North and South groceries

Seeing that the Xueling Canal was about to be completed, the construction team had already arrived not far from Changle County.

When Luo Yong was not busy in the past two days, he often went over to have a look. He sent a lot of food, and brought a lady from Chang'an City to teach cooking skills, and cooked a lot of delicious food for the working folks. Food, the construction site is bustling, every day is like a festival.

This year in Changle County, there are a lot of people growing gourds, and the price of gourds is cheap. Luo used people from his county government to go to the street to buy gourds, and they all bought them in carts.

In the past two years in Chang'an City, there is a popular way to eat pumpkin cakes, that is, when the pumpkins and tender corn are ripe every year, the two are steamed, mashed evenly, and then fried into golden and soft pumpkins. Biscuits taste very sweet and are loved by men, women and children alike.

This kind of pumpkin cake was first spread from my sister's food shop. Two years ago, pumpkin was expensive, and a small and thin pumpkin cake was sold for a penny. In the past two years, there have been more pumpkins on the market, and the price has also come down. , the pumpkin cakes that cost one penny are getting bigger and bigger.

On the construction site outside Changle County, this kind of pumpkin cake has been being made for the past two days. In the nearby villages, many children came here to find their own family, Aye, and followed them to eat.

That day Luo Yong was having dinner with Du Gou and others on the construction site, and Xia Yan told him about it, and Luo Yong replied, "It's nothing, let them eat, it's not a few days anyway, but those Children are running around on the construction site, you need to be careful when you are working.

Not all of them came here to eat, and there were also those who delivered things. I heard that pumpkin corn cakes were being made on the construction site for the past two days, and there were farmers nearby carrying corn cobs, and some delivered pumpkins. Those who were richer, It is often delivered by car or car.

Those merchants and wealthy households in the county town heard that they were also raising funds in the past two days, saying that they would hold a banquet by the canal outside the city on the day the canal was opened, and also give a farewell party to the county magistrate Luo.

The canal, which has been waiting for so long, is about to be opened soon. The people in and outside the city are very happy.

At this moment, Wu You, who was in charge of managing groceries in the north and south, asked someone to post a notice saying that as long as anyone who had worked on this canal and whose name was recorded in the work book, everyone could go to the north and south on the day the canal was opened. Get a free pastry with groceries.

As soon as the notice was posted, the city of Changle County immediately exploded, and excited people quickly spread the news to the surrounding areas.

Some people also say that Wu You is crazy. The construction scale of this Xueling Canal is so large, and the construction time is quite long. There are countless people who have worked on this canal. One piece per person, that is not a small amount!

Looking at the attitude of the north and south groceries, it does not seem to be fake at all. In the past two days, they have bought a lot of rice, noodles and grains from the county and surrounding areas. There are dozens of ox carts for transporting goods. They can line up from their shop all the way to the outside of the city.

In another two days, Wu You asked people to set up a high straw shed on the small square in front of Nanbei Groceries, and asked them to pile up the ready-made pastries in the thatched shed.

I saw the mountain-like pile of cakes, which grows as long as the wind blows. They look different every day, and they are taller and bigger every day. They also built stairs and corridors around the mountain of cakes. There are employees of groceries from the north and the south moving up and down, and the adults and children at the foot of the pastry mountain are looking up at all this, as if they are dreaming.

"That bag of cakes must weigh at least one or two catties, right?"

"It must be more than a catty."

"That oil-paper bag is worth a catty and a half, no more, no less."

"Really? How do you know?"

"My niece said that she works in this shop and has been packing pastries every day for the past two days."

"It's the one who just gave birth earlier."

"Exactly."

"..."

"I heard that there are several kinds of pastries in there, they are stacked neatly, and then they are wrapped in oiled paper, with two layers inside and outside, and the outside is tied with that colorful white floral thread, which is done very carefully. "

"..."

Those gentlemen of the gentry yearn for beautiful mountains, rivers and beautiful scenery, but for the people of Changle, there is probably no better scenery in this world than this cake mountain.

Nowadays, this small square is crowded with people every day. Many people are attracted by this cake mountain, and they are reluctant to leave when they come. In the store, while eating various snacks, while watching the lively scene downstairs, chatting with relatives and friends around, it is also a rare good time.

Recently, the entire Changle County is very lively. There are scholars, officials, monks, and Taoists who come here to watch the canal, there are traders who come here to do business, and there are many idlers who come here for the excitement and food.

In order to develop the economy of Changle County, Luo Yong has used many means to gather popularity in the past, but it has never been as lively as this time.

Many children still don't know the significance of this canal to Changle County, and they don't know why the city has become so lively these two days. They just feel that these few days are like New Year's Eve, and Weng Poye is very kind, Make new clothes with them, and buy good food with them.

Crowds of children ran around in the city, and then ran to the small square in front of Nanbei Grocery in groups. Looking at the tall and big cake mountain, it was so beautiful in my heart .

This mountain of cakes cost a lot, and Wu You, the store manager, just took office not long ago, so he can't make the decision by himself, but Luo Yong agreed.

Although this activity burns money, it also has many benefits. In addition to giving benefits to the peasants, it can also promote the lively atmosphere of Tongqu Canal on this day, increase the sense of ceremony, and let the local people use this Xueling Canal and Luoluo, and leave it behind. A more profound impression, even after many years, there are still people who will never forget the grand prosperity of this canal opening ceremony, word of mouth, and become a good story in the local area.

In addition, there is a certain purpose of publicity. Although the north-south grocery store in Changle County is mainly engaged in the business of Hu merchants, the local market should not be underestimated.

After observing during this period of time, Wu You found that most of the people in Changle County, even the rural households, have some savings. rare.

Perhaps because of long-standing frugal living habits, the concept of consumption is still unfamiliar to many villagers. If they want to establish a certain consumption habit, they must give some guidance in the early stage, such as discount promotions, or Or give it away for free.

After they have eaten the cakes from North and South Grocery a few times, and find that they are so delicious that they are hard to give up, some people will slowly start to open their wallets, and then this kind of consumption will gradually become a habit. Buying cakes from North and South Grocery, for For the local people, it will become a very common thing.

What Wu You and the others have to do now is to gradually cultivate a kind of consumption that is very high-end and far away in the eyes of the villagers into their daily consumption.

In fact, at present, at least [-]% of the households in the villages and towns under the jurisdiction of Changle County have this kind of consumption ability. get rich.

For those families who are still relatively poor and cannot afford pastries, this free gift can at least plant a little thought in their hearts.

This thought is beautiful and can create value, whether it is for these poor people or for groceries from the north and the south.

In the blink of an eye, the day of Tongqu came, and everything seemed like a dream.

Many people in the city got up before dawn, and heard that yesterday, someone went up the mountain and blocked the water outlets of several diversions on the mountain, allowing the water to flow down the Xueling Canal.

In the several villages that this Xueling Canal passes through, there are low and low dams several feet high. These dams can intercept the flowing water and form a small pool in that section of the canal, which is convenient for the locals to fetch water.

Those people went up the mountain yesterday to deal with the water outlet of the diversion. With the current size of the water flow, after a night of accumulation and filling up several pools upstream, it is estimated that it should be able to flow outside Changle County today.

On this day, many people came to wait by the canal early, and this canal really did not live up to everyone's expectations.

First, some turbid water with mud and grass clippings infiltrated the river bed bit by bit along the channel, and at the same time infiltrated the hearts and eye sockets of many people on the bank.

Then gradually, the flowing water became clearer and clearer, slowly flowing along the channel, and under the autumn sun, it was as clear as a gleam...

Someone couldn't help but walk to the edge of the ditch below, stretched out his hand to touch the clear water, and when he put his hand down, he felt a refreshing coolness, and it was very sweet to drink with a handful.

This is the snow water flowing down from the big snow mountain!

After feeling moved, it was a whole day of carnival.

Some people held a banquet by the canal, and some went to the city to get pastries. There were so many people, and I thought it would take a long time to line up, but the North and South Grocery dispatched a lot of people. The cakes were distributed according to the roster.

Many people hold cakes to watch the fun in this city. In the past two days, many vendors have come to Le County, and some people have invited the juggling troupe, singing and dancing actors and singers, various goods, and various performances. Dazzling.

The county government also posted an official document, in order to celebrate the opening of the Xueling Canal, the curfew was lifted for three consecutive days, allowing everyone to have fun, and reminding everyone to pay attention to their own and financial safety.

Not only was the curfew lifted, but even many workshops in the city were on holiday. For the next three days, they stopped working and just spent the day wandering around.

For the vast majority of Changle people, they have never experienced such a grand festival and such a lively scene in their life.

After the celebration, it was time for Luo Yong and the others to leave. At this time, the aftertaste of happiness in everyone's hearts had not faded away, and they did not seem particularly sad in the face of this separation.

The people reluctantly sent County Magistrate Luo to the wooden rail station. Some people came forward to say goodbye, and those who could not speak stretched their necks and watched from afar.

Seeing that their group got into the carriage, there were several cars back and forth, and they left before the sun was clear. They wanted to rush to Chang'an City to take up their duties. These days, they have been delayed because of this Xueling Canal.

The horse's hooves rattled in the middle of the wooden track, and the car slid out along the wooden track. It didn't take long to go far, and disappeared into the gray world without a trace.

Until this time, some people bewilderedly wiped their tears, causing other people to feel sad, wiped their tears, and everyone dispersed one after another. Later, those who should go to work went to work, and those who should do business Also do business.

On a hill outside Changle County, I heard that Luo County Magistrate and his team will pass this wooden track early this morning, and some villagers have been waiting here early.

After waiting for a while, I heard the sound of horseshoes, and then between the Gobi and the fields, I saw a few carriages coming along the track from a distance. Passing by on the wooden track below this hill, one car after another...