My village can't be like this

Chapter 676 You two have a little secret
After resting in the yard for only half a day, the fat man set his eyes on the cherries on the mountain behind Zhang An's house: "Come on, let's go pick some cherries. It's been a year since I last had Zhang An's cherries. Just looking at them makes me itch."

For unknown reasons, the cherries in Zhang An's family ripened a little later this year than in previous years.

Last year, we would have started picking the cherries these days, but this year it is not possible because among the branches full of cherries, a layer is still orange, so we have to wait a few more days.

"Then wait while I go find some baskets."

Upon hearing this, Zhang An got up and went back into the house to find a few baskets for picking cherries.

There's nothing to do anyway, so it's a good way to kill time.

As the saying goes, you won’t be too eager to eat what you grow at home, and it’s absolutely true.

In previous years, even if the cherries on the tree had just turned partially red, their family would pick some for themselves to try first.

But in the past two years, he has lost interest in this idea. Until this year, Zhang An has not picked cherries once.

Even though he would check on them often, he never thought of picking some to taste, probably because he had eaten too much in the past and got tired of them.

Even if I picked a few later, it was just to give to the naughty kids in the village.

Then, a man came to the cherry orchard carrying a bamboo basket.

As soon as we entered the woods, we saw that the huge cherries had bent the branches.

When the fat man saw this, he couldn't wait to find a lower branch, picked a few, wiped them, and put them in his mouth.

"Speaking of cherries, the ones from Zhang An's family are the best. Even though the ones from the provincial capital have already started selling, they are far inferior in size and taste."

As soon as he bit the flesh, a fragrant smell of cherry juice instantly burst into the fat man's mouth. In addition, these cherries were relatively large, so it was too delicious to eat them.

"Here, wife, come and have a taste. I guarantee that these cherries from Zhang An's family will satisfy you. Even those overrated cherries from abroad can't compare to them."

The fat man was not only thinking about himself, he also stuffed a few into his wife's hands. After all, he was already married and had a family, so his mentality changed quite quickly.

"Look at you now, you don't pay attention at all. Even if you are greedy, you have to wash it before eating."

Seeing this, Zhang Zilin couldn't help but feel the urge to hold her forehead, as if she couldn't bear to see her man like this.

"It's okay. Zhang An's cherries haven't been sprayed with any pesticides. They're different from those sold in the provincial capital. They're clean and don't need to be washed. You can just wipe them and eat them. Come and try them. They're really delicious."

Even though his wife had spoken, the fat man still looked as if he didn't care. He would be particular about it in other places, but at Zhang An's house he had become accustomed to it and ate a few pieces in a hurry.

After hearing what the fat man said, Zhang Zilin still rolled her eyes at him a few times, but still wiped the cherry in her hand a few times and put it in her mouth.

"Well, the texture and taste of these cherries are really different from the ones we bought yesterday."

Zhang Zilin just tasted it a little and couldn't help but widen her eyes.

"You see, what I said is right, Zhang An's cherries are good things, but he is too lazy and only grows these. Every time my brother advises him to expand the scale, he won't listen."

While the fat man was speaking, he glanced at Zhang An a few times. He didn't understand why Zhang An had never been interested in something so profitable. If it were someone else, they would probably have planted as much as they could.

"Why plant so much? It's good enough to get this much every year. As for money, as long as it's enough to spend, you can earn it slowly."

Zhang An would rather live a carefree and comfortable life than be busy making money every day.

With their family's current quality of life, as long as they continue like this, they will definitely be able to stay healthy and free from disasters, so they don't have to spend too much money at all.

Besides, their family doesn’t have much expenses now, so the savings they make every year are already quite a lot.

If he really tries to earn too much, it will definitely attract the attention of certain people, and then he will not be able to decide what kind of life he can live.

Looking forward to future generations, there have always been many people who can make money, and many of them can even earn astronomical figures, but in the end, how many of them can have a good ending?

Therefore, if you want to live in this land, you still have to keep a low profile.

Anyway, money is something you can't bring with you when you are born and you can't take with you when you die. As long as you have enough to spend, no matter how little you save, that's enough. The right thing to do is to live a comfortable life.

"Brother? Are these cherries sold to you?"

Zhang Zilin was a little surprised when she heard the fat man mention Lu Cheng.

Although she just came back last year, she also knew that Lu Cheng's business was not small.

Logically speaking, if Zhang An's output was limited to this level, it would not be acceptable to Lu Cheng.

But when she thought about the taste she just tasted, she was not so surprised.

"Yes, these cherries and peaches of Zhang An, as well as the kiwis grown by other people in his village, are all purchased by my eldest brother. I guess in a few days, my eldest brother will come over in person."

In Fatty's impression, every year when the Zhang An family picked cherries, his eldest brother would come in person.

Even if he won't be here from beginning to end, he will personally deliver the money and meet Zhang An in the end.

Of course, every time I have to persuade Zhang An to expand the scale of orchard planting.

Afterwards, several people started picking cherries while chatting.

Especially Chen Ze. It would have been fine if he hadn't come to the orchard a few days ago, but now that he was here, he wanted to pick more, before the fruits are on the market. When he goes to Teacher Xiao Jiang's house tomorrow, he will bring some with him, just as if he were treating the local tyrant as a gift.

"Huhu, I remember these fruit trees were planted only a few years ago, how come they have grown so tall? I'm afraid I'll need a ladder to pick the fruits next year."

In half an hour, the fat man had picked a full basket, but he was also very tired.

Because when picking cherries, he had to tiptoe the whole time, otherwise he couldn't reach them.

It can only be said that the cherry trees of Zhang An's family have grown taller this year than last year. In the past, even the villagers invited by Zhang An's family to pick the cherry trees could pick them by just standing on the ground and stretching out their hands.

But this year it is not possible. Just look at the fat man and Chen Ze and you will know that they are both not short, not much less than 1.8 meters. If they can't reach it, then the villagers who are shorter than them are probably even shorter.

"I can't do anything about it. If they grow bigger, I won't be able to hold them down. I can only wait and see."

Zhang An was helpless about this. In order to make the fruits grow bigger, he used space spring water to water them.

But after watering, the fruits grew bigger, but the tree also grew bigger.

"By the way, Zhang An, are you still making fruit wine this year?"

On the way down the mountain, Chen Ze thought of Zhang An's exquisite fruit wine.

It tastes better than white wine and the alcohol content is not too high, which is just right for someone like him who can't drink much.

"It must be done, and more must be done."

When Zhang An made fruit wine in the past, he just thought of it as a beverage for entertainment, but he found that many of his relatives and friends liked it.

The batch he made last year wasn't enough, so he must prepare more this year. "The old man is full of praise for this stuff now. When you make it, help me brew about 700 to 800 kilograms, so that he can drink less."

Chen Ze took into consideration that his grandfather was getting older and it would be better for him to drink less alcohol. This fruit wine could be a good substitute.

"Okay, then I'll brew two jars just for you this year. Both of them must be cherry flavored?"

Zhang An always uses several hundred pounds every time he fights, so what Chen Ze wants is just a byproduct.

"One jar of cherry flavor, one jar of peach flavor, and forget about the kiwi flavor."

Chen Ze thought for a while and said, it’s not that he doesn’t like kiwi-flavored wine, it’s mainly because kiwis don’t mature until the second half of the year, and by the time the wine is ready, it will probably be the Chinese New Year.

"Fruit wine? What is that? Do you two have a little secret? You have something good but you're hiding it from me."

The fat man was a little confused as he listened to what the two were saying. He thought that he had only not been here for half a year, so he couldn't get a word in.

But based on his understanding of these two people, the fruit wine must be a good thing.

"It's wine made from fruit. It doesn't require distillation. It's considered a low-alcohol fruit wine."

Looking at the fat man's sarcastic tone, Zhang An explained in a bad mood.

"Is that so? Then get me some too. Just make it about the same as Lao Chen's."

The fat guy's usual temperament is that he can make a mistake but cannot miss it. No matter what it is, he will ask for it first.

When they returned home from the orchard, Su Ying just happened to be returning from Zhou Yang's house with Xiao Siqi.

Before Su Ying was away, Zhang Zilin mingled with the other grown men and didn't talk much.

Now that Su Ying was back, the two had a lot of common topics and immediately became close friends.

"Qiqi, come over here to Fat Uncle, I'll give you some cherries."

The fat guy was still the same as before. He greeted Xiao Siqi as soon as he saw her.

"Fat uncle, you are here."

Although Xiao Siqi was about to forget about Fatty, the three words "Uncle Fat" made him remember Fatty again.

"Here, eat cherries."

When the fat man heard the call of "Fat Uncle", he was so happy that he handed the cherries to Xiao Siqi and even picked off the branches on the butt of the cherries.

After some interaction, Xiao Siqi pushed his beloved car out of the house and invited Fatty to play with him.

Naturally, Fatty would not refuse, and the two of them, one big and one small, had a lot of fun playing in the yard, with Xiaohu and the others running around with them.

"Your family is really smart."

Zhang Zilin, who was chatting with Su Ying, couldn't help but sigh when she saw Xiao Siqi's skilled driving skills.

"I'm really envious. If you are envious, hurry up and have a baby with the guy in your family. He has always loved children."

Upon hearing this, Su Ying couldn't help but tease Zhang Zilin.

In her impression, Fatty really likes children.

Whether it was his own son or the group of naughty kids in the village, they all talked and laughed with him.

As soon as Su Ying said this, Zhang Zilin's face immediately turned red with embarrassment.

"Zhang An, give me the bunch of keys. I'll take Qiqi to go boating. Let's go, wife. Let's go play in the river."

Fatty and Xiao Siqi played around in the yard for a few rounds, then asked Zhang An for the key to the boat, and said to Zhang Zilin at the same time.

"Go ahead. I filled up the tank with gas but never used it much. But be careful when you drive the boat. There are a lot of boats on the river now."

Upon hearing this, Zhang An threw the key bunch to the fat man and gave him some advice.

There are still the same ten boats in the village, but there have been a lot of visitors in the past few days, so those boats have basically no idle time. They are all floating on the river all day long and only get off work at night.

Although the boats in the village had a hard time, the boatmen who drove the boats were extremely happy.

Because they don't get paid for this job, they only get commission.

As long as someone goes to rent a boat, they can get a commission from the fare. Now there are people queuing up every day waiting for the boat, so they can make a lot of money at the end of the day.

"Got it. Let's try to go to a place with fewer boats."

The fat man nodded and assured that there were no designated places on their ship anyway, they could go wherever they wanted.

If Xiao Siqi wants to go, Su Ying must go with him. By the way, she can also accompany Zhang Zilin to show her hospitality.

Zhang An did not go with them. He had other things to do at the moment. The oil pressed in the morning was still in the car. He had to unload the oil and the oil residue and put them away, and then deliver Chen Ze's share.

Chen Ze had no use for the oil residue, so he only took about ten pounds back to give to Grandpa Chen to use for growing flowers, and gave the rest to Zhang An.

Adding the previous point, there are now more than a thousand kilograms of oil residue all placed in Zhang An’s small room.

Arriving at the Dongli courtyard, Zhang An drove the car directly to the gate of Chen Ze's yard, otherwise it would not be so easy to move those barrels of oil in.

"Zhang An, are these all oils? Why did you buy so much?"

Many old ladies in Dongli Yard asked Zhang An when they saw the several barrels of oil in his car.

"Yes, old lady, it's all rapeseed oil. I didn't buy it. I squeezed it myself from rapeseed."

Zhang An has always been very patient with these old ladies and answered slowly.

"I squeezed it myself. I don't think I can finish all of it. Why don't you sell some to us?"

The purpose of the old ladies was not simply to say hello to Zhang An, but to get the barrels of oil in his car.

Most of them have high blood pressure. Even if they don't have it, the old men in their family do.

Since they moved here, they found that daily consumption of rapeseed oil can help lower blood pressure. Because they have nothing to do every day, eating lard every day will cause overnutrition, which will cause various problems over time, such as high blood pressure. Therefore, they almost always consume rapeseed oil on a daily basis.

So when they heard that the oil was squeezed by Zhang An himself, they definitely didn't want to miss it.

Of course, the villagers in the village can't do this, they still have to maintain lard.

After all, they have to work in the fields every day, and only lard can meet their nutritional needs.

(End of this chapter)