Fishing and Hunting 82, Starting with Three Sisters Who Overprotect Their Brothers

There are two horse-drawn carriages in Chishongtun.

After the land was distributed to individual households, one vehicle was kept by the collective for their own use, while the other was taken over by the animal husbandry worker.

Zhang Wenshan borrowed the collective vehicle, which only cost two cents a day, a friendly price.

"Uncle Ergui, you drive this carriage so smoothly, your skills are truly excellent." The carriage moved forward steadily, and Zhang Fengxia could hardly feel any bumps, so she couldn't help but praise it.

"Hey, what kind of skill is that?" Ge Ergui said, holding the reins. "Anyone in the village can do that."

"How can it not count? Lang Qiuping almost shook my bones off!" Zhang Wenshan interjected, complaining. "Uncle Ergui, how did you train?"

"My legs can't take long, so the Party Secretary made me learn to drive the bus so I could earn more work points."

"The Party Secretary really knows how to handle things. By the way, how much do you know about Mrs. Wang?"

Ge Ergui thought for a moment and said, "He's quite a shrewd person."

"Her?" Zhang Fengxia's eyes widened in disbelief. "No way?"

"You're too young to understand. Old Mrs. Wang gets by by throwing tantrums and being unreasonable."

"You're young and don't know the details."

Ge Ergui flicked the tip of his whip and recalled.

"In the old days, when they fought with other villages over water and other things, she was always the one who would throw a tantrum and act shamelessly. Every time, she would manage to get something by claiming she was in the right."

"Wow, he's an expert?" Zhang Wenshan's eyes darted around, as if he had something on his mind.

"I'm thinking that Mrs. Wang's outburst today doesn't seem like a spur-of-the-moment decision," Ge Ergui said after a moment of silence.

"What?"

Zhang Fengxia jumped to her feet, staggered, and ended up kneeling on the car floor.

She ignored the rest and pressed on, "Did someone instigate this?"

Ge Ergui fell silent again.

Zhang Fengxia was so anxious that she wanted to ask more questions.

Zhang Wenshan smiled and pulled his sister to sit down, then whispered, "Uncle Ergui is being very kind by pointing this out; there are some things that are better left unsaid."

His eyes flashed, and he had already locked onto his target.

Many in the village were envious and eager to see the family make a fool of themselves, but only that one family actually took action.

"Uncle Ergui, would it be convenient for you to pass on a message to Mrs. Wang?" Zhang Wenshan turned to Ge Ergui.

Ge Ergui turned around, his eyes filled with doubt.

"We can't give her any benefits," Zhang Fengxia hurriedly interjected, adding the next half of her sentence.

Even if we give it to them, we can't let Ge Ergui handle it.

"We should still give it to her." Zhang Wenshan casually toyed with the snail. "There's something I need her to do. Once she does it, we'll consider this matter settled."

Upon hearing this, Ge Ergui breathed a sigh of relief and nodded slightly.

This is no big deal. He thought he was being asked to find out who was behind it.

But soon he hesitated and said, "I'm afraid the talks won't go through."

Zhang Fengxia also came to her senses: "That's right, if they could make Old Mrs. Wang offend us, they must have given us a lot of benefits."

"It's okay, there's no harm in trying."

……

The group soon arrived in town.

Before seven o'clock, the gates of the state-run restaurant were closed.

Zhang Wenshan knew the way well and led the group around to the back door.

Looking at the neat and tall courtyard wall, Ge Ergui instinctively lowered his head, parked the carriage, and stood still, not daring to move forward.

"Uncle Ergui, come over here."

"I... I'm watching the things."

"There's nobody on the street. Besides, who would dare touch anything from a state-run restaurant? You need to know how much those things cost."

"No, no, the team leader can't fool me."

"From now on, you'll be delivering things yourself. How can you not know the prices?"

"Ah!" Ge Ergui waved his hands repeatedly, "I can't, I can't."

In the end, Zhang Wenshan still led the person to the door and knocked on the door.

Bang bang bang!

Soon, the courtyard gate opened from the inside, and Wu Xia, with her messy hair, yawned and poked her head out.

"Brother Shanzi, you've arrived very early."

"How can you earn a living without working hard from dawn till dusk?"

"You earn more than all the workers in town."

"Isn't that all thanks to Sister Xia taking care of me?"

Seeing how her younger brother could so easily win over the other person with just a few words, Zhang Fengxia was still deeply impressed, even though it wasn't the first time she had seen it.

Write down every single word carefully.

Needless to say, Ge Ergui, standing nearby, was utterly astonished.

Otherwise, how could someone become a team leader at such a young age? Their speaking skills are something I could learn for a lifetime.

"Wow, quite a variety of things to do today!"

Wu Xia let them in, her gaze sweeping over the things in their hands, her smile widening.

"These river crabs and shrimps are huge, almost up to export standards. Are you really going to give them to me?"

"It weighs less than four jin in total. The supply and marketing cooperative doesn't really want it. It's only because you helped me that I didn't make a wasted trip."

The weather is hot and dry, and the large river fish are too lazy to come out of their burrows.

Despite increasing the number of fish traps, the harvest didn't increase much.

"You have such a big mouth!" Wu Xia said, deftly weighing the goods with a constant smile. "Three pounds and seven ounces, how about I give you two yuan and fifty cents?"

Given the quality of this product, how could the supply and marketing cooperative not accept it?

Zhang Fengxia's mind raced with calculations.

Shrimp and crab cost around 67 cents per pound, which is a bit more expensive than the normal price, but still much cheaper than what the supply and marketing cooperative sells.

She couldn't help but feel a little annoyed, but remembering her younger brother's instructions, she didn't show it on her face and maintained a smile.

Ge Ergui, standing nearby, was grinning from ear to ear.

This is no different from finding money on the street.

The effort and time spent are nothing compared to what's required.

Farming is more tiring, and the profits aren't even as high as following the team leader's.

"How much do you plan to sell the river clams for?" Wu Xia put down the shrimp and crab and weighed the river clams in her hand.

Each one is bigger than the palm of your hand. The outer shell has been simply rinsed and there are no messy things, which saves them a lot of trouble.

Her smile widened.

Other people bring us things like wet diapers, and they seem to want to sell even the mud and sand for money. It's better to stick to a few regular suppliers, but sometimes there are still defective products.

You can easily suffer a loss if you're not careful.

You can buy this guy's goods with complete peace of mind, even if you have to close your eyes.

"What's the difference? Sister Wu, could you please enlighten me?" Zhang Wenshan asked, looking eager to learn.

"For shellfish, the price depends on the market. They're usually three or four cents, with larger ones costing a little more. Pure meat is about one cent, but you have to make sure it's fresh."

"After removing the meat, can you collect this every day?"

"I need to inform you."

"Alright then, from now on, when you come to deliver things, you'll either need proof of your village residency, or it will be me and my sister. Don't mistake us for someone else," Zhang Wenshan said with a smile, his words carrying a hidden meaning.

Having learned from Li Dong's example, we must take precautions.

"Don't worry! Your sister isn't senile yet!" Wu Xia glanced knowingly at the flustered Ge Ergui and nodded.

They treated him like a younger brother, wary of members of the collective enterprise.

"Snails are good too, but..." Wu Xia said, looking at the last item.

They're all the same size, clearly already cleaned of sand, so there's no need to bother with further processing.

Unfortunately, this thing has little meat and is difficult to eat, so it doesn't sell well.

Seeing Wu Xia's expression, Zhang Fengxia's heart skipped a beat.

In the village, snails are a cheap treat to enjoy.

She only kept quiet after witnessing her younger brother turn the impossible into reality a few times.

The whole family, and indeed everyone who sees snails, probably thinks the same thing: no one says anything to their face, but who knows how they'll laugh at them behind their backs?

Ge Ergui, on the contrary, remained calm.

It would be strange if this thing sold well. We can just lower the price. Even if it's just a few cents, it's still money.

Wu Xia hesitated for a moment, just about to grit her teeth and accept it.

Zhang Wenshan spoke first, saying, "Sister, you've misunderstood. This is just for you to try."