Chapter 310: Reborn in the 90s: The Tyrant Flower Chapter 311 - Thriving Day by Day

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Protagonist:

Chai Mi

Time flew by, and three to five days passed in a flash.

During this period, Chai Mi's business was still very good; the dumplings made with the pickled mustard greens she got from Yao Lianhua's house also sold very well.

However, those pickled vegetables had long since been eaten up.

Chai Mi originally wanted to make another trip to her Second Aunt's house to get some pickled vegetables from Yao Lianhua, but she was too busy with the stall here and really couldn't find the time.

Originally, setting up a stall in the industrial zone brought in four to five hundred yuan a day; now, setting up at the school, income has already exceeded a thousand. Business is this good, plus the autumn harvest is coming up soon and might get busy, and the stall would delay things, so she won't delay during this period.

Chai Mi then called for Chai Youqing to make a trip to Yao Lianhua's house: "Dad, go to Hua's house and ask her for two hundred catties of pickled vegetables. Also tell her to pickle more; in another half month, have her deliver them herself."

Doing business in this era is really too inconvenient, unlike the future where technology is advanced; this kind of thing could be solved with a phone call.

Now we can only use people to notify.

After Chai Mi finished speaking, she didn't forget to paint a rosy picture for Chai Youqing: "Dad, I won't say much about household matters inside and out. You have to manage things well, and take good care of the cattle and such. If I earn money for a few more months, maybe our family will have money to build a house. By then, your biggest wish in this lifetime will also be realized. As for the matter with the old man and the old lady, you don't need to worry about it either. Now even squatting by the fence includes meals; Grandpa is enjoying his blessings in there. If he were at home, he couldn't afford to eat or drink well either; it's better to squat inside for a while."

Chai Youqing listened and felt a bit awkward, always feeling something was off.

But he still hadn't found the crux of the problem.

Unable to find the crux of the problem, he naturally didn't know what the key problem was, so he could only agree.

Chai Mi had bought a bicycle some time ago; Chai Youqing pushed the bicycle, and then used an air tube to pump up the tires.

The trip to Yao Lianhua's house was a good twenty-something kilometers; riding a bicycle would take nearly two and a half hours, and what's more, the road was especially bad, with many places requiring him to push the bike, so it would take three to four hours.

After Chai Mi finished instructing Chai Youqing, he set off at eleven in the morning.

Today Chai Mi went to set up a stall at the industrial zone side, so she came back relatively early: "Don't eat a meal there. You're not bringing anything on this trip; having them spend money on a meal wouldn't be right."

"Got it." After Chai Youqing answered, he set off.

After Chai Mi ate lunch, Song Qiushui had been tired to the point of exhaustion recently, so she took a nap and went back very early.

Chai Mi had nothing to do, and it just so happened that Su Wan felt it was time to plant vegetables.

The mother and daughters ran to the vegetable garden and started working.

Because the vegetables in Chai Mi's family's vegetable garden were long gone, eaten clean ahead of time, the vegetable plot had been baking in the sun for a long time and was hard as a rock.

Digging once with the mattock brought up nothing but big clods of earth.

This kind of clod is called 'tu la ka'.

"Ai, this vegetable plot is all 'tu la ka' clods; can vegetables even grow?" Su Wan frowned and said: "It seems a bit late too; if we don't plant vegetables soon, in a few days we'll miss the window."

Originally, after the dog days of summer passed, the autumn Chinese cabbage should have been planted, but during that time Su Wan's health wasn't very good, and there were many things at home, so it got delayed for a while.

Autumn in the Northeast comes especially early. If this Chinese cabbage is planted a bit late, then by the time the Cold Dew solar term arrives, the cabbage won't be able to mature, causing the cabbage leaves to be unable to curl inward. To put it bluntly, there's no 'heart formation', and the quality of the vegetable would be quite poor.

However, during this time, Chai Zhongxiao and Wang Huirong at the old house didn't cause trouble. Su Wan's mood improved a lot because of this, and her body recovered more or less, so she thought to plant the autumn Chinese cabbage.

Chai Mi said with a smile: "Mom, anyway, the vegetables you plant aren't tasty. In previous years, the cabbage you planted either attracted aphids or had black hearts. Before we just made do eating them; now? Still just make do planting them; whatever comes out is what comes out. Just treat it as a backup vegetable; later when steaming buns, we can just use the vegetable leaves to pad the buns."

Su Wan heard her daughter say her own planted vegetables weren't too good, and said with some complaint: "But when you were little, you also ate this kind of cabbage; you didn't eat less of the pickled sour cabbage either."

Chai Mi just laughed.

They were all things with no way out.

The potatoes planted in the family's vegetable garden were especially small, and the yield was also low. A large patch was planted, but in the end only nearly four small bags were harvested; they were gone after a few meals.

As for the planted cabbage, it was the same.

Year after year, the vegetables planted were especially bad, and compared to what other people's families planted, they were much worse.

It might be because there was a cowshed nearby, and later flies caused trouble, leading to many pests and diseases on the vegetables. Plus, Su Wan was too 'making reasonable use of the land', planting a big circle of corn around the perimeter, intending to boil and eat it.

This led to the vegetables inside the garden lacking sunlight to some extent.

Growing poorly was only natural.

"The vegetables aren't good, but Mom, what you cook is delicious. I really can't eat the sour cabbage other people make."

Chai Mi was afraid her mother would tire herself out, so she dug the holes and put in the seeds, and her mother just covered the holes.

Finally, Chai Mi got a bit tired from digging, frowned, and called out: "Xiu'er, where did you hide? Come out."

Chai Xiu came out of the room with a blank face: "What is it this time, Sister? You can't stand me being idle for a moment."

Chai Mi frowned, painting a rosy picture for Chai Xiu: "Xiu'er, since you haven't gone to study, you don't know the hardship of farming. The saying goes, 'Who knows the meal in the bowl, every grain is hardship.' Last winter, our family stewed sour cabbage with pig blood, and you ate the most happily. All that sour cabbage was eaten by you."

Chai Xiu nodded helplessly.

This was indeed a fact.

"Since you haven't planted cabbage before, Sister is giving you a chance today to show off properly. By the way, learn a bit about the hardship of farming; in the future, you'll study even harder." Chai Mi said, handing the mattock to Chai Xiu.

Chai Xiu's whole person froze: Hiss... obviously a huge trap. I still have to coax the kid, I still have to tend the fire, and now planting vegetables and digging holes falls to me too...

But since Chai Mi had already handed over the mattock, Chai Xiu could only take the mattock, which was taller than herself, listlessly and start digging holes.

"Mom, look at my sister, just making me do work." Chai Xiu started tattling.

Su Wan didn't really manage this matter, just saying that Chai Mi usually wraps dumplings and sets up a stall and is too tired, and in the afternoon still has to make dumpling filling, so it's good for Chai Xiu to do a bit of this work, just right to exercise her body.

Chai Xiu dug ten-odd holes, finished digging all the holes for a row of cabbage, then asked Chai Mi: "Sister, I really can't. I can't do this work. Too tired, I can't hold on..."

"When eating, how did you hold on?" Chai Mi teased Chai Xiu while tossing seeds and fertilizer beside her: "What's this count as? When I was ten-something, I still had to coax you, cook, go to school, and plant vegetables. Back then I also raised a few ducks to work-study; every day I still had to herd ducks and cut grass to feed the cattle. In autumn, I still had to carry a small stool and peel corn in the middle of the night. What did I say?"

Chai Xiu: "Uh..."

Listening to her sister Chai Mi recount past hardships in detail, Chai Xiu was momentarily speechless, and could only resign herself to continuing to swing that heavy mattock, heaving and digging holes. Sweat ran down her small face, and her arms ached so much she couldn't lift them.

"Sister, really can't do it, I can't even lift my hands..." Chai Xiu begged for mercy again, planting the mattock into the ground, panting heavily.

Chai Mi saw her younger sister was indeed tired enough to be scorching, her small face flushed red, and didn't press further. She took the mattock nimbly, her tone softening: "Alright alright, the holes are dug more or less. You rest a bit, go coax the kid, don't let them fall on the ground. The rest of the work Mom and I will handle."

Chai Xiu, as if granted a great pardon, hurriedly put down the Chew Tou and ran back into the room in a flash to drink water and watch the child.

Su Wan watched her eldest daughter skillfully grab a handful of Chinese cabbage seeds and scatter them evenly into the pits Chai Xiu had hoed, then pinch in a few grains of fertilizer, and nimbly use her foot to push the soil back and tamp it firm — movements both fast and steady. She couldn't help but sigh: "Still you who are capable; this quickness of hand and foot takes after me when I was young. These past two years I feel my body is far from what it used to be; do a little something and I don't have the strength for it, do a bit more and I'm tired out in a panic."

Su Wan's health has indeed not been good all along; the earlier text also mentioned it — Su Wan suffers from vertigo.

Of course, it's not especially severe. Similar to the kind of dizziness from low blood sugar.

However, physical labor is definitely impossible for her to do too much of; even a little more and her head gets muddled.

Chai Mi smiled at this: "Mom, don't praise me. Our vegetable plot conditions are poor, so many stones, and we planted late too — hard to say what it'll grow into. Let's just make do; as long as others see we planted it. Anyway, now our stall makes money; if we want vegetables we can buy fresh ones, better than gnawing on these half-dead cabbage stalks." In her heart she calculated: stall income is stable, the family's food needn't be too compromised.

Moreover, ever since Chai Mi could remember, the family's Chinese cabbage has always been planted rather Deliberately Make Things Difficult.

To put it plainly, this Plaything really does depend on who plants it.

So-called specialization in one's art. Some people just plant vegetables well — can't deny it even if you want to.

"Words are spoken like that," Su Wan said while covering soil, "but if the family garden doesn't plant a bit of something, it always feels empty. Besides, what you plant yourself, you eat with peace of mind, no?" She watched her daughter's busy figure, then recalled Chai Mi's talk of building a house, and her heart couldn't help warming up, as if that bright big tile-roofed house had already shown its ridgepole before her eyes.

Mother and daughter cooperating, the speed wasn't slow either.

However, physical labor is physical labor; after working over an hour, that one small plot was only just finished planting.

Finished planting the vegetables, Chai Mi again carried a water bucket and watered a bit.

Only then was it counted as complete.

"Mom, when I go into the city tomorrow." Chai Mi straightened her waist, patted the soil off her hands, "I have to buy some things to come back and try making fried chicken."

Su Wan also straightened up, pounded her lower back: "You really want to do that? Sounds troublesome just hearing it. Frying things uses a lot of oil; that oil goes *Sizzle* with a splash, gets on you and it hurts. Besides, we don't have the equipment for it."

"Equipment is easy to handle," Chai Mi had a plan ready, "just use the big wok to try. Oil costs a bit, but if it sells well, this bit of oil money doesn't count as anything. Mainly we have to test the taste, see if people buy it. Fried chicken legs and wings, sprinkle some cumin chili powder, student kids will definitely love it, fresher than dumplings."

Su Wan still felt it was not Reliable: "You say it lightly. The chicken? Where to get it? Zhang Hailan's side still hasn't given word. Besides, this is dumplings and fried chicken both — can you handle it alone? That girl Song Qiushui, as a mascot she barely passes; eating she can do, work she truly cannot. She doesn't even compare to Xiu'er; frying things I see she's Scorching."

"The chicken matter, at the market fair I'll buy a few young roosters to test the waters first; expensive is expensive, count it as investment." Chai Mi was very insistent, "As for manpower... Mom you're right, Zhang Hailan's side I have to go ask in person. Relying solely on Song Qiushui won't do. After the market fair tomorrow, in the afternoon I'll squeeze in a trip to her place. If she really can come, even if we pay her a few yuan a day in wages, it's better than us flustering around ourselves. Her hands are fast, processing chicken will definitely be nimble; fried chicken might really be her talent."

"Alright, as long as you have a plan in mind." Su Wan looked at her daughter's eager appearance and ultimately didn't pour cold water again. She bent to pick up the few Chinese cabbage seeds that had fallen on the ground, carefully put them back in the bag, "Just don't overwork yourself; this stall business is just booming, don't bite off more than you can chew. Fried chicken and such, test slowly, no rush."

"Rest assured Mom, I have a measure." Chai Mi wiped the sweat from her forehead, looked at the newly planted vegetable beds, "This Chinese cabbage, just treat it as giving our family a winter hope. Come, back to the room to rest a bit; this afternoon we still have to make filling."

Back in the room, Chai Xiu was holding Old Third and gently patting; the little one was already asleep.

Chai Mi gave Chai Xiu a sidelong glance: "Go light the fire, Old Third is already asleep. You're still pretending to coax a child; she's not one or two months old anymore."

Chai Xiu helpless, could only put down Old Third and go out to get firewood and light the fire.

Chai Mi also began preparing the dumpling filling ingredients for the afternoon. Su Wan also helped on the side picking vegetables and washing vegetables.

By seven or eight in the evening, Chai Youqing finally returned dusty and weary riding a bicycle. On the bicycle's rear seat, tied firmly with hemp rope were two large bags of things — precisely the pickled vegetable lumps Yao Lianhua gave, a full two hundred catties.

"Exhausted me to death!" Chai Youqing shouted the moment he entered, "This broken road, jolted me till my butt nearly split into eight pieces! Hua said, pickled vegetables are enough, let us use them at ease; after a while she'll pickle new ones."

Chai Mi and Su Wan hurriedly unloaded the pickled vegetables.

Finished organizing, Chai Mi then remembered: "I seem to have forgotten to give money."

But Yao Lianhua didn't ask either; anyway just go by the old price, next time give it together.

After eating dinner, Song Qiushui came over again.

Chai Mi discussed with her about buying a few chickens tomorrow to come back and try making fried chicken themselves.

Actually, Chai Mi even had the idea to sell grilled skewers.

You see, in later generations the Northeast economy was very bad. But Northeast people still had their own industries.

Light industry livestreaming, heavy industry barbecue.

It's just that now it's autumn, not too suitable for large-scale barbecue; otherwise Chai Mi would high or low want to do some small barbecue.

How does that saying go: thick gold chain small watch, three meals a day small barbecue.

Doing some barbecue in the Northeast, in this era, would definitely be wildly popular.

Of course, don't bite off more than you can chew. Still do fried chicken first, then slowly add other things later, step by step, comparatively better.