Back to 1984: Earning Money, Raising Kids, and Keeping the Household Busy

Chapter 102 Selling Lotus Roots
"Brother Chen, the two-week trial period is over, and Weimin has performed quite well during this time. I plan to formally hire him. The salary is the same as we agreed before, forty-five a month, including meals and accommodation, and some holiday benefits. If there are no problems, have Weimin come over to sign the contract, and we also need to report it to the nearby police station."

The dock has a large flow of people, including all sorts of people. Non-local residents who stay here for an extended period need to register with the local police station for easier management.

Chen Wenjun was overjoyed and jumped up, saying, "No problem, definitely no problem! Brother Lü, wait here, I'll have him come over to sign the contract with you in a bit."

After leaving the recruitment office, Chen Wenjun found Hong Weimin, who was carefully taking notes at the dock. Not daring to disturb him, he waited until Hong Weimin was almost done before telling him about it.

Hong Weimin was overjoyed and said repeatedly, "I'll go find him as soon as I'm done here. By the way, Wenjun, I've learned how to choose seafood these past few days. In the future, let me know in advance what you want, and I'll keep an eye out for you. If I come across anything good, I'll save some for you too."

Chen Wenjun patted Hong Weimin on the shoulder, everything was understood without words.

This is where the advantage of having acquaintances at the dock comes in. Every day, Chen Wenjun would have Lin Qin write down the amount of seafood she needed for Hong Weimin, and Hong Weimin would always be able to give her the most cost-effective options.

Of course, this operation couldn't escape Lu Lin's notice, but Lu Lin didn't care. After all, it didn't matter who he sold his seafood to! Chen Wenjun was his big customer, and he wanted to maintain a good relationship with Chen Wenjun, so he turned a blind eye.

With Hong Weimin's help, Chen Wenjun no longer needed to come early to grab the goods, which made things much more convenient for the couple.

The pigsty in Nanyu is finally finished.

The pigsty was located near the slope and next to the hill, about fifty meters away from where they lived. It was built entirely of red bricks and was about three hundred square meters in size, a spacious place.

Because a faucet was installed, water from the Nanxi River can be drawn.

Lin Yi raised ten piglets in one go.

To raise these ten pigs, he had to clear land and plant a lot of corn, cabbage, cucumbers and other fruits, and even several acres of sweet potatoes and taro.

The entire Nanyu Island seems to be undergoing massive construction.

When Chen Wenjun returned with Lin Qin after delivering the goods, they found that Huang Yuezhen and Lin Yi had also just finished work.

The two were somewhat speechless.

Lin Qin advised, "Dad, cousin-in-law, you can't get fat overnight. There's always work to be done at home. How will you get any sleep tomorrow if you keep working like this?"

Huang Yuezhen smiled憨厚ly, "I feel particularly at ease when I'm working. Those vegetables need to be planted and can't be delayed. Spring plowing is in this period, and you just got back, right? You have to go out early tomorrow morning. I can sleep until eight or nine o'clock!"

Lin Qin was extremely helpless. "Sister-in-law, my cousin has been hired by Boss Lü at the dock recruitment office. It's 45 a month, with room and board included. With my cousin's help, we can sleep an extra half hour from now on."

Huang Yuezhen was so excited that she could hardly speak.

Lin Yi laughed, "Good, good! Once he gets this job, everything will be fine. As long as he works hard, he can keep doing it. Forty-five a month, that's five hundred and forty a year. He'll eat and live there, so there's no need to spend any money. He can bring back a lot of money at the end of the year!"

After all, he was his nephew, and Lin Yi was overjoyed, feeling like he could laugh in his dreams.

Lin Qin added, "Dad, you forgot about my cousin's side too! That couple can bring back a thousand this year!"

This number really startled Huang Yuezhen, who chuckled foolishly, "Cousin, I wouldn't even dare to dream of it."

Lin Yi said loudly, "Everyone, go wash up and go to bed. Let's keep working hard tomorrow."

In the period leading up to summer, Lin Yi and Huang Yuezhen planted all sorts of fruit trees on the slopes of Nanyu. Under their care, the ten pigs grew rapidly.

Lin Qin hadn't seen her pig for two months and didn't even recognize it.

They also fenced off three large uncultivated plots of wasteland behind the farm to raise chickens, ducks, and geese.

Lin Qin was discovered when she was wandering around the pigsty.

Now, anyone who comes to Nanyu and sees these things will exaggerate and say that their family is a "wealthy family".

Just when Huang Yuezhen thought she could retire gracefully, the lotus roots in the paddy field were ready for harvest.

Lin Yi had planted seven or eight mu of lotus roots, and now the harvest had him incredibly anxious. He was constantly on edge, worrying that the lotus roots weren't growing well and that he wouldn't get a good price. Lin Qin wanted to dig one up early to check, but he wouldn't let her.

More conflicted than a woman.

After several days, Lin Yi finally offered to dig lotus roots, which made Lin Qin breathe a sigh of relief.

There's a proper way to dig lotus roots. Using brute force can easily break the nodes. You have to apply force in the direction of the lotus's growth to pull the root out.

The silt in the water was black and smelly. Lin Yi and Chen Wenjun had put a lot of loaches and eels in there, and no one knows how they turned out.

On the day construction began, Lin Yi led everyone to clean up the roots, stems, lotus leaves, and lotus pods on the paddy field.

Huang Yuezhen followed Lin Yi into the water, and as soon as she entered, she stepped on an eel and screamed in fright.

Lin Qin was about to laugh at her when she herself encountered an eel, and her reaction was even worse than Huang Yuezhen's. Eels and loaches are very slippery.

Lin Qin wasn't confident if she tried to grab it with her hands.

Chen Wenjun gave them the landing nets he had prepared in advance.

With the net, the three men worked even more efficiently.

Seeing that they were getting the hang of it, Chen Wenjun said, "I'll go to Nangang to pick up the goods myself today, and Aqin will help me when I get back."

Lin Qin nodded to him, "With my cousin here, we can pack more things even if I'm not there."

After Chen Wenjun left, the three of them began to work diligently.

At first, I wasn't used to it and screamed in fright at the scurrying eels and loaches, but after a while I got used to it and could even ignore them.

After the lotus roots from one acre of paddy field are harvested.

Lin Yi and Huang Yuezhen were busy catching eels and loaches inside.

Lin Qin then used a hose connected to a faucet to rinse the pile of lotus roots.

The cleaned lotus roots were packed into fertilizer bags and piled up to the side.

When Lin Qin finished her work, she turned around and found that Lin Yi and Huang Yuezhen had already caught several large buckets of eels and loaches.

There are quite a few of them, but unfortunately these two things have a strong muddy smell and need to be kept for a few days before they can be eaten.

Lin Qin decided to keep the animals at home for three to five days before selling them, hoping to get a higher price.

Huang Yuezhen said excitedly, "I'll bring some lotus roots over tomorrow to cook, and see if Boss Huang wants to buy them. They're all fresh."

Lin Yi was delighted to hear this. "Yuezhen, then I'll have to trouble you."

Huang Yuezhen didn't take it seriously.

After washing them clean, Lin Yi and I lifted the scale beam and weighed the lotus roots one by one.

After final statistics, this acre of paddy field yielded a total of 3,850 catties of lotus roots.

Since these lotus roots haven't been sold yet, Lin Yi doesn't plan to dig any more.

When Chen Wenjun returned from wholesaling seafood, Lin Qin immediately reported their catch.

Chen Wenjun was shocked by the amount and pondered, "Tomorrow we'll go to Nangang to ask if anyone wants to buy it. We can also inquire at the vegetable market. If anyone is willing to buy it, we'll wholesale it to them for three cents a pound."

(End of this chapter)