start saving money and buy one when the time comes.
"Okay, I'll come here by donkey cart at this time tomorrow." Brother Tan smiled and patted Xu Hexiao's shoulder vigorously. "You are really my benefactor. You found such a God of Wealth for me."
"She is mine." Xu Hexiao said seriously.
Brother Tan smiled even more happily, "Whether you can make him yours, you still need to work hard, come on!"
Lin Qi, the person involved: “…”
Xu Hexiao felt Lin Qi's gaze and was so nervous that he didn't dare to look at her.
It was the first time that Brother Tan saw him being so cowardly. He was both surprised and amused. He was worried that he would anger him and not do business with him next time. So he said, "I didn't bring my scale with me tonight. If you trust me, I will take the melons back first, weigh them, and settle the bill with the other batch tomorrow."
"Okay." Lin Qi agreed.
She helped Brother Tan tie the basket of melons to the rear seat of the bicycle, and then watched Brother Tan ride away on his bicycle with the basket filled with wine jars on his back.
"Tomorrow during the day, I will stay in the cave to nitrate rabbit skins." Lin Qi said.
"Then I'll go to the mountains in the evening and pick out the melons with you." Xu Hexiao said.
Lin Qi hummed and reminded him, "When the time comes, pay attention to your surroundings. Maybe someone will follow you secretly."
Xu Hexiao's expression changed, "Did someone follow you before?"
"He wanted to, but I found out."
"who?"
"Luo Laizi."
The weather is cold, so it takes less time to smoke the rabbit meat. Lin Qi plans to take them to the post office tomorrow to mail them. In addition to the rabbit meat, she also prepared dried peanuts to be sent home.
Today, in addition to nitre-ing the rabbit fur, she also picked all the ripe wild fruits, boiled a clay pot of jujube honey, soaked a jar of wine, and dried a lot of hawthorns and persimmons. Finally, there were some fruits left that she planned to can, but she had no time to process them before it got dark.
So Lin Qi hurried to harvest the melons and picked eight large baskets.
Now she knew how to weave baskets and backpacks, so she made a lot of them and placed them in the cave so that she could use them at any time.
When Lin Qi was picking melons, a group of wild boars were grunting and chewing her watermelons not far away. The sweet and big watermelons have become the favorite of these wild boars.
Over time, the number of wild boars has grown from a few to more than 20. Once winter comes and other places in the mountains are short of food, more animals will flock to her place.
In spring, which is the breeding season for prey, she would then seal that side of the mountain so that the animals that came in would never be able to leave.
There were eight large baskets full of melons, weighing a total of 980 kilograms.
"I'll round it up for you, one thousand kilograms. 40 cents per kilogram, so I'll give you four hundred yuan." Brother Tan gave the money happily.
"There shouldn't be many people in this town who would buy melons at 40 cents a pound. Are you going to take them to the county to sell them?" Xu Hexiao asked.
"Not only in the county, but also in the city. And it's not 40 cents, it's 80 cents, or even more." Brother Tan didn't hesitate to tell them the final selling price of the melon, "There are only 1,000 kilograms of melons of this quality in the whole province. Even if it's sold for 2 yuan, there will be people who buy it. Don't look at the high price, in fact, most of them are people who have money but nowhere to spend it. Besides, with the quality of the melon, it's worth 2 yuan."
Brother Tan was telling the truth. In the past few years, there was a shortage of food and supplies everywhere, but those who received salaries did not lose their salaries. They had no place to spend the money in their hands.
Xu Hexiao seemed to be thinking about something.
"But if you want to sell the melons to the city or the provincial capital, you need to have a lot of connections, and you have to pay the shipping costs. I just make hard-earned money." Brother Tan laughed.
"Don't worry, we know it's not easy for you and we don't think you've cheated us. After all, there are a lot of costs involved and you have to bear great risks. No matter how much you earn, it's what you deserve." Lin Qi said.
Brother Tan gave Lin Qi a thumbs up and said, "Sister-in-law, you are really insightful. Okay, I'm leaving now. Next time you have good stuff, remember to come find Brother Tan. Brother Tan will definitely not let you down."
After receiving the four hundred yuan, Lin Qi gave forty yuan to Xu Hexiao.
"No, I'm in the team and it doesn't cost any money." Xu Hexiao didn't answer.
"Take it, consider it as my pocket money." Lin Qi stuffed it into his pocket.
When he heard it was pocket money, Xu Hexiao couldn't help but think of his childhood when his father earned money and gave it to his mother. His mother would take out a small amount of money and give it to his father, saying it was pocket money for him. His father would happily take it and kiss his mother on the face. His mother would push his father away and laugh and scold him for being unruly.
At that moment, both his father and mother were happy. He thought that his father and mother must love each other very much.
Xu Hexiao took the money with both hands, folded it carefully, and put it into his shirt pocket with great care.
Now someone gives him pocket money.
Xu Hexiao felt sweeter than eating honey.
Lin Qi felt the joy that was overflowing from Xu Hexiao. She was a little confused. Xu Hexiao should not lack this little money, so why was he so happy after taking the money?
Then, Xu Hexiao gave her the answer, "When I make money in the future, I will give it all to you, and you just need to give me some pocket money."
"Well--"
Lin Qi was stunned. Was the rhythm too fast?
"I'm going to town tomorrow. Do you want to buy anything?" Lin Qi changed the subject. She was worried that if they continued talking, Xu Hexiao would talk to her about getting married and having children.
"Go buy some paper and a bottle of ink. If you have paint, buy some too. But paint may not be available in town these days." Xu Hexiao said, and explained, "I plan to learn calligraphy and painting again."
Xu Hexiao's decision came suddenly, but Lin Qi didn't ask too many questions and gave him full support, "Okay, I'll go take a look then, and if there's any, I'll buy it for you. Do you want to buy a few more pens? Buy a few brushes and pencils, and for pens, use the one Dr. Sun gave us last time. I'll build a study room in the house and make a desk."
"Thank you, Qiqi." Xu Hexiao couldn't help but hug Lin Qi, but he just hugged her lightly and then let go.
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