A small plot of land in a mountain village

These red-headed mushrooms are a favorite of snakes, who like to spit venom onto them to nourish their growth. However, no one has ever seen a snake spit venom onto a red-headed mushroom.

"What are you thinking about? You seem lost in thought." The fat man, who had dug up a lot of bamboo shoots, saw Zhang Niu staring blankly at a red mushroom.

"No, I'm just thinking about something. How's it going? Did you find a lot?" He put his previous thoughts behind him.

"Not bad, your method is really good, you dug up nearly ten bamboo shoots!" He shook the sack in his hand.

This fat guy's comprehension is pretty good, even better than mine. But Zhang Niu didn't know that this guy went straight to someone else's bamboo forest and dug up quite a few bamboo shoots, otherwise he would still only have one or two bamboo shoots now.

Just as I was about to look for Chairman Zhang, who had disappeared somewhere, he suddenly appeared from the other side of the hillside.

Chairman Zhang, who was walking around, was attracted by the large groves of bamboo.

Li Guang and his wife dug up quite a few bamboo shoots.

The group harvested about thirty bamboo shoots in total, which is a decent amount.

The babies' hands were covered in mud, showing how tempting playing in the mud was. They were bound to get a scolding, and as soon as their mother started yelling, the babies ran over to Zhang Niu and defeated him with innocent eyes.

The bamboo shoots are almost dug up; it's time to go home.

"Time to go home!"

Chairman Zhang considered that this continuous bamboo forest was a real waste, year after year, and pondered with his head down.

The bamboo forest stretches across the back hill, a vibrant green that sways in the wind.

Have you considered opening a bamboo factory?

Halfway there, Chairman Zhang suddenly asked.

"What, a bamboo factory?" Why would anyone open a bamboo factory?

"Seeing the vast bamboo forest makes me feel a little sorry for the waste. I think a lot of the bamboo in your forest is old bamboo."

Chairman Zhang has a really good eye. He has quite a few old bamboos on his property, some from several years ago, and no one has come to cut them down, so he has to leave them.

"Yeah, there's nowhere to use it, but we'll have to cut some back in a few days to prepare for building a bamboo shed."

"Bamboo products are selling well right now. Why don't you ask your village committee to fund a bamboo factory?" Chairman Zhang suggested from the side.

"Speaking of bamboo products, it reminds me of the bamboo mat my family just bought, which cost over three hundred yuan. It's all handmade and strung together." Li Guang gestured with his hands, indicating the name of the mat.

"I have one too. It's so comfortable to sleep in, and it's cool and refreshing at night," the fat man added.

Speaking of bamboo mats, Zhang Niu had seen them several times in town. They were very expensive, and the mats had to be polished with zeolite powder before they could be strung together by hand, which was quite troublesome.

"We want to start a bamboo product business, but we don't have the technology. I'm afraid the village won't agree to it!" Zhang Niu was still a little worried.

"No rush, I have a friend who deals in bamboo products, I can introduce you to him." This fat man had a lot of friends, from all sorts of industries.

Zhangjia Village is located near the mountains, with continuous stretches of bamboo forests. If we were to produce bamboo mats, we could guarantee a sufficient supply of raw materials. The geographical location is not bad; it's just lacking a bit of favorable conditions.

Let's go back and discuss it with the village chief. If possible, everyone in the village can go and help, earning some money to supplement their household income. That's a good idea.

As soon as he got back, the fat guy quickly poured himself a glass of water and gulped down several mouthfuls. If Zhang Niu's watermelon had ripened earlier, it would have been so refreshing, especially in the sweltering summer heat...

The fat man had seen the melons and fruits between two trees in the orchard, and he was already fantasizing about when he could eat them.

On the way back, everyone felt quite comfortable. Walking is good for your health; the elderly in the mountains live to be a hundred years old because they exercise regularly.

At least Zhang Niu had never heard of any long-lived elderly people in the city.

Carrying a sack of bamboo shoots, he went inside and asked Liang Shan to cook some good dishes.

Bamboo shoots need to be soaked first to remove their raw taste.

We picked a lot of early-ripening yellow plums from the orchard and returned to the bamboo pavilion.

"Everyone, try these freshly picked yellow plums and see how they taste," Zhang Niu said cheerfully.

"Wow, I didn't expect the cherries to ripen so early here, and the plums too." The fat man pulled out a few plums from the basket and started eating them. The plums were juicy and satisfying.

"Isn't it said that plums only come out after peaches have finished ripening?" Li Guang asked while eating a plum.

"It's true that plums ripen earlier than peaches, but it's not common. Ah Niu's case is relatively rare," Chairman Zhang, with his extensive knowledge, began to explain.

Scholars are indeed scholars; Old Zhang is quite good at this.

"You know what, peaches ripen much later than plums. Actually, the earliest ripening peach is the nectarine, followed by the white peach, the water peach, and even later, the August Red, etc." Zhang Niu went on and on about a whole bunch of them.

Only after this was explained did Fatty and the others realize that there were so many different kinds of peaches. People who weren't from the countryside really didn't know about peaches.

"What about plums?" The fat man knew about peaches, so he naturally wanted to ask about plums.

After taking a bite of a yellow-fleshed plum, Zhang Niu said with a smile, "The yellow-fleshed plums you're eating now are the earliest ones. In my rural area, these yellow-fleshed plums are the earliest. Below them are the local plums."

"Hey Ah Niu, can you stop for a second? What's the difference between these wild plums?" the fat man interrupted again.

Zhang Niu was finally defeated by this guy. This fellow insisted on interrupting when the other person was speaking. Zhang Niu patiently replied, "You should have seen them in the fruit market. They are green all over, with many cracks on the fruit, and they are small. These are local plums."

"However, the redder these plums are, the better not to buy them. It's better to buy the unripe ones instead," Zhang Niu said, recalling the problem of plums getting infested with worms.

"Why? Doesn't everyone like to buy ripe plums?" the baby's mother often asked when buying fruit.

This question has piqued everyone's curiosity: why shouldn't you buy ripe plums?

"The redder the plum, the more likely it is to be full of worms. If you go to the mountains to pick plums, you will see that many of the plums on the trees are still green, with a few red fruits sticking out from the side. When you bite into them, they are full of worms. Be careful when buying plums."

"Now that you've said that, no one dares to eat plums anymore. You're really something, saying things like this at a time like this." Li Guang shouted as he ate.

"Yes, big brother is the worst, baby is scared."

It's strange that the girl is afraid of insects, but not other things.

"So that's how things work in plums, now the old man understands."

I'm not from the countryside, so I really don't know this. If Zhang Niu hadn't mentioned it, everyone would have bought plums based on their red, ripeness.

"Not many people eat wild plums. Fruit markets don't like this kind of fruit. In my village, they are mostly sold to vendors to make plum slices. They are dried, steamed, sprinkled with white sugar, and packaged in bags to sell. At the end of August, the black-hearted plums will make their grand appearance."

We've talked so much in one go; it's rare for everyone to get together like this.

After lunch, the baby's family started packing their things, preparing to return to the county town. Chairman Zhang and Fatty were also there; they planned to stay for a while, since having a car to get back to the county town would be easy and convenient.

Zhang Niu packed a lot of bamboo shoots, as well as a whole basket of cherries and plums, which made the baby giggle. Now they eat them as snacks, and the baby's face becomes even rosier.

Li Guang was too embarrassed to accept the cherries, so he paid quite a bit of money. Chairman Zhang bought several baskets of cherries, saying he would give them away as gifts. Giving away fruit, especially these milky-scented cherries, was definitely a good idea.

As everyone was preparing to leave, they discovered that Bao Bao and Tian Tian had disappeared. This made Li Guang very anxious; his daughter was still a worry.

After searching, everyone found the group in the front yard.

The baby was holding the cat and seemed to be saying something. Sweetie was hitting the thugs with a bamboo pole, seemingly saying goodbye, which made everyone laugh. This farewell, achieved with a bamboo pole, made the thugs feel like they were being tickled.

The baby had just put the cat down when this little guy dashed off somewhere in a flash. Looks like he's scared after being handled by the baby. He'd better run away if he could.

The baby, who had stood up, rushed into Zhang Niu's arms. "Big brother, I have to go back now. Will you miss me?"

This girl, when she grows up, she'll definitely be an irresistible beauty. (I think she'll definitely miss the baby.)

"Hmph, big brother is biased, Sweetie wants some too." No sooner had they agreed than Sweetie shouted again.

"Sweetie, your big brother will miss you. We'll have a month or so off, so why don't you come stay with your big brother again then?" Zhang Niu could only say this.

"Big brother, let's pinky swear!"

It seems this baby still likes pinky promises. The three of them hooked their fingers together, "Pinky promise, a hundred years of hanging, unchanging."

The car disappeared into the distance.

With the girls gone, this place feels much quieter.

The fat man also felt like something was missing. With them around, there would be a lot of noise every day, making him seem like a potential weird uncle.

Even though the person has left, the room still needs to be cleaned and things that need to be changed still need to be changed. Zhang Niu still has to do all this by himself. It seems necessary to ask a village auntie to come up and clean it. This is really too difficult to do.

He carried out a huge pile of bed sheets and threw them into his own yard.

The rabbits that were fed space water yesterday are much better than when they first arrived. At least they move around a bit, especially the rabbit that ran out in the morning. Zhang Niu put it in a separate cage.

Besides Zhang Niu, there were also thugs squatting on the side, their bloody mouths wide open, threatening the little rabbit, which was so frightened that the rabbit, which had been quite energetic just moments before, now shrank back and didn't move.

After making this frightening move, the thug quietly crawled back to the corner. This guy also bullies small animals. It seems that the thug is the number one thug in Happy House, and his attack power is definitely formidable.

Although King Kong is better now, he still doesn't dare to fight with the thugs.

The little girl had just left when the cat that had run away earlier slipped out from some corner and sat next to the plastic basket, its big round eyes staring at the little rabbit huddled together inside.

Everyone likes to bully this cat, but the cat can only bully the little turtle occasionally. Now, seeing so many little rabbits, it's purring and purring, as if these little rabbits are the perfect targets for its torment.

Zhang Niu is now hoping this batch of rabbits will be ready soon, otherwise there's nowhere to put them, which is a real headache.

Looking at the murky pool, I realized I hadn't changed the water in a long time. Since there was still some sunshine, I quickly changed it.

P.S.: There will be a third update tonight, consider it a burst of updates. (To be continued. For more chapters and to support the author, please log in and read the official version!)