Chapter 40 Reinforced Concrete

  The shop owner quickly took out strawberry seeds and opened them for Chu Jiaqiang to see.

  Chu Jiaqiang didn't hesitate, picked up a few grains with his hand and examined them closely in front of his eyes. He found that although these seeds were last year's old stock, they were plump and looked pretty good.

  Strawberry seeds are the small particles on the surface of strawberry flesh, a bit like sesame seeds, very small and fine. Strawberry jam also contains them because strawberry seeds are difficult to crush or filter out.

  The shop owner hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke up: "Little brother, I won't cheat you. This seed looks good, and that's why I bought it in the first place when I was confused. But later on, I found out that the survival rate of strawberry seeds is very low. If you want to grow strawberries, it's best not to use seeds, as the success rate is extremely low. Strawberries are a relatively difficult plant to grow. If you want to grow them, it's best to buy strawberry seedlings, and choose ones with white roots, thick stems, and no withered leaves."

  Chu Shengyi also knew that this boss was an honest person as soon as he heard it, and immediately advised Chu Jiaqiang not to buy the seeds.

  Chu Jiaqiang shook his head, before maybe he really wouldn't buy seeds, but now with the spiritual water from the Shanhe Map, as long as the seeds didn't die, he could make them grow to their best state.

  "Don't worry, I'm good at growing this fruit. Otherwise, I'd be stupid! Low survival rate is the problem of the seeds, but these seeds look fine. Low yield is because they don't know how to grow them. Actually, strawberries are easy to grow. In winter, many people are afraid that they will freeze to death. But in our place, do you think there's a need to worry about this?" Chu Jiaqiang said with a smile.

  The shop owner nodded thoughtfully after hearing Chu Shengyi's words.

  Before that, Chu Jiaqiang had specifically learned about strawberries. Strawberries have many independent ovaries, each of which develops into numerous small fruits after maturation. However, the space within a single flower is limited, and the small fruits grow together to form an aggregate. The fleshy part of the strawberry that people usually eat is actually the receptacle outside the ovary, which, along with the achenes (the ovaries that develop into dry fruits) growing on it, forms an aggregate fruit.

  Strawberries contain aspartic acid, which can naturally and smoothly remove heavy metal ions from the body. Strawberries are bright in color, soft and juicy in texture, strong in fragrance, sweet and sour in taste, rich in nutrition, and deeply loved by domestic and foreign consumers. It is a high-end fruit.

  It is not only a delicious fruit, but also has high medicinal value.

  Strawberries are also a top-grade medicinal herb. In traditional Chinese medicine, strawberries are considered sweet and cool in nature, entering the spleen, stomach, and lung meridians, with functions of moistening the lungs and generating fluids, tonifying the spleen and harmonizing the stomach, promoting urination and relieving edema, clearing heat and dispelling summer-heat. They are suitable for treating lung heat cough, poor appetite, short and frequent urination, and summer-heat thirst.

  The rich vitamin C in strawberries can not only prevent scurvy but also has a positive preventive effect on arteriosclerosis, coronary heart disease, angina pectoris, cerebral hemorrhage, high blood pressure and hyperlipidemia. The pectin and dietary fiber contained in strawberries can promote gastrointestinal motility, improve constipation, and prevent the occurrence of hemorrhoids and colon cancer. The amine substances contained in strawberries have a certain therapeutic effect on leukemia and aplastic anemia.

  Suitable for general population, especially those with wind-heat cough, sore throat and hoarseness; summer heat dry mouth or diarrhea; cancer patients, particularly nasopharyngeal carcinoma, lung cancer, tonsil cancer and laryngeal cancer. Not suitable for people with excessive phlegm and dampness, loose stools, and urinary tract stones.

  He then asked the shop owner for some loofah seeds and left the seed store with Chu Shengyi, heading towards the end of the street. He planned to plant strawberries on the five mu of empty land and grow some loofahs by the ditch.

  The owner of the building materials store saw that the visitors were Chu Shengyi and Chu Jiaqiang, immediately put down the tea in his hand that he hadn't finished drinking yet, and came up with a smile, this kind of person is also doing business.

  "Little meaning, family strong, let's have a cup of tea inside first!" Mr. Chen didn't talk business first, but instead took Chu and Jiaqiang to drink tea first.

  But Chu's family was worried that they would delay for a while, and Ye Caiyun would go crazy on the other side, so he waved his hand immediately: "Forget about drinking tea first, we mainly came here to get some steel and cement."

  "Oh! Since Jiaqiang is in a hurry, let's drink a few more cups when we have time. How much do you want, Jiaqiang? If it's a lot, I can give you a discount." Mr. Chen also noticed that this young man was very generous, didn't quibble over prices, and liked to get things done quickly, which suited his taste just fine.

  Chu Jiaqiang was silent for a moment, calculating in his mind, but he wasn't an architecture major and couldn't figure it out at the time. Just then, Chu Shengyi spoke up: "I heard Fifth Uncle say that it's probably around eight tons."

  Mr. Chen was delighted, eight tons is no small amount. One bag of cement weighs one hundred kilograms, so eight tons would be one hundred and sixty bags.

  "Alright, let's get eight tons first! If it's not enough, we can buy more. Otherwise, the excess cement will go to waste." Chu Jiaqiang also knew that this was probably Wu Shu Gong's lowest estimate. The main task for building the bridge was to set up three fixed points: one on each side of the reservoir and one on the small island in the middle.

  "Alright, originally the cement in our area is 482 yuan per ton, which is higher than other places, this point must be acknowledged, no way, our place is remote, transportation costs are expensive. But Chia-chiang you're not doing business with me for the first time, I'll give you 475 yuan per ton, what do you think?" Mr. Chen immediately gave Chia-chiang a discount.

  "Thanks to Uncle Chen then." Chu Jiaqiang turned back to Chu Shengyi: "Uncle Shengyi, did Fifth Uncle say how much steel is needed?"

  Chu Shengyi nodded: "Two-level steel bars need a bit more, about five tons, and three-level steel bars also need one ton."

  Actually, Wu Shu Gong mainly considered that after the Chu family became strong, they would use it to pull watermelons and had to bear the weight of the cart plus the watermelons. They also had to prevent floods and other situations, so they needed that many steel bars, just in case.

  Chu Jiaqiang nodded without thinking much about it. He didn't quite understand this aspect of things, so whatever Wu Shu said was fine by him!

  Mr. Chen was even more delighted, steel bars are not the same as cement. He hastily said: "Grade 2 steel bars are 5,176 yuan per ton, and grade 3 is one hundred and two more. I can also give you a discount, but it won't be very big. For grade 2, I'll calculate it for you at 5,170 yuan per ton, and grade 3 is 5,280 yuan per ton. This price is absolutely the cheapest in our town."

  Mr. Chen doesn't want to mess up this business, after all it's over 30,000 yuan, if successful, he'll make at least over 2,000 yuan today.

  The price has been settled, this time the steel and cement used about 35,000 yuan, plus sand and stone, three fixed points will cost around 50,000 yuan. The most expensive iron chain has not been finalized yet, plus thick wooden boards that can bear weight, it really can't be less than over a million.

  The Chu family's spending speed also left Chu Shengyi speechless.