North and South groceries

Aunt Yin and sisters have just started on the road here, while Erniang Luo and the others have already led a few people to start a tofu business in Liangzhou City.

These days, the price of cashmere in Liangzhou City has been rising steadily. Luo Erniang doesn't buy much now, and she doesn't hire anyone to help process cashmere.

The cashmere purchased earlier, with the help of the four remaining helpers and the female relatives of the Zhao family, can be completely processed before autumn, and all of them can be processed into cashmere yarn.

The Zhao family in Shuozhou is also a family that rose from poverty, and the life has really been better, that is, in less than ten years.

Moreover, a family of merchants like them pays attention to the courage to venture and fight, as well as perseverance. The women of the Zhao family are just like the men of the Zhao family, and they are all able to endure hardships.

Zhao Chen's father, Zhao Qi, has a great advantage, that is, as the head of the family, he always only cares about his character and not his family status in the marriage of his son and nephew.Of course, marrying a daughter still requires a little bit of requirements for the family background of the in-laws.

This is also a tradition inherited from Zhao Qi's parents, so these female relatives who lived in the same yard with Erniang and the others recently have different backgrounds. There is a daughter who takes care of her husband's family.

The Zhao family didn't have any extravagant ethos. Before their guest house was built, these female relatives were also happy to help Luo Erniang and the others do some handicrafts and earn some pocket money for themselves and the children at home.

In order to thank the Zhao family for taking care of her, Erniang Luo also taught them the skills of spinning cashmere yarn.

After they stopped buying cashmere in large quantities, Erniang and the others were much freer than before, because they made tofu a few times when they were looking for food for the hired workers, and the response was very enthusiastic, so after this period of free time, they So I wanted to make some tofu to sell.

Among the four hired workers that Erniang has now, there is a woman surnamed Wu, her husband's family name is Xi, who lives not far from Erniang and their yard.

The Xi family and his sons are hard-working and kind. Earlier, when Erniang and the others were shipping and buying goods, if they saw them, they would come over to help.There is also an old lady in Xi's family, who is not in good health when she is old. She stays in the yard all day, cleans the house, weaves straw sandals, feeds the chickens in their house, and occasionally goes out with a basket. Shopping for groceries is not like other old ladies who sit around the alley all day long, chatting endlessly.

Erniang had a good impression of this family, so when she decided to sell tofu and needed help, she first thought of the Xi family.

On this day, she mentioned this matter to Awu, saying that she wanted to ask her husband and two sons to help him make tofu, and besides two meals a day, she would give three Wen in addition, and asked Awu if he liked it.

Awu is naturally full of joy. Her husband and two sons are outside carrying goods for others, which is what happens at the best of times. Sometimes going out as porters, not to mention hardship, is also more dangerous.

Besides, if you work elsewhere, where can Luo Erniang and the others have good food here, not to mention the wages, just two meals a day, someone is willing to do this job.

Awu's man and son are also willing. This job is close to home, safe and safe, and the food is good. The three of them can still earn three Wen a day, which is considered a very good job in Liangzhou City. 's working now.

It’s not good to make tofu in this yard. After all, this is not Erniang’s own yard. There are still many people living in the yard. Once tofu is made, there are tofu baskets and stone mills. With big pots and big stoves, people come and go in the yard, occupying space and making noise.

Erniang and the others sold a few sets of cashmere sweaters and pants that had just been woven. It just so happened that the price of cashmere has also risen recently, and these sets of sweater pants also sold for a good price.With this money, plus the cashmere sales they earned a few days ago, and borrowed some from Zhao Chen, Erniang and the others bought a small square yard outside in an alley near the street.

Before going out, Luo Yong told her that if she was short of money in Liangzhou City, she could borrow some from Zhao Chen first, and if she couldn't pay it back, Luo Yong would help her pay it back in the future.

He also said that if he earns money, he doesn't have to think about sending it home. These days, it's either copper or cloth, and the transportation fee alone costs a lot of money. It's better to buy some properties in Liangzhou City. Land and houses are likely to increase in price in the future, and it would be best to buy more.

At this time, Erniang and the others were making tofu, and they just needed a place, and they had saved some money on hand, so they simply borrowed some from Zhao Chen and bought such a yard.

When Erniang told Zhao Chen about this, Zhao Qi happened to be there, and the old man was very surprised, how could this teenage girl have such ideas.The descendants of ordinary families, at the age of Erniang, even if they are married, rarely make up their own minds about major matters such as buying property.

"This Luo family is really unusual." After Erniang left, Zhao Qi said to Zhao Chen.

"When Luo Erniang was at home, she didn't seem to be an outstanding person, but after she came out, she could be independent." Zhao Chen said.

"She's not outstanding?" Zhao Qi asked in surprise.

"The Luo family also has a fourth mother, who can look after the store by herself at the age of eleven or twelve. I have even seen her deal with a matchmaker." Zhao Chen said.

"In terms of business, Luo Sanlang is not afraid of her making mistakes?" Zhao Qi was even more surprised.

"He doesn't feel bad when he makes a mistake, but the girl in his family loves herself." Zhao Chen laughed.

"She is a young lady in her teens, and she can deal with the matchmaker very well. If she says something inappropriate..." The matchmaker's mouth is even afraid of Zhao Qi, an old fritter.

"The coffin board is not afraid of these things." Zhao Chen waved his hand.The matchmaker's mouth is scary, but the coffin board is not scary?In their area, no matchmaker would be so overwhelmed that he would be uncomfortable looking for him.

"The dozens of chickens in Luo's family have always been raised by their children. Sometimes they died, and Luo Sanlang didn't feel bad. Once there was a chicken plague, and most of the chickens in the family died, which made his family's few chickens die. The little baby dropped the golden beans, but then she started to sweep the chicken coop frequently, and when she saw a sick chicken, she had to catch it and lock it up alone."

Zhao Chen also has some feelings about Luo Yong's methods and attitudes in educating children. He is now an older man and a bachelor.

On this side, after some preparatory work, Erniang and the others quickly opened this tofu shop near the entrance of the alley.

Although the price of grain in Liangzhou City is high, beans are not very expensive, because beans are easy to grow no matter where they are, and many people in Liangzhou grow them.

Erniang and the others hired someone to make a big stone mill. The beans are ground quickly with this big stone. If the beans are fully soaked, they only need to be ground once and they are fine enough. You can directly pick them up with a bucket, filter out the bean dregs, and put them in the pot. to cook.

Physalis is still used to order tofu. Although they have tried brine tofu and gypsum tofu in the past two years, they still like Physalis tofu the most after eating it.

As soon as the tofu in the yard here is made, many people in Liangzhou know about it.

Earlier there were rumors in the city that Luo Erniang who lives with the Zhao family now is the elder sister of Luo Sanlang in Lishi. Now that the tofu is made, this rumor is confirmed.

The tofu that Luo Erniang and the others made this time is priced at two yuan for one penny, which is twice as high as the price in Lishi County. If it is compared with Xipo Village, it is more than double the price.

Because in Liangzhou city, not only beans are a little more expensive than Lishi, firewood and water are not easy to come by.

There is less rainfall in this place, and the vegetation is not as lush as Lishi, so the price of firewood is naturally higher, and it is not convenient to fetch water. Erniang and the others have to spend extra money to hire someone to fetch water to make tofu.

However, the merchants and wealthy households in Liangzhou City think that the price is very fair. You can buy two pieces of fresh tofu the size of a palm for a penny. Everyone thinks it is quite worth it. I can buy it once or twice to eat fresh.

In the past two years, their life in Liangzhou City has been better than before. The cashmere business and soap business in the city are very prosperous, and there are more merchants coming and going. As long as the local people are willing to work hard with others, they can earn some money Money and food.

Luo Erniang and the others' tofu workshop had just opened for two days, and the business was booming, and the tofu they made was not enough to sell every day.

In order to make more tofu, they got up to work every day before dawn, until it was dark, and they had to light oil lamps for another hour or two.

As the saying goes, there are three hardships in life. Pitching a boat to sell tofu, making tofu and selling tofu is indeed a hard job, especially in this age where manpower is required everywhere, stone mills must be pushed by manpower, clear water must be picked by manpower, and the basket Moving a basket of tofu in and out requires effort everywhere.

However, although selling tofu is a small business, a small amount of money can make a lot of money, but the speed of making money is quite impressive. During this day-to-day work, the funds on Erniang's hands quickly accumulated again.

It's just that when they get busy here, no one does the work of knitting sweaters. In Liangzhou City, the price of cashmere sweaters and pants is much higher than that in Shizhou. It would be a pity not to earn this money.Erniang didn't know that Aunt Yin and her sisters were already on their way to Liangzhou City.

"Erniang, let me scoop up some syrup." On this day, Luo Erniang and the others were busy, and there was an endless stream of people buying tofu in the yard. Erniang yelled.

"Hey, just scoop it up." Luo Erniang was standing by the stove at this time, stirring the soy milk that was boiling in the cauldron, and when she heard her saying that she was coming to scoop up the bean milk, she also turned her head and spoke loudly to her. .

The excess slurry from making tofu has recently been developed by the people of Liangzhou City for new uses.

In the past, when the people in Xipo Village made tofu, except for leaving a small amount of pulp to ferment into sour pulp, most of the excess pulp was directly poured out, and some were reluctant to throw it away, so they used it to cook pig food.But the people in Liangzhou City use this kind of slurry as a detergent, washing dishes, clothes, hair and face, it can be used everywhere.

This matter is also related to the lack of water in Liangzhou. Most of the local people save water. At first, the father and son surnamed Xi saw that the extra slurry from making tofu was warm and clean, so they directly I used it to wash my hands and face. After a few days of washing, I found that my hands and face were much cleaner than before.

After this story was spread, people often came to Erniang and the others with buckets to ask for syrup. It was useless for Erniang and the others to keep so much, so they were very generous, as long as someone came to ask for it, Just let them scoop up whatever they want.

However, there were already many people in the yard, and now some people were added to scoop up the oars, so sometimes it would inevitably appear crowded and messy.

In addition, when making tofu, it is inevitable that there will be some soup and water, and everyone will step on it, and the whole yard will look a little muddy.

Erniang wanted to buy some cement for repairs, but the cement in Liangzhou City was terribly expensive. In their village, a load of soil and cement cost only five or six yuan. Back off.

Most of the cement here in Liangzhou City comes from Chang'an City, and the ex-factory price is already relatively high. In addition to the freight and the profits stripped by merchants in the process of changing hands, a load of cement can't be bought for less than seventy or eighty yuan.

When Zhao Chen heard about this, he asked someone to send a few loads of cement. The guest house they built this time also used a lot of cement. Merchants, the price is naturally slightly lower than the market.

Erniang and the others leveled the ground of the yard with these several loads of cement, and then built two rows of half-person-high structures similar to laundry pools on both sides of the yard near the walls. When pressing tofu, you can directly put the tofu basket on top, and then the slurry flowing out of the basket will fall into the sink below.

These two water tanks are connected to the two pools outside the yard. The two pools are built on the left and right sides outside the gate of this yard. They are less than half a person high and about two feet wide, but they are relatively long. They can hold a lot of water in them. Syrup.

From now on, if the neighbors here want to drink water, they don't have to go to the yard to ask for it from Luo Erniang and the others, and they don't even need to say hello, they just take a bucket and call.

Some of them were not familiar with Luo Erniang at first, because their lives were relatively poor and they had never bought tofu. They used to be embarrassed to come to them to make oar water. Now they saw two large ponds built outside their yard. , Many people went to fight, and they went too.

Wash clothes and take a bath with this kind of slurry water, and you will have a faint bean fragrance on your body. Everyone likes this smell very much, and they say it smells good.

There was a Confucian businessman who came from Chang'an City. After smelling this smell on several local people one after another, he became a little curious. When he asked about it, he learned the reason, and immediately became very emotional, and even made up his own mind to tell Luo Er The two ponds in front of the mother's house are named "Suxin Pond".

The word "Su" has the meaning of cleanliness, and it is appropriate to name the two pools Suxin Pool. Firstly, it is natural to praise Luo Erniang's Suxin meaning, and secondly, to point out that the water in this pool has the meaning of cleanliness. In addition, there is a faint intention to persuade people to be kind.

Although he named someone else's pond without the owner's consent, it has to be said that the name was obtained quite well, and the people in Liangzhou City also thought it was very good, and then the name naturally spread.

And what is a little embarrassing is that there are so many followers who lack literary talent but are more than enthusiastic.

Every once in a while, I can hear someone saying that whoever gave Su Xinchi a poem, a parallel prose, etc., but they didn't write very well. After all, in a border place like Liangzhou City, you can really say How many romantic talents are there?

Although Luo Erniang has not read many books, but their family has a scholar, and she has been slightly influenced by those gentlemen who lived in Xu's guest house before, so she can tell that these guys are just copying it mechanically. It doesn't matter if it's suitable or not, as long as it's a compliment, it's really catchy and use it.

Luo Erniang was so embarrassed by these people's compliments that she nestled in their yard making tofu all day long, wishing she didn't take a step outside.

Thousands of miles away, Luo Yong is also quite embarrassed at this time.

Because His Majesty the Emperor suddenly issued an imperial decree out of nowhere, boasting about Luo Yong, saying that Luo Yong is a benevolent and talented man. Therefore, the emperor decided to build a concrete road from Chang'an City to Lishi County, so that Luo Sanlang could often go to Beijing to meet the saint. . .

Luo Yong was also a little dumbfounded after hearing the edict.

This nonsense, what is the whole thing?

His Majesty the Emperor has given him face so much, and he even wanted to build a concrete road for him, so what should he give in return?

Canned recipes?Is this gift a little too light?

After thinking about it, I always feel that something is not right.

Was this road really built for him?Luo Coffin Baner expressed great doubts.