gnovel Chapter 83 In Montana during winter, it is still necessary to store grains and vegetables.
Chapter 83 In Montana during winter, it is still necessary to store grains and vegetables.
In Montana, during the winter, people not only need to store firewood for the winter, but also grains and vegetables.
Because Tom's family were immigrants, they didn't have their own food and vegetables and had to buy them in town.
Margaret, the mother, got along very well with Dan's woman at the Deep Valley Bar, and from her, the mother learned what ingredients to prepare for the winter.
"You'd better get the cellar repaired, and buy the grain and vegetables today!"
Mother Margaret glanced at James and Tom at the dining table.
"The cellar should be fine, I'll go with you!" James said without looking up.
"Okay, Tom, you stay home. Claire, what about you?"
Margaret then looked at her aunt Claire.
The latter shook his head. "I'll stay on the ranch!"
Finally, Margaret's gaze swept over the group. "Who among you will come with us to town?"
Simone nodded. Tom had already told her that she had to accompany Margaret to town.
Even though Tom shocked the town with the death of Covington as soon as he arrived, there were still many people who were not afraid of death.
In the end, apart from Cooper who followed James, the rest of them stayed on the ranch.
Watching the carriage disappear into the distance, Zack looked at Tom.
Tom nodded.
They then led Zach and Ennis to the wooden fence that had been destroyed by the wolves the previous night.
"Tom, why don't we use barbed wire?" Ennis said casually, but his hands didn't stop working.
For Ennis, a former ranch cowboy, repairing the wooden fence wasn't too difficult, at least easier than killing bandits.
"Haha, because Tom's stingy!"
Jonah, the lame cook, had somehow followed them over.
"What are you doing here instead of at the ranch?"
The cook, Jonathan, spat and yelled, "Tom, you need to give me some work! I don't want to be a cowboy!"
As a cook on the westward expansion route, if he can't find work on the western ranches, what value does he have there?
Are we going to make a lame man a ranch cowboy?
Tom glanced at Jonah. "Don't forget, you were the one who wanted to stay! You could have left if you didn't like it!"
"Haha, is Tom still angry about that father and son from this morning?"
Tom shook his head.
Zack chimed in, "Angry? No, Tom just kind of dislikes them!"
"Yeah, it really is annoying!" Jonah nodded in agreement.
Tom glanced at the two of them. "Are you both really free? Jonah, you stay here and help Ennis fix the fence! Zack and I will go check the cellar!"
Zack quickly followed Tom away.
Meanwhile, the lame cook Jonah followed closely behind, leaving Ennis standing bewildered in the wind. What happened to their plan to clean up the fence together?
The ranch's cellar was easily recognizable.
Below the main house, the entrance to the cellar was paved with pebbles.
It looked like a tomb, with a building taller than a person surrounded by stones and wood on the ground. The gate was made of heavy logs, and there was a deep pit underneath.
The gaps were filled with mud and grass, leaving no gaps.
"Tom, if you want to continue living on this ranch, you must dig a new cellar!"
Cook Jonah curled his lip, clearly disapproving of the food cellar.
Tom didn't care about what Jonah said.
The cellar door was opened, and after enough air was released, the group entered the cellar.
Zach lit a torch.
There were even steps below the entrance.
It's made of stone.
The walls were made of wood and supported by logs.
There is also a small vent in the roof.
Used for air circulation, removing moisture and potential odors, preventing mold growth, and maintaining air quality.
The vent is too simple; it's just a small wooden box with a lid.
No natural light penetrates the cellar, so you need to carry a kerosene lamp or a torch to get inside.
The interior space is really small, only a few square meters.
But it is three meters deep.
The interior has shelves, boxes, and hooks, but it looks a bit old.
The longer you stay there, the worse it smells.
You can also feel the cold and dampness getting worse.
"This place smells awful, let's leave!"
The cook, Jonah, limped along and started to climb up.
Tom's gaze swept across every corner of the cellar, perhaps out of habit; he liked to thoroughly explore unfamiliar places.
Just as he was about to step onto the stairs, he discovered something buried underground in a corner of the cellar.
"Wait, Zack, the torch!"
Tom took the torch from Zack and went to the place where the things were buried.
He started digging with a short knife. Fortunately, he wiped the blood off the knife after each cut and took good care of it, so it is still so sharp.
"Tom, what did you find?"
Jonah looked at Tom, who had a serious expression on his face, with great curiosity.
But Tom remained silent and continued digging.
Zach shook his head at Jonah.
Tom dug out a hard object, and as his gaze swept across the deep pit, he discovered that the object was actually a small box.
He carefully dug out the small box and opened it.
By the light of the torch, Tom gasped, hissing.
"This...this is...this is a check!"
The cook, Jonah, excitedly reached into the box and pulled out a bright green check.
The checks and banknotes are similar in size and clearly printed with the bank's name.
Wells Fargo!
Tom thought there were only several dozen checks in the small box, but he didn't expect there to be a metal plate the size of a check protruding at the bottom of the box.
Tom's heart tightened, and he quickly snatched the check from Jonah's hand and put it back in the small wooden box.
Then, looking at the cook Jonah and the skinny Zach, he said, "These are fake checks; there's not even a payee's name on them!"
Then he carried the small wooden box and walked down to the ground.
"Tom is right!" Zack looked at Jonah seriously.
Jonah didn't even look at Zack, muttering to himself, "These heartless scammers, all they can do is use fake goods to cheat people!"
There are too many bank check fraud cases, and too many people are being cheated, especially in the west, where the use of bank checks has increased with the construction of railways.
After leaving the cellar, Tom put the small box away.
He never expected that there would be bank engraving templates hidden here!
I just don't know if the template owner will take it back.
"Remember, don't mention this to anyone, and it's best to forget about it!" Tom reminded the two of them.
Zach nodded vigorously, then looked at the cook, Jonah.
That look in his eyes suggested that if Tom gave the order, Zack would finish Jonah off on the spot.
"Zack, don't look at me like that!" Jonah spat. "That thing is gunpowder; only Tom would hold it in his arms!"
Tom nodded. "I will hand it in truthfully!"
Afterwards, the group began inspecting the ranch, identifying what needed repair and what items needed to be repurchased.
Tom didn't rush forward until James and Cooper returned with two carts full of grain and vegetables!