60s: I have a store

Chapter 633 The Wine with a Strong Aftereffect
Old Chen led five or six people to the back mountain and began looking for suitable bamboo, unlike last time when they would cut down bamboo as soon as they saw it and it was tall enough.

Although it was nearing noon and many people were already hungry, they were all in the back to make sure they carried the bamboo back before eating.

Otherwise, how much time would be wasted going back and forth!
Old Chen clapped his hands: "Everyone, do you understand the requirements just now?"

Everyone nodded after seeing this scene.

Old Chen said, "Let's get started!"

Everyone split up to find suitable bamboo, but for safety reasons, no one went far.

It's still winter, but if you're unlucky, you might encounter large wild animals, which is no joke and could be life-threatening at any moment.

Old Chen was the first to stand in front of a thick bamboo stalk. He knew it met the standard without even needing to measure it.

He picked up the axe he carried with him and swung it twice, but failed to cut down the tree.

Old Chen was a little puzzled, but after tapping on the bamboo and listening to the sound, there was nothing wrong. Could it be that he was hungry and his strength had decreased?

Since two axe blows weren't enough, let's try two more.

After finally cutting down the bamboo, Old Chen carefully examined it and found that there was nothing wrong with the bamboo.

It seems that he's getting old and his strength is starting to decline.

The others also selected suitable bamboo and began to cut it.

Wang Jianguo saw a bamboo stalk that clearly met the requirements, then picked up an axe and aimed it at a spot slightly above the base of the bamboo.

"Hey"

With a loud thud, he exerted his strength.

The axe blade cleaved steadily into the bamboo, leaving a deep gash.

He chopped the bamboo with great skill, first cutting a slant on one side of the bamboo, then going around to the other side to continue chopping, to avoid the axe getting caught in the bamboo.

With two swings of the axe, the bamboo fell slowly to the ground with a "whoosh" sound, shaking the fallen leaves into the air.

Just then, as Wang Jianguo was about to leave to continue cutting other bamboo, Old Chen suddenly came out from the side and called out, "Jianguo, wait a minute!"

Wang Jianguo was startled by the sudden noise. He turned around and saw that it was Old Chen, and then he breathed a sigh of relief: "Uncle Chen, can you please not scare me!"

Old Chen hadn't expected Wang Jianguo to be so timid: "Alright, alright, it was my fault. Jianguo, you can't do this."

"We need to cut off the bamboo branches and leaves, otherwise it will be difficult to transport them back."

Wang Jianguo didn't quite understand, but he felt that Lao Chen's words made sense, so he did as Lao Chen said.

He picked up the axe, first chopped off the branches at the top of the bamboo, then cut down along the bamboo pole, quickly clearing out a bare bamboo pole.

Before long, more than a dozen thick, old bamboo stalks were cut down in the bamboo grove.

Wang Jianguo came over at this moment and asked, "Uncle Chen, have you seen enough?"

Old Chen counted the number of poles and columns, and said, "That's about enough. Let's take these back first, and we'll come back and cut more if we need more!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Jianguo and the others used hemp rope to tie the bamboo into three bundles, each bundle containing five or six bamboo stalks, with two people carrying each bundle.

Old Chen, carrying an axe, led the way.

Although the heavy bamboo bent their backs and sweat streamed down their faces, everyone wore smiles. As long as they could build the greenhouse, this little bit of fatigue was nothing.

This concerns the village's income; the higher the village's income, the more money they will receive at the end of the year.

So no one complained of being tired; on the contrary, everyone was full of energy.

Suddenly a sound reached everyone's ears.

Old Chen waved his hand, and Wang Jianguo and the others immediately stopped, put the bamboo on the ground, picked up their axes, and became wary.

"Everyone walked back to back, slowly to the surroundings."

Wang Jianguo and the others immediately did as Lao Chen said.

They began to walk around, everyone was very nervous. Wang Jianguo regretted not bringing his weapons with him.

Otherwise, we wouldn't be in such a passive position.

They had walked about three or four meters away from where they started when Old Chen saw a small animal flash by.

With quick reflexes, Old Chen threw the axe in his hand away.

It hit the target perfectly, and blood immediately flowed out.

At this moment, everyone saw that it was a rabbit, and not a small one at that, it looked to weigh at least four or five pounds.

Wang Jianguo praised, "Uncle Chen, if you're still as sharp as ever, when will you teach me?"

Old Chen smiled and said, "If you want to learn, then become an apprentice!"

Wang Jianguo had long wanted to learn the throwing knife skill from Lao Chen, but Lao Chen had never agreed, so he had no chance. Now, Lao Chen had finally spoken up.

He immediately knelt down and kowtowed three times.

Old Chen was shocked by Wang Jianguo's actions. He hadn't expected that Wang Jianguo would take his joke seriously and even kowtow, putting him in a dilemma.

If I don't agree, and word gets out that I didn't keep my word, how will I ever face anyone again?

Having no other choice, Old Chen had to bite the bullet and accept Wang Jianguo's offer. After all, he had spoken up, so even if he didn't want to, he had no choice but to accept.

"Jianguo, this place isn't unsuitable, shall we go back to the village and talk again?"

Wang Jianguo looked around and realized that this place was indeed unsuitable. Other wild animals might run out at any time, which could endanger others.

"Okay, Master!"

Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter.

Old Chen walked up to the axe, picked it up, wiped the blood off it, and then held the rabbit in his hand.

The group set off again, and this time nothing happened along the way, and they returned to Shangshui Village smoothly.

Village Chief Wang, who was working, saw Old Chen and the others and quickly went up to them: "Old Chen, have you cut enough bamboo?"

At this moment, seeing that Old Chen was still holding a dead rabbit, he pointed at it and asked, "Old Chen, what's this?"

Wang Jianguo quickly answered, "Village chief, the master hit it with an axe."

You have no idea how...

Old Chen couldn't stand it anymore; if he continued, it would probably sound like a god descending to earth.

"Jianguo, you can shut up now."

Wang Jianguo immediately shut up. Now he listened to Lao Chen's words without question, after all, learning skills was not an easy thing.

Arriving at the open space where the shed was to be set up, everyone worked together to unload the bamboo onto the ground. A dozen or so thick, sturdy old bamboos were piled together, which made people feel at ease.

Village Chief Wang stepped forward, patted the bamboo stalk, measured its diameter with his fingers, and smiled with satisfaction: "Good! Good bamboo! It's even thicker than I expected. Now the frame of the shed is stable!"

Old Chen immediately said, "Village Chief, don't worry! These were all found according to the standards Yimin mentioned." At this time, the villagers who were dismantling the sheds had also finished dismantling the thin bamboo poles and the parts with excessively wide spacing. The site was cleaned up, and the usable bamboo poles were neatly sorted and stacked.

Village Chief Wang looked at the scene and then at Zhou Yimin beside him. He had an idea in mind: there had been a problem with setting up the shed earlier.

Thanks to Zhou Yimin for discovering the problem, and now that we have good bamboo, if we could have him directing from the sidelines, we could definitely avoid making the same mistake again.

He walked up to Zhou Yimin and said earnestly, "Yimin, look, all the materials are ready now, and the dismantling is finished. Why don't you stay here a little longer and help us direct the rebuilding?"

The surrounding villagers chimed in, "Yes, Yimin, please give us more guidance!"

"With you here, we'll definitely be able to build this shed just as well as the one in Zhoujiazhuang!"

Zhou Yimin originally thought that the problem was solved and was preparing to go back.

But seeing the expectant looks in the eyes of Village Chief Wang and the villagers, and remembering the importance of the three hundred yuan worth of plastic to Shangshui Village, he ultimately couldn't bring himself to refuse.

Zhou Yimin nodded: "Okay, I'll stay a while and keep an eye on things for you guys. But it's mainly up to everyone to do it. I'm just offering suggestions."

"Yimin, thank you so much!" Village Chief Wang said gratefully.

Under Zhou Yimin's command, the construction work by Village Chief Wang and his team is progressing smoothly.

The villagers immediately grabbed shovels and dug holes according to the lime markings. After the holes were dug, groups of several people carried thick bamboo poles into the holes, with some holding them to keep them vertical and others filling the holes with soil.

Zhou Yimin checked back and forth and saw that some of the poles were crooked, so he stepped forward to help straighten them: "Move them a little more to the left, that's right, now they're straight. When you're compacting them, pound them a few more times to prevent them from shaking later."

Wang Jianguo did as Zhou Yimin instructed, and having someone to direct him made a difference; the progress was even faster than at the beginning.

At this rate, the first shed should be set up before the afternoon.

After seeing this, Village Chief Wang and his team were even more motivated. Although they were starving, they forced themselves to continue working so as not to take up too much of Zhou Yimin's time.

It took less than three hours to finally complete the construction of the greenhouse.

The villagers of Shangshui Village were overjoyed at the moment it was completed, especially Village Chief Wang, who almost jumped for joy.

Just as Zhou Yimin was about to leave.

Village Chief Wang came over to Old Chen and asked, "Old Chen, could you use that rabbit of yours to entertain Zhou Yimin?"

After saying that, they were a little embarrassed, but there was nothing they could do. The village didn't have any extra meat to treat Zhou Yimin.

He knew very well that the food at Zhou Yimin's house was terrible, so if it was too bad, it wouldn't be presentable at all.

Old Chen wondered why Village Chief Wang had come over so mysteriously. He never expected it was just because of this rabbit. Without thinking, he said, "Village Chief, you can have it!"

He also knew that Zhou Yimin had helped the village so much, yet he didn't offer to treat him to a meal, letting others leave hungry.

If this gets out, who knows what people in other villages will think of them.

Village Chief Wang was surprised that Old Chen readily agreed: "Old Chen, the village will remember your contributions."

After saying that, he quickly ran to stop Zhou Yimin, who was about to leave.

"Yimin, you've done our village a huge favor. At least stay here for a meal!"

Zhou Yimin replied, "Village Chief Wang, you're too kind. It was just a small favor."

Village Chief Wang continued, "It wasn't just a small favor; it helped our village avoid wasting three hundred yuan."

After saying that, she grabbed Zhou Yimin's hand, preventing him from leaving.

Zhou Yimin thought for a moment, and since he didn't have anything urgent to do back home, he readily agreed: "Village Chief Wang, then I'll trouble you."

Village Chief Wang then brought Zhou Yimin to his home. A rabbit only weighs four or five pounds, and after skinning it, it probably weighs only three or four pounds. If it were taken to the village's canteen, it wouldn't be enough to share.

So I'll take it home and let my wife cook it, at least that way Zhou Yimin can eat more.

After returning home, Village Chief Wang began to deal with the rabbit.

Village Chief Wang's wife was busy. She started by kneading dough, and even used up the little bit of flour that was left in the house.

She even took out eggs that she usually wouldn't eat, and after preparing the preliminary work, she started cooking.

Village Chief Wang came to the living room and chatted with Zhou Yimin.

In less than half an hour, Village Chief Wang's wife had prepared the meal and brought it out.

They even specially placed the stir-fried rabbit with chili peppers in front of Zhou Yimin.

Village Chief Wang even brought out his best wine, which was homemade.

"Yimin, shall we have a drink?"

Zhou Yimin didn't object: "Okay!"

Village Chief Wang breathed a sigh of relief, fearing that Zhou Yimin would look down on the homemade wine. He knew that Zhou Yimin drank fine wines like Xifeng and Moutai at home.

Village Chief Wang's wife brought over two cups and poured a glass of wine into each one.

Village Chief Wang picked up his glass and said, "Yimin, thank you so much for today. I'll drink this one, you can drink as you like."

After saying that, he downed the whole thing in one gulp.

Zhou Yimin hadn't expected Village Chief Wang to be so formidable. Although it was homemade wine, the alcohol content was quite high, and it didn't have the smooth taste of Moutai.

This homemade wine, once tasted, is intensely strong with a burning sensation, entering the mouth and traveling down the esophagus into the stomach.

Zhou Yimin drank a large gulp and almost vomited, but he forced himself to swallow it down.

"What a strong drink!"

Village Chief Wang explained with a smile, "That's how homemade wine is."

Moreover, this wine was brewed several years ago, and we usually can't bear to drink it. There's simply not enough grain to eat right now, so where would we find the extra grain to brew wine?

If it weren't for entertaining Zhou Yimin, Village Chief Wang wouldn't have been willing to bring out these bottles of wine at all.

This meal was very enjoyable.

Zhou Yimin checked the time and realized it was getting late; it was already 2 PM. "Village Chief Wang, it's getting late, I'll head back now!"

Village Chief Wang had drunk quite a bit and was already a little tipsy. A gust of wind made him feel dizzy instantly: "Alright, Yimin, I won't see you off."

After saying that, she couldn't hold on any longer and went straight to her room and lay down on the bed when she got home.

After seeing this, Village Chief Wang's wife shook her head helplessly and muttered to herself, "If you can't drink, then don't drink so much."

Without stopping, she picked up a quilt and covered Village Chief Wang with it, afraid that he would catch a cold.

Zhou Yimin drove away on his motorcycle. The cold wind made him feel sleepy instantly.

He hadn't expected that the wine from Village Chief Wang's house would have such a strong aftereffect.

Without even thinking, I sped up immediately. What would normally take almost twenty minutes took less than ten minutes to get me home.

Seeing that he was safely back home, Zhou Yimin felt relieved and, sensing that he wouldn't have to hold out for long, immediately went inside.

(End of this chapter)