My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 173: Death
"Harvest peanuts!"

"Harvesting peanuts and buying soybeans!"

When Chen Ling arrived at the threshing ground, a grain dealer slowly rode his bicycle from the direction of the primary school, calling out in a long, drawn-out tune as he went.

So he stopped and asked, "What's the price of peanuts and soybeans?"

The grain dealer was a thin, dark-skinned old man with rolled-up trousers and a wrinkled face. When he asked about the price, the dealer stopped his cart with his legs apart and first looked curiously at the prey hanging on his body and the two dogs following him.

He then replied, "Last year's peanuts were 1.2 or 1.3 yuan, and this year's new ones are 2.5 or 2.6 yuan..."

"Soybeans are uniformly 15 cents more expensive than peanuts."

Chen Ling laughed upon hearing this: "The price you're offering is a bit too cheap. I just went to the market a couple of days ago, and soybeans were almost three yuan each."

"They do sell them for three yuan, but that's only from big oil mills that buy the best beans. The price depends on what kind of beans they are..."

The grain merchant nodded and then asked, "How many soybeans do you have?"

Chen Ling said, "The peanuts and soybeans together cover more than five mu of land..."

"Wow, more than five mu!"

The grain dealer was immediately delighted, his face beaming with joy.

This year there's less stock, so they'll buy even small quantities, like ten or twenty kilograms. They collect bits and pieces every day, and little by little, they can make a considerable amount of money.

Chen Ling came in with more than five acres of land right away; that's a rare and big deal.

do not miss it.

"Want to sell, bro?"

"Sell it! Come to my house and have a look. If you offer a reasonable price, I'll let you take it."

"No problem, as long as the quality is good, the price is negotiable."

When Chen Ling returned home with the grain dealer, Wang Susu and several women holding babies were sitting in the yard, chatting as they pounded soybeans. When they saw Chen Ling leading the strange man back, they looked over in confusion.

After learning that it was a grain dealer, Zhang Qiaoling said, "We heard the shouting just now, and we even asked Susu. Susu said that once it's all dried, if you want to send it to the oil mill in the city, the price will be higher. Will the dealers in the village be willing to pay that price?"

Indeed, most grain dealers make money by profiting from price differences and by working hard.

Their prices are generally lower than those offered by oil mills.

Zhang Qiaoling said this on purpose to set a precedent, so that the grain dealer wouldn't try to rip people off by lowering the price.

Sure enough, before Chen Ling could speak, the grain dealer became unhappy and shouted back, "You woman, you're talking nonsense! What's wrong with an oil mill? Our business is no smaller than the oil mills in the county town. Our tractors are parked right on the dam at the entrance of your village. A full load of our tractors is worth several thousand yuan. Don't look down on us."

Hearing this, Zhang Qiaoling didn't argue with him. She just pouted and said, "Why don't you take a look at the items first and give me a price? If the price is right, no one will say anything to you."

Then he turned to Chen Ling and laughed, "Fu Gui went hunting geese? I have to say, you're quite capable. They've been busy for a while and haven't caught many, but you've caught so many in just half a day. Enough to eat for several days..."

The other women also joined in the praise, finding it quite rare.

Chen Ling smiled and agreed, put down the prey hanging on his body and handed it to Wang Susu, then picked up Da Tou, who had run over and was stretching out his little arms to him, and led the grain dealer to the warehouse to check the goods.

Inside are some things that have been pounded, sifted, and packed up in the past few days.

"The peanuts are still a bit damp. Let's look at the soybeans first. The soybeans are already hard and crackling. Anyway, they're all good stuff, so they can't be bad."

Chen Ling opened the snakeskin bag, grabbed a handful of food, and handed it to him.

The grain merchant took it, opened his hand to look at it, threw two grains into his mouth, and chewed them vigorously.

"Hmm, not bad, thoroughly dried..."

"Let me see what's below."

As he spoke, he stretched out his arm and forcefully shoved it into the bag, pulling out two handfuls of kernels. He first checked their quality, then popped a few into his mouth, chewed them, and savored the taste once more.

This is because they're afraid it might contain last year's stale soybeans.

"How's it going?"

After he finished reading, Chen Ling asked.

Upon hearing this, the vendor retorted, "Are the rest of the bags filled with the same thing?"

"Don't worry, it's the same thing."

"If you don't like it, go outside and take a look. My wife just hammered some out. Put them together and compare..."

Chen Ling said.

The grain dealer was cautious, so he went outside to take another look.

"Okay, here's two dollars and ninety-five cents for the soybeans."

After looking at it, the grain dealer pondered for a few seconds, then looked at Chen Ling and said, "This is basically the price you'll get if you take it to the oil mill. Since you have a lot of goods, I won't lie to you; I'll give you the absolute best price. That way, we can both be more straightforward..."

"If you think it'll work, I'll also take a look at the peanuts. A little damp is fine; I'll pack them up for you in one trip."

"Row."

Chen Ling readily nodded in agreement.

Sending it to the oil mill might get you a slightly higher price, but it would only be a few cents less, saving you the trouble of figuring it out yourself.

Moreover, even if I tidy up the land of five acres, I still can't finish transporting all the produce in one or two trips.

Afterwards, he took the grain dealer to inspect the peanuts and set a price. Although the peanuts were slightly damp, they would dry in about two days. Chen Ling originally planned to have the dealer wait two days until the peanuts were completely dry before packing them.

He was in a hurry, so he offered 2.8 yuan and wanted to pack everything up and take it all today.

"Don't worry, we'll crush and bag the peanuts and beans. My brother and I are very strong, you don't need to lift a finger."

This guy made Chen Ling repeatedly marvel at how hard they were working.

They probably didn't want to wait even two more days because they were afraid their competitors would snatch it up.

fair enough.

Otherwise, the yard would be full of these things every day, and I would have to watch the chickens, ducks, and nearby birds all the time to watch them ruin them. Selling them as soon as possible would save me some trouble.

"Isn't this price a good deal compared to the price at the oil mill?"

After seeing off the women, Wang Susu asked.

"It's not a loss, the difference isn't that much. We wouldn't make much money at this price here, so I guess it's not being delivered to our county's oil mills..."

Chen Ling said.

Actually, Chen Ling's brother-in-law, Wang Susu's second brother Wang Qingzhong, was a grain dealer. Otherwise, Wang Qingwen wouldn't have mentioned that there was a lot of grain stored in the mountain granaries when he came.

Those grains were what Wang Qingzhong had hoarded during his daily business dealings.

Grain dealers like them profit from price differences, but this profit can be categorized into three types:

One factor is regional price differences. For example, if there are large oil mills or factories in neighboring counties, the local county can buy them at a low price and sell them elsewhere. If you're lucky, you can make a difference of two or three cents. If you can transport a thousand kilograms in one trip, you can make a gross profit of two or three hundred yuan, which is pretty good.

Secondly, there's the seasonal price difference. People like Wang Qingzhong buy low during peak season, stock up, and sell high during off-season.

Thirdly, there is the issue of quality differences in prices. Dealers deliberately undervalue grain and buy it at low prices in the countryside, then sell it at high prices. Alternatively, they may mix old grain with high-quality new grain to pass it off as high-quality grain.

Most grain dealers these days come from grain purchasing stations and are very shrewd.

A few years ago, the country carried out reforms to the grain circulation system, and a large number of people in local grain departments "voluntarily laid off." These people transformed from employees into grain dealers.

But many of their connections remain, and they have a clearer understanding of price information than even the most down-on-their-luck villagers.

They frequently exploit information asymmetry to make a lot of money.

The last time my brother-in-law, Wang Qingwen, came to our house, I wanted to give him some advice. If all else failed, he could become a grain dealer. After all, buying grain here is much easier than in the mountains. As long as he doesn't make any mistakes, once he gets the hang of the business, he can at least support his family. "Um..."

"Uncle, Uncle, that..."

The peddler rode his bike to the village entrance to call for people, when Da Tou suddenly ran over again, pulled Chen Ling outside, and pointed to the peanut vines piled up next to the woodpile.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that there was a small creature rubbing its wings on the pile of vines, making a hoarse cry.

Chen Ling laughed: "Oh dear, it's a cricket. Uncle will catch it for you."

In autumn, there are many crickets in the peanut and millet fields. Every year when harvesting millet and peanuts, we can catch a lot and string them together with straw. After finishing our work, we sit on the edge of the field, light a fire, and roast them. They smell delicious.

Sometimes when we bring them home, they'll bring one or two along with the vines. If you're not looking, they'll climb all over the yard, and you can hear them chirping in the trees and on the grape trellis at night.

However, because these crops were harvested late this year, there are fewer crickets. This one is an old cricket with a bluish face and a dark body. It doesn't shy away when people get close and seems to react very slowly.

Chen Ling reached out and grabbed it in his hand, pinching the grasshopper by the back of its neck and handing it to the little boy: "Here, hold on tight, I'll let you have it with your wine when we get back."

"Feed the scorpion, Uncle, go feed the scorpion..."

Big Head tilted his head back, his clear black and white eyes staring at him, and pointed a small hand into the yard.

"Alright, alright, let's feed it to the scorpion tiger then."

Chen Ling then told him to take the cricket and carried him to the hole in the peach tree in the yard, so that he could feed the scorpion.

"Scorpion tiger" is actually a colloquial term for gecko, also known as "scorpion tiger worm".

Ever since Chen Ling caught two extra-large geckos and kept them in a tree hole, the little boy always asks his parents to carry him over to see them whenever he comes to the house.

Moreover, he would watch for most of the day, making Wang Jusheng and Zhang Qiaoling doze off. Every time, they had to coax and trick him, and it took a lot of effort to get him home.

Now, he held the cricket in his little hand and handed it to the entrance of the hole. The old cricket was quickly swallowed by a gecko, which carried it back to the tree hole and crunched away with its companions. In no time, only the thighs and wings were left.

The little boy stared intently until the two geckos had completely swallowed the grasshopper. Then he turned his head, grinned, and showed Chen Ling his incomplete baby teeth, clapping his little hands and giggling incessantly.

When he was having fun, he got down from Chen Ling's arms, pulled down his open-crotch pants, and started peeing into the hole in the peach tree.

"Good heavens, whose naughty boy is this? I'll cut off his calf..."

But Zhang Qiaoling saw that his family had a lot of grain, so she went home and called Wang Jusheng over.

As Wang Jusheng was playing with his son, the grain dealer's tractor arrived.

"Oh, sister-in-law, why did I wake you up? You just finished your night shift, go back and get some sleep. I just shot a few geese, so come over for a drink tonight after you've rested up..."

"Haha, your sister-in-law didn't tell me this. I should have brought you two bottles of wine. My third aunt in the city gave me a pot of old wine, it's really good."

"Wait a minute, I'll go back and get it first. I can bring some after I finish my work."

"There's not much work to do today. My sister-in-law just remembered to call you when she got home. Didn't she hear the grain dealer say that we don't need to worry about it today? They can load the grain drying on the ground onto the tractor themselves. I can just carry the soybeans out of the warehouse, about ten bags, by myself."

"Oh? Is that so? That's alright then. I slept for half the day and I'm not really sleepy. The three of us can keep an eye on them for you so they don't cause any trouble."

Just then, the grain merchant brought a burly middle-aged man into the courtyard. The man was carrying a bundle of snakeskin bags and a large steelyard scale. When they arrived, he casually threw both items on the ground.

Then he said a few words to Chen Ling, asking him to tidy up the other clutter in the yard so that the tractor could be backed in.

"Sister-in-law, why don't you take Datou and Susu inside to rest? It'll be very dirty here later."

After giving some instructions, Chen Ling tidied up the clutter and had the two men back the tractor into the yard.

A slightly worn tractor rattled along, its cargo bed modified to be thick and long, looking quite sturdy.

After parking in the yard, Chen Ling went back to the house to carry soybeans. The soybeans were packed evenly into burlap sacks, each weighing about 120 jin (60 kg).

Chen Ling carried out two bags, and the grain dealer tied them together with a rope, hooked the rope with the iron hook of the steelyard, lifted them up to weigh them, while Wang Jusheng kept track of the weight.

After the soybeans were weighed, there was no rush to load them into the truck bed.

Two grain dealers unloaded the tractor's trailer, turned the tractor's cab around, and ran it over the soybean stalks.

That way, all the soybeans were processed very quickly.

Peanuts were a bit more troublesome, but the two grain dealers worked quickly, and with Chen Ling and the others helping out from time to time, they finished before 2 p.m.

In the end, the soybeans and peanuts together brought in nearly ten thousand yuan.

This guy is incredible! He shocked Wang Jusheng and his wife so much that they were speechless for a long time. They knew that the last time the red eel was worth more than 10,000 yuan. Only half a year has passed, and it's worth another 10,000 yuan. In addition, the villagers have been talking about how much money Chen Ling has made from selling vegetables. When they did the math, the two of them were completely dumbfounded.

I thought to myself, "When did money become so easy to make?"
It's like it was blown in by a strong wind.

Fortunately, the grain dealer didn't carry that much cash with him when he went out, just to be on the safe side.

Otherwise, seeing so much money all at once, the two of them probably wouldn't dare to stay here any longer.

In the afternoon, Chen Ling returned from the county town with his bankbook.

Wang Susu was also overjoyed.

She felt that now she could afford to raise two more sons.

He pulled Zhang Qiaoling into the kitchen to slaughter the geese.

The two of them worked together to pluck the feathers, gut, and clean the goose, leaving the rest to Chen Ling.

I'm happy to have made money today.

We ate braised goose in an iron pot with cornbread.

As the saying goes, "I'd rather eat two ounces of bird than half a pound of beast."

Those who know how to eat well know that the less meat a dish has, the more delicious it tastes.

Especially those that fly in the sky, their bodies are all lean meat, and whether stewed, braised, stewed, or roasted, they taste incredibly delicious.

Just like this goose today, stewed in an iron pot over a wood fire, the goose meat is tender, delicious, fragrant, and firm after cooking. When stewed for the right amount of time, it is filled with a rich and fragrant broth, and even the bones are soft and tender when you bite into it.

It's so comforting to drink it with mellow old wine.

By this time, the flatbreads and cornbreads that had been placed on the stove had also absorbed the soup. The steaming hot flatbreads were picked out with chopsticks, and after drinking the wine, eating one warmed the stomach and gave a real sense of satisfaction, making people want to shout that it was so delicious.

"Auntie, I'm hungry, I want more..."

Big Head stretched out his greasy little hands and shouted at Wang Susu.

Wang Susu had already torn the meat into small strips for him, and then handed him a piece.

"Susu, ignore him, you just eat..."

"It's alright, sister-in-law, I'll be finished eating soon."

Two women stood guard beside the baby.

Chen Ling and Wang Jusheng drank and chatted. Although the two families often visited each other, it had been a long time since they had sat down to eat together.

This time it was a lively affair, and we ate until dark.

After seeing the family off, Chen Ling, having drunk some alcohol, went to bed early with his wife.

What was unexpected was...

Around 2 a.m., just as he was lost in a sweet dream, someone came to his house to call him.

They are brothers Chen Ze and Chen Jiang.

"Fugui, Fourth Grandmother is dying, let's go together."

(End of this chapter)