Hiring Help

The two of them specifically bought a stack of foam boxes to take home. That night, Zhao Danshi went to see the village chief's nephew and asked him to stop by their house each morning before taking passengers to the county town, so he could bring their strawberries down with him.

The village chief's nephew, Zhao Chengjia, smoked as he discussed it with Zhao Danshi. "I can bring them along on the way, but how many pounds of strawberries do you have? Can they be stacked? Where do they need to be delivered?"

"About fifty or sixty pounds. The foam boxes can be stacked simply. Just deliver them to the Essence Source Fruit Shop beside the square. We've already spoken to the owner. Just have him sign for them when you deliver them. How about I pay you the same rate as one passenger? If you think that works, we can make this a long-term arrangement."

Zhao Chengjia charged nine yuan to take one passenger from the village to the county town. If he could gain a regular long-term customer, it would be worthwhile. After thinking it over, he nodded. "How early do you need them delivered? I usually leave the village at six in the morning and get back around seven-thirty."

Their county town had a train station, and plenty of people traveled from town to the county town to catch trains, so his morning business was fairly good.

Zhao Danshi smiled. "Don't worry, we won't hold you up. Come by our fields around six, and we'll have the strawberries loaded onto your vehicle."

Zhao Chengjia did not make any promises too soon. "Let's try it for a few days first. If it works, we'll keep doing business. If it doesn't, I'll let you know early so you can figure something else out."

"Okay. Thanks, Brother Chengjia."

After settling the business, Zhao Danshi did not linger at his house. He picked up his flashlight and walked out, while Zhao Chengjia saw him off for a few steps.

Their village already had solar streetlights, but they were not very densely placed. Some areas were rather dim, so they needed flashlights to avoid tripping over stones and falling.

Not long after Zhao Danshi left the house, he suddenly saw a man walking toward him. One look at that figure, and Zhao Danshi immediately knew it was Li Ping.

Zhao Danshi quickened his pace and walked up to him, his eyes curving into crescents. "Senior Brother, why are you here?"

"Out for a walk."

"Oh." Zhao Danshi smiled at him. "You didn't come to pick me up?"

April nights still carried a hint of chill. Seeing that Zhao Danshi was dressed lightly, Li Ping squeezed his arm and asked, "Aren't you cold, wearing so little?"

"I'm not cold." Zhao Danshi hurriedly shook his head. "After walking for a while, I'll probably start sweating."

But Li Ping did not listen to him. He ran his hand down Zhao Danshi's arm and felt his hand, touching his icy fingertips. He gave him a reproachful look, took off his own coat, and draped it over Zhao Danshi's shoulders. "And you said you weren't cold?"

Zhao Danshi shrank his neck slightly and gathered Li Ping's coat around himself, a smile appearing on his face.

Since they were already out, they were in no hurry to return. They simply took a stroll along the village road.

"Senior Brother, shall we go on a picnic the day after tomorrow? We can bring a picnic blanket and enjoy the scenery while we're at it."

"Sure."

"Senior Brother, have you gotten tired after being here for so long?"

"No. It's fine."

Zhao Danshi walked beside him. "If you feel tired, you have to tell me."

"Okay."

After walking around twice, they thought of Dou Dou and decided to head back to sleep. The next morning, as soon as they opened their eyes, they had to get up and pick strawberries in the fields again.

Yawning, Zhao Danshi took his coat from the foot of the bed and put it on. "We're getting up way too early now. Once we have money, we definitely need to hire someone to help with the work."

Li Ping came over to check on Dou Dou. Hearing that, he smiled. "That wish will be easy enough to fulfill. Once we finish operating for this year, we should have enough savings on hand. It'll be time to hire a few people to help out."

"We'll see." Zhao Danshi rubbed his face to wake himself up. "We're making a lot now, but we're spending a lot too. I wonder how much we'll actually have left after a year. In another two months, we'll have to buy trending searches too. Forty thousand yuan for ten minutes. No matter how much we make, it won't be enough for us to burn through."

Li Ping straightened after checking on Dou Dou and smiled at him. "It's okay. Things will work out."

The two of them squatted beside the ditch, brushing their teeth and washing their faces side by side. Well water was a little colder than tap water, and by the time they finished washing up, they were both much more awake.

Zhao Danshi pushed out the flatbed cart, and the two of them stacked five foam boxes on it. By the faint light of dawn, they opened the courtyard gate with a creak and headed to the fields to pick strawberries.

The old man was awake too. He slowly came out to wash up, and after sitting for a while, he would start the fire to boil tea and prepare breakfast.

Dahei lay in his kennel. Seeing the old man wake up, he trotted over happily and circled around him.

Of the whole family, only Dou Dou was still wrapped in a warm dream.

The two had gained experience picking strawberries. Their scissors moved swiftly and neatly, and each bright red strawberry was clipped off and gently placed into the back basket.

They did not seek absolute precision. They only went through each row once. Since they came to pick strawberries every day anyway, any strawberries they missed today could be picked tomorrow.

After picking the strawberries, they still had to face the daily task of watering the vegetables. It had not rained for several days, and the ground was extremely dry. They needed to soak the soil thoroughly, or the vegetables would not grow properly from lack of water.

"Senior Brother, I think we really need to install modern agricultural facilities. We can't keep up with the watering if we rely on ourselves every day."

Li Ping thought for a moment. "How about diverting water from the ditch? Scooping water from the ditch to water the vegetables every day would be a little faster than what we're doing now."

"I'll take a look. Some vegetables can't handle waterlogging. If we divert water over, I'm afraid we'll drown them."

"We can divert as much as we can. We'll solve part of the problem first."

"I think that'll work. Senior Brother, I'll ask Brother Spoon and the others to come dig ditches in a couple of days."

"Okay."

After they finished watering, they estimated that Zhao Chengjia had already reached the county town and delivered the strawberries into the hands of the Essence Source Fruit Shop owner. Li Ping gave the owner a call.

"Ah, Little Li, your strawberries have already arrived. I'm checking them now. I was just about to call you."

"The strawberries are okay, right?"

"No problem, no problem. They're very fresh. There are forty-eight pounds total, at twenty-five yuan per pound. I should transfer twelve hundred yuan to you, right?"

They had weighed the strawberries before loading them onto the vehicle. There were forty-eight pounds in total.

A little amusement entered Li Ping's voice. "That's right. Transfer the money to me."

According to their agreement, payment was settled on the day the strawberries were delivered.

"Alright, then I'll transfer it to you by bank card. It'll arrive immediately, so keep an eye out. Let me know on WeChat once it arrives."

"Okay."

Li Ping hung up, and sure enough, before long, a bank notification arrived on his phone. He took a screenshot and forwarded it to the owner.

Zhao Danshi breathed a sigh of relief. "More than a thousand yuan has come in. If we make this much every day, we shouldn't have a problem earning forty or fifty thousand a month. Senior Brother, strawberries sell for a high price. Should we rent a little more land and grow more? These seedlings need fertilizer soon too."

"There's no need to grow more." Li Ping smiled. "Things are valuable when they're scarce. Even if we plant more, if the price drops later, all that work will have been for nothing. Let's keep this output and fertilize the strawberry plants we have more heavily."

"That works too. Senior Brother, the loquats we planted by the pond have already blossomed. They'll probably bear at least a few fruits this year. I think the loquat saplings have taken root now, so they're not afraid of being damaged. Should we fence in the pond and raise some ducks while we're at it?"

"Sure. Get thirty to fifty of them. Don't get carried away."

"Okay, I'll ask Auntie Yazi to help us buy them. We'll get more female ducks. Once they grow up, they can lay eggs for us too. By the time the ducks can lay eggs, Dou Dou should be old enough to eat duck eggs. Then he can alternate between chicken eggs and duck eggs, so his nutrition will be more balanced."

"If we raise ducks, we'll need to hire someone. Can you think of anyone with free time? Man or woman, either is fine. Someone in their fifties or sixties would do, just to help raise chickens and ducks and pick vegetables."

Zhao Danshi pondered it. "We'll need to discuss that with Grandpa. He knows better who would be suitable."

"Mm."

When they told the old man after returning home, he held Dou Dou and thought for a long while. "How about hiring your Uncle Wende? He lives alone and doesn't have a pension. Every market day, he has to carry bamboo goods out to sell. Life hasn't been easy for him."

"Grandpa, is Uncle Wende reliable?"

"He is. He's an honest man and knows how to work. If he weren't so rigid and unable to adapt, his life wouldn't have turned out like this."

"Alright, Grandpa, help us ask him. Tell him we're looking to hire someone. For now, the pay will be two thousand yuan a month, to help feed the chickens and ducks and harvest vegetables."

"He'll be willing. What reason would he have not to be? Just wait. I'll go ask him for you this afternoon."

Zhao Danshi and Li Ping left the matter to the old man.

They picked strawberries in the morning, hilled soil at noon, and pulled weeds in the afternoon. Simple as that, another day passed.

The chickens they raised had only grown to the size of fists and were nowhere near ready to eat. In the village, only the chickens at Yazi Mei's house had been raised since last autumn and were now just the right size to catch and eat.

Catching chickens was also part of the video. Li Ping followed behind Zhao Danshi filming, while Yazi Mei received them. She looked very restrained whenever she saw the camera.

"Danshi, am I going to be on television too?" Yazi Mei avoided the camera, looking extremely embarrassed.

"No, Auntie. Just do whatever you normally do. We won't film you. Even if we accidentally catch you in the shot, if you don't want to be shown, we'll edit the footage so outsiders won't see you."

"Oh, oh." Yazi Mei relaxed, though she also seemed a little disappointed. "Then I'll take you to catch chickens."

"Auntie, are your chickens fierce?" Zhao Danshi thought of the chickens in the village that could fly up and peck people, and he felt a little timid.

"Not fierce at all, not fierce at all. Go catch them without worry."

After returning to the countryside for so long, this was Zhao Danshi's first time coming to catch chickens. The chickens were extremely alert. The moment they saw him, they spread their legs and ran off in every direction, clucking wildly.

Zhao Danshi chased desperately after them, but the roosters turned with incredible agility, and he could not run as fast as they could.

Yazi Mei could not stand watching any longer and shouted at him, "Don't be greedy! Pick one chicken and keep chasing it. You'll catch your target soon enough."

Zhao Danshi nodded awkwardly. "Okay, I got it."

He fixed his eyes on a proud, spirited rooster and chased it without stopping. Just as he was about to catch it, the rooster flapped its wings and, clucking, flew up onto the fence.

Zhao Danshi's feet slipped, and he nearly fell flat on his face. Behind the camera, Li Ping could not help smiling at the sight, and the camera shook along with him.

Li Ping turned off the camera and asked Zhao Danshi, "How about we skip the chicken-catching part and just film the chicken after it's already been caught?"

Zhao Danshi refused to admit defeat. He stared fixedly at the chicken Yazi Mei had chased back down. "No need. I can catch it. Senior Brother, just keep filming."

Li Ping could only follow his wishes and turn the camera back on.

This time, Zhao Danshi had gained some experience. After nearly falling several times, he launched himself forward and pounced, pinning the big rooster beneath him.

No matter how it clucked, the big rooster still could not escape its fate of having its legs caught and being held upside down.

Zhao Danshi pulled a bundle of prepared straw from the fence, neatly tied the rooster's feet, then gripped its wings and carried it home at an unhurried pace.

Only after filming the shot did he come back to pay. Still shaken, he said to Yazi Mei, "Auntie, your chickens are way too fierce."

Yazi Mei smiled. "They're not usually that fierce. You startled them. Next time you catch chickens, approach slowly. Catch them suddenly when they aren't paying attention. If you chase them like this, you won't catch them."

"I've learned my lesson." Zhao Danshi waited for Yazi Mei to weigh the chicken and calculate the price before asking, "Auntie, I heard you're especially good at picking ducks. When you go sell vegetables at the next market, could you bring back fifty ducks for me? Local shelducks will do."

"Sure, why not?" Yazi Mei readily agreed.

Zhao Danshi smiled. "Please help me pick forty-five female ducks and five male ducks. I'll pay you first."

"Alright, I'll bring them to your home when I come back from the market."

"Okay, then I'll trouble you with it. Thanks."

"We're fellow villagers. Why be so polite?"