Chapter 15

On his way home, Xiaofei was deeply pondering ways to make quick money.

Then he realized that, apart from illegal activities like breaking into houses or robbing people on the street, it was simply a pipe dream to earn a substantial amount of money in just a few days.

Money is hard to earn, and even harder to spend, as the saying goes, it’s true.

He sighed in distress.

He walked slowly along the road, his gaze wandering aimlessly.

Although he walked slowly, it wasn’t long before he saw his village. The scorching sun hung high in the sky, and it was almost noon. People were still busy in the fields, and the pungent smell of pesticides filled the air.

A few children, covered in mud, came down from a hill at the edge of the village, chattering away. They held small iron shovels and wide-mouthed glass bottles, in which some round, purplish-brown insects were crawling around.

These purplish-brown insects are called "tubers," also known as "earth beetles," a type of traditional Chinese medicine used to treat blood stasis and bone fractures. They are widely used in Chinese medicine.

Earth beetles prefer decaying soil and grass, and are commonly found in areas with rich humus, such as forests, hills, graveyards, and corners of walls. They are nocturnal, often coming out at night when it is quiet.

The hills in Xili Village are very suitable for the growth of earth beetles. You might see a large, fat earth beetle quickly escaping and disappearing into a patch of weeds just by lifting a small piece of decaying soil.

Villagers also go to the hills to dig for earth beetles during their free time to earn some extra money for household expenses.

Digging for earth beetles is a real digging job. You use a small shovel to dig through the soil, uncover the earth beetles hidden in the soil, and catch them in a container you carry with you.

This method, even if you dig for a whole day, you can dig up at most about three to four pounds.

Fresh earth beetles (live, not dried) sell for 5 to 8 yuan per pound, and at their highest, they can reach around 10 yuan. In 1996, earning 20 to 30 yuan a day was considered a high income for rural people.

Xiaofei looked at the towering, continuous hills and then at the children digging for earth beetles. His heart began to race, and he suddenly thought of a quick way to make money.

The method was very simple.

First, stir-fry bran with cooking oil, salt, monosodium glutamate, and alcohol. Stir-fry the bran until it is fragrant and the smell is strong.

Then, use a shovel to clear a small, flat area where the earth beetles are known to hide.

Sprinkle a little of the stir-fried bran on the cleared area.

The next step is to wait.

When it is quiet and dark at night, the earth beetles will come out and be attracted by the fragrance of the bran, gathering to feast.

At this point, you can grab the earth beetles by the handful and put them into a container you have prepared.

This method of catching earth beetles was introduced to Xili Village around 1997 or 1998. Someone once used this method to catch over 100 kilograms of earth beetles in one night.

In the late 1990s, the price of dried wild earth beetles was over 40 yuan per kilogram.

On average, three kilograms of live earth beetles can be dried to make one kilogram of dried earth beetles.

In other words, you could earn 1500 yuan in one night!

That's enough to match the output of two acres of cotton.

Of course, earth beetles are a limited wild resource and cannot be caught endlessly. If the whole village were to join in, the earth beetles in and around the village would be caught out in one night.

But in mid-July 1996, the villagers of Xili Village did not know this simple, labor-saving, and efficient method of catching earth beetles.

In a sense, what Xiaofei was about to do would be a unique business.

One of a kind, with no competition.

He couldn't wait any longer.

Since he had the idea, he had to act quickly!

Xiaofei knew that the reason only children were digging for earth beetles in the village was because the fields were too busy, and the villagers were too preoccupied. If he waited another twenty days, by early August, when it was clear that the cotton crop was a total loss, the whole village would rush to the hills to dig for earth beetles, turning the hills upside down, over and over again.

By then, even if Xiaofei's method of luring earth beetles was effective, it would be hard to achieve good results.

Xiaofei's heart was on fire, and he walked quickly towards his family's field.

As he expected, his brother was still spraying pesticides in the cotton field with their father.

Six acres of cotton fields, if one person carried the pesticide sprayer, it would take more than two hours to spray once, and Xiaofei's family's fields were not in one place but divided into two or three areas.

Now, Xiaoyang and his father were spraying the pesticides separately.

Xiaoyang was working in the field to the south of the village.

The sun was scorching.

The temperature had already reached over 34 degrees Celsius, and the ground temperature was definitely over 40 degrees. It was hot enough to fry an egg on the asphalt road.

In such high temperatures, the person spraying pesticides was bare-chested, wearing a plastic sheet to prevent the pesticide from touching the skin and causing poisoning, and carrying a heavy sprayer weighing 40 to 50 pounds.

The feeling was unbearable.

When Xiaofei reached the edge of the field, he just saw Xiaoyang walking over with an empty sprayer.

"Xiaofei, why are you here?" Xiaoyang was drenched in sweat, looking like he had just climbed out of a pond. His face was tanned and covered with dirt and grass. Seeing Xiaofei standing at the edge of the field, he was quite surprised.

"Brother, are you done?" Xiaofei asked.

"Still one more sprayer to go," Xiaoyang said.

"Brother, I have a good way to make money. Do you want to join me?" Xiaofei squatted under a tree at the edge of the field, took out a crumpled pack of cigarettes, and offered one to his brother.

Xiaoyang took it and lit it with Xiaofei's lighter, taking a deep puff.

Both brothers smoked.

But they rarely had the money to buy cigarettes. Xiaoyang usually smoked his father's pipe tobacco and occasionally bought a few bags to satisfy his craving.

Clearly, Xiaoyang didn't believe what Xiaofei said. Making money, how easy could it be? A student who hadn't even graduated from school, what good way to make money could he have?

Besides, even if there was a way, wouldn't it require some capital?

The Xiaos didn't even have money for oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar, let alone capital.

Xiaoyang threw the sprayer aside, took off the plastic sheet, and threw it on the ground. His shorts were soaked with sweat, and water could be wrung out of them.

Xiaoyang sat down on the ground.

Xiaofei saw a stream of water flowing from his crotch, as if he had wet his pants.

"What's the plan? Tell me," Xiaoyang decided to listen.

Xiaofei's expression was very serious: "Brother, you have to swear that you won't tell anyone else in the village until we make enough money. Can you do that?"

Xiaoyang had a group of friends in the village, and they often played together during their free time.

Xiaofei was worried that his method of luring earth beetles might be leaked to Xiaoyang's friends.

"Relax, I won't say anything," Xiaoyang said, taking a puff of the cigarette and letting the smoke fill his lungs before exhaling it through his nose.

Maybe his younger brother really had a good idea. He thought.

The family was so poor, and like Xiaofei, Xiaoyang was eager to make a change.

Xiaofei explained his method to Xiaoyang and patiently explained it.

Xiaoyang was skeptical: "Can it really work?"

Xiaofei nodded firmly: "Absolutely! Brother, you have to believe me. We'll know tonight if it works or not, right?"

Xiaoyang slapped his thigh: "Alright! Let's go to the hills this afternoon and clear the area with a shovel. I'm in!"