American Farmers: Facing a Cutoff at the Start

"Of course I left."

"She just came to pick up her car and gave us an idea. She drove back shortly after you left."

Upon hearing this, Leila's tense shoulders visibly relaxed.

When the two returned to the farm, Fett was about to help carry the bale of wool to the porch and set up a stall to greet customers, but Leila firmly pushed him away.

"Go back to your garage!"

Leila gave him a push towards the garage and pointed to the line of customers over there:

"There are so many people over there waiting to buy your wooden sword!"

"I can handle it myself!"

Fett couldn't persuade her otherwise, so he returned to the worktable in the garage.

The belt sander roared up again, sending sawdust flying everywhere.

Although he kept working, his eyes kept glancing towards the porch.

Leila placed the large bag of wool and tools on the table under the porch and took a deep breath.

She turned her head and glanced at the newly set-up "Medal of Courage" photo spot not far away.

Old Frank and Roy were quite skilled; the feature wall they pieced together from a few old wooden planks was both rugged and textured.

The menacing boar's head hung in the very center, its tusks gleaming white, making it particularly striking.

Turning her gaze away, Leila began to focus on setting up her little classroom.

She moved some planks together to make a long table, then found an old checkered tablecloth and laid it on the somewhat mottled wooden table. She piled the snow-white, fluffy wool in the center of the table like clouds.

Next, she neatly arranged several sets of needles, sponge pads, and colorful ribbons in a row, placing one set at intervals to ensure that everyone could easily access the tools at each seat.

Finally, she took out a thickly folded piece of paper from her pocket and carefully unfolded it.

This is a sheet of drawing paper that is at least half the size of a sheet of paper.

The painting features several adorable chibi-style pigs, a sheep wearing a red scarf, and a large Christmas tree laden with gifts, all drawn with thick markers.

The art style remains the same unique graffiti style. Although the lines are simple, the colors are bright, and you can feel the lively and interesting energy even from a distance.

Leila found some tape and carefully pasted the hand-drawn poster onto the pillar directly in front of the table, even taking a few steps back to check the effect.

Actually, while she was setting things up, quite a few guests were curiously looking in this direction.

As soon as the brightly colored large drawing paper was hung up, it immediately attracted the attention of several little girls.

They tugged at their mother's clothes, pointed at the round, pink dumpling in the drawing, and exclaimed excitedly, "Mommy, look! It's a little pig!"

Seeing this, Leila felt a little more confident.

She took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, and strode to the platform beside her. She climbed the few simple wooden steps and stood next to the hideous boar's head.

Although her legs were trembling and her face was flushed, she straightened her back, cleared her throat, and shouted loudly to the crowd waiting in the courtyard:

"Excuse me, everyone! I'm Lyra!"

Everyone turned their heads and looked curiously at the somewhat nervous yet beautiful girl on the stage.

"For those of you waiting for your wooden sword souvenirs, or for any kids who don't want to go into the woods to pick trees, look here!"

She pointed to the long table covered with white wool in the porch behind her, her voice still trembling slightly, but filled with genuine enthusiasm:

"I can use the pure natural wool produced here to help all the mothers and children make a little doll just like the one in the picture! It'll be so much fun!"

"Only twenty dollars per person, use all the wool you want, do as much as you want!"

After she finished speaking, she looked at the audience with anticipation.

Most of the little boys were still lining up at the garage door waiting for Fett's wooden knife, or had already run off with their fathers into the woods in the backyard to pick out trees.

Meanwhile, the little girls who were wearing pretty dresses and were afraid of getting dirty and didn't want to go into the mud were either boredly observing the little beans in the cowshed from a distance, or staring at Rosie on the roof. But when they heard about this fun craft activity, their eyes lit up instantly.

"Mom! I want to play that!"

"I want one too! That little pig is so cute!"

The young mothers with their daughters were already tired of standing and were wondering where to pass the time. When they heard that this would give their children something to do, allow them to sit and rest, and even make a cute little toy, they all responded enthusiastically:

"Let's go! Let's give it a try!"

In a flash, several seats were filled, and a crowd of onlookers even gathered behind them.

Looking at those expectant smiling faces, Leila was overjoyed, and the nervousness she had felt earlier vanished completely.

She instinctively turned her head towards the garage, only to meet Fett's gaze.

Through the throng of people, Fet gave her a big thumbs up.

Leila's smile grew even brighter.

……

As night fell, the farm's hustle and bustle finally subsided.

In the living room, the fireplace was burning brightly, and the two families sat around the log dining table, which was covered with empty beer cans and fast food pizza boxes that had not yet been cleared away. The air was filled with a tired yet extremely excited atmosphere.

Old Frank wiped his mouth, pushed the trash on the table aside, and casually wiped the tabletop.

He grinned and glanced around at the people at the table!

"hey-hey!"

"Come!"

"Let's count the money!"

After saying that, old Frank started pulling out handfuls of cash from his bulging arms. Luckily, his work jacket had big pockets, otherwise it wouldn't have been able to hold it all.

The green banknotes instantly piled up into a small mountain.

"My God! So many?"

Roy's eyes widened, and he even forgot to drink the wine he was holding.

Everyone busied themselves counting the money, and the sound of the banknotes rubbing together was particularly pleasant in the quiet living room.

Ten minutes later, the results came out.

Old Frank held the calculator, his fingers trembling slightly, his voice shaking even more:

"We sold 25 Virginia pines and 10 Leyland cypresses. We made $2750 today just from selling trees!"

"2750?!"

Roy's hand tightened around the empty can, and he exclaimed in surprise, "In previous years, we could only sell this many over several days, right? This is only in one day!"

Fett leaned back in his chair, smiled mysteriously, and pulled another thick wad of banknotes from his pocket, slapping it on the table.

"That's not all! I still have a thousand here! It was paid by two very generous customers, five hundred each!"

"3750?!"

Aunt Rachel, who was tidying up the trash nearby, paused, almost dropping the trash bag, and exclaimed in disbelief.

Roy glanced at the stack of money, his eyes flickered, but he waved his hand and said:

"Fett, keep that $1000. That's the premium you earned by fooling people... cough, by your own skill. Don't try to get involved in this."

Old Frank chimed in, "That's right, you should take it. You deserve it."

After saying that, old Frank didn't hesitate and directly counted out ten crisp hundred-dollar bills from the pile of money and handed them to Roy:

"The cost is about $750, and this $2,000 is pure profit. We'll split it 50/50!"

Roy looked at the thick wad of hundred-yuan bills in his hand, subconsciously licked his slightly chapped lips, and without further hesitation, readily stuffed them into his pocket.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony!"

"Ha ha!"

After dividing the lion's share, old Frank was in high spirits and turned to look at the two younger ones:

"Where are you two? I think you've done pretty well for business today!"