Chapter 214: Terrifying Indeed
Chapter 214: Terrifying Indeed
As the Deng Shirong family savored the sweet Guiwei lychees, the Deng Changfu family was also enjoying the same fruit on their lychee mountain.
Of course, the Deng Shirong family feasted to their heart's content, while the Deng Changfu family only picked a few to taste, then reluctantly stopped.
After all, these lychees sold for fifty cents a pound. If they indulged, they could easily eat ten pounds or more, which would cost several yuan. Given their current financial situation, they could never afford such a luxury.
After eating a dozen lychees, Deng Shirong said to his eldest son, "Yuntao, go back and fetch three burlap sacks. Fill two sacks and send them to your second and third uncles' families."
Yuntao replied, "Sure, Dad."
Deng Shirong then turned to his nephew and said, "Dashan, you should also pick a sack to take home for your parents to taste."
Bu Dashan quickly responded, "Uncle, I'll just take a few pounds for them to taste. The rest should be sold."
Bu Dafang added, "Yes, Uncle. At fifty cents a pound, a whole sack would cost over ten yuan. That's really too much of a waste!"
Deng Shirong smiled and said, "Don't worry about the price. This is our own harvest. If we can't even enjoy it, what's the point of growing it? Listen to me, take a sack home for your parents to taste."
Knowing their uncle's generous nature, Bu Dafang and her brother didn't argue further.
Yuntao said, "I'll go get the sacks now."
Deng Shirong nodded and said, "Today, just take them to your uncles. Tomorrow morning, bring the sacks back and pick a sack for your in-laws."
Zhang Xiuping couldn't help but laugh and said, "My parents rarely get to eat lychees. When they receive a whole sack of Guiwei lychees, they'll probably be boasting about it for weeks."
Everyone laughed at her comment.
The lychee mountain wasn't far from home. If you walked quickly, it would take only about fifteen minutes round trip. Yuntao rode his bicycle, which made the trip even faster.
While picking lychees, Yuntian asked, "Dad, when are we going to sell our lychees?"
Deng Shirong replied, "The lychees aren't fully ripe yet. Let's wait until after the Dragon Boat Festival."
Yuntian looked at the mountain of red lychees and asked, "Dad, how many pounds do you think we have?"
Deng Shirong estimated and said, "Probably around 2,800 to 3,100 pounds."
Yuntian was delighted and said, "Even if we only have 2,800 pounds, that's 1,400 yuan. In a few years, when the lychee trees grow bigger, the yield could triple or quadruple. By then, we could easily make 5,000 to 6,000 yuan a year."
Deng Shirong smiled and said, "It could be even more. In a few years, the price of lychees might rise, and making 10,000 yuan a year won't be a problem."
Everyone was taken aback. In this era, a 10,000-yuan household was a significant achievement. Making 10,000 yuan a year was an impressive feat.
Deng Shirong squatted down and patted a large watermelon on the ground. "Don't underestimate the watermelon. Even though it sells for much less than lychees, its weight is much greater. After we sell the lychees, we can start selling the watermelons, which should bring in a decent income."
Zhang Xiuping smiled and said, "We owe this to our cousin and her husband."
Deng Shirong nodded and smiled. "Yes, Aihu, Dafang, you two have worked hard this year."
Jiang Dehu waved his hands and said, "Uncle, we're used to this kind of work. It's really not tiring at all."
Bu Dafang, helping to pick lychees, chimed in, "Uncle, you pay us such a high wage. This is nothing compared to what others in the village do. They all envy us!"
This wasn't an exaggeration. Ever since the couple started helping their uncle manage the orchard, even with a combined monthly wage of fifty yuan, the villagers were green with envy. After all, in this era, earning opportunities in rural areas were scarce.
Over the past year, the couple had saved every penny they could, aside from the ten yuan they gave to their younger sister-in-law each month to help with childcare.
Their savings had quietly surpassed eight hundred yuan, a considerable fortune in the rural countryside of that era.
With such a substantial income and the excellent meals provided by their uncle’s family, the couple worked with renewed vigor and enthusiasm.
Deng Shirong smiled but didn’t say much. However, he had made up his mind to give his niece a generous red envelope at the end of the year. After all, growing watermelons wasn’t as simple as planting seeds and letting them grow. Watering and fertilizing the entire mountain of melons was no small feat.
The bountiful harvest of watermelons this year was a testament to the hard work of his niece and her husband, and a generous red envelope was the least he could do.
Soon, they had picked three large sacks of litchis. Two of these sacks were sent to Deng Yuntao’s second and third uncles, while the remaining sack was taken home by Bu Dashan.
As for his niece’s husband’s family, Deng Shirong had no intention of giving them any litchis. While he was generous, the Guimi litchis were expensive, and he wasn’t about to give them away to just any relative. The parents of his niece’s husband hadn’t helped with childcare, forcing his niece to spend ten yuan a month on her younger sister-in-law. That alone was enough for him to withhold the litchis.
In addition to the three sacks of litchis sent to relatives, Deng Shirong picked some extra to take home for his children who were still in school. On his way back, he ran into the Deng Changfu family, who were also returning from the litchi mountain.
Deng Yunqiang immediately asked, “Uncle Jiu, the litchis are starting to ripen. When do you plan to harvest and send them to the supply and marketing cooperative?”
Deng Shirong replied, “They’re not all ripe yet, but they should be ready in a few days.”
Deng Yunqiang suggested, “Uncle Jiu, let’s harvest on the same day. We can have the cooperative send a truck to pick them up.”
Deng Shirong nodded. “Sure, do you have enough bamboo baskets prepared?”
Deng Yunqiang said, “I’ve already made seventy or eighty baskets. If you need some, I can share them with you.”
Deng Shirong waved his hand. “No need, I’ve already had someone prepare them. We won’t be short of baskets.”
Deng Changfu interjected, “Old Jiu, your watermelons are almost ripe, right? How much do you think you’ll harvest?”
Deng Shirong laughed. “They’re almost ready. After selling the litchis, I can start selling the watermelons. As for the yield, I can’t estimate it exactly, but it should be several thousand pounds.”
Deng Changfu’s face was filled with shock. “Several thousand pounds? My goodness, the yield of watermelons is that high!”
Deng Yunqiang was already calculating how much several thousand pounds of watermelons would fetch. He remembered the price from the purchase contract he had signed with the cooperative: eight fen per pound, eighty fen for ten pounds, eight yuan for a hundred pounds, eighty yuan for a thousand pounds, and eight hundred yuan for ten thousand pounds. Several thousand pounds would mean several thousand yuan.
Sigh...
This meant that growing watermelons could be even more profitable than litchis!
At that moment, Deng Yunqiang was stunned by the numbers he had calculated.
He also felt a deep regret. Why hadn’t his family joined in when Uncle Jiu started growing watermelons?
(End of Chapter)
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