CHAPTER 116: CHAPTER 96: ACQUIRING MOUNTAIN GOODS (PART 2)

The neighboring village has a household where the old man and his eldest son often go hunting. Following the elder’s description, we drove to that house. As we drove along, inquiring from house to house, we also collected quite a lot of good items.

By now, Lin Lishan understood a bit more; the harvest from the mountainside land was poor. The men in the village often went hunting to supplement their household income, so every household had supplies. They were ready to sell them at the market before the New Year, to exchange for household necessities.

The villagers there were warm and sincere, not thinking that people driving cars would cause high prices. Perhaps this was also related to Lin Lishan wearing a military uniform; nowadays, people greatly respected soldiers.

Driving the car and looking at the back full of mountain products and wild bacon, Lin Lishan planned to head back home. With two old hens and 100 eggs, she could also give Jiao Jiao a supplement at night.

"Grandma, we have old hens at home, no need to buy them. Also, my little aunt has a lot of eggs in her room." Xi Zi looked at the pile behind and now realized that this grandma always bought things in heaps, never a small amount.

As Lin Lishan drove, hearing this, she laughed heartily. This child is indeed quite tolerant. She had noticed from the first house that he wanted to stop her.

"The old hens at your house can still lay eggs, keep them for you to eat. These old hens have been raised for two years, it’s nourishing to kill and stew them for soup. Buy more eggs, you all can eat them too. Those mountain products and wild game, Grandma also needs to pack up and send to your little aunt’s second uncle. They are in the Northwest, and there, even with money, you can’t buy these good things. Besides the second uncle, your little aunt has a big uncle and a little aunt, these relatives also need preparation. Tomorrow, go out with Grandma again, Xi Zi, you are pretty quick at helping Grandma calculate accounts."

Xi Zi nodded, fearing she didn’t see while driving, hurriedly said: "Okay, Grandma, take me with you tomorrow. I heard my grandma and mom say, the family also collects mountain products from the village, sending them to Beijing when my little uncle returns. You don’t need to buy more mountain products, it’s already too much. My dad also asked my mom to sneak to the village to buy. It’s too much, and we can’t finish eating it."

Lin Lishan laughed and said: "Keep what’s at your house for leisurely eating. When you go back, also tell your dad not to buy anymore, just say Grandma has already bought a lot. Your little aunt has many senior relatives, it’s not too much at all. The mountain products from the Northeast are famous nationwide, they’re more expensive elsewhere, and in big cities, you often can’t buy them. Have more to eat slowly, and they can also be gifts for the New Year, to give to your great-grandpa and others. So, don’t worry about finishing it all."

After listening, Xi Zi silently counted how many elder relatives he had, the more he thought, the more worried he became. When he grows up like his little uncle, how much money would he need? What could he do in the future to be worry-free?

Lin Lishan drove, chatting casually with Xi Zi, also contemplating buying more and sending them back so they have gifts.

The prices here were genuinely not expensive. In big cities during the holidays, even the supply points sold holiday goods by coupons were limited; things like seeds, mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, dried bamboo shoots, chicken, and pork were allocated by household, and not necessarily could you buy good quality. In the Big Courtyard, supplies were prioritized, but bacon was rarely seen.

These wild game are literally meat dishes, often can be eaten without meat coupons, which is more cost-effective than buying at a high price in the city. Last time she heard that next year eggs would also be reduced in supply, let alone meat?

Returning to Zhang Family, Mother Zhang, along with her two daughters-in-law, helped move the goods into Zhou Jiao’s room, and hurriedly everyone went about their own tasks without having much time to talk.

The men at home were busy at the new foundation to the side, rushing to build the courtyard. Mr. Zhang had led his sons to prepare since early morning. They had no choice; they had to hurry to build the courtyard while the weather was good, as soon the ground would freeze, and moving in by the start of spring would be impossible.

At that moment, Mr. Zhang and the sons were busy digging the foundation, mixing the mud, and some were farther away forming the large bricks. Everything was bustling, and the women at home were boiling and bringing water over, helping out along the way.

Zhou Jiao was awakened, facing the outer room, seeing a pile of worn-out sacks and several baskets in the small outer living room, along with the clucking of hens.

"Mom, you’re back, so soon? I thought you’d be back at least in the evening. Where did you haul so much stuff from?" Zhou Jiao asked curiously,

Lin Lishan, outside, carrying the chicken cage to put it under the eaves outside, vaguely hearing Zhou Jiao’s voice from inside, hurried inside, "You’re awake, quickly change Ping’an’s diaper, nurse/feed him, or else he’ll cry in a bit."

Zhou Jiao nodded, picked up Ping’an to nurse/feed him, taking the diaper handed over by her mom, "Mom, you came back quite quickly. I thought you’d return after dinner. Where did you gather so much stuff from, these things are hard to find now."

She thought she would also go collecting once out of confinement, but seeing this, the nearby area seemed unlikely, they’d have to go farther.

Lin Lishan smiled with joy and said, "I didn’t expect to collect this much either. I took Xi Zi, drove north along Daqing Mountain. Hearing from Xi Zi that there was a side path going into a hunters’ place, asked around and found them. It relied on knowing people, one village after another. There are many stored goods in these foothill households. They just don’t want to sell the old hens, as it’s almost winter, still want to keep them to lay eggs."

Zhou Jiao quickly gave a thumbs-up. Thinking of this indeed showed some real skill, even knowing old hens wouldn’t lay eggs in the dead of winter. She seemed not to have thought about this before.

"Prepare more mountain products, these keep longer than wild game. Sending these instead of pastries as gifts in the New Year looks better."

"Yes, that’s exactly what I’m thinking. All bought today will be sent to your second uncle tomorrow. Keep buying to send to Beijing. These mountain products like mushrooms, black fungus are all excellent things, at reasonable prices. The dried wild chickens and wild hares, along with the bacon, are all good stuff, your grandpa likes to eat these, they could last until next summer."

Zhou Jiao nodded: "You should buy some; wild game like that is hard to find, you might not even buy this much tomorrow. Today was lucky with Xi Zi catching a hunting family, ordinary families don’t have so much meat. Prepare more meats, if lucky enough to run into a village slaughtering pigs, get some more meat. City meat coupons come, villages can’t just slaughter pigs casually. Don’t worry about mountain products, when you run out, I’ll send some over to you."

"Then I’ll focus on meat tomorrow. In the pot, there’s Ah Jiao for you to eat first. I’ll stew an old hen for your midnight snack. Yesterday, I bought two pots, switch between them, don’t mix sweets and greasy items in one pot."