Song Tan Jishi

At 11:30 at night, Li Lanhua got up as soon as the alarm clock rang.

Her family member Zhou Maozhu went to help build the fermentation tank during the day. Now he was sleeping deeply and snoring non-stop, which made Li Lanhua, who had entered menopause and had difficulty sleeping, feel envious.

But when I think about how the couple can earn three to four hundred a day and save one meal, I can't help but feel full of enthusiasm.

As soon as she left the yard, she saw Zhang Hong, who had gone up the mountain with her, also happened to arrive at the door: "I was about to call you."

Li Lanhua said happily: "I set the alarm - didn't you say you wouldn't come tonight?"

Working for eight or nine hours during the day, although I am only responsible for watching the machine and unhurriedly packing boxes, it is not tiring, but picking vegetables in the middle of the night is not that easy, right?

Zhang Hong sighed: "Well, I haven't been able to sleep well these past two nights, so why not come do some work... I called Ulan at eleven o'clock, but she was still not happy."

Li Lanhua laughed loudly: "She was afraid that you would faint from exhaustion and fall into the ground."

 Zhang Hong was nonchalant: "This is a way to spread out the time. It's not tiring at all. It's eight or nine hours during the day and four hours at night. But I can eat well and live in my own home! I'd rather eat food cooked by other people's chefs."

“I work in the packaging factory next door. I stand on the assembly line 12 hours a day. I’m paid 180, but I only have half an hour to wait in line for meals... Is that making money or a life?”

 When talking about the topic of part-time job, the two of them couldn't help but discuss it - do they want to get this formal job next year?

 The wages of regular workers are definitely not as high as the daily income of short-term workers like them. But officially the harvest is guaranteed despite droughts and floods, and three meals a day are stable every month!

Zhang Hong thought for a while: "I still want to be a formal worker. This part-time worker makes a lot of money when he is busy, but when he is not busy, he has no work, and it is not safe."

“Besides, I don’t want to cook at home either… You know what I cook is not very tasty. It’s quite troublesome to have to cook it freshly after a tiring day.”

 The canteen on the mountain is different. When they went to eat before, they discovered that Master Jiang was very organized and tidy, and the stove was wiped without any traces.

 The oil and other things used are the same as what they use at home, the taste is good, and there are many varieties...

 Who wants to make it at home when there are ready-made ones?

When she said this, Li Lanhua hesitated—what will she do next year?

Just chatting and thinking, the two of them soon followed the bright street lights to the hillside.

At the entrance of the factory, two transport trucks were already waiting there. Wu Lan stood in front of a pile of plastic white baskets. When he saw the two of them coming, he quickly waved:

“Are you really going to keep going? The amount of food I want for the first day is not large, so I should be able to do it.”

It only costs 80 yuan for three or four hours to pick vegetables. No fool would refuse to do it! Zhang Hong and Li Lanhua were decisive:

"Here you come... first tell me what dishes you want and how to put them away, and we will do it now!"

 “That’s okay!” They were happy, and so was Ulan:

“Tie this little bench to your body first so that you can sit in the vegetable patch later for convenience.”

“Then get the basket here. After taking it, go to the water spinach in front and pick out the tender ones in rows.”

As I said, this water spinach has only been planted for a few months, can it still grow old?

Zhang Hong said "Hey" and without saying a word, imitated Ulan and tied a bench to his waist. Then he carried an empty basket in one hand and went directly to the vegetable field. That water spinach is not the old variety of water spinach that they often grow in rural areas, but thin and straight like young bamboo, about twenty or thirty centimeters high.

 At night, when the night lights are turned on, the leaves and stems are as green as green apples. Just pinch it with two fingers, and it will make a crisp "click" sound when it breaks.

This is the first time for Zhang Hong and Li Lanhua to collect this kind of upright water spinach in the field. At first, they were a little rusty when they picked two roots. But once he became familiar with it, his hands flew around and his movements were particularly fast.

 For a time, even the two of them were playing a particularly rhythmic rhythm in this ridge of vegetable fields.

And these pinched water spinach are even in size, neat in strips, green and tender, and are neatly stacked in rectangular white plastic baskets...

Whether it’s obsessive-compulsive disorder or not, seeing this state will instantly raise your eyebrows.

While working, the two of them were still chatting: "This kind of straight water spinach looks cleaner and prettier than the ones we used to have lying on the ground... I don't know if they will plant it this year. If so, I will plant it next year." a little."

“Yes, I went to the city and saw that the supermarkets in other places sell this kind of food... I’ll see if there are any stores like this next year. It looks tender and tender, and it should be delicious.”

The height of the small bench is appropriate. The two of them didn’t feel tired when they started working, and they even had enough energy to look at the surrounding vegetable fields.

Impressive! The water spinach alone probably requires five or six acres of land.

What’s rare is that there is still a gap in the growth, and there are fresh ones picked every day. No wonder the seed sowing work was not heavy at first, but it took many days.

And water spinach can grow so well that one acre of land can yield two thousand kilograms. After picking one crop, it will take more than half a month to pick another crop...

 Thinking about the steady flow of work in the coming days, Li Lanhua and Zhang Hong were also very excited.

 After they finished picking a row of water spinach, other people in the village also came one after another. However, the division of labor is obviously different. There are those who pick amaranth - red amaranth, whose tender branches and leaves are swaying in the evening breeze, are obviously delicious.

The sight of the green and fluffy chrysanthemum makes you want to pick it up, then cut it with a knife, mix it with the batter and steam it in a pot. It nourishes the heart and brain without gaining weight!

 The most important thing is that it tastes delicious!

 Further away is the man cutting leeks...

The new leeks in October are not the old ones in June. The leaves are so thick and wide that you can hold a handful in one hand, and the sickle is cutting them all over the roots...

oops! Regardless of whether it’s dumplings or scrambled eggs, it’s both kidney-tonifying and delicious!

And in the field on the edge, there are still people immersed in pulling onions and garlic!

round multi-clove garlic, purple-skinned single-headed garlic, tender garlic sprouts with unique aroma, and local red-headed chives with the same green tube...

 Somehow, as he continued to do this work, the smile on his lips became bigger and bigger. Then, the voices of everyone talking happily could be heard all over the mountains and plains.

It was obviously late at night, but the lights on the mountain were brightly lit and everyone was bustling, making it appear as prosperous as the day.

Wulan took Song Sancheng and kept moving the full vegetable baskets over to weigh them, and then sent the empty baskets over. In the cool autumn wind in the middle of the night, he was sweating all over.

But the two drivers guarding the car were puzzled:

“You can’t pick vegetables anywhere, so you have to travel so far across the province? It’s really the price of a plate of tofu! The foreign monks can chant sutras.”

 (End of this chapter)