Reborn in a small mountain village in 1991

Chapter 43 A Village-wide Mobilization

Xu Chunsheng subconsciously moved the phone further away.

Li Da's voice cracked with excitement, becoming high-pitched and shrill, as if he were about to leap out of the phone.

"Come and collect it the day after tomorrow. I have about 500 jin here."

"Okay, okay, I'll come first thing the day after tomorrow!"

"Can you help me talk to the brigade? Raw ones are eight yuan a pound, and dried ones are thirty-three yuan a pound."

"Okay, I'll let the team know. I can't guarantee how many we'll get."

"It's alright, we'll keep the numbers."

After hanging up the phone, Xu Chunsheng went to the brigade office and told the cadres that someone would come to collect Ophiopogon japonicus the day after tomorrow. He also asked the brigade to announce over the loudspeaker that anyone with Ophiopogon japonicus at home should come to the brigade's "field" the day after tomorrow, saying that a boss was coming to the countryside to collect Ophiopogon japonicus. As long as it was clean, the price was eight yuan per catty for raw and thirty-three yuan per catty for dried.

The dam was provided voluntarily by the brigade cadres after listening to Xu Chunsheng's words.

Because the price of Ophiopogon japonicus has risen sharply, but the town's supply and marketing cooperative buys it at a lower price, they offered to provide the land after hearing the price quoted by Xu Chunsheng.

The brigade also hopes that the villagers can make some money through this opportunity.

Before leaving, Xu Chunsheng called Li Da again, told him about the matter, and asked him to go directly to the brigade to collect Ophiopogon japonicus the day after tomorrow.

As Xu Chunsheng walked along the road, he heard the hoarse voice of the brigade's loudspeaker:

"Attention, Gushan Brigade! A big boss is coming to the countryside to collect Ophiopogon japonicus the day after tomorrow. It's eight yuan for fresh and thirty-three yuan for dried. If you have any stored at home, hurry up and clean them up and bring them over. You can deliver them at the brigade's threshing ground."

"Attention, Gushan Brigade..."

……

The sound echoed through the mountains again and again.

Later, brigade cadres will go village by village to notify everyone again, just to ensure that the more remote villages can hear the broadcast.

"Hurry up, hurry up."

"Didn't you hear me? They're all eight yuan a pound raw!"

"The Xu family is really lucky. They planted so much Ophiopogon japonicus this year; they're probably going to make a lot of money from it."

"That's right. If only I had listened to Xu Erwa back then and planted some more in the fields, I could have earned some money myself."

"What's the use of saying all this now? They're lucky. Let's hurry up and go dig in the mountains."

"If you don't go now, someone will dig it all up, and then you'll really have nothing left."

……

The entire Gushan Brigade became lively. Everyone put down their work in the fields, carried baskets on their backs, and took hoes and sickles to dig for wild lilyturf by the ditches and in the woods.

When Xu Chunsheng arrived home, he saw his mother asking:

"Jun'er, should we go dig some up too? They're all eight pieces raw!"

Seeing that Xu's father was somewhat tempted, Xu Chunsheng quickly spoke up:

"Mom and Dad, I'm home."

"If Boss Li is going to collect it, we won't join in the fun. We'll just keep an eye on what's at home."

When Xu Chunsheng's parents heard what he said, they noticed that he had returned.

"That's true, with so many things at home, the most important thing is to prevent them from being stolen."

Mr. and Mrs. Xu nodded in agreement.

Although wild ophiopogon japonicus is considered to belong to whoever digs it up, for a family like the Xus, who have planted so much in their own land, going out into the mountains to compete with others for ophiopogon japonicus would inevitably incur the resentment of the villagers, making it difficult for the family to maintain their standing in the village. Moreover, it is indeed more important to take good care of what is at home.

Besides, there's only so much ophiopogon japonicus in the mountains to begin with, and every household has been keeping an eye on it these past few days, hoping to dig up some of it and earn some extra money to supplement their household income.

In the village, if you want to survive, you have to save face in everything you do. If you try to take advantage of everyone, you'll be isolated by the villagers sooner or later.

Who can say for sure that their family will never encounter problems?

Weddings, funerals, and neighborhood visits all require the help of villagers. If someone is labeled as heartless or greedy, it will be difficult for them to survive in the village.

Xu's mother also looked as if she had suddenly realized something, and slapped her forehead:

"I must have lost my mind. If I had gone to dig today, no one would have been willing to help my family in the future if anything happened."

"Erwa, you're getting better and better at thinking things through."

For two days in a row, not a single person could be seen in the fields of the village. Everyone was working hard to find Ophiopogon japonicus in the mountains.

Some people were lucky enough to find the patch of wild Ophiopogon japonicus that Xu Chunsheng had dug up last year. Unfortunately, a year later, the medicinal roots of that patch of Ophiopogon japonicus had not yet fully grown.

Only the Xu family remained quiet, with Xu's mother and eldest sister staying at home to keep watch, while Xu's father and Xu Chunsheng were busy weeding and digging, showing no intention of following the trend to dig up wild Ophiopogon japonicus.

Everyone in the village noticed it, and for a moment they couldn't help but sigh:

"People don't even look at these loose goods anymore."

"The Xu family knows how to get things done. If they come too, we'll have even less to dig up."

……

The two noisy days passed quickly.

The day finally arrived for Li Dalai to harvest the Ophiopogon japonicus.

Xu Chunsheng was sitting on the edge of the wall, slurping noodles, when he heard someone call his name:

"Chunsheng, are you still eating breakfast?"

Xu Chunsheng looked up and saw his uncle carrying an empty basket, waving to him, with his cousin following behind.

"Uncle, Chunping, have you had breakfast yet?"

"I've already eaten."

"You called people to come and collect Ophiopogon japonicus today, right? I'm worried you won't be able to carry it all, so I'll help you carry some."

A nylon bag that can hold 100 jin (50 kg) can only hold 50-60 jin (25-30 kg) of dried Ophiopogon japonicus.

Xu Chunsheng's family had seven or eight bags full of Ophiopogon japonicus, which the whole family couldn't transport all at once.

"That would really be a lot of trouble for Uncle and Brother Chunping. We were just saying that we couldn't finish memorizing it in one go and that we would need someone to keep watch over it."

"You're talking about this as a family, but when is the boss coming?"

"They should arrive around noon."

As the two were talking, Xu Chunsheng heard someone call out to him again: "Boss Xu, have you had breakfast yet? I'll help you carry some Ophiopogon japonicus."

The ones who shouted were You Cuifen and Xiao Wei.

"Thank goodness you haven't left yet, I was worried we'd be late."

"Auntie, have you had breakfast yet? Come and sit down. You came all this way to help us; you're so thoughtful."

"What's with the 'thoughtful' or 'unintentional' stuff? You've helped us so much, I'm just here to do some menial work, nothing important."

As the group was talking, they suddenly heard the announcement over the loudspeaker:

"Attention, Gushan Brigade! The boss who buys Ophiopogon japonicus is here. If you want to sell, hurry up and bring it over."

Before long, one could hear officials banging gongs and calling out from village to village:

"Boss Li is here to collect Ophiopogon japonicus. Those who want to sell, hurry up and take it to the brigade's threshing ground."

The group was puzzled as to why Li Daneng had arrived so early.

The mystery was solved when the group carried the Ophiopogon japonicus to the brigade's threshing ground.

A blue Yuejin truck was parked in the brigade's threshing ground.

The car body is somewhat worn and looks quite old.

"Brother Chunsheng! Over here!"

"I found a car yesterday for you, and I came here around four o'clock."

Li laughed and greeted Xu Chunsheng.

By this time, a lot of people had gathered in the threshing ground. When they saw Xu Chunsheng's family arrive, they instinctively made way for them and greeted them with smiles.