Era: My backyard is the garbage dump of the universe

Chapter 355 Uncle, I'll Treat You
"Yes, you guessed right." Lei Zhengxing confirmed.

"But why did they drive up the price of locusts to one or two yuan per pound? Wouldn't it be better to have two or three cents per pound?" Dong Sifang asked.

"Mr. Nie and Qingsong have no choice. According to their leaders, they originally set the purchase price of locusts at 8 cents to 10 cents per pound. But now a lot of foreign capital has poured in to participate in the purchase of locusts, raising the price instantly. They have no choice." Lei Zhengxing whispered everything he knew.

"What did you say?" Dong Sifang's eyes widened. "Foreign capital has participated? These foreign capitals don't refer to the Dongtian family and the Zhao family, right?"

"Smart." Lei Zhengxing smiled and said, "To put it in understandable terms, Qingsong used the locust plague to make a big move and tricked the Zhao family, Dongtian family, Qin family and other greedy foreign investors into it."

"Then... can he control this situation?" Dong Sifang took a breath and became more and more frightened the more he thought about it.

"Why can't we control it? Don't forget, Qingsong didn't invite these foreign investors to buy the locusts. They were greedy and wanted to get involved." Lei Zhengxing reminded: "Let's not talk about it anymore. I also have to advertise the purchase of locusts to attract more foreign investors to Dayu City."

“You may not know this, but in just one day, the amount of funds deposited into major banks in Dayu City increased by more than 10 million.”

"What we need to do now is to keep this money in Dayu City and benefit the people of Dayu City."

"Then I'll go and help you too." Dong Sifang said, and walked out of the office with Lei Zhengxing.

……

Around three o'clock in the afternoon.

Liu Qingsong had just woken up from his nap when the door curtain was lifted by Xiao Nuomi.

Xiao Nuomi carried a large sack of captured locusts on his shoulders, and following behind him were Yaomei, Xiao Taoqi, Wang Ba, Pangdun, Jin Yutou, and Ye Xiaoxiao, each of whom carried a sack of different sizes.

Their faces were all tanned at this time, but each of them had a happy smile.

After Xiao Nuomi put a sack of locusts on the ground, he said to Liu Qingsong: "Uncle, uncle... Hurry up and take me to the supply and marketing cooperative to sell the locusts. I... I can't even put them in this sack!"

"Brother, I want to go too." Xiao Taoqi agreed.

"And me." Wang Ba followed.

"Okay! Okay!" Liu Qingsong had no choice but to get up and take the children to the military jeep parked in the threshing ground. After saying something to the patrolling Ye family members, he drove the children and the locusts to the supply and marketing cooperative in the market.

What Liu Qingsong didn't expect was that there was a long queue at the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative in the market. There were at least several hundred villagers queuing up to sell the locusts they caught.

The reason why it is so popular is obviously because the purchase price of locusts at the market has driven everyone crazy.

But Liu Qingsong didn't want to queue, so after thinking about it, he drove a military jeep to the pharmacy in the urban area.

After all, in addition to the supply and marketing cooperatives, major drugstores in the city also purchase locusts.

Compared with the market, there are far fewer locusts for sale in the city's pharmacies.

Some drugstores don’t even have a single locust for sale.

Seeing this, Liu Qingsong immediately stopped the military jeep on the side of the road, and then walked into the pharmacy with the children carrying sacks.

When I asked about the purchase price of locusts, I found out that it had increased from a few cents per pound to one yuan and twenty cents.

Of course, the prerequisite is to collect the locusts in Dayu City.

Liu Qingsong opened the sack and let the boss check it. After making sure there was no problem, he sold them all.

After the children got the money, they all cheered.

The reason for cheering was that Xiao Nuomi sold the locusts he caught this afternoon for 86 yuan, his youngest sister sold for 79 yuan, and the other children sold no less than 50 yuan.

I made so much money all of a sudden, it would be a lie to say I wasn’t happy.

"Uncle, let's go! Let's go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy popsicles. I...I'll treat you." Little Nuomi raised the money in his hand and said happily.

"Okay! Okay!" Liu Qingsong agreed with a smile. He asked the children to collect the money and drove the military jeep to the supply and marketing cooperative.

After buying popsicles, twisted dough sticks, milk candies and other snacks, he took the children to the Dongfanghong Farmers Market for a stroll before returning home.

When I got home, it was already past five in the afternoon.

Liu Qingsong returned the keys of the military jeep to the Ye family and was about to go to the kitchen to cook when Liu Chunhua came up to him with a smile: "Xiao Nuomi, how much did you sell the locusts for today?"

"Mom, what...what do you want to do?" Little Nuomi quickly protected the things in the sack.

"What do you think?" Liu Chunhua asked back, "Shouldn't you hand over your money?"

"I...I won't hand it over. I earned this with great effort!" Little Nuomi became anxious when he heard that. After carrying the sack on his shoulders, he ran away with his short legs.

Seeing this, the youngest sister, the little rascal, Wang Ba and other children hurriedly followed behind.

Liu Chunhua wanted to chase after her, but Liu Qingsong stopped her with his hand: "Sister, it's not easy for Xiao Nuomi to make some money, so please stop making things difficult for her."

"But are you comfortable with her carrying so much money?" Liu Chunhua asked back.

If you lose it, it will be too late to regret.

"What's there to worry about? We are not like before when we couldn't even get enough food to eat. The children should have some pocket money." Liu Qingsong replied earnestly, "Besides, do you have the heart to discourage Xiao Nuomi's enthusiasm for making money?"

"Of course I can't bear it, but the problem is..." Liu Qingsong interrupted Liu Lijuan before she finished her words: "It's okay, as long as Xiao Nuomi is happy."

"Besides, even if you want Xiao Nuomi to hand over the money, he has to be willing to do it, right? Forcing him like this won't work."

"Okay! I'll listen to you." Liu Chunhua smiled bitterly: "Tomorrow I will also go catch grasshoppers and sell them. This is very profitable. I heard from Aunt Li that their family made nearly two hundred today."

"Then aren't you afraid of getting the baby in your belly tanned?" Liu Qingsong asked teasingly.

"This..." Liu Chunhua hesitated.

"Sister, your brother-in-law has made so much money on the battlefield now, you should just stay at home and take good care of your baby and don't bother yourself. If something happens, can you afford the responsibility?" Liu Qingsong reminded her again earnestly.

"Okay, then I won't go." Liu Chunhua glanced at the sky, turned around and went into the kitchen to cook.

Liu Qingsong followed behind.

Half an hour later, a hearty meal was ready.

Liu Qingsong was just about to bring the food to the eight-immortals table when the tanned Li Fenfen and her daughter Li Bayi appeared, carrying a beehive on their backs.

Li Bayi looked very haggard at this time, with a bloody scar on his forehead. Seeing that Liu Qingsong was having dinner, he couldn't help but ask, "Qingsong, have you cooked my dinner?"

"I'm done. Feel free to eat as much as you want. If it's not enough, I can go to the kitchen to make some more noodles." Liu Qingsong replied softly.

This high EQ answer made Li Bayi somewhat happy: "It's good that you've done it. I haven't eaten for a whole day. Fenfen, put down the beehive quickly and sit down to have a drink with Dad."

"Oh!" Li Fenfen nodded repeatedly.

Because of the tan, he didn't even dare to look at Liu Qingsong.

Liu Qingsong guessed what Li Fenfen was thinking, so he didn't greet Li Fenfen, but asked Li Bayi: "What's wrong with your forehead? Did you fight with someone again?"

"Oh! Don't mention it. It's all about the water in the rice fields. But we don't have to worry about it now." Li Bayi sighed.

"Why not?" Liu Qingsong wondered.

"Because the seedlings in the rice fields have all died, they can't be saved even if it rains." Li Fenfen replied softly.

"No way?" Liu Qingsong was shocked.

If that is the case, then this year’s drought seems to be much more serious than before my rebirth!
"Why would I lie to you?" Li Fenfen moved a chair and sat down: "I discussed it with my dad and felt that this wouldn't work, so I came to find you."

"Even if you come to me, I can't solve the drought problem!" Liu Qingsong reminded.

"We didn't ask you to solve it. Instead, we wanted you to follow your second sister to the medicine market to buy mountain products. This way, we can at least earn money to buy food." Li Bayi replied softly.

"Is that so?" Liu Qingsong nodded. After thinking for a while, he said, "The weather is so hot right now. I think you should not travel a long distance to the medicine market to buy mountain products. Go catch locusts instead! The supply and marketing cooperatives and major medicine stores are buying locusts for more than one yuan per pound now!"

"As long as you are willing to work hard, it will be no problem to earn one or two hundred yuan a day."

"Are...are you sure?" Li Bayi widened his eyes.

Li Fenfen was also a little surprised.

Locusts cost more than one yuan per pound. Did she hear it right?

"Of course I'm sure." Liu Qingsong replied with a smile. Just as he was about to explain in detail, Xiao Nuomi, sweating profusely, came back carrying half a bag of locusts.

Behind Xiao Nuomi are other children including Yaomei, Xiao Taoqi and others.

They also carried sacks on their shoulders, which were also filled with locusts.

Among them, Xiao Nuomi opened the sack and approached Liu Qingsong and asked, "Uncle, I just caught several kilograms of grasshoppers from the reeds by the Diaozi River. Can I take them to the supply and marketing cooperative to sell them later?"

"Third brother, we caught quite a few of them." The youngest sister agreed.

"I also caught two kilograms of grasshoppers." Little Taoqi also said. "We only caught this much, how about selling them tomorrow morning?" Liu Qingsong smiled and said, "Forget it today, go wash your hands and eat."

"Then... can it be sold tomorrow?" Little Nuomi asked in a baby voice.

Children including Xiao Taoqi, Yaomei, Wang Ba and others also looked at Liu Qingsong.

They are afraid that they won’t be able to sell it tomorrow, and then all their work this afternoon will be in vain.

"It will definitely sell." Liu Qingsong replied confidently, "And judging by the trend, the price will go up."

After all, the more locusts are caught in Dayu City, the fewer there are, but the more people are buying them.

"We'll sell them tomorrow morning." When Xiao Nuomi saw Liu Chunhua bringing his favorite braised pork, he cheered and then took his youngest sister and Xiao Taoqi to wash their hands.

Li Bayi watched the children run away and asked: "Qingsong, do you have any sacks at home?"

"If you have one, give me one too." Li Fenfen followed.

"Okay, I have plenty of sacks at home!" Liu Qingsong said with a smile, "But let's eat first."

"Okay! Okay!" Li Bayi nodded and took Li Fenfen to wash their hands.

After a while, I sat around the octagonal table with the children and started eating dinner while chatting and laughing.

……

After dinner, Liu Qingsong saw that Xiao Nuomi, Yaomei, Xiao Taoqi, Jin Yutou, and Ye Qubing were all dirty and smelled of sweat. He was about to take them to the river to take a bath when Pangdun appeared running.

After muttering a few mysterious words in private, Pangdun took Xiao Nuomi and the others and ran towards Tiger Mountain with sacks in hand.

"What are you doing so late at night?" Liu Qingsongjiang couldn't help but ask loudly when he saw this.

"Let's go catch grasshoppers." Fatty replied with a silly smile.

"Brother, don't worry, we won't run far." Xiao Taoqi agreed.

"We will never go into Tiger Mountain." The youngest sister also promised.

"Uncle, don't worry about us. We will be back before dark." Little Nuomi said and disappeared into the woods.

This scene gave Liu Qingsong a headache.

Li Fenfen, who was standing by, saw this and suggested, "Qingsong, how about this? I'll go catch grasshoppers with you. Not only can I take care of them, but I can also catch some grasshoppers and sell them for money."

"I'll go too." Li Bayi couldn't help but say.

"Okay! Okay!" Liu Qingsong nodded.

He felt more at ease having them go with him.

"Then I'll go get the sack." Li Fenfen smiled and went into the temporary tent. After getting the sack, she excitedly followed Li Bayi.

Liu Qingsong watched the father and daughter disappear from his sight. After thinking for a while, he said something to Liu Chunhua and went to Diaozi River to take a bath.

What Liu Qingsong didn't expect was that the water level of Diaozi River had reached the bottom and the flow had dried up in some places.

In some puddles, you can see a lot of fish swimming in them.

These fish include grass carp, carp, crucian carp, and mullet.

Liu Qingsong couldn't help laughing when he saw this scene.

Seeing that there was no one else around, he didn't even take a shower and ran back home.

In the temporary kitchen, Liu Chunhua was cleaning. Seeing Liu Qingsong running in to get the net bag and the wooden bucket, she couldn't help but ask, "Do you still want to go fishing so late?"

"It's not fishing, but catching fish. The water in Diaozi River has dried up, and many fish are hiding in the puddles. If we go to catch them, we can definitely catch one every time." Liu Qingsong replied softly.

"Really?" Liu Chunhua became excited.

"Really." Liu Qingsong confirmed.

"Then I'll go fishing with you." Liu Chunhua suggested.

"But..." Liu Qingsong hesitated for a moment before agreeing: "Okay! But you can just help watch the fish on the shore, don't go into the water to catch them. If something happens, I won't be able to explain to my brother-in-law."

"I understand." Liu Chunhua said and went to change her clothes. Then she followed Liu Qingsong carrying a wooden bucket and walked towards Diaozi River together.

The sun had already set at this time, and the sunset dyed half the sky red.

None of the villagers from the Huaishu Production Team were by the Diaozi River. Instead, they were all catching grasshoppers, or locusts, in the woods on Tiger Mountain, on the osmanthus tree, and at the foot of Wild Boar Ridge.

After all, locusts can now be sold for more than one yuan per pound. If we don’t catch more quickly, we may never have such a good opportunity again.

After discovering this scene, Liu Chunhua picked up the wooden bucket and went down to Diaozi River.

The bottom of Diaozi River is covered with pebbles. Not only does it hurt your feet when you step on them, but it's also extremely hot.

But Liu Chunhua and Liu Qingsong didn't care about all that. They rolled up their sleeves and went down to the puddle to catch fish.

Because there were too many fish in the puddle, Liu Qingsong immediately chose to catch only the big ones and ignored the small ones for the time being.

Soon, the bucket and the net bag were filled with fish.

A big grass carp weighs at least 15 or 16 pounds, and a small crucian carp weighs more than one pound.

There are so many carps and carps that they are impossible to count.

Seeing that there were still many fish in the puddle, Liu Qingsong immediately said to Liu Chunhua, "Sister, I'll take the fish back first. You just wait on the shore. Don't go into the water to catch more fish."

"Okay! Okay!" Liu Chunhua nodded: "But don't let other people see it when you go back. If you store this much fish in the refrigerator, it will last at least a month!"

"Of course I know that." Liu Qingsong smiled, picked up the fish in the wooden barrel and walked towards the door of his house.

When they arrived, they poured all the fish in the wooden barrel into the large water tank in the kitchen.

Just as he was about to leave and take the fish out of the net bag, Di Lingling's bicycle bell rang, and then he saw Liu Lijuan riding a 28-meter bicycle and stopping in the threshing ground.

"Second sister, you're back just in time. Come and help me kill the fish." Liu Qingsong shouted.

"Kill fish?" Liu Lijuan asked in confusion, then walked towards the kitchen carrying the fresh pork and other things bought from Erba Dagan Longtou Mountain.

When he saw the large water tank was filled with fish, he was stunned: "Qingsong, did you catch these fish today?"

"No, I caught them in Diaozi River. The flow of Diaozi River has dried up, and the puddles are full of fish." Liu Qingsong replied.

"Is it true?" Liu Lijuan became excited.

"Of course it's true." Liu Qingsong replied.

"Then you go and catch it, and I'll kill the dead one." Liu Lijuan rolled up her sleeves.

"Yeah." Liu Qingsong nodded, carrying the empty wooden barrel and walked towards Diaozi River.

Ten minutes later, another load of fish was brought back.

There were a lot fewer big fish this time, most of them were carp and crucian carp.

Liu Lijuan was so happy watching that: "Qingsong, pickle this fish with salt and take it to the farmer's market to sell tomorrow. I tell you, with this fat size, it will definitely sell for a good price."

"But it's summer now!" Liu Qingsong reminded: "What if it can't be sold in a short time? What if it stinks?"

"This..." Liu Lijuan couldn't answer.

"I think we should pickle it and put it in the refrigerator! At least this way it won't go bad." Liu Qingsong suggested.

"That's fine." Liu Lijuan nodded. "By the way! Have you heard that all the major drugstores and supply and marketing cooperatives in Dayu City are buying locusts at high prices?"

"I heard that Xiao Nuomi and his friends sold grasshoppers for more than a hundred yuan!" Liu Qingsong said with a smile.

"No way?" Liu Lijuan was a little surprised: "Then why didn't you catch him?"

"I'm catching fish now. Besides, my family is building a red brick house, so I don't have the free time." Liu Qingsong picked up the empty bucket and said, "I won't talk to you anymore. I'll go to the river to catch some fish."

"Okay! Okay!" Liu Lijuan nodded repeatedly.

Liu Qingsong turned around and left with the empty bucket.

Before I walked five meters away, I saw Xiao Nuomi running breathlessly with a sack on his back, with anxiety in his eyes.

(End of this chapter)