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 very well who still had crops, so he couldn’t go door to door. Just ask, how troublesome that would be.
While Zhang An was worried about it, the Zhang Laosan family on the other side also washed the rapeseed at home and were drying it.
In the morning, they heard that Zhang An's family was going to press oil tomorrow, so they wanted to come too.
Although the oil press is in the town, the distance is not too far. It is not very difficult to move a few hundred kilograms there. It just takes some effort and time.
But if you go with Zhang An's family, you can use Zhang An's pickup truck to pull the rapeseed there, which will save a lot of trouble.
As long as you are not a mentally retarded person, you will definitely want to go there and hitch a ride.
“Lao San, why did your family wash and dry the rapeseed this year? Didn’t they just take it back a few days ago?”
Zhang Qi, the neighbor next door to Zhang Lao San’s family Seeing this, I asked curiously.
In previous years, after harvesting the rapeseed at home, they would wait until July or August before washing, drying, and extracting oil. But this year, Zhang Laosan’s family has just taken it home and is already cleaning it up. .
"Hehe, didn't Zhang An buy hundreds of kilograms of rapeseed from me and prepare it for extraction tomorrow? I thought it would be the same in the morning and evening, so I might as well wash and dry it and go with him tomorrow, just in time to get him. The car will save you a lot of trouble later.”
The seventh master is the head of the Zhang family, and he is also an elder who is not very distant, so Zhang Laosan is very respectful to the old man.
"Oh? Zhang An's family wants to buy rapeseed?"
After hearing this, Zhang Qiye didn't want to hitchhike, because his family still had a lot of rapeseed oil squeezed last year. .
Even if their family wants to squeeze it, they have to wait until they have finished eating the oil at home.
Because the rapeseed is the most fragrant in the first year after it is squeezed. Although it will not go bad in the second year, it will taste a lot worse, so their family is not in a hurry.
However, he learned about Zhang An’s family’s harvest of rapeseed from Zhang Laosan.
“It’s not unusual for their family to want to buy rapeseed. After all, all their fields have been used to grow garlic this year. They don’t have a single rapeseed at home. If they want to squeeze oil, they must buy it. Looking at Master Qi’s appearance, do you want to sell some?”
Seeing Master Qi’s wrinkled old face, Zhang Laosan probably guessed something.
"I still have a lot of oil left at home, and this year's rapeseed harvest is so good. I must sell some of it. What price did Zhang An give you? Does he still want it?"< br>
Master Qi took a puff from his short pipe wrapped in pulp, and as he spoke, he blew out a stream of green smoke.
“He didn’t say whether he wanted more, but he only collects rapeseed, and the price he gave was one hundred and five yuan, which is two yuan higher than those in the town.”
Bitter rapeseed is not favored by grain collectors because of its low oil yield. They mainly come here for the large rapeseed. They only collect some bitter rapeseed by the way, so they usually charge more on the market price. .
Zhang Laosan truthfully told him the price Zhang An gave him. After all, the village is so big and nothing can be hidden.
If you say it too high, you are hurting Zhang An. If you say it too low, when others ask, they will say that Zhang Laosan is a stupid person and has no good intentions.
"They must be small rapeseeds. All the large rapeseeds were sold to those who came to collect them in the town, but he actually gave me two more pieces. Then I'll ask him if he wants more. He would have sold it for several hundred kilograms. "
Small rapeseed is bitter rapeseed. Because of its small size, it is called small rapeseed by the older generation, while Shengli rapeseed is called large rapeseed because of its large size.
Hearing that Zhang An actually gave two yuan more than those grain dealers, Zhang Qiye immediately wanted to go and ask Zhang An.
Although it is only two yuan more for a hundred pounds, for most people, it is a little more to sell a little more.
"Then Master Qi, go and ask. He should be drying rapeseed at home."
They are all neighbors, so the relationship between the two families must be more harmonious. Zhang Laosan also hopes that Zhang An can collect the rapeseed from Master Qi.
In the yard of Zhang An's house, Chen Ze was sitting under the tree. Zhang An was already up, carrying a wooden rake to dry the rapeseeds.
"Zhang An, when are you going to take me to buy rapeseed?"
It's okay that Chen Ze didn't hear Zhang An say it earlier, but now he heard about the bitter rapeseed The oil extracted from the seeds is more fragrant, and this thought has always been in my mind.
A long time passed in the afternoon, and he was afraid that Zhang An would not take him to find someone to buy it.
“Why are you in such a hurry? It’s early afternoon and many people in the village are not at home. It would be best to wait until late in the afternoon to go. You have been in the village for such a long time. This is still true. I don’t understand.”
Zhang An rolled his eyes at Chen Ze. Many people were still busy collecting goods at this time. Most of them would not be at home if they came to visit in this afternoon.
"Okay, let's wait until night."
After hearing what Zhang An said, Chen Ze felt that he was a little impatient.
But not long after he settled Chen Ze, Master Zhang Qi came over.
"Zhang An, I heard from the third child that you want to buy rapeseed. I want to sell some there. Do you still want it?"
As soon as he entered the yard, Zhang Qiye couldn't wait to ask.
"Master Qi is here. I want some more here, but I only want small rapeseeds, not big rapeseeds."
Seeing Master Zhang Qi, Zhang An put down the rake and took him away Go to a shady spot under a tree.
He and Zhang Laosan are from the same clan and generation, so this seventh master is also his grandfather and one of the few elders in the village.
"It must be rapeseed. I asked the third child clearly. Here, it is best to squeeze the oil yourself and eat the rapeseed."
Hear Zhang An would accept more here, and Zhang Qiye immediately started laughing.
"Since it is rapeseed, I will buy as much as you want, Mr. Qi. Just tell me when it will be weighed, and I will lead the horse over to carry it."
Don't mention it. Here in Chen Ze, Zhang An wants to buy some more just for his own home.
Although the more than 300 kilograms bought from Zhang Laosan saved a little, it would be enough to last a year.
But who is Zhang An? When it comes to food, he never scrimps on himself. Naturally, the more the merrier.
“I have about 500 kilograms at my place. This year’s harvest is good, and there is still some oil extracted from last year, so I only keep one or two hundred kilograms and sell the rest.”
Zhang An didn’t mention the price, so Zhang Qiye knew it would be the same as Zhang Laosan’s.
One hundred catties is two yuan more. He probably sells it for more than five hundred catties, which is ten yuan more than those dealers.
“Although the rapeseed in my house has been dried, it has not been harvested yet. I will harvest it when I get back now. You can come and weigh it tomorrow.”
Before the grain is sold, it is necessary It is everyone's default rule to clean up the garbage first.
If it were sold to the grain dealer in the town, everyone might still think of relying on it if they can, but Zhang An is a villager, not an outsider, how could he do such a thing. If anyone in the village knew about this, their family's reputation would be ruined.
"Then let's stay late tomorrow, because I have to go to town to press oil in the morning, so I may not have time."
Zhang An will definitely go to press oil tomorrow. , and I had to rush early, so I pushed the time to the evening.
"There's no rush. You can come back when you have time anyway."
After agreeing on the time, Zhang Qiye went back directly.
"Look, if I had taken you out just now, wouldn't I have missed it? Master Qi sells more than five hundred kilograms here, and one hundred kilograms of rapeseed can produce about twenty-five or six kilograms of oil. You How much do you want?"
After Zhang Qiye left, Zhang An glanced at Chen Ze.
He himself did not expect that someone would come to his door and want to sell rapeseed to him.
“One hundred kilograms of rapeseed can only produce so little oil. Five hundred kilograms can only squeeze out more than one hundred kilograms of oil. Otherwise, I want all the rapeseed from Master Qi’s family. Let’s do it.”
Chen Ze did some rough calculations and felt that the more than five hundred kilograms of rapeseed didn’t seem to be much, so he wanted to eat them all.
"Don't worry about the big belly and the small belly. I suggest you go back and ask Aunt Li to see how much oil your family needs in a year. It is best to use the rapeseed oil within a year. If If you press too much and leave it alone, the old oil will not taste good.”
Zhang An was slightly speechless when he heard this. Mr. Chen didn’t understand the concept of more than one hundred kilograms of oil.
There are only three people in their family. They may not be able to finish fifty pounds of oil in a year, so they can only use it as aging wine.
But this is in line with Mr. Chen’s temperament that I want everything. After all, he is rich.
“You said yes to this oil, it must be good stuff, so it doesn’t matter if you squeeze a little more. I will give some to my parents when the time comes.”
After listening to Zhang An’s words , Chen Ze is not a fool, he probably understands that more than one hundred kilograms is quite a lot.
But in the past few years, he got to know Zhang An and learned nothing else. He only understood that as long as Zhang An said something good, nothing was bad.
So he still wanted to get more. Even if he and the old man and his grandson couldn't finish it, he could still send some to his parents at home. Even if it was not good enough, he could still send some to his brother and sister-in-law in the provincial capital.
“I also need some here. Since you said so, let’s collect some more. I’ll go talk to my uncle in the evening and ask him to help us ask.”
Since Chen Ze and himself both want it, let’s buy some more. It’s just a matter of taking the time to find someone to ask.
And Zhang An feels that this year’s rapeseed harvest should be quite good.
After all, Zhang Laosan’s family had a good harvest in the past, and Zhang Qiye’s family in the back had a similar harvest. It seems that the first half of this year will be a good harvest year, and other families should also be good.
In the evening, Zhang An went to Zhang Ping's house.
He just mentioned the matter of harvesting rapeseed, and Zhang Jianwen agreed to ask others.
On the second day, although Zhang An had to go to town to extract oil, he didn't get up very early, just as usual.
This is mainly because Wang Fang does not want Zhang An to go too early, because if it is too early, there will be no one in front of the oil press, and the oil press does not have a hot pot. When it is first turned on, a lot of oil will be swallowed. in.
Zhang Laosan also knew this, so he did not come directly early in the morning.
It wasn't until eight or nine o'clock that Zhang Laosan used a chicken cart to push their rapeseed over.
Because the road to their house is too narrow, just wide enough for the carriage, Zhang An’s pickup truck is wider and cannot fit in.
After the rapeseeds from both families were moved to the car, Wang Fang came out carrying two buckets.
This is a barrel that their family used to hold oil, weighing about fifty pounds each.
The oil press shop is in the north of Hongyan Town. Zhang An drove over and had to cross the streets of Hongyan Town to find it.
When they arrived at the door, they could hear the sound of the machine starting up in the oil mill.
"It seems that the wait was not in vain. Someone has already arrived."
As soon as Zhang Laosan heard the sound of the oil press rotating, he felt that the extra two hours at home were not in vain.
Before he came here, he was worried that no one would be able to squeeze the oil, and he would lose a few kilograms of oil.
Entering the oil press, I found three families inside. Except for the family who was pressing the oil, there was only one family waiting in line, while the remaining family had already pressed the oil and was waiting for the oil press. The big fan blows the freshly squeezed oil to cool down before it can be filled.
After Zhang Laosan asked, the family that was pressing oil didn't have much left, and the family that was waiting didn't press much, only more than a hundred kilograms of rapeseed.
So although they need to wait for a while, they don’t have to wait too long.
Because the oil press now uses an electric oil press. Although this thing is not as good as the fully automatic hydraulic oil press of later generations, it is better than the one that relied on people to pull a big wooden hammer many years ago. The kind made of rapeseed is much better. It only takes a hundred pounds of rapeseed and doesn’t take much time at all.
“Compared to the past, the current machine is faster and much less troublesome.”
Zhang Laosan looked at the oil press that was working non-stop, his eyes full of joy It's all memories.
Because Zhang Laosan’s grandfather used to make a living by extracting oil. More than ten years ago, his grandfather saved some money and gritted his teeth and spent more than a thousand dollars to buy an oil press, hoping to start extracting oil. .
At that time, oil presses were still made of stone and wooden structures, which were not only expensive but also difficult to transport.
And the place where he bought it was quite far away. In order to move it to the village, Zhang Laosan’s grandfather spent a lot of money to ask someone to help bring it to the village.
But bad luck. The brand-new stone oil press had just been installed and had not yet been put into use. An oil press was opened in Hongyan Town. The machine used was an electricity-hungry machine, which was much better than his own. The stone that still requires brute force is much better.
So Grandpa Zhang Laosan’s plan to open an oil-pressing mill was aborted before it even started, because the nearby families who needed oil-pressing went directly to the town.
So their old-fashioned oil press was abandoned just after they bought it, and the more than one thousand yuan was wasted.
It should be noted that more than a thousand yuan in that era was a huge sum of money even for city people.
Because of this, Zhang Laosan’s grandfather could not let go until his death.
It was not until several years later that the village began to build the main road, and those huge stones were dismantled and used in other places, which can be regarded as playing their due role.
To this day, Zhang Laosan feels sad when he thinks of the only major event his grandfather has ever done in his life.
If the more than one thousand yuan was still there at that time, their family's life would definitely be much easier.
(End of this chapter)