dognovel Chapter 32 Ophiopogon japonicus really has gone up in price.
Chapter 32 Ophiopogon japonicus really has gone up in price.
"Okay!"
Mr. Xu nodded without saying anything more.
Seeing this, Xu Chunsheng simply smiled. His father's choice to believe in him and his silent support and cooperation warmed his heart.
"Dad, I think it's about time. Stop digging. We can just cut these up and take them back."
After an unknown amount of time, Xu Chunsheng turned around and looked at his father, placing the basket full of Ophiopogon japonicus on the ground.
Mr. Xu looked up at the sky; the sun was indeed already setting, and the shaded side was no longer receiving any sunlight. He said with some surprise:
"Huh? So fast?"
"Your mom and the others have probably already picked several sacks of corn; they need to hurry back."
After saying that, Xu's father put down his hoe and joined Xu Chunsheng in cutting the ophiopogon japonicus. He asked with some doubt:
"Don't you think they're not as big as the first ones you dug up? Do you think these will weigh seven or eight pounds after you've finished them?"
Xu's father thought that the two of them working together would be able to dig more, but to his surprise, after three or four hours, they hadn't dug as much as Xu Chunsheng had done by himself.
"Wild Ophiopogon japonicus is naturally small, and the new roots haven't grown properly yet. We only prune the old roots, so it's normal for it to be small."
Xu Chunsheng comforted his father, explaining that he had also gone into the mountains to dig up Ophiopogon japonicus several times along the way. At first, he would pick the new roots along with the roots, but after drying them, the new medicinal roots turned into dregs, and that's when he realized that the new roots that hadn't grown were useless.
The dug-up Ophiopogon japonicus was dried and sold twice. Both times, Xu Chunsheng had his third brother take it to the county town, where Li Da collected it. However, both times it was sold at the normal price for wild Ophiopogon japonicus.
Xu Chunsheng knew that the price of Ophiopogon japonicus would rise, but judging from the two times Li Da bought Ophiopogon japonicus, as well as the prices he learned from his third brother in the county town and in the town, it seemed that Li Da's previous behavior of buying Ophiopogon japonicus at a "high price" was a facade.
This made Xu Chunsheng take out the document several times to look at it, as if only in this way could he relieve his anxiety.
This feeling is like traveling back in time, knowing full well that German football will win the championship, but not being able to remember which year it was—that kind of certainty about the outcome, yet enduring the agony of waiting.
The two hurried home, put their things down, and prepared to go to the thatched hut to get an empty basket to carry corn from the field.
Then Xu Yaomei came out of the kitchen carrying a teacup, her face still streaked with cigarette ash, but she didn't seem to notice it at all. She chattered away:
"Dad, brother, big sister just carried some back. She told you to go directly to the field to carry them, because there's no room for baskets at home."
Xu Chunsheng took the teacup that was handed to him, drank it all, and then asked her:
"Little kitten, what are you doing in the kitchen? Your face is all smeared!"
"My older sister even started steaming the rice and told me to watch the fire."
Xu Yaomei took the bowl; she was going to bring another bowl to her father so he could drink it directly when he came out of the thatched hut.
"Okay, then stay away from the fire and don't touch the pot. If you can't see any water in the pot, add a small bowl. When we come back, we'll check if the food is ready. Don't go looking, you might get burned."
Xu Yaomei nodded obediently, "Okay, I understand."
Seeing this, Xu Chunsheng felt relieved. He casually pulled a handkerchief from the bamboo pole, scooped up a ladle of water to wet it, wrung it out, and draped it around his neck.
This makes it much cooler while working, allows you to easily wipe the sweat from your face, and reduces the itching from corn dust on the back of your neck. It's an essential item for carrying corn in the summer.
Once it was past seven o'clock, the whole family worked together to gather the corn kernels that had been drying during the day under the eaves, covered them with a plastic sheet, and finally placed a heavy wooden board in the middle, with some hoes and baskets placed around the edges to weigh them down and prevent the plastic sheet from being blown away by the wind.
Taking advantage of this break, Xu Chunsheng's family quickly ate a couple of bites of dinner before starting a new battle – shelling corn.
Apart from Xu Sandi, who had gone to junior high school in the county town, the five members of the Xu family, young and old, sat on stools in the courtyard under the moonlight and began to husk corn.
Xu Chunsheng picked up two corn cobs from the ground and tossed them in his hand a couple of times, still feeling the residual heat from the scorching sun.
After a day of sun exposure, the corn cobs in the courtyard had lost some of their moisture, making threshing them much easier than when they were raw.
Xu Chunsheng held a corn cob in one hand, serrations facing serrations, and rubbed it back and forth with both hands, occasionally loosening his fingers and turning the corn around. The "crunch" sound of the corn falling off his hands traveled into his brain.
After rubbing his hands together a few times, Xu Chunsheng's palms began to turn red, accompanied by a burning and itchy feeling. After rubbing his hands together a few more times, Xu Chunsheng gave up on this "cheapest" method.
Seeing Xu Chunsheng stop, Xu Yaomei, who was standing nearby, greeted him warmly:
"Second brother, come to me, this is easy for me!"
Xu Chunsheng looked up and saw that Xu Yaomei and Xu Dage were sitting directly on the corn cobs. In front of them was a high stool that had been overturned, with a pair of worn-out rubber shoes upside down on the legs of the stool.
Sister Xu was holding a corn cob, placing it on the sole of her shoe, and rubbing it forward against the toothed grooves. Rows of corn kernels fell down with a clatter, much faster than Xu Chunsheng's hand-rubbing technique.
"Okay, then you go play somewhere else, I'll shred the corn."
"I don't want to play that. You help me make a cut, and I'll peel it off slowly with my hands."
Hearing Xu Yaomei's words, the whole family laughed heartily:
"Little sister, do you still have to work? You won't be able to get up for school tomorrow."
"Oh yeah, if you're so eager for school to start, it's not good to be late on the first day."
Amidst the teasing, Xu Yaomei stopped offering to help with the work and even started calling out to Xu Chunsheng:
"Second brother, could you help me fetch some water? I need to take a bath."
"it is good."
After rubbing the corn in his hands, Xu Chunsheng stood up, dusted himself off, and said to Xu Yaomei:
"Come on, I'll get you some water. Go and get your pajamas."
After saying that, Xu Chunsheng scooped up a ladle of cold water to rinse the bucket, then carried the bucket, which was more than half full, to the kitchen. He poured some hot water from the thermos into the bucket, then tested the water temperature with his hand. Only when he felt that the water was no longer cold did he carry it to the thatched hut.
"Little sister, come quick, the water's here."
Xu Chunsheng lit a bamboo pole and stuck it into a brick (a blue brick made of cement and fine stone powder, with two pits in the middle), and also lit some mugwort leaves to repel mosquitoes.
After finishing, Xu Chunsheng went out to continue husking the corn. As night deepened and the moon slowly climbed to the top of the sky, the corn cobs in the courtyard gradually decreased, and the family's voices gradually faded, with only the rustling sound of husking the corn remaining...
Under the moonlight, a red, white and blue checkered floral fabric lay quietly in the Xu family's courtyard. Occasionally, a breeze would blow through the corners, causing the fabric to rise and fall.
Xu Chunsheng pulled up a straw mat and lay down in the courtyard, looking at the stars in the sky, with the rustling of leaves and floral fabric in his ears. He didn't sleep all night.
To date, there are no signs of an increase in the price of Ophiopogon japonicus.
He clearly remembered that Ophiopogon japonicus was about to surge in price in his previous life, and he was hoping to make a fortune from it, perhaps even becoming a millionaire.
However, the price of Ophiopogon japonicus has not yet seen a significant increase, which makes him quite uneasy.
The next morning, without even having breakfast, he went straight to the brigade and called Li Da again.
The Li family installed a landline a while ago, so now Xu Chunsheng doesn't have to rely on luck to contact him; he can just call his house directly.
"Hey, who is this? Oh, it's Brother Chunsheng!"
"You asked about the price of Ophiopogon japonicus?"
"I was just about to tell you, the price of Ophiopogon japonicus is really going up! People in the county are already secretly buying it up. By the way, how's your Ophiopogon japonicus growing?"