My village can't be like this

Chapter 670 Bad Luck
After agreeing to Chen Ze, Zhang An began to think about which families in the village he should ask, because he didn't know who was still growing crops. He couldn't just go door to door and ask, that would be too troublesome.

While Zhang An was worrying about it, Zhang Laosan's family on the other side had also washed the rapeseed at home and were drying it.

In the morning, the couple heard that Zhang An's family was going to press oil the next day, so they wanted to go together.

Although the oil press is in the town, the distance is not too far. It is not very difficult to move several hundred kilograms there. It just takes some effort and time.

But if we go with Zhang An's family, we can use Zhang An's pickup truck to pull the rapeseed over, which will save a lot of trouble.

Unless you are a mentally ill person, you will definitely think of going all the way over and hitchhiking.

"Third brother, why did your family wash and dry the rapeseed this year? Didn't you just harvest it a few days ago?"

Seeing this, Mr. Zhang Qi, the neighbor next door to Zhang Laosan's house, asked curiously.

In previous years, after the rapeseed was harvested, the family would have to wait until July or August to wash and dry it and then press it for oil. But this year, Zhang Laosan's family started to clean up the oil as soon as they got it home.

"Hey, isn't it that Zhang An bought several hundred kilograms of rapeseed from me and plans to take it to the oil press tomorrow? I thought it would be the same day or night, so I might as well wash and dry it and go with him tomorrow. It just so happens that I can use his car, so I don't have to go through the trouble of handling it later."

The Seventh Master is a relative of the Zhang family, and is also an elder who is not very distantly related, so Zhang Laosan is very respectful to this old man.

"Oh? Zhang An's family wants to buy rapeseed?"

After hearing this, Mr. Zhang Qi did not have any intention of hitchhiking, because his family still had a lot of rapeseed oil pressed last year.

Even if they want to press the oil, they have to wait until all the oil in the house is used up.

Because the rapeseed is most fragrant only in the first year after it is squeezed. Although it will not go bad in the second year, it will taste much worse, so their family is not in a hurry.

However, he learned from Zhang Laosan that Zhang An's family was going to harvest rapeseed.

"It's not uncommon for their family to want to buy rapeseed. After all, all their fields were used to plant garlic this year, and there is not a single rapeseed left at home. If they want to make oil, they must buy it. From the look of Master Qi, do you think he wants to sell some too?"

Seeing that the wrinkled old face of the Seventh Master was somewhat moved, Zhang Lao San probably guessed something.

"I still have a lot of oil left at home, and the rapeseed harvest is so good this year, so I must sell some of it. What price did Zhang An give you? Does he want any more?"

The Seventh Master took a puff of his short pipe, which was covered with patina, and exhaled a puff of green smoke as he spoke.

"He didn't say whether he wanted it or not, but he only buys rapeseed and the price he offered was 105, which is two dollars higher than those people in town."

Rapeseed is not popular among grain dealers because of its low oil yield. They mainly come for rapeseed and only collect some of the rapeseed as a by-product, so they usually push up the market price.

Zhang Laosan truthfully told Zhang An the price he had received. After all, the village was so small that nothing could be hidden.

If he said too much, it would harm Zhang An. If he said too little, when other people asked about it, they would say that he was a troublemaker and had bad intentions.

"It must be the small rapeseed. The large rapeseed has been sold to the people who came to the town to buy it. But he actually gave me two more yuan. Then I will ask him if he wants it. If he does, I will sell him a few hundred kilograms."

Small rapeseed is bitter rapeseed. The older generation calls it small rapeseed because of its small grains. Victory rapeseed is called large rapeseed because of its large grains.

Upon hearing that Zhang An was offering two more dollars than those grain dealers, Master Zhang Qi immediately wanted to go find Zhang An and ask him.

Even though it’s only two yuan more for a hundred kilograms, for most people, the more they can sell, the better.

"Then Qiye should go and ask him. He should be drying rapeseed at home."

They are neighbors, so the relationship between the two families must be more harmonious. Zhang Laosan also hopes that Zhang An can collect Qi Ye's rapeseed.

In Zhang An's yard, Chen Ze was sitting under a tree. Zhang An had already gotten up, holding a wooden rake and turning over the rapeseed to dry.

"Zhang An, when are you going to take me to buy rapeseed?"

It would have been a good thing if Chen Ze hadn't heard Zhang An say this before, but after hearing that the oil extracted from bitter rapeseed is more fragrant, this idea has been on his mind.

A long time in the afternoon had passed, and he was afraid that Zhang An would not take him to find someone to buy something.

"Why are you in such a hurry? It's late in the afternoon now and many people in the village are not at home. It would be best to go later in the evening. You've been in the village for such a long time, don't you understand this?"

Zhang An rolled his eyes at Chen Ze. Many families were busy harvesting during this period. If he went to their homes in the middle of the afternoon, most of them would not be at home.

"Okay, let's go in the evening."

After hearing what Zhang An said, Chen Ze realized that he was a little impatient.

However, not long after he dealt with Chen Ze, Master Zhang Qi came looking for him.

"Zhang An, I heard from the third brother that you want to buy rapeseed. I want to sell some to you. Do you want some?"

As soon as he entered the yard, Mr. Zhang Qi couldn't wait to ask.

"Seventh Master is here. I need some more, but I only want small rapeseeds, not large rapeseeds."

Seeing Master Zhang Qi, Zhang An put down the rake and took him to the shady place under the tree.

He and Zhang Laosan are from the same clan and generation, so this Seventh Master is his grandfather and one of the few elders in the village.

"It must be rapeseed. I have asked the third brother about it. Here, we press the oil ourselves, so rapeseed is the best."

Upon hearing that Zhang An would collect more, Master Zhang Qi immediately laughed.

"Since it's rapeseed, I'll take as much as your family wants, Master Qi. Just tell me when to weigh it, and I'll lead the horses over to carry it."

Not to mention Chen Ze, Zhang An’s own family alone wants to buy some more.

Although I was a little frugal with the more than 300 kilograms I bought from Zhang Laosan, it would be enough to last me a year.

But who is Zhang An? When it comes to food, he never skimps on himself. The more the better.

"I probably have more than 500 kilograms. This year's harvest is good, and there is still some oil from last year, so I only keep 100 to 200 kilograms, and sell the rest."

Since Zhang An didn't mention the price, Mr. Zhang Qi knew it would be the same as Zhang Laosan's family.

A little over two yuan for a hundred kilograms, and he probably sells more than five hundred kilograms, which means he earns ten yuan more than those dealers.

"Although my rapeseed has been dried, it has not been winnowed yet. I will go back and winnow it first. You can come and weigh it tomorrow."

Before selling grain, the residue needs to be cleared away first. This is the unspoken rule.

If they sold it to grain dealers in town, they might have thought of shirking responsibility, but Zhang An was a villager, not an outsider, so he couldn't do such a thing. If they did so and the villagers knew about it, their family's reputation would be ruined.

"Then let's go to work tomorrow night, because I have to go to town to press oil in the morning, so I may not have time."

Zhang An must go to press oil tomorrow, and he has to get there early, so he postponed the time to the evening.

"There's no rush. You can come back when you have time."

After agreeing on the time, Mr. Zhang Qi went back directly.

"Look, if I had taken you out just now, you would have missed it. Master Qi wants to sell more than 500 kilograms of rapeseed. One hundred kilograms of rapeseed can produce about 25 or 26 kilograms of oil. How much do you want?"

After Mr. Zhang Qi left, Zhang An gave Chen Ze a look.

He himself did not expect that someone would come to him and want to sell rapeseed.

"One hundred kilograms of rapeseed only produces this much oil, so five hundred kilograms can only produce a little over one hundred kilograms of oil. Otherwise, I'll take all the rapeseed from this Seventh Master."

Chen Ze did a rough calculation and felt that these more than 500 kilograms of rapeseed were not much, so he wanted to eat them all.

"Don't be so conceited. I suggest you go back and ask Aunt Li how much oil your family needs in a year. It's best to consume all the rapeseed oil within a year. If you squeeze too much and leave it there, the old oil won't taste good."

Zhang An was slightly speechless after hearing this. Young Master Chen had no idea what the concept of more than a hundred kilograms of oil meant.

There are only three people in their family. They may not be able to use up 50 kilograms of oil in a year, so all they make can be used for aging.

But this is in line with Mr. Chen’s personality of wanting it all, after all, he is rich.

"Since you say this oil is good, it must be a good thing. So it doesn't matter if I squeeze more. I can give some to my parents later."

After listening to Zhang An's words, Chen Ze was no fool. He roughly understood that more than 100 kilograms should be a lot.

But after knowing Zhang An for the past few years, he didn't learn anything else except that as long as Zhang An says something is good, then it is not bad.

So he still wanted to ask for more. Even if he and the old man and his grandson couldn't finish it, they could send some to their parents at home. At worst, they still had their brother and sister-in-law in the provincial capital.

"I also need some. Since you said so, I'll collect some more. I'll talk to my uncle tonight and ask him to help us ask."

Since both Chen Ze and I want it, then let's buy some more. It's just a matter of spending some time asking someone.

Moreover, Zhang An felt that the rapeseed should be easy to harvest this year.

After all, Zhang Laosan's family had a good harvest, and Zhang Qiye's family behind had about the same harvest. It seems that the first half of this year was a bumper year, and other families should not be doing badly either.

In the evening, Zhang An went to Zhang Ping's house.

As soon as he mentioned the matter of harvesting rapeseed, Zhang Jianwen agreed to help ask other people.

The next day, although he had to go to the town to press oil, Zhang An did not get up very early, but just got up like usual.

This is mainly because Wang Fang didn't want Zhang An to go too early, because if he went too early, there would be no one pressing oil in front, and the oil press didn't have a warming pot, so a lot of oil would be consumed when it was first started.

Zhang Laosan also knew this, so he didn't come here early in the morning.

It was not until eight or nine o'clock that Zhang Laosan finally pushed their rapeseed over in a chicken cart.

Because the road leading to their house was too narrow, just wide enough for a horse-drawn carriage, and Zhang An's pickup truck needed to be wider, so it couldn't fit in.

After the rapeseed from both families was loaded onto the truck, Wang Fang came out carrying two buckets.

This is the barrel that their family used to store oil, each weighing about 50 kilograms.

The oil press is located in the north of Hongyan Town. Zhang An has to drive across the streets of Hongyan Town to find it.

When they reached the door, they could hear the sound of the machines in the oil press starting up.

"It seems that the wait was not in vain, someone has already arrived."

When Zhang Laosan heard the sound of the oil press, he felt that his two extra hours of waiting at home were not in vain.

Before he came, he was worried that there would be no one to press the oil after he arrived, and then he would lose several kilograms of oil.

When we entered the oil press, we found three families inside. Except for the family who were pressing oil, there was only one family waiting in line, while the remaining family had finished pressing oil and was waiting for the big fan in the oil press to cool down the freshly pressed oil before bottling it.

When Zhang Laosan asked, he found out that the family that was currently pressing oil didn't have much left, and the family waiting didn't have much left either, only a little over 100 kilograms of rapeseed.

So although they need to wait for a while, they don't have to wait too long.

Because the oil presses now use electric oil presses. Although this thing is not as good as the fully automatic hydraulic oil presses of later generations, it is much better than the ones many years ago that had to be hit by people with a big wooden hammer. It only takes a hundred pounds of rapeseed, so it doesn’t take much time at all.

"Compared to the past, today's machines are faster and more convenient."

Zhang Laosan looked at the oil press that was working non-stop, his eyes filled with memories.

Because Zhang Laosan's grandfather used to make a living by pressing oil. More than ten years ago, his grandfather saved some money, gritted his teeth and spent more than a thousand yuan to buy an oil press, wanting to start pressing oil.

The oil presses at that time were all made of stone and wood. They were not only expensive but also difficult to carry.

Moreover, the place where it was purchased was quite far away. In order to transport it to the village, Zhang Laosan's grandfather spent a lot of money to hire someone to help bring it to the village.

But he was unlucky. The brand new stone oil press had just been installed and not yet put into use when an oil press opened in Hongyan Town. The machine used was an electricity-intensive one, which was much better than the stone press in his house that required brute force.

Therefore, Zhang Laosan's grandfather's plan to open an oil press was aborted before it even started, because the people nearby who needed oil went directly to the town.

So the old oil press they had just bought was abandoned, and the more than one thousand dollars they spent was wasted.

You have to know that more than a thousand yuan in that era was a huge sum of money even for city dwellers.

It was also because of this that Zhang Laosan’s grandfather was unable to let it go until his death.

It was not until several years later, when the village started to build the main road, that those huge stones were dismantled and used in other places, thus finally playing their due role.

Even now, Zhang Laosan still sighs when he thinks of the only great thing his grandfather ever did in his life.

If the more than one thousand yuan was still there, their life would definitely be much better.

(End of this chapter)