North and South groceries

"Here and here, that shelf is here."

"Yes, a little further back."

"It's a bit wobbly, take a piece of wood to cushion it."

"What is the shelf next to the door used to store their north and south groceries?"

"Exactly."

"And move that shelf to the side, don't block this door."

"..."

That night, after a bakery shop in Chang'an City closed, the old and young people in the shop moved out many wooden boards and shelves from the backyard, and began to work in the house.

Two days ago, when Mifangzhai held a banquet for Luo Sanlang, the owner of the roasted naan shop was also present. After returning, he invited craftsmen to measure the size of his shop, and made the originally quite spacious shop, There is no need to use masonry to build a wall, just make two grooves on the ground and the ceiling, and then put wooden boards on it, and it looks like a wall.

In addition, between the two shops, a door was left as an aisle.In this way, the two shops can be separated and communicated with each other. At that time, one or two daughters-in-law of the family will be arranged to watch the shop and sell goods there. While not affecting the business of this shop, they can also sell some other shops. The income from selling goods can be divided into three levels.

"Our family sells baked naan, why bother to join in the fun with others..." His youngest son muttered while arranging the shelves.

"You know what it is." The old man found a small piece of wood and put it on the shelf, tried it over and over again, and made sure it didn't wobble, so he stood up on his knees.

"The wine sellers and cake sellers earn more, and they don't feel bad about being divided into [-]%. How much do we earn for baking naan?" After thinking about it, his youngest son still felt that there was nothing wrong with it.

"After all, I still earn money." The old man sat down on the bearded stool beside him, tapped his legs, and muttered: "You guys, after a few days of good life, you start to look down on those guys. How much money? In the past, when you Aunt led us brothers and we first started making baked pancakes..."

"It's different today. Our baked pancakes have already gained a reputation in Chang'an City. Even those officials who are in charge come here to buy them in horse-drawn carriages. Why do we have to compete with others for a shelf of groceries from the north and the south?"

His son has not been upset about this matter for a day or two. The older the old man in his family is, the more he likes to join in the fun, and he will make it worse when others make it worse.Since I make baked naan at home, I should concentrate on making the baked naan well, and do a good job in this business, so why bother to fix those extras.

"Yelang is arrogant and short-sighted." The old man reached out and nodded to his youngest son, and buttoned his two hats, which made the young man blush and thick-necked, dissatisfied and ashamed.

"Just tell me, is our shop more famous, or Luo Sanlang's more famous?" the old man asked him.

"His fame is only temporary, how can it compare to the management of our generations?" The boy said with a stick of his neck.

"Let me ask you, who is famous, don't talk about those who have nothing." The old man wanted to slap the boy on the back of the head, but he was really tired today, and he didn't bother to stand up even after sitting down. stand up.

"So what if he's more famous?" The young man still looked disapproving.

"Older is older, what else can I do?" This is his own son. If it were someone else, the old man wouldn't bother to talk to him like this:

"Did you hear that he was building roads in Guannei Road last year? His sister Luo Erniang also bought a lot of properties in Liangzhou City? You still think that Luo Sanlang is just like you, and you can only see the size of Chang'an City in front of you." The place?"

When other people in the room heard this, first his elder son asked: "Aye, you mean, our baked pancakes will be sold to Liangzhou City and other places?"

"Ah Weng, if our baked naan is kept for a long time, it will not taste good." A seven or eight-year-old grandson said.

"How could Ah Weng not know?" The old man pulled his grandson over, touched his dusty little hand, and said:

"In the past, when you Aunt brought me and your uncles to make baked pancakes, there was only one bakery shop in our family. Later, you Aunt said that I made the best baked pancakes, so you passed this shop on to me. , you uncles will separate out and go to another shop to open a shop. Now that I am old, you brothers will have to separate sooner or later. In a few years, your sons and daughters will also grow up..."

"Although Chang'an City is big, it doesn't need so many bakeries. I will pass on the craftsmanship of this bakery to you, and I will not hide anyone's favoritism. In the future, whoever has the best craftsmanship, I will give this one to you." Whoever passes on the shop, and the rest of you will go out and set up another door, and with this Luo Sanlang, your roads will be wider in the future."

"It's still Aye who is thoughtful." The sons were not busy at this time, and stood with their hands down in the room full of shelves, listening to the old man.

I only heard the old man continue to say: "I don't want to hear what the kid said just now, and you don't want to think that way. His reputation is bigger than us, that is, he is bigger than us. Maybe there will be other people in the future. The baked pancakes made by our family are better than ours, that is the ability of others. Don’t take up the three words of time-honored brand and think that you are great. How other people praise it is their business. Don’t do it yourself If you put yourself on a high place and can't get down, if your feet can't step on the ground, you won't be solid, and the baked pancakes you make won't be decent."

That night, the old man said these words. Among his sons, one or two of his sons were a little depressed because their skills in baking pancakes were not as good as their own brothers. Variety.

For their way out, the old man has worked hard with good intentions.If it is really as he said, then even if he fails to inherit this shop in the future, if he changes to another place, he may not be able to make some achievements.

That night they worked until late at night, and the whole family worked together to arrange the shops on both sides before resting.

In the early morning of the second day, he got up again to make baked naan. He prepared the big cart of goods and waited for it. As soon as the gate of the square opened, the old man drove the ox cart to the north and south for groceries. The people from the grocery side drove a nasty horse over, carrying a cart full of goods to their side to put on the shelves.

The bakery's business is good at this time of the day, and at this time, there are many spectators around, three floors inside and three floors outside, those wearing long robes and short brown ones, all of them are looking into the shop with their arms stretched out. .

I saw that the oil paper covering the back of the wooden cart brought by the horse was pulled away, revealing three large wooden shelves inside, each shelf was divided into many layers, and on each floor was a square There are many bread and cakes in the trays. At this time, those people moved the trays into the shop one by one. After moving in, they just put the trays on the shelves and they were done.

"Tsk, is that cream cake?"

"That big one costs fifteen cents a piece."

"I can't afford it."

"Auntie..."

"When it's your birthday, I'll buy one with you."

"Look at that bread."

"This kind is honey bean. It only costs four pennies for such a big one. It's delicious to eat, but it's too loose. It's about the size of a fist when you squeeze it. It doesn't fill my stomach. I can't eat one at a time."

"For a big belly like you, it's more affordable to buy baked naan to fill your belly."

"It's so fragrant!"

"Like just baked."

"What do you think that is?"

"Which one?"

"It's the one wrapped in oiled paper."

"Could it be the side of the cake?"

"No, it's such a small package, it looks square, it doesn't look like a cake."

"I can't I can't."

"Could it be that there is a new food?"

After they had set up the shelves, someone walked over and asked, "What is this?"

"This was just made two days ago." Luo Yong, the disciple who was in charge of delivering the goods here today, was also well prepared for such an inquiry.

I saw him take out a boxy oiled paper bag from the shelf, tore off the opening that was stuck with paste, opened the paper bag, and took out the boxy, thin things inside. Show it to everyone: "Everyone may wish to taste one or two."

"Then you're welcome." The person who asked the question just now reached out and took a piece of food from the oil-paper bag, put it in his mouth and took a bite, made a soft clicking sound, and chewed it carefully twice, the taste was slightly salty , and there is a milky fragrance that is neither strong nor weak, and the taste is very good.

"How much is this bag?" He asked after eating a slice.

"Two pennies." Luo Yong said with a smile.

"It only costs two renminbi?" The man was amazed that such a big bag could be bought for only two renminbi, which was actually a few cents cheaper than the cold clothes they usually ate.

"Exactly." Luo Yong said with a smile.

"Bring me five packs." It's so cheap, so naturally I have to buy a few more packs. He also caught up today. If he came late, he might not be able to buy it.

"Your Majesty, I don't know. When Master taught us to cook this kind of food, he added a little medicinal material in it. The medicinal properties are biased. It's okay to eat less, but it's useless to eat too much." Luo Yong reminded his disciple.

"It's okay, there are many children in the family, and each of them can't eat a few dollars." The young man said with a smile.

There are seven or eight uncles and brothers in their family, and many babies are born below them. They live in a yard on weekdays, and their life is not very affluent, and the children don’t have much snacks to eat, so this time they saw that this thing was cheap. I wanted to buy more.

"Uncle, what are you buying?" Before the man bought the things back, the little dolls from his family came looking for them in groups.

"Look at what this is?" His uncle took a boxy oiled paper package from the shelf, handed it to him, and told him to look for himself.

The child took the things, and saw a square package, about two inches long, one and a half inches wide, and half a foot high, folded at both ends, pasted with paste, with some patterns and characters printed on it.

"Hmm...Nan, Nanbei groceries!" The child recognized the character Nan after watching it for a long time, and after counting, he found that it was four characters, so he guessed it should be Nanbei groceries.

"What about this side?" His uncle turned the other side to show him.

"..." The boy scratched his head, he didn't know any of the four words here, and he couldn't figure it out.

"I've been telling you how to read all day, but you don't know how to read." His uncle patted the back of his head.

"Uncle, what is written on it?" A little girl next to him asked.

"Milk biscuits." Her uncle told her.

"Where are these two little ones?" The little girl pointed to the two small characters below.

"Salty." Her uncle said.

"Why isn't it sweet?" The children felt a little regretful when they heard this.

"If I don't, I won't buy it, and I can save ten pennies." His uncle said.

"Buy! Buy! Uncle, buy it for us quickly." The children immediately shouted.

"What's the matter? Call me again and I won't buy it." As soon as these words came out, the children immediately became quiet.

When the uncles and nephews bought five packs of milk biscuits and left the shop, many people who had just been watching outside had already come in.

If the economic conditions are better, buy a cream cake and try it out. If you don’t like cakes, the bread is also good, and the price is more affordable. The two big baskets of milk biscuits placed at the bottom of the shelf will not be long. After buying a lot, I saw that the goods in the basket became less and less, less and less...

"Master, I'm afraid we need to make more milk biscuits. When I came back, less than half of them had been sold there."

At noon that day, Luo Yong took advantage of his lunch time to go to the North and South Groceries, and his disciples all told him so.

"When the cream is distributed today, you can make another batch. You don't need to work very hard, and you can rest when you have to rest." Luo Yong said to them.

"Forget it." Those apprentices responded one after another.

"Master, I owed half of the money when I bought the house, I'm afraid I can't delay any longer."

According to the meaning of these disciples, they must be able to earn as much as they can earn now. Seeing that the agreed date of one and a half months is coming soon, if the money cannot be paid by then, can they return the house to the other party? go back?

"I know it well, you don't need to worry." Luo Yong said.

Luo Yong has already received the letter from Liangzhou City. Erniang told him that a batch of cashmere sweaters and trousers will arrive in Chang'an City in the near future, hoping to help him solve his urgent need.

It's just that the agreed repayment date is approaching, but the shipment has not arrived. I don't know if it was delayed on the way, or something happened. In short, Luo Yong can't put all his hopes on that shipment. above.

After confirming that his disciples did not encounter any problems when they went out to shop today, Luo Yong hurried back to Taixue again. For lunch or something, just sit in the car and eat a bread mat.

His family's donkey carts are also ready now, and the five pairs don't have to stay at home all day long. They pull the donkey carts and walk on the streets of Chang'an City every day. Although they are not as free as they used to be in Xipo Village, they can go out and walk around. It's always better to walk around. I went to the barn in Taixue. There are many donkeys, donkeys, horses and horses, and there are many beautiful girls.

That night, Luo Yong returned from Taixue to the courtyard of Fenglefang. After dinner, he went to the room where Siniang Wulang was engaged in engraving and printing.

He dragged a basket out from the wall, lifted an old sackcloth covering it, and found a big basket full of bamboo sticks inside.

"The carved bamboo sticks are all here?" Luo Yong picked up a bamboo stick and looked at it. It was very good, and the numbers on it were quite clear.

These bamboo sticks are all made by him outside Chang'an City, and after he comes back, he will ask Siniangwulang to carve the binary numbers he has compiled on them, because they are all two simple numbers of 0 and 1, and Siniangwulang can do it well. soon.

"There is still a basket over there." Si Niang had been busy all day today, and she was a little sleepy after dinner at this time, sitting lazily on the bed of the kang, resting her chin on one hand, pointing to the back of the door with her chin when talking s position.

"So fast?" Luo Yong smiled and dragged the basket over there.

"Brother, are you really going to sell all of these?" Si Niang asked him.

"Well, what's the matter?" Luo Yong was lowering his head to check the bamboo sticks at this time. He also discussed with his aunt about selling bamboo sticks. Hearing Si Niang's question, he thought that she thought it was not good to do so.

"It's nothing." Si Niang said: "Even if you are in a hurry to use the money, don't sell it too cheap, or we should borrow some from Bai Yimao's family?"