No pain no gain

……

The day before going to the town, Da Zhuang called the children over, set a place to dig lotus roots, and demonstrated a few times before letting the children go down.

"Come on, wrap these on your feet and legs first, don't just roll up your pants and get them off!" Da Zhuang handed out leg wraps made of oiled paper and rags and straw one by one.

It's already October, and although it's not particularly cold, it's better to pay attention, Da Zhuang doesn't want these children to have any problems with their legs and feet in the future.

"No, no, this is so troublesome..."

"That's right, Da Zhuang, I don't need to..."

"Well..."

……

Several older children yelled, and couldn't wait to start walking down.

"Forget it, you don't need it now, but if you feel cold in the future, you must use it..." Da Zhuang reluctantly put away the leg wraps, and only handed a pair to the fool.

"I don't need it!" Shazi shook his head and said while rolling up his pants.

"Ada!" The idiot called out, and without any explanation, he stepped forward and knelt down, helping the idiot to tie him up.

A Da was stunned for a moment, squatted down embarrassedly, and quickly grabbed the other mat from Da Zhuang's hand and tied it up by himself.

"Okay, be more careful!" Da Zhuang clapped his hands and stood up and said.

"En!" The fool responded and walked down carefully.

While digging, Da Zhuang paid attention to the children who came to help, and reminded him a few times from time to time, but the speed was the slowest.

"Guji, Guji..."

Da Zhuang raised his eyes and looked at Yang Zhuzi next to him strangely. It’s still early in the day, so why did his stomach start to growl? Most people in the village only eat two meals in the morning and evening in this season, so it’s definitely a must in the morning. I'm full, unless of course the family can't afford that much food...

Yang Zhuzi probably also realized that his embarrassment had been noticed by Da Zhuang, with a look of embarrassment on his face, he quietly moved aside.

Da Zhuang smiled kindly at Yang Zhuzi, turned around and greeted the children, "Would you like to take a rest? I brought some steamed buns..."

"Oh yeah!"

Several children cheered together and ran towards the shore.

"Hey, be careful! Don't trample on the lotus root!" Da Zhuang shouted quickly.

Da Zhuang specially brought slices of dried steamed buns to share with these children. This kind of steamed buns are not fried with oil or salt. They are just ordinary thick noodle steamed buns sliced ​​and dried in the sun. Zhuang makes steamed buns on weekdays. There is only enough steamed buns. Sometimes there are one or two leftovers that can’t be eaten. When the weather is good and strong, they cut them into slices and take them out to dry. Browned, sprinkled with a little salt, the little ones in the family are rushing to eat...

Just this kind of dry and slightly sour steamed buns, but a few children ate them with great relish, and a large bag of steamed buns was snatched up in no time...

"I said, did you run out without eating enough in the morning!" Da Zhuang quickly took two pieces out and stuffed them into the fool's hand, and asked jokingly.

One of the older children stuffed the last piece of hard steamed bun, swallowed it vigorously, touched the back of his head and said: "My parents said that the price of grain has risen a bit this year, so we need to save the grain and sell it for money!"

"My mother said she would save money for us to marry a wife..."

"My mother has another little brother in her belly..."

……

A few children chattered, Da Zhuang frowned, and talked in a mess. In conclusion, the main reason is that because the price of grain has risen, everyone in the village wants to sell more grain. ...

In such an era, fluctuations in food prices are definitely not a good thing. No matter whether it is rising or falling, even in the era when the social system was relatively sound, food prices did not dare to fluctuate greatly. Once food prices rise or fall, the government will Relevant measures will definitely be introduced...

"I'm going down!" The child who spoke first yelled, and walked down to the lotus root field.

Seeing this, the rest of the children also ran down.

Da Zhuang packed the oil-paper bag with a heavy heart, and pondered for a long time on the shore before going down...

It was the first time for several children to dig lotus roots. They dug a lot in the morning, and it got better in the afternoon. After washing and weighing in the evening, a child who was more clever in his hands and feet actually dug about [-] catties. .

Da Zhuang asked the fool to go back and drive the donkey cart over, and Er Zhuang, who had already returned home from school, came with him.

"Brother, this, this..." Er Zhuang called out in surprise, pointing to a pile of white lotus roots on the grass.

"What's the matter?" Da Zhuang asked while carefully loading the lotus root into the cart already covered with a layer of straw.

"Brother, what should we do if we dig so much?" Er Zhuang asked to help Da Zhuang stabilize the donkey cart.

"Sell it!" Da Zhuang gave Er Zhuang a look, and replied casually.

"Brother!" Er Zhuang yelled vigorously, and when Da Zhuang looked up at him, he said, "How are you going to sell so much?"

"There is always a way. Although I don't know what's going on in the market, I guess the market shouldn't be bad..." Da Zhuang replied patiently.

Er Zhuang thought about what happened when he went to sell baskets last time, his face darkened suddenly, he moved his lips, but finally said nothing.

After packing the lotus root, Da Zhuang led a group of children towards the house.

Excluding the money to be deducted for the broken catty, the children all got wages ranging from a dozen to twenty to thirty yuan, and they were so happy that they could hardly find the north.

"Hehe, Da Zhuang, let's go back first! Call us next time you dig lotus roots!" Yang Zhuzi said happily, clutching his purse.

"Ah, wait a minute, these lotus roots that have been dug up are no problem to eat, you all take some back!" Da Zhuang said with a smile.

"Well, no need, the wages have already been paid..." Yang Zhuzi glanced at Er Zhuang and said in a low voice.

"It doesn't matter, you have been busy all day, take some back and try something new!" Da Zhuang smiled and took out a small pot of lotus root.

The children looked at me and I looked at you, but they refused to be the first to go forward.

Da Zhuang stuffed the wooden basin into Yang Zhuzi's hand: "Divide it, each person gets a few knots!"

"En..." Yang Zhuzi finally responded, and called several children to surround him.

"Come back when you're done! Wait until it gets dark!" Da Zhuang said with a smile.

"Well, goodbye then, Da Zhuang..."

"Goodbye..."

……

After a group of children came out of the yard, Da Zhuang gave Er Zhuang a look of resentment, suppressed the irritability in his heart, and asked, "What happened to you just now?"

"No, nothing!" Er Zhuang's eyes flickered, and he said with a guilty conscience.

"It's nothing, who are you showing your face to!" Da Zhuang said angrily.

"Enen..." Er Zhuang said twice but did not speak.

"How many times have you said what you have to say, I don't know what you're thinking!" Da Zhuang bent his index finger, tapped Er Zhuan's head lightly, and said unhappily.