stjorthotic Chapter 40 I've Become a Great Benefactor
Chapter 40 I've Become a Great Benefactor
"Hey bro, what's wrong?"
Mr. Xu yawned, unplugged the door from inside the house, opened the door, and asked.
"Some of our Ophiopogon japonicus plants were stolen. Several other households in the village that planted Ophiopogon japonicus have also been affected. You should go and check if your Ophiopogon japonicus plants have been stolen."
"We harvested all the liriope in our orchard a couple of days ago, except for some wild liriope seedlings left at the 'Three-Piece Bundle' spot."
"Then don't sleep, go and take a look."
"Sigh, let's go tomorrow. Those wild seedlings haven't even taken root yet, it's no big deal if they get stolen."
"Okay, I'll go back and guard the field, just in case someone comes to steal it again."
"Speaking of which, I should have listened to Chunsheng and finished harvesting the Ophiopogon japonicus before digging the ground."
"But anyway, at least this time we were able to plant a lot of Ophiopogon japonicus in advance thanks to your second child's reminder."
After saying that, Uncle Xu left in a hurry.
As Xu's father closed the door and turned around, he saw Xu Chunsheng walking out of the room wearing a coat and carrying a kerosene lamp.
Xu's father greeted him and kept praising Xu Chunsheng:
"You're right, you brought all our Ophiopogon japonicus in early. Your uncle's Ophiopogon japonicus was stolen just now. By the way, come with me tomorrow to help your uncle harvest some Ophiopogon japonicus."
Xu Chunsheng yawned and agreed:
"Yes, then tomorrow we'll ask Mom and my older sister to bake the Ophiopogon japonicus at home, and have someone stay home at all times. You go to sleep first, I need to take a leak."
Sheng carried the lantern to the thatched hut, where the latrine was right next to the pigsty. Below it was a large cesspool used to hold pig manure and human excrement.
The outhouse was made of two old wooden planks that creaked when stepped on, and mosquitoes swarmed around it, their stench mingling with the foul smell of the cesspool, making it particularly pungent and bothersome.
Every household in the mountains does this: they collect human and animal excrement, compost it into fertilizer, and use it for planting and irrigating crops.
Coincidentally, Xujia Village was not the only place to suffer.
……
"Wei'er, can you still carry him?"
At dawn, Xiaowei and his mother You Cuifen, each carrying a basket on their backs, walked along the mountain path.
In You Cuifen's basket was a nylon bag filled to the brim, while Xiao Wei's backpack was also mostly full, covered only by a black plastic bag.
"I can carry it; it's not heavy."
"Were you scared tonight?"
"No, thankfully Grandpa woke us up."
Xiaowei's grandfather has been bedridden with hemiplegia for several years. When the mother and daughter sleep, they don't dare to lock the door completely or sleep too soundly, just in case something happens to the old man in the middle of the night and they can't hear it.
Last night, it was the old man who woke the two of them up. Although he couldn't shout loudly, he could still manage a hoarse and indistinct roar.
After hearing the sound, You Cuifen got up and heard sparse noises coming from under the eaves of her house.
Peeking through the crack in the door, she could see someone groping in the dark, packing up her family's Ophiopogon japonicus.
Those Ophiopogon japonicus roots were picked out before they were dried. There were about five or six pounds of them. I applied them myself for convenience and didn't bring them back inside. I put them directly in a winnowing basket and left them under the eaves to dry at night.
Just as You Cuifen was peeking through the crack in the door, Xiao Wei arrived beside his mother.
Just as Xiao Wei was about to speak, You Cuifen covered his mouth, pointed outside, and gently shushed him, signaling him to be quiet.
The mother and son breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the man hurriedly leave after putting away the Ophiopogon japonicus.
That night, the mother and son didn't dare to sleep. When it was just getting light, they packed up all the Ophiopogon japonicus in the house, fed it to Xiaowei's grandfather, and then hurriedly carried the Ophiopogon japonicus to Xu Chunsheng's house.
So when Xu Chunsheng opened the door in the morning, he was startled to see You Cuifen and her son sitting under the eaves of their house, dozing off.
Xu Chunsheng exclaimed in surprise:
"Auntie, Xiaowei, why are you here so early?"
You Cuifen, holding Xiaowei, looked up at Xu Chunsheng:
"Boss Xu, did I wake you up? I want to sell you all my Ophiopogon japonicus. How much do you think is a good price? Please help me buy it."
After saying that, You Cuifen told us about how someone had stolen her Ophiopogon japonicus the night before.
After finishing her story, You Cuifen said with some lingering fear:
"We don't even have a strong laborer in our family. If we leave the Ophiopogon japonicus in the house, someone might come and steal it again next time."
"Okay, then carry Xiaowei to my room to sleep."
When You Cuifen put Xiaowei on the bed and came out, she saw that the Xu family was already in the courtyard, talking about what had happened in the village the night before.
"That was close! Luckily, we picked them up early."
"That's right, the liriope muscari in several households' fields have been stolen."
"Those are the things that others struggled to climb. They had to put in a lot of effort to climb up, but that bastard thought it best to just steal it."
When they saw You Cuifen come out, the group asked her with concern if anything had happened at home.
"Luckily, I listened to what Boss Xu said earlier, and I didn't plant too much, so I harvested what was in the field a long time ago. There were just a few pounds of uncooked fruit left to dry under the eaves, but last night the robbers carried them away."
Hearing her words, the Xu family breathed a sigh of relief for her.
This widow and her child, plus a paralyzed father-in-law, would have no one to help them if anything happened to them.
Xu Chunsheng's family quite liked Xiaowei. Aside from the fact that Xiaowei had helped Xu Yaomei before, the two went to school together and often went to dig for Ophiopogon japonicus together. Sometimes when Yaomei was bullied at school, Xiaowei would stand up for her.
"Ma'am."
Xu Chunsheng put down the scale and called out to You Cuifen:
"You have a total of seventy-eight and five-tenths catties here. I'll buy it from you at the price I sold it for a few days ago, twenty-nine catties per catty. However, I don't have that much cash on hand right now. Can I give you a receipt and pay you later?"
"Twenty-nine!"
You Cuifen exclaimed in surprise. Although she had heard the news that the price of Ophiopogon japonicus had risen to over twenty yuan per kilogram, hearing the price with her own ears still made her shout out:
"Yes, yes, I trust Boss Xu."
After all, You Cuifen's family planted so much Ophiopogon japonicus on Xu Chunsheng's advice, and Xiaowei had been taken care of by the Xu family many times after starting school. She was truly grateful to Xu Chunsheng.
"Yes, I'll go find a notebook to write you a note."
"Boss Xu, I still need to pay you for the seedlings. Please keep the seedling fee for yourself."
"That's 2276.5 in total. The seedlings last time cost 4 jiao per jin, which was 6 yuan. I'll give you 70.5 first, and you still have 2200 left."
"Yes, yes, I trust your calculations."
You Cuifen was stunned by the money and felt that whatever Xu Chunsheng said was right.
This money was so honest and readily available; her family was able to earn this money entirely thanks to Xu Chunsheng's help. You Cuifen's eyes reddened, her nose tingled, and her legs went weak. She was about to kneel down before Xu Chunsheng to express her gratitude:
"Boss Xu, you are my great benefactor! Without you, my family really doesn't know when we would have been able to get rid of these miserable days."