Chapter 685: Searching for Scarabs
This May Day holiday, the children in the village set off a craze to search for scarabs.
Because if they find a better-looking scarab beetle, they will spend money to buy it from the children who bring people to the village to play.
As far as Zhang An knows, many people are willing to spend one to five yuan to buy good-looking scarabs from naughty children.
For those who are very lucky, if they find a unicorn fairy, they can sell it for a high price of ten yuan.
That lucky guy is none other than Ermao who is now in front of Zhang An.
This guy caught a lot of scarabs a few days ago, including two rhinoceros beetles. The largest one was sold for ten yuan, and the other smaller one was sold for five yuan. ,
Maybe this money is nothing to those city people, but to those city children, maybe it is just pocket money for a day or two.
But for these naughty children in the village who have never known what pocket money is from childhood, it is definitely a huge sum of money.
After all, except for the New Year's money, the adults at home rarely give them pocket money at other times. Maybe they have done well in helping the family, and the adults at home will only give them occasionally when they are happy. Give them a few cents, and you can't use them to buy snacks. You can only use them to buy pencils, notebooks or erasers.
But even so, after you get the money, you will often be asked by adults, where did you use the money I gave you.
So the naughty children cherish this opportunity very much. During the holidays, they go out in groups every day to look for scarabs.
Especially the kid Ermao. Although he has made a huge sum of more than ten yuan, he is still not satisfied. He takes his friends out to look for scarabs every day.
Because the day this child first got the money, his mother asked him about it when he returned home. Then all the huge sums of money were confiscated. Now he is on the same starting line as other children.
After Zhang An found out, he didn't know whether to call the child lucky or unlucky.
But he doesn’t feel sorry for the naughty children in the village, because this is a long-standing tradition, you know, he also came here like this when he was a child.
"Then you found many of these in the bamboo forest?"
After reading, Zhang An picked up these golden cicada flowers and asked a few naughty children.
“There must be Uncle An, we found these in one place, we haven’t looked for them in other places yet.”
Every time at this time, the naughty children felt that Zhang An was treating them as adults, so they tried to act like little adults and replied to Zhang An.
"Then you keep looking. If you can still find one, you can exchange one for fifty cents with me."
Zhang An thought for a while and did not go looking for it himself. Instead, he let these naughty kids Let's go and mess around.
There should always be golden cicadas in the Purple Bamboo Forest, but not many people in the village know about them.
So all this time, Zhang An had never heard of anyone in the village specifically going there to look for this thing.
But even if he could find it, there wouldn't be too many of them. After all, there weren't many of them, so he was too lazy to wander around in the purple bamboo forest.
Because they found it first and then came to remind him, Zhang An left this matter to the naughty kids.
This is a return of favor, let them fiddle with it, and then spend some money to buy it from the naughty kids.
In this way, as an uncle, I can give them some benefits. Anyway, this little money won’t be too much.
"Okay, Uncle An, let's go look for him now."
When they heard that one could be exchanged for fifty cents, the naughty children were immediately overjoyed.
Even though the scarab beetles of the past few days could be sold for more than this, people don’t want all kinds of scarab beetles, they must be good-looking.
But this strange insect that can bloom is different. It can be exchanged for money regardless of whether it is good or bad. This is a guarantee.
Although the naughty children are still young, their hearts are transparent.
"Brother Ermao, aren't we going to look for the scarab beetle?"
A few younger children heard Ermao say that they wanted to find this strange insect flower, but they didn't want to go look for it. I feel a little bit reluctant to let go of the scarab beetle.
“If we don’t go, we will all catch the beetles. You see, we didn’t find them just now, and there aren’t many people in the village now. We may not be able to sell them if we find them. Why don't you go find this for Uncle An?"
Er Mao is worthy of being the leader of this class. In front of his group of followers, he speaks clearly and clearly.
"Okay, let's go find this together."
The younger children must not be able to think about so much, but they have always believed in the elder brother who led them to play.
After making the decision, Ermao will lead his followers and rush towards the purple bamboo forest.
"Wait a minute, take this with you. Don't keep using your hand to peel off your fingernails. If a fingernail is peeled off, you might suffer. Also, remember to pay attention to snakes and centipedes."
Zhang An He called Er Maohai and the others, and then took out the small medicine hoe he used to dig medicine and asked them to take it with him.
If they were asked to go home to get a hoe, they might be scolded by the adults at home.
Hoes these days are not just random things. Adults will not let their children take them out to play with.
If you lose it, it will cost at least ten yuan to buy a new one.
Even if it is not lost but damaged by digging, it will take a lot of work to repair it.
"Okay, Uncle An, let's go."
The Ermao boys took over the little medicine hoe that Zhang An gave them like a sword from Shang Fang.
In recent years, more and more people in the village have bought TV sets, and Journey to the West has become a must-watch TV program for naughty children.
Everyone happens to be the same age as Monkey, and they all like Monkey’s movements and way of speaking.
Because of this, they are usually slapped a few times by the adults at home, saying that they are not decent.
Watching them skipping away, Zhang An couldn't help but smile and shook his head.
At this time, he thought of the Great Sage who had not appeared for a long time. He didn't know where this guy had gone and how he was living in the mountains.
But based on what he knew about the monkey, he probably wouldn't have a bad time. He might have gotten involved with the boss of the monkey group.
Then, Zhang An remembered the mountain donkey he saw in the mountains yesterday.
I originally thought of calling Zhu Yuliang to say something, but in the end I forgot about it.
So Zhang An took out his cell phone and prepared to dial.
As soon as he dialed the first number, Zhang An immediately hung up and dialed another one.
Because the number he dialed just now was the phone number of Zhu Yuliang's office. He had always called this number before.
But it’s still the May Day holiday, and Lao Zhu must not be at work, so he can only call Lao Zhu’s house.
"Hey, which one are you looking for?"
The phone was connected, but the voice on the other end was a young girl's voice.
Zhang An thought for a while, this should be the daughter Lao Zhu has been talking about.
After all, he knew both Lao Zhu and his wife, but he had never seen his daughter, who was still in college.
"Hello, I'm looking for Uncle Zhu."
In front of someone's daughter, he must show some respect, so Zhang An did not call him Lao Zhu directly.
"Okay, wait a minute, I will call for you right now."
Lao Zhu's daughter was quite polite and helped to call someone without asking anything.
After a while, Zhu Yuliang came over and answered the phone.
"Lao Zhu, it's me, Zhang An." Zhang An spoke first without letting Lao Zhu speak.
"Oh, it's you. Who am I still thinking about? Tell me, what do you want from me?"
Lao Zhu didn't mince words and asked very directly. road.
After all, Zhang An's temperament of not going to the Three Treasures Hall for anything had long been accustomed to him.
Generally, if there is nothing wrong, this person will definitely not take the initiative to call him.
“I just want to ask you, are there many mountain donkeys in our area?”
Before, Zhang An seemed to have heard Zhuang Shuying say that in the past two years, the county I just made a statistics on the wild animals in my area, and the results are out.
It’s just that he doesn’t go to the Forestry Bureau very often, so he doesn’t know the statistical results.
But as the leader, Lao Zhu must be very clear about this. After all, he has to make reports to the superiors frequently, and these are all real report contents.
“As for the mountain donkey, well, let me think about it.”
When he suddenly heard Zhang An ask, Zhu Yuliang was unprepared and didn't remember it for a moment.
“Come to think of it, we haven’t found anything in our mountains so far. It’s still unknown whether there are any. However, the number of these things is very small. Even in the two protected areas in the province, the number is Not much, why did you suddenly ask about this thing?"
After a while, Zhu Yuliang remembered something and said to Zhang An.
He felt a little strange for Zhang An to suddenly ask about this thing.
But he didn't think in a bad direction. After all, after knowing each other for so long, he knew that there were some things that Zhang An would never touch.
The most satisfying thing is to catch a few and take them home to satisfy the breeder's addiction.
“It’s nothing, it’s just that when I went into the mountain yesterday, I saw an adult mountain donkey. It didn’t look like it came from somewhere else. I thought I had never seen such a thing in so many years. So I’m here to tell you, don’t be discovered by those ignorant guys, it would be a pity to die.”
Hearing Zhu Yuliang’s words, Zhang An just then. I understand why few people have seen this thing after so many years.
Even though he once said that he had met Mr. Huang, he only met him once.
It turns out that the quantity of this thing is really too small.
"Really? Where did you see that?"
Hearing this, Zhu Yuliang's voice unconsciously amplified.
“Really, it’s right over Qinggangpo. It wasn’t too close at the time, but I must have seen it correctly. If I hadn’t brought a camera, I would have taken it on the spot.”
After returning yesterday, Zhang An regretted not bringing his camera.
Even if you don’t take pictures of these things, you can just take pictures of your own people.
"Then I will report this matter to the superiors after I get to work tomorrow. The superiors should send someone down to visit then, but they may need your help to guide them."
Zhu Yuliang didn't know where Qinggangpo was, but that didn't stop him from trusting Zhang An and making his decision immediately.
"Is it really necessary to go to such trouble?"
As soon as he heard that he would take people into the mountains to find him, Zhang An suddenly felt a little overwhelmed.
It doesn't matter if he goes into the mountains by himself, but he is really not willing to bring a group of professional experts with him.
"It's necessary, but it's not necessary. If we here knew clearly before, it wouldn't be so troublesome if the quantity was smaller. But the most important thing is to start from scratch. No matter how troublesome it is, it's not too troublesome."
Zhu Yuliang almost didn't tell Zhang An clearly about his political achievements.
Now is the time to pay attention to this aspect. No matter what species, it is one thing to have it, and it is the same thing not to have it.
If there is, it would actually be better if the number is more or less.
But if you haven't seen it before and suddenly discovered it, the process of starting from nothing is worth elaborating.
After all, once this thing is confirmed, it means allocated funds and achievements.
"Okay, let's talk about it then."
Zhang An regretted it for a moment. If he had known that Zhu Yuliang would take it so seriously, he would have been too lazy to talk.
By the time he hung up the phone, Xiao Siqi had already taken a nap.
“Dad, come clean.”
Xiao Siqi rubbed her dazed eyes and came out to find Zhang An.
Today, he is no longer the naughty boy who didn't like washing his face.
"Okay, I'll clean up Qi Qi's name right now. Where's mom, haven't you gotten up yet."
Zhang An picked up his son and sat on his arms, walked in Wash his face at home.
"Mom is lazy."
Little Siqi yawned greatly, and then said only three words.
"Shh, this is not something you want to say. If your mother hears it, your butt will suffer again."
Hearing this, Zhang An quickly silenced the little guy, be aware of the consequences. Say it out loud.
In the afternoon, the naughty children who ran to the purple bamboo forest to look for golden cicada flowers came back in force.
"Uncle An, we are back."
All of them looked cheerful, like generals who had won a battle.
"Then let me see what you have gained."
As soon as Zhang An saw them like this, he knew that he must have gained something.
"Hey, I found this."
Er Mao smiled and took the lead in handing out the golden cicada flowers he found, no more, no less, exactly five.
"Uncle Xiao An, look, I have it too."
"Uncle Xiao An, I still have it here."
. . . . .
Other little children, no matter how big or small, also rushed to take out the golden cicada flowers they found.
It was as if Zhang An would say no if it was too late.
There are three or four older children, and even the youngest one who is still rubbing his nose can take out one.
"Hey, it's not bad. Wait until I get some money for you."
Zhang An raised his eyes and didn't expect to find so many for this group of naughty kids.
He roughly counted them and estimated that there were twenty or thirty in total.
When the naughty kid heard that Zhang An was going to get the money, he immediately jumped up with joy.
Little Siqi next to him didn't know what to say, but this did not affect his ability to be happy with these big brothers.
(End of this chapter)