??Chapter 66: Chapter 66 Going into the Mountains (Part Two)
Chapter 66: Chapter 66 Going into the Mountains (Part Two)
But the benefits of having Lu Yun and Xia Yuan participate were extrely obvious. The efficiency of Lu Yun’s “big warehouse” in collecting things was remarkably high; using only herself, after several trips, she could easily clean out the chestnuts from the forest—a fact that goes without saying.
The more important point was the saying, “With n and won working together, the labor isn’t tiring;” seeing Lu Aiguo, even though he had to carry his wife on the mountain paths from ti to ti, never complained about being tired and was always in a particularly high spirit.
Even if they were a little slower on the road, at this mont, the three of them sitting under the shade of the trees, resting, and watching Lu Yun running around below the trees, with a whoosh, several trees’ worth of ripe chestnuts disappeared, and then with another whoosh, several more trees’ worth of ripe chestnuts disappeared…
The feeling of effortlessly getting everything done was so satisfying and pleasant for those watching that there’s no need to ntion it. So what if they were a bit slower on the road? Didn’t they also find wild chickens, wild rabbits, and wild chicken eggs along the way?
Just by Lu Yun’s actions alone, she matched what would take them several days to accomplish.
Those who have never picked chestnuts from a tree can’t know how tiring it is.
You have to climb up the tree, aim for the ripe chestnuts, and gently knock them down with a long bamboo pole, while being careful not to damage the branches to prevent a reduced harvest next year. Once the chestnuts fall, they scatter all over the ground, prickly with spiny burrs, and as you pick them up, your hands get pricked. Plus, bending over and lowering your head, you quickly get tired, and by the end of the day, even young and strong n like Lu Aiguo and Shitou would feel utterly exhausted.
“It seems that bringing Xiaoyun this ti was the right decision. By today, we should be able to gather all the chestnuts. In the future, every year at this ti, we can co back. August is just the ti when schools are on holiday; that way we won’t delay anything,” Aiguo reflected aloud.
The chestnut harvest season generally falls in mid-September, but on the mountains of Yushu Village, most of the wild chestnuts would ripen by early August. At this ti, with fewer chestnuts, they were in high demand and could be sold at an even higher price.
“There’s so much on this mountain; practically all year round, there’s sothing to gather – lychees, longans, figs, waterlons, chestnuts, bananas, guavas, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, kiwis, persimmons, walnuts, fresh peaches, apples, pears… you na it, we’ve got it. The only difference is whether there’s enough to sell or just enough for our own consumption.”
Lu Aiguo looked around and then turned to Xia Yuan with a deep sense of regret.
“It’s a pity the mountain roads are far and difficult to traverse. In previous years, relying on just Shitou and , we really couldn’t carry much out. We could only bring the more valuable items that could withstand so rough handling. Those items that bruise easily, apart from a small portion we picked for our own use, the rest we could only watch rot and spoil on the spot.”
“In the past, even after carrying goods down the mountain, we had to sell them on the sly, for fear of being caught and accused of speculating and profiteering. Even then, Shitou and I made a decent sum, enough to fill our stomachs and save so money. These past few years have been even better; we just wish we had an extra pair of legs and arms. If it weren’t for the majority of our earnings going towards repairing the house, would we only have that little bit of cash on us?”
“Now with Xiaoyun here, and during these few days, if we gather all the ripe fruit on the mountain, what do we have to worry about losses? These things cost nothing to grow; anything earned from selling them is pure profit. So, just for the sake of this treasure mountain, we really do need to co back more often in the future.”
“Then why didn’t you ask your uncles or cousins to help before, when you were short on hands?” Xia Yuan asked curiously. “Letting those good things rot on the mountain—what a waste!”
“Do you think just anyone can co to this mountain?”
Lu Aiguo looked at Xia Yuan with a smile.
“Why is Uncle convinced that it’s safe for Shitou and
to co here? Because we know how to identify the traces of wild animals on the mountain. We’ve also developed an instinct that tells us when there’s danger and when it’s safe—it’s not easy to learn this; we’ve risked our lives for it.”
“We can take care of ourselves, and looking after you two is manageable. But if we were to bring more people, it wouldn’t work out. Instead of taking care of them and wasting ti, it’s better if it’s just the two of us. Besides, we’ve already drawn so complaints from the village because we’re not available to work the fields when we’re up here. If we asked several other brothers to join us, who would take care of the farm work, and what about the work points we’ve accumulated? How could we silence the complainers?”
“So that’s how it is, but you two are pushing yourselves too hard,” Xia Yuan realized, her heart aching as she gently touched the scars on Lu Aiguo’s face.
“We’re fine,” Lu Aiguo said, rubbing his cheek against the palm of Xia Yuan’s hand, his heart suddenly warming imnsely.
“Alas, once we move to Haicheng, we’ll be able to co back only a few tis a year, and then many of the fruits on the mountain will go to waste, rotting away. What a pity,” Xia Yuan sighed again, thinking about the loss. That was all money!
“In this world, what is ever perfect? Gains and losses are part of life,” Lu Aiguo replied with an unconcerned smile.
“Just that at this ti, the ripe fruits on the mountain are just enough for us to pick. However, the wild fruits are never that big, and while so taste good, others may not necessarily be so.”
“Dad, when we co back in the future, we could actually try to bring so fruit tree saplings, too,”
Lu Yun, who had finished gathering chestnuts, ran over and eagerly shared her idea after overhearing the second half of Lu Aiguo’s sentence.
The taste of many wild fruits might not be particularly good, but they are completely natural and pollution-free. They can be made into candied fruits or dried fruits, which are nice to keep for eating or giving as gifts.
Plus, if they have the opportunity, they could also bring their own fruit tree saplings up the mountain and plant them wherever they like. They could certainly turn this big mountain into their own orchard.
After all, if they don’t co to harvest them, those fruits will indeed just rot on the trees.
It is worth noting that even many, many years in the past life, only a handful of people would dare to venture deep into this mountain—poachers with their weapons being the exception.
In this life, she would still persuade her father to contract the mountain forests belonging to Yushu Village. As for the deeper parts of the mountain, even if soone wanted to take a contract out, they wouldn’t have the guts to venture in.
This mountain is called a single mountain, but that’s just a customary way to speak. There are dozens of mountain peaks in this range. And because the mountains are tall and remote and are ho to fierce beasts, with quite a few being national-level protected animals, it remains in its original forest state, virtually undisturbed by ecological changes even after many years.
“That’s a good idea, but fruit tree saplings aren’t that easy to co by. Are the chestnuts all picked?” Lu Aiguo looked around and indeed could no longer see any chestnuts on the trees.
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