Back to 1978: Getting rich starts with treasure hunting

"Comrade Lin Shu, we have nothing to do this afternoon, so why don't we follow you to learn about some medicinal herbs?" Gu Jiu said.

Xu Ming looked at Lin Shu with shining eyes, "Cousin Lin Shu, his idea is not bad. We can follow you to protect your safety, help you dig herbs, and chat with you to relieve your boredom."

Three birds with one stone.

Lin Shu's eyelids twitched. "Hey, hey, it's not right for you two grown men to follow me. The most important thing is that you really have nothing to do in the mountains?"

Xu Ming pointed to the top of the mountain and said, "The power supply station is putting up poles here. We can't help, so we just follow them up the mountain."

Lin Shu glanced at the top of the mountain. There were many trees blocking his view, so he couldn't see if there was anyone on the top of the mountain. However, when the mountain breeze blew, he could occasionally hear voices.

"Your power supply station's work scope also includes going up the mountain to erect electric poles?"

Xu Ming chuckled and said, "The workers who erect telegraph poles are mainly temporary workers. They need to be strong and quick at work. People like us who have never done heavy work since childhood cannot do such work as erecting telegraph poles."

Lin Shu nodded: "Oh, it's hard to do heavy work in the mountains, and there should be a shortage of temporary workers in the past few years of pulling electric wires to the countryside."

Xu Ming: "Yes, once electricity is connected to the townships, the next step is to connect electricity to the production teams. We are indeed short of skilled workers, and we can hire local villagers to lift and install the poles."

Lin Shu thought for a while and asked, "What are the requirements for being a temporary worker in your power supply station?"

Xu Ming and Gu Jiu were slightly stunned after hearing this.

Xu Ming: "You want to be a temporary worker, but didn't you just say you didn't want to go to work? Or do you have no money to buy a job and want to be hired as a temporary worker? However, this work up the mountain is physical work and is not suitable for you women."

"I don't want to go to work. My elder and second brothers are strong and have been doing farm work for many years. They can go and work as temporary workers."

"Your eldest and second brother?"

Lin Shu looked at him with a smile, "Yes."

Xu Ming pinched his chin and thought, "The requirements for temporary workers are not too high, but the salary is not much, only 27 yuan a month. Are your brothers willing?"

"27 yuan is a lot of money. My elder and second brothers are not picky. Besides, temporary workers are only temporary. What if their work performance is good and they can be regular employees? Who knows?"

Hearing this, Xu Ming couldn't help laughing, "You are quite optimistic." It's not that easy to become a regular employee.

In fact, when the power supply station recruits temporary workers, the employees will ask their relatives to sign up. Their regular relatives are all from the city, and they don't want to use these relationships with distant relatives.

Lin Shu is a friend, so coming to this point, it’s not impossible for him to help.

"How about this, the electric poles will be erected in your production team next month, and we will recruit some villagers to help. Ask your eldest and second brothers to sign up, and I will follow up."

Lin Shu just wanted to give it a try, but he didn't expect Xu Ming to agree so readily. He said gratefully, "Then I'll have to trouble Brother Xu then."

Xu Ming waved his hand, "It's just a small favor."

It doesn't matter who is hired to erect electric poles, as long as they can do the job and don't hold others back.

"No matter what, I still have to thank you. Next time I'll go into the mountains to get some game, and then I'll treat you two to a drink, how about that?" Lin Shu thought to himself, if his elder and second brothers really became temporary workers, how should he thank them? Treating them to a meal is the most basic thing.

"Game?" Xu Ming's eyes lit up. "Cousin Lin Shu also knows how to hunt?"

"No, I just know how to set up some simple ring traps. I can't guarantee whether I can catch prey. If I do, I will come to you."

Xu Ming pointed at Gu Jiu excitedly and said, "Sure, let's go to his house then. He lives alone so it's convenient for us to have a meal together."

Afterwards, he told Lin Shu Gu Jiu's address, a small courtyard on the old street.

That was the house Lin Shu went to last time. She had changed her makeup last time, so the two men probably didn’t recognize her.

After resting enough, Lin Shu discovered that there were a lot of Acorus calamus growing by the stream where he washed his hands.

"Cousin Lin Shu, what kind of grass is this?" Xu Ming stood on a rock by the stream, looking at the clumps of grass, feeling that they looked familiar.

Lin Shu looked up at them and found that Gu Jiu was already helping him pull out the calamus. "You have heard that the phoenix will not roost unless it is on the Chinese parasol tree, and calamus will not grow unless there is clean water. Wherever calamus grows, the water quality is very clear."

Xu Ming looked at the clear stream and suddenly said, "Is this calamus?"

"It's Acorus calamus. There's also another type of Acorus calamus, the nine-section Acorus calamus, but we don't have the nine-section Acorus calamus here."

Gu Jiu pulled out a clump of calamus and said, "Just keep the rhizomes of this calamus."

"Yes, the rhizomes can be used as medicine. How did Comrade Gu know that?"

"I've eaten Acorus calamus boiled eggs at home before." Gu Jiu said.

There were a lot of Acorus calamus in this stream, and the three of them soon filled the basket while digging rhizomes and joking around.

As the brothers Xu Ming and Gu Jiu chatted, they began to expose each other's shortcomings, allowing Lin Shu to learn a lot about their circle from their jokes.

The three of them agreed to have dinner together next time. Lin Shu said goodbye to the two and started to walk out, while Xu Ming and Gu Jiu also had to climb to the top of the mountain to meet up with the workers who were erecting the electric poles.

Out of the sight of the two people, Lin Shu walked out and sold all the herbs in the basket to the system.

Acorus calamus is 0.5 yuan per catty, and I sold 42 catties for 21 yuan.

The other medicinal herbs collected in the morning were sold for 12 yuan. The most expensive one was the black ginseng, which was pure wild and of high quality and sold for 460 yuan per catty. The dozen eggs collected in the morning weighed 400 grams and were sold for 368 yuan.

Lin Shu asked for 40 yuan in cash and put the rest in his balance. Looking at the number in the balance, it was 854 yuan. He saved so much money in less than a month. If he worked in the city and received a fixed salary every month, he didn't know how long it would take him to save.

Lin Shu smiled and watched the sun hanging on the hillside. It was still a little early, so she paid attention to the surrounding plants. She actually found a few Polygonatum sibiricum and a few wild yams, which she sold to the system for another 13 yuan.

He bought 20 kilograms of rice and flour, and 40 eggs from the system. Thinking of Zhuangzhuang at home, he bought him a pair of cloth shoes. Then he took out a bicycle from the system and rode home.

Today is already the 20th, and there are only a few days left until next month. When the electric poles are erected in their team, she will ask her eldest and second brothers to sign up. Gradually, as the family conditions improve, she will have an excuse to buy a bicycle, and even if the villagers are jealous, they will not do anything extreme.

After all, two people in their family work at the power supply station, and temporary workers are also workers.

Given the current situation at home, I dare not take out my bicycle and ride it openly. When I get to the woods near the village entrance, I have to put it into the system first.

As dusk falls, the villagers all go home from work. It is a lively time, with smoke rising from the kitchen, people carrying water, and people playing around.

When Lin Shu returned home, the house was very noisy. Several children were playing and fighting, and several grown men were sitting under the eaves smoking. There was some noise in the kitchen, probably the women in the family were cooking dinner.

"Dad, brother, I'm back."

"Aunt, you're back!"

"Auntie!"

Before the men in the house could react, several children spotted Lin Shu and rushed over to him, scaring Lin Shu so much that he quickly caught them.