After walking around, Gu Dong and Fu Jiu realized that there were all kinds of things for sale.
Some were selling wild vegetables, some were buying bean sprouts and tofu.
Some were selling wood ear mushrooms from the mountains.
As for meat, it was still mainly pork.
There were relatively fewer people selling chicken, duck, and fish.
"Did you see anything?" Gu Dong and Fu Jiu squeezed out from a group of people buying fish and asked him.
"He didn't make any money. Just now, that person said that he fished the fish out from the river in his village. If it wasn't for the recent rain, he wouldn't have been able to catch such a fat fish." Fu Jiu's eyes were sparkling as he told Gu Dong what he heard.
"Not only that, we also saw Zhuang San just now. He had been walking around with three kilograms of meat in his hand for a while, but he still had some left.
But this fish seller only had a few fish left in his bucket. Also, look at the crowd around him. "Gu Dong gestured to Fu Jiu to compare the two sides.
Fu Jiu was not stupid. When Gu Dong said that, he immediately understood the crux of the matter.
"It's all meat, but pork is more expensive than fish. It's Sanmao, and it's not common to see people buying fish here.
Some people are looking for something new.
Of course, fish sells better than pork. "
"If it wasn't for the recent rain, I would usually come to the market.
It's good to see a fish seller once out of three times.
Even those who come to sell fish are the same as that person just now.
They went to the river to catch fish. Generally speaking, they are not bad. This thing is very scarce here. "Gu Dong thought that this might be an opportunity.
"The river in our village is a little far away. Normally, we would have to go far to catch fish ourselves. If we work hard, we can only catch one or two fish in an afternoon. Also, there's no guarantee of the size. It's not worth it to sell them. It takes a day to go back and forth. At most, we can only earn the ticket price." Fu Jiu quickly calculated in his mind.
"Let's go and take a look!" Gu Dong also felt that it was not worth it and did not mention it for the time being. Instead, he asked Fu Jiu to walk around again.
The two of them made a few rounds in the small market and finally found something that they could do.
That was to sell wild vegetables!
It was April, and the seasonal vegetables hadn't started to be supplied yet. The radishes and cabbages stored in winter were almost finished, so many people who came over to see the fresh green vegetables would bring some back.
Moreover, the two of them also asked around and found out that the few people who came to sell wild vegetables were all from the vicinity of the county. Their wild vegetables were all found along the small roads in the countryside.
"We're next to the mountain. It just rained, so there are a lot of these things. You can see them everywhere if you go out for a walk. At that time, even if it's cheap, we'll have a lot of it. Moreover, if we can keep it for a long time, we might be able to make a profit. "
"Yeah, I think it's profitable too. I won't be working for the next two days. Let's go back now and pick some in the afternoon. We'll come back tomorrow to try."
The two of them chatted as they walked home. They were so excited that they didn't even feel hungry on an empty stomach.
"Didn't I tell you to bring food tickets with you when you left? Why didn't you eat something in the city before coming back? It's already the middle of the afternoon. What if you fall sick from hunger? "The Ai Cao kept nagging at Gu Dong while making hot noodle soup for him.
"Hehe, the two of us stayed at the market for a long time. We only cared about the customers and didn't think of eating at that time. When we realized we were hungry, we rushed back and didn't waste any time."
When the two men were in the county at noon, they were thinking about how to make a fortune and didn't care about eating.
When Fu Jiu came back to pick up Fu Fang and left, Gu Dong couldn't hold it in anymore. He went to the kitchen to take the cold mantou from the morning and wanted to eat it. The Ai Cao couldn't stand it and at the same time, heated up the stewed chicken for Gu Dong. He even planned to make a bowl of noodle soup for him to warm up. He was afraid that Gu Dong would catch a cold outside in this weather.
"You don't have to do anything. Just eat the meat and mantou. I still have to go out later!" Gu Dong told the Ai Cao about him and Fu Jiu's plan to sell wild vegetables.
"No matter how hard you work, you still need to eat well. Oh right, do you need me to help?" The Ai Cao asked.
"No need. There are wild vegetables everywhere on the mountain. The two of us can get a basket full of them in a short while." Gu Dong waved his hand at the Ai Cao.
After the rain stopped, the production team had four days off. Gu Dong and Fu Jiu took advantage of the time to go to the city every day.
For three days, their business was very good. The two bamboo baskets of vegetables were sold out around 10 am. Even if the wild vegetables were cheap, the two of them could still make about one RMB per day. Sometimes, if they were lucky, they could even get two RMB per day.
But as the production team started to work, the two of them could only stop temporarily.
If they stopped for a day, it would cost them a day's worth of money. Fu Jiu felt that it was a pity. He suggested that they look for the wild vegetables after work and send them to the city early the next day.
"We can ride our bikes there early in the morning. This way, we can come back before work starts. We can each take one day." Fu Jiu told Gu Dong his idea.
"That's a good idea. But will there be enough time to sell the vegetables?" Gu Dong was worried.
Fu Jiu frowned when she heard that.
But in the end, the two of them came up with a solution, which was to sell the wild vegetables to Jiang Yuan. Gu Dong asked for half a day's leave and went to the county to find Jiang Yuan. In the end, Jiang Yuan said that they could sell the wild vegetables to him directly and deliver them to him every morning.
After this matter was settled, Fu Jiu and Gu Dong were busy from morning to night. Although they were tired, they were still full of energy when they thought about the profits they could make every day.
But both of their families did not have bicycles, so they could only borrow Fu Qiang's family's bicycle.
"The bicycle is a big item. Our team leader treasures it a lot. We have to think of other ways as soon as possible."
Gu Dong felt that the team leader's family members were unhappy that they had been borrowing his family's bicycle for a few days.
"Why don't we ask Fu Qiang to join us? But there's only so little money. If we split it, we won't be able to make any profit. " It was not that Fu Jiu was petty. It was just that he and Gu Dong only earned one or two RMB a day. If they added one more person, they would not be able to make much money.
"Fu Qiang has been studying quotations recently. He is forced by his wife to memorize quotations every day. He has no time at all. The last time I mentioned this to him, he said he was not free. "
When Gu Dong wanted to borrow the bicycle, he had mentioned this to Fu Qiang. But Fu Qiang was under the strict control of Duan Xue. Duan Xue wanted Fu Qiang to work in the countryside in the future. Fu Qiang was under her control and did not have the heart to think about earning money.
"Sigh, let's think of other ways. Anyway, we can't borrow the bicycle for long." Fu Jiu remembered the way Fu Qiang's mother looked at him when he went to the team leader's house to push the bicycle yesterday morning. He felt uncomfortable. He felt guilty about using people all the time.
But before the two of them could think of a good solution, they received bad news from Jiang Yuan.
They could not sell the wild vegetables anymore.
Even if they tried to diversify the types of wild vegetables and only picked the freshest ones, the demand for them was decreasing.
This was because fresh vegetables were being sold one after another. Seeing that they were selling wild vegetables, more and more people came to the county town to sell them. As more and more people came to sell them, the price was lowered again and again. The value of the wild vegetables was getting lower and lower.
In the end, Gu Dong and Fu Jiu had no choice but to stop.
"Take a break. It's rare that you don't have to leave work to look for wild vegetables. Why do you still want to be busy?" Gu Dong asked the Ai Cao to bring him to Zhuangzi. He wanted to plant some crops in Zhuangzi.
"I can't sit still!" Gu Dong did not feel tired at all.
The Ai Cao could not control him, but she was too lazy to do so. She would occasionally come over to help when she was free. Most of the time, she was reading hard.
It was almost May. There was not much time left before the county's high school exams. She would read her textbooks whenever she had time after work. Although Zhuang Yan said the exams were easy, she was still afraid that she would not pass.
While Mugwort was working hard for her exams, Gu Dong hadn't been idle. After he was done with the important matters in the farmstead, he would go for a stroll in the mountains when he had more time every day.
One evening, after work, Gu Dong told the Ai Cao that he would go to the mountains to have a look. The Ai Cao thought he was going to hunt rabbits. She reminded him to be careful and did not care about anything else. But that night, Gu Dong did not come back until she finished cooking dinner. It was almost dark and she could not see him.
When he came back, he looked excited. Then, he mysteriously told the Ai Cao that he went to the mountains today.
The mountains in their village were connected in groups. It was impossible to see the end of the mountains. In the past, everyone would wander around the periphery of the mountains. The real inside was the old forest. The older generation said it was dangerous inside. They repeatedly warned the younger generation not to go too far. Otherwise, they would not be able to come out.
In the past, when Gu Dong was looking for food, although he walked closer to the mountains than the villagers, he did not dare to climb over the nearest mountain to go inside.
But today, he wandered a little too far. Then, he found a small ditch with flowing water. It was broken in a quagmire where many animals were active.
If he wanted to catch wild animals, this quagmire was a good place to go. But today, Gu Dong was not attracted by wild animals. Instead, he followed the ditch and wanted to see what was up there.
In the end, after climbing over a ridge and reaching a certain height, his vision suddenly widened. The small ditch also became a wide stream. Following the stream, Gu Dong finally passed through a narrow path between the mountains. Unexpectedly, he found a pool.
To his surprise, there were fish in the pool!
"The fish inside don't look like they are commonly eaten at the scene. I want to see if I can add some seedlings and try raising them." Gu Dong excitedly told Mugwort about his discovery. He then told her about his plans for the future.
"Is it safe?" Hearing Gu Dong's words, the Ai Cao felt that it must be deep in the mountains. She was afraid that he might encounter some danger.
"I haven't found anything yet. Tomorrow, I will ask Fu Jiu to go and take a look." If he really wanted to raise fish, Gu Dong felt that he could not do it alone. He needed a helper.
Gu Dong, Fu Jiu, was busy for almost half a month. Then, he told the Ai Cao that their first batch of seedlings had started to grow.
When they decided to give it a try, they needed to catch the seedlings from the river. However, Gu Dong secretly put the seedlings from the lake in Zhuangzi. At first, the Ai Cao was afraid that they would not be able to survive. But after a few days of observation, he found that most of the seedlings were still alive and were growing well.
Spring was as short as the morning sun. It would pass by in a flash. The weather had started to get hot. When it was time to go to work, the Ai Cao and Gu Dong were already wearing unlined clothes. The Ai Cao even saw some men who were bare-chested.
During the day, Gu Dong could not help but feel distressed when he saw the Ai Cao's delicate skin was red from the sun.
"It's only May. What if it gets hotter in the future? What should we do?"
"It's okay. I will cover my face with an extra layer tomorrow." The Ai Cao took the hat she wore during the day and planned to sew another layer on the front part of her face.
After a day of winter, when the Ai Cao started work, many people in a small team were surprised to see the changes in her.
Gu Dong, Fu Jiu, Fu Fang and the others were with the Ai Cao all day. So, even if she had changed, they would not notice it. However, some of the villagers had not seen her for a whole winter. When they suddenly saw her, they even made a fool of themselves on the first day. Some people did not recognize her and came to ask her which relatives she was from.
The Ai Cao did not want to attract attention. But, she had changed a lot. After the villagers saw her, they said all kinds of things.
There were unmarried girls who came to ask her how she turned her face white. There were also young wives who gossiped about her behind her back. They wondered if she used to absorb Yang energy to supplement Yin energy. Otherwise, how could the poor, sallow, skinny, ugly, and poor person who had been married for less than a year look like a completely different person?
Even the Ai family's adoptive mother said that she was glad that her son did not marry her. Otherwise, her son would have died.
The gossip could not be stopped. In the beginning, the Ai Cao would deliberately make her face black before she went out. Later, when the weather became hot, she directly put on her hat.
It was a woman's nature to love beauty. Even in this remote mountain village, when the sun became hot, many women would still put on the sun hat that they had prepared in advance.
For the whole of May, Gu Dong and Fu Jiu were busy raising fish. The Ai Cao had to make Fu Fang, whose belly was already big, explain the problems to her all day long.
Finally, with the hot weather and the summer harvest approaching, several things happened in the village one after another.
First, Zhang Xianglan was born prematurely and gave birth to a boy. Zhang Xianglan's mother wanted the child to have Zhang Xianglan's surname, but Zhang Xianglan's father did not agree. He had a son of his own. Although the son was raised in someone else's family, he was still his legitimate son. He did not want his son to take advantage of someone else's son in the end.
He was not the only one who did not agree. Even Cao Aiguo was very opposed. He felt that he was not the son-in-law of a family. Why should his son's surname not be Cao but someone else's?
In the end, Zhang Xianglan's mother still did not win against the two men in the family. The child followed his father's surname, Cao Aiguo, but he still carried his grandson every day and called him 'Big Grandson'.
The second big thing that happened in the village was the Ai family's. It was also a happy thing. The Ai family's Ai San An sent news that he would be assigned to the county's textile factory after graduation this year. In the future, he would be a proper state worker. He would no longer be able to eat the state's rice just because he had a rural household registration.
When the news came out, Ai San An's father extravagantly set off a string of firecrackers at the door on the same day. Old Lady Ai, who usually did not go out, also came out dressed very nicely. She said that her grandson had made a name for himself. She said that the Ai family's ancestral grave had good feng shui and had blessed the younger generation with good feng shui.
As for Ai San An's mother, she cried every time she saw him. She said that her son's body was weak. All these years, if it were not for the medicine, he would have died long ago. Back then, his grandmother even wanted to throw him to the back of the mountain. If it were not for her heartache back then, she would have sacrificed her own life to save her third son. That was how she managed to keep him. Also, her son had been studying day and night for years and had suffered a lot.
However, fortunately, her son was ambitious. Now, the clouds had parted and the moon could see the moon.
No matter what people thought in their hearts, they still congratulated her son on his good feng shui. Not only was her second son working in the village government, but her third son was also going to settle down in the county.
The Ai family had a total of four sons. Before the youngest was born, the fortune-teller had said that he would be blessed with good fortune and bring glory to his ancestors. Now that two of the sons had made a fortune, if the youngest grew up and became capable, then the Ai family would really be glorious.
Looking at how his grandmother doted on his younger brother and how the family's attitude towards Ershun had changed, and now, San An was going to work in the county. As the eldest in the family, Ai Dabao's position was seriously threatened. Even he was about to become unloved by his parents. His wife had even less status in the family.
However, his wife was not a person who would resign herself to adversity. When it was time to resist, she would not shrink back. When she had something to say, she would not hold it in. Therefore, their family's bells were clanging all day long, becoming the topic of conversation in the village.
Today, the rain was good, and the sun was shining brightly. The summer harvest was a few days earlier than last year. It was said that everyone had to work in the fields during the summer harvest, but there was something special.
Fu Jiu's family left Fu Fang at home to cook because she was pregnant after reincarnating.
On the first day of work, not only did Fu Fang not see Duan Xue and Ai Cao, but after asking around, they found out that she was pregnant. She was not even three months pregnant, so Fu Qiang directly asked her to take leave, saying that it was to prevent miscarriage.
Fu Fang and Duan Xue could really rest at home mainly because the men felt sorry for them. This was because many pregnant women also had to work in the fields. It was not that the team did not agree to take leave, but it was a pity that the family could not earn enough work points.
Therefore, as long as there was a valid reason and the family did not have any objections, the team leader would basically let them go.
The summer harvest was too tiring, and the sun was too strong this year, so Gu Dong went to the team leader and said that his wife was not feeling well and would not be able to participate in the summer harvest.
Recently, Fu Jiu and Fu Qiang had asked their wives to take leave because of their pregnancy. In addition, among the people who got married around the same time, Gu Dong and Ai Cao were the first to get married. However, there had been no news of Ai Cao's pregnancy, so when Gu Dong asked for leave, the team leader thought that his family was pregnant. Therefore, he readily agreed.
There was a saying among the older generation in the village that one should not tell others that she was not pregnant for more than three months. Otherwise, the child would be lost. However, there were those who believed it, but there were those who did not believe it. The team leader thought that Gu Dong's family was not pregnant for more than three months, so he asked for leave because he was not feeling well. Seeing that the team leader had misunderstood, Gu Dong smiled and did not explain.
However, on the way back, he was muttering in his heart.
They had already consummated their marriage in April. He had also worked hard these few months. Perhaps his wife was pregnant.
"What are you looking at?" Ai Cao was sitting in the central room reading a book. When Gu Dong entered the room, she did not hear him speak. When she looked up, she saw Gu Dong staring at her stomach.
"Hehe, nothing, nothing." Knowing that his wife was thin-skinned, Gu Dong did not tease her. However, he was also interested in having a child. He wanted to take Ai Cao to the hospital in the city after he was done with his work. It was not to have a child, but to see if there were any problems left in his body from the starvation and suffering in the Ai family.
Ai Cao did not need to go to work. She originally wanted to take care of Gu Dong at home, who was busy with the fish pond and the summer harvest. However, Gu Dong was more willing for her to go to the county.
"Hurry up and take the exam. You can stay at Zhuang Yan's house and interact with each other. You don't need to take care of the family. Grandpa doesn't need to work in the fields. Every day, the goats will go back to the fish pond and help take care of it. You can focus on preparing for the exam. Don't worry about anything else. "
Gu Dong and Fu Jiu's fish pond had already grown enough to be sold. Recently, they were very busy. However, he still hoped that Ai Cao could have a better environment. If she stayed at home, he could not take care of her all day. If she missed the exam, he would have to wait another year.
After Ai Cao left, many people in the village thought that she was really sick and was sent out to see a doctor by Gu Dong. Some people talked about it for a while and then passed. This was because the most interesting thing in the village was still the Ai family.
Ai Dabao's wife fainted from exhaustion when she went to work. When she fell to the ground, Old Lady Ai scolded her for being a servant. She could not stand such a small amount of work and was so pretentious. When she found out that Ai Dabao was not working in the fields, she even scolded the eldest grandson she raised.
However, when the doctor said that Ai Dabao's wife, Ge Cuihua, was not suffering from heatstroke but was pregnant, Old Lady Ai's mouth was wide open. She wanted to scold Ai Dabao, but she did not.
Although the two sons of the Ai family, Ai Dabao and Ai Ershun, were both married, Ai Dabao had been married for two to three years and still did not have a child. His wife was pregnant with the first child of the Ai family's fourth generation. Therefore, even if Old Lady Ai looked down on Ge Cuihua, for the sake of the child in her stomach, she could only swallow some of her words.
Some people's arrogance was low, while others' arrogance was high.
After Ge Cuihua woke up and heard her husband say that she was not in poor health but was pregnant, she first laughed. Then, she laughed and laughed until she hugged Ai Dabao and cried.
She had been looking forward to this child day and night. She had been looking forward to this child for too long.
When she had been married for three months, her family had asked about the child. Later, half a year and a year had passed, but there was still no news from her stomach. Gradually, she went from hugging to being disappointed. She had heard all kinds of unpleasant words. Not only were there gossip in the village, but there were also all kinds of unpleasant words at home. Her in-laws thought that she was a hen that could not lay eggs, and her maternal family thought that it was embarrassing that she could not give birth to a child.
The neighbors in the village kept laughing at her. But what could she do? She could not give birth to a child, so she could only endure it. Or, when others said something, she would fight back vigorously and scold them until they could not open their mouths. But even if she won the scolding battle, so what? She still could not give birth to a child. When she returned home and lay on the bed, she was still endlessly afraid.
Afraid that she would not be able to give birth to a child, afraid that Old Lady Ai and her mother-in-law would chase her out one day, afraid that Ai Dabao would think that she could not give birth to a child and not want her.
Who knew the suffering she had suffered in the past two years, and the torment in her heart?
Seeing his wife crying so hard, Ai Dabao's eyes reddened even though he was a big man. Finally, he was going to have a child. He was going to be a father.
From then on, Ge Cuihua relied on her belly to hold her head high at home. She no longer had to wait on others and lived a life of being waited on.
All day long, if she was not in pain, she would want to eat that thing. Sometimes, she would even ask Ai Dabao to bring it to her hand to drink water.
Her mother-in-law and her mother-in-law could not stand it, but because she was pregnant with the Ai family's precious golden egg, they could only endure it for now.
Time always passed quickly when one was busy. In the blink of an eye, Ai Cao was sitting in the classroom to take the exam. Although as Zhuang Yan said, high schools were not as popular in the county and were very lacking in students, not everyone could enter as they wished.
One year after graduating from junior high school, she could still sit here and take the exam today. A big reason was that Jiang Yuan had found someone to help her clear the obstacles in advance. Ai Cao thought that when she went back, she would mention this matter to Gu Dong and find an opportunity to thank Jiang Yuan and Zhuang Yan.
However, now was not the time for her to think about these miscellaneous things. She should focus on writing the paper seriously.
After the exam, Ai Cao stayed at Zhuang Yan's house for another day. Only then did Gu Dong come to pick her up and go home. At this time, the summer harvest in the village was almost done. Most of the fish that Gu Dong and the others raised had matured. Recently, they were planning with Fu Jiu how to get them to sell.
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