In the summer harvest of previous years,
The scariest thing was that when the grain was ripe, there would be heavy rain before it could enter the warehouse.
If they were unlucky, they might even encounter a cloudy day.
After four or five days, the wheat would either sprout or mold.
But this year was different. From the beginning to the end of the summer harvest,
For more than twenty days, there was not a single drop of rain in the sky. Other than feeling that the sun was scorching for a long time, the sun made people dizzy. The drying and harvesting of grain went very smoothly.
After the summer harvest, the autumn seedlings were still young, and the corn and peanuts had just sprouted.
In addition, the weather was too hot, so the production team only went to work after three hours in the morning and four in the afternoon.
This kind of work and rest schedule provided great convenience for Gu Dong and Fu Jiu. Now, the first batch of fish in their pond had already grown up. In fact, they could have been bought half a month ago, but because the village was collecting grain, they could not care less.
They could only delay it until now.
"That one! That one looks like the biggest. Let's fish it up and bring it back to weigh! "Gu Dong pointed at a big fat fish that was swimming very happily and discussed with Fu Jiu.
"Get a few more. This way, we will know what they weigh." Fu Jiu held the net excitedly and was about to start.
The two of them caught a total of five or six fish.
The biggest one was actually more than four catties.
The smaller ones looked like they could be bought. They weighed only eight taels.
However, based on the size of these fish, Gu Dong estimated that,
The adult fish that could be sold were basically two to three catties.
"Let's keep the ones that are about one catty first.
Let's get the bigger ones out first. "
"Okay.
Send them to Jiang Yuan tomorrow and see how it goes. "
Some time ago, not only did the two of them have to work in the field, but they also had to take time out to look at the fish. They were so busy that they did not have any day or night. Moreover, the two of them had never raised fish seriously before. They had all fumbled around. They only remembered halfway through the work. What if they could not raise the fish or if they died after working so hard?
"What can we do? Every cent counts. If we can't, we'll think of other ways. "Gu Dong was quite open-minded.
Fu Jiu, on the other hand, thought, "Even if we can't keep all of them alive, we'll just have to put in some effort. Most of these fish were caught by ourselves, and some were even fed by ourselves. It's not a problem at all. Besides, I don't believe that my luck is so bad that I can't even keep one of them alive!"
Although the two of them said that they didn't care, the two of them had really put in a lot of effort to catch the fish seedlings back then. After exploring the nearby rivers for eight to ten li, they found out that there was a small lake in the neighboring county. They even went there two or three times.
Moreover, when doing these things, not only could they not delay their work, but they also could not be seen by the villagers. Otherwise, it would be easy to get into trouble. Doing it secretly would not only be tiring. Fortunately, Grandpa Gu tended to the sheep, so he didn't need to work with everyone. Sometimes, he could come over to help.
Otherwise, even if the two of them worked day and night, there were still some places that they couldn't attend to.
But now, all the difficulties had passed. Fortunately, there were no major accidents.
The two of them delivered the fish to Jiang Yuan first. They didn't know what was going on, but they delivered twenty fish first, and all of them were very fat.
On the first day, Jiang Yuan sold the fish very quickly. The biggest fish in the morning market was fifty cents per catty, and the next biggest fish was forty cents. Some people wanted to bargain for Sanmao, but Jiang Yuan didn't agree. It was summer now, and there hadn't been any fish for days. The fish in the farm were very rare. This was the first day, and it was the freshest time. Therefore, even if he didn't reduce the price, he could still sell them.
In the end, the twenty fish were sold for a total of twenty-eight yuan and sixty-two cents.
When Gu Dong and Fu Jiu heard this number, they were very excited. When they saw the fish in the pond, they felt that each and every one of them was a living ancestor. They rubbed their hands together and expressed that they were going to do a big job.
On the first day, Jiang Yuan helped them. They didn't accept any payment from the two of them and gave them all the money from selling the fish. However, Gu Dong and Fu Jiu also knew that it was impossible for them to do this for a long time.
That day, when Gu Dong and the Ai Cao were having lunch, he casually mentioned this matter to the Ai Cao.
"He and Zhuang Yan have helped us so much. We definitely can't let them do this for us for free. How about we give him a salary? "The Ai Cao suggested.
"I've talked to Fu Jiu about this before. But how much should we give him? Also, you know that Jiang Yuan doesn't look like someone who can work for others for a long time. "
Gu Dong felt that if Jiang Yuan was really willing to take a salary to help them sell the fish, he should have accepted it when Fu Jiu gave him one RMB for his hard work. But he didn't.
Currently, there were regular workers in their county paper factory who didn't even earn twenty RMB a month. If they were offered one RMB, even if they offered fifty cents, there would still be many people willing to help them sell the fish.
The one RMB that Fu Jiu gave to Jiang Yuan yesterday wasn't a small amount. But Jiang Yuan didn't accept it. He must have other ideas.
The Ai Cao lowered his head and thought for a while before saying: "You guys can't go out in the morning and can't make it to the morning market. Also, Jiang Yuan is smart and knows a lot of people. He's also very tactful. It's best to get him to help. "
"I know. That's why Fu Jiu and I are still discussing if we should talk to him when we deliver the fish tomorrow. We'll see if he wants to join us. When the time comes, we'll split the money equally between the three of us."
"Actually, there's another way. Just like when we sold the wild vegetables, we'll sell the fish directly to Jiang Yuan for one price. As for how much he sells it for, it has nothing to do with you guys."
The first way was that they would share the profits and risks. The second way was that he and Fu Jiu might earn less, but the risks were smaller. Jiang Yuan would take on a higher risk, but if he was smart, he would earn more.
Gu Dong went through these ideas in his head. After lunch, he went to Fu Jiu and went to the pool together.
The next day, the two of them planned to catch more fish. At the same time, they talked to Jiang Yuan about joining them. Jiang Yuan was very happy, but he didn't give them a definite answer immediately. Instead, he said that he would help them for a few days and see how things go.
It wasn't until five days later that Jiang Yuan talked to them again.
Originally, Fu Jiu felt that it would be better to get Jiang Yuan to join them and split the profits. But Jiang Yuan was more inclined to the second way, which was to sell the fish to him in one go.
"He sells Sanmao fish for half a catty, and he sells them for 50 cents for half a catty. He earns 20 cents for himself. The two of us can only earn Sanmao fish together. He earns 5 cents more than us for half a catty. Of course, he doesn't want to work together and split the profits equally. He's very smart!"
On the way back, Fu Jiu and Gu Dong complained. They felt that Jiang Yuan was smart and unkind. He didn't even treat them as friends.
They worked day and night to raise the fish, but they didn't even earn as much as he, a second-rate dealer, earned in less than half a day. They were very unhappy.
"30 fish a day. Even if it's Sanmao fish, we can at least earn around 20 fish a day. It's much better than nothing." Gu Dong comforted Fu Jiu.
"But if we sell them for 50 cents, we can earn even more!" Fu Jiu was getting angrier as he spoke.
"We can't sell our fish in Yuan Yuan, and no one in the county knows a reliable person. He's the most suitable person. Moreover, the price of meat fluctuates. When it's good, he can earn more. But when it's bad, if the price of fish drops to Sanmao or even 20 cents, according to the agreement, he will still buy our Sanmao fish. Also, there are different sizes of fish. He can't sell each fish for 50 cents. "
Gu Dong had thought about this before. Although the result was a little different from what he expected, and they didn't earn as much as they thought they would. Moreover, Jiang Yuan had changed from a friend to a business partner. But life was like this. After experiencing more, there was nothing unacceptable.
"The price of meat is about the same all year round. At most, the price of meat will rise again. We don't hear about the price of meat dropping more than a few times a year. 20 cents won't even appear." Although Fu Jiu was slightly persuaded by Gu Dong, he was still unhappy.
Seeing that Fu Jiu was still arguing, Gu Dong sighed. He looked at him seriously and said, "Have you thought about it? We only need to sell our fish to him once a day, and it's done in less than 10 minutes. If he sells so many fish, how long does he have to stay in the market? As time passes and the number of times increases, there might be more inspections. "
"Tsk!" When Fu Jiu heard Gu Dong's last sentence, he sucked in a breath of cold air.
He only cared about how much he earned. His brain was muddled by the money. How could he forget about this? Although this year's management was not as strict as last year, what they were doing was still shameful. If they were really caught, just thinking about the consequences made him break out in cold sweat.
"Forget it, forget it. Sanmao is already a lot. People should be content with what they have!" Fu Jiu waved his hand. This matter was considered over.
The sky was blue and the clouds were white. The sun was shining brightly in the sky. The cicadas outside the window were chirping non-stop. "Cicadas ~, cicadas ~ … …" The thick old locust trees and the tall young poplar trees had completely lost their spring vibe. They were all listless and dejected.
The weather in June was too hot. Even if they didn't do anything, their freshly washed faces would be covered in sweat. The back of their shirts had been dry the entire day.
The weather was hot and unbearable. It affected their mood and made them irritable and irritable.
Previously, when they went to work, there were cases of people fainting and suffering from heatstroke. Now, the entire team had stopped work.
Without work, Gu Dong and the rest were much more relaxed.
"It's too hot. You hide in the village and don't come out." Gu Dong looked at the Ai Cao. Her face was red from the heat and her forehead was covered in sweat. He told her to go to Zhuangzi.
"It's okay. I'll see if you can go in." The Ai Cao said that it was too hot outside. After feeding her lambs and pigs in Zhuangzi, she went to the lake to cool down for a while. She felt bored and came out.
"I'm not going in. Make a few fish baskets. I'll go to the pond later to take a look. The water level has been dropping for the past two days. I'm afraid that something will happen to our fish. "
"How many fish are left?" The Ai Cao asked with concern.
"There are a lot. Jiang Yuan only wants 30 fish a day. Now, he mainly wants about one catty of fish. Most of the fish are about three to four catties. We have to find a way to sell them."
They delivered the fish to Jiang Yuan for about seven to eight days. Jiang Yuan sent a message saying that the next time they deliver the fish, they have to pick the small ones.
This was because many people were willing to buy one fish for four to five cents. However, if they were to send two to four catties of fish, or even four to five catties of fish each time, many people would not be willing to pay. They would walk around, take a look, and then leave.
They had no choice but to send the small ones to Jiang Yuan.
There were at least 2,000 fish in the pond that weighed more than one catty. If they were to sell them in Jiang Yuan, they would be able to sell them out in about three months. However, the weather was hot now. The water level in the pond was dropping. Moreover, the small fish were growing bigger.
These fish could only be sold for money. Therefore, Gu Dong and Fu Jiu spent all day thinking of ways to sell them.
"How's Fu Jiu going to the black market in town to sell the fish?" The Ai Cao asked Gu Dong.
"It's not good. It's easy to meet people who know each other. It's okay to go there for one or two days. If you go there every day and bring a few fish, people will talk about it." Gu Dong frowned. They had tried this method before, but it did not work.
"Why don't we go to the city to take a look?" The Ai Cao suddenly suggested.
"Go to the city?" Gu Dong was surprised. He had not thought about it before. "Okay. This is an idea. Let's go back and discuss it."
In the afternoon, when Gu Dong and Fu Jiu went to the pond, Fu Jiu exclaimed as soon as they arrived.
"Dongzi! Hurry up. Is that fish upside down? "
Gu Dong looked in the direction Fu Jiu was pointing. Sure enough, he saw a big fish with its belly upside down floating in the water.
The fish was dead! Both of them were shocked and quickly ran over to take a look.
When they ran over, both of them were worried. Although there were less than 3000 fish in the pond, there were still around 2700 taels of silver. If something really happened to the fish, it would be a huge loss.
Both of them were almost scared to death. They walked to the edge of the pond and scooped up the dead fish to check the situation. Only then did they let out a long sigh of relief. However, the sweat on their foreheads did not disappear.
The water in this area was relatively shallow. In addition, the fish were entangled by the aquatic plants. When the sun rose, the temperature of the water here rose, causing the fish to die.
"We can't just rely on Jiang Yuan. In 14 days, we have sold less than 500 fish. Under normal circumstances, we can sell them slowly. But in this kind of weather, we have to sell them quickly!" Fu Jiu weighed the big fish in his hand. It was at least 1.5 Jin. It was a pity.
"I'll go to the city tomorrow!" Gu Dong thought of the Ai Cao's suggestion. Originally, he thought that the city was far away and they had no way to transport the fish. But now, it seemed that they could not wait any longer.
They were not the only ones who thought this way. Even Grandpa Gu came over in the evening and advised them to clear the pond and fish up as much fish as possible.
"This weather is not normal. In the past, there would be one or two heavy rains at this time of year. But now, there is not a single drop of rain. Moreover, this year's weather is not normal." Grandpa Gu chatted with a few elders in the village when he was herding the sheep in the afternoon. When they talked about this year's weather, all of them shook their heads.
Although they did not dare to say it, the elders had lived for a long time and had experienced a lot. They all felt that there might be a severe drought.
In the past, droughts occurred because there was no rain in spring, which affected the summer harvest. But today's weather was strange. In April, there was a continuous spring rain and in May, the weather was very hot. The conditions for the summer harvest were especially good. But in summer, there were supposed to be thunderstorms. But for half a month, every day was sunny and there were no dark clouds.
Because of Grandpa Gu's words, Gu Dong and Fu Jiu, who were already anxious, felt even more troubled. The next morning, Gu Dong woke up and took a bus to the county. Then, he took a bus to the city.
He was already surprised when he went to the county for the first time. He did not expect the city to be even bigger and more prosperous than the county. Everything was new.
However, Gu Dong was not in the mood to shop. He was here to find a way to sell fish. However, Gu Dong was unfamiliar with the place. He wandered around for the whole morning but did not find anything similar to the county's black market.
The sun was scorching at noon. Gu Dong's mouth was dry from the heat. He had no choice but to find a state-run restaurant to eat first.
It was lunchtime now. The state-run restaurant in the city was much more lively than the county. There were at least five or six tables of customers in the lobby. As soon as Gu Dong entered, he was attracted by the conspicuous words "cold noodles" on the wall.
"Comrade, what do you want to eat? Do you want rice or noodles? Our chef recently made cold noodles that are delicious. It's not cheap. Do you want to try it? " The waiter saw that Gu Dong did not dress like a city person, but his attitude did not show any neglect. He only focused on recommending the delicious and inexpensive cold noodles to Gu Dong.
After heating up for the whole morning, Gu Dong wanted to try the cold noodles. However, he hesitated when he saw the menu on the wall.
"How much do you charge for your braised carp and stewed fish soup?" Gu Dong looked at the two fish-related dishes on the menu and asked the waiter.
The waiter did not expect Gu Dong to ask such a question. After a moment of surprise, he immediately smiled and said, "Braised Carp Eight Hairs and Stewed Fish Soup Sanmao."
"One braised fish, one fish soup, and two or three rice," Gu Dong said as he took out his food coupon to pay.
"Okay. Please take a seat here and wait for a while." The waiter led Gu Dong to an empty table. After he sat down, he went to order the dishes.
After the waiter left, Gu Dong looked around and found that there seemed to be an argument at a table not far away. He listened carefully and found out that it was the waiter and the customer arguing.
Gu Dong glanced at it and did not look again. However, he thought that the male waiter who served him just now had a good attitude.
After waiting for about half an hour, Gu Dong's dishes were served. He tasted two mouthfuls. The braised carp was still fresh. As for the fish soup, it was not as good.
Gu Dong had a rough idea of what was going on. He began to eat seriously. When he saw the table next to him shouting for cold beer, Gu Dong asked for a bowl of beer for himself.
Before he left, Gu Dong asked the waiter where the fish in the restaurant were bought. After chatting for a while, he found out that the seafood in the restaurant was all distributed by the grain and meat department. However, occasionally, there was a shortage, so the restaurant would send people to Liangdaokou Market to buy some.
"Liangdaokou Market." Gu Dong remembered this sentence. After he left the restaurant, he asked around. After turning left and right, he finally arrived at the so-called Liangdaokou Market after a long time under the sun.
There were people watching over the market. There were only a few stalls, but there were many people in front of each stall. Gu Dong went in and looked around. He found that most of the things were sent by the nearby farmers. However, the people who took over the reselling were all under the banner of the state government. Moreover, the things they sold were much more expensive than those provided by the supply and marketing cooperative.
For example, pork. Originally, it was 80 cents with meat coupons. But here, it was 1.21 yuan and 1.30 yuan. It was all because no coupons were needed!
Gu Dong pondered. This was basically collecting the scattered chicken, duck, fish, and meat from the farmers and then classifying them before selling them.
After waiting for a long time, Gu Dong finally found the seafood stall. There were not so many people in front of it. He went over and asked them how to buy the fish.
"Comrade, I just saw that you guys are buying fish. Can you tell me how to buy the fish?"
"Fish over half a catty are sold for 40 cents. Fish under half a catty are not accepted. You can't send less than 1.5 catties at a time. Why? Do you want to sell them? "The staff at the stall spoke bluntly.
Gu Dong ignored her attitude. He only felt that it was really the same! Then their fish would be able to make a lot of money!
"Comrade, how much do you accept here?" Gu Dong continued to ask nicely.
"Ha, how much do you have? You look like you are from the countryside. Can you send over 25 catties at a time? "When the staff finished speaking, the people at the nearby stalls all laughed loudly.
In their opinion, it was already good enough for a poor countryside person to send over 20 catties at a time. 25 catties? Dream on. Which river could he get 25 catties at a time? That would be a joke.
Gu Dong smiled bitterly and did not say anything.
Although he could send over 25 catties at a time, what reason did he have to find? He had 2,000 fish. Many of them weighed up to 2,500 catties. However, at this time, everything was rationed. If he took them out, not only would he not be envied, he would only be caught and liquidated.
When Gu Dong came, he was not confident. When he left, he was also dejected and listless.
They had too many fish. Unless they found the black market and found someone like Jiang Yuan who was willing to accept their fish.
Otherwise, even if they found the black market, he and Fu Jiu would not be able to send the fish over every day to sell them. This was because the village was half an hour away from the town. It took an hour and a half to drive from the town to the county, and it took nearly two hours to travel from the county to the city.
With this kind of time and distance, even if the fish did not die, the morning market would be over by the time they brought the fish over.
They could see the market at Liangdaokou, but they could not sell them. Not only did they not find the black market, but it was also not practical to sell them. After running around for an entire day, Gu Dong felt a headache coming on when he returned.
Moreover, when he walked to the entrance of the village, he heard the crackling of firecrackers in the village. His heart suddenly trembled.
Other than during festivals, the village did not make firecrackers unless there was a wedding or funeral. However, he had not heard of anyone in the village getting married recently, nor did he hear of any family having children.
He quickened his pace and followed to the crossroads in the village. He saw a group of people standing there. When he walked over to ask, he found out that Third Great-Grandfather Yang had died. Moreover, he had died of heat.
What terrible weather!
Gu Dong felt very uncomfortable. Although he called Third Great-Grandfather Yang, he was about the same age as his grandfather. He was not even seventy years old yet.
Originally, Gu Dong should have gone home. Instead, he went directly to the straw hut in the cowshed where his grandfather lived.
It was already evening, but there was no one in Grandfather Gu's house. At this time, the sun was setting and the weather was a bit chilly.
Gu Dong guessed that his grandfather should still be herding the sheep. However, because of Third Great-Grandfather Yang's death, he would feel uncomfortable if he did not look at him.
Gu Dong turned around and went out. He decided to pass by the entrance of the house and let Ai Cao know. After going to the mountains to find his grandfather, he still had to go to the pond. He did not know how long he would be busy. He was afraid that she would not see him and think that he had not returned from the city and would be worried at home.
"Cao 'er! Cao 'er! "As soon as Gu Dong entered the house, he picked up the cup of water on the table and drank the cold water inside in one gulp. He called out to Ai Cao.
Ai Cao saw that the weather was not very hot at this time, so she was pulling weeds from the vegetable field behind the house. When she heard Gu Dong calling her, she immediately ran back.
"You're back!" Ai Cao was very happy. When she saw Gu Dong, she had a smile on her face.
Seeing his wife's happy smile, Gu Dong's heart, which had been feeling uncomfortable, finally felt a bit better.
"Yes, I'm back. However, I need to go to the mountains. I might be busy for a while. Don't worry, I'll be back as soon as I'm done." Gu Dong said as he walked out.
Ai Cao saw that he was in a hurry and was afraid that she would delay his work, so she did not ask any more questions. She only ran into the house to get him a straw hat and a water bottle. "Bring the hat and water bottle. It's still hot."
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