Chapter 92 The most stable interest relationship

When it was getting dark, Dong Zi's mother and Sui Yu carried the basket of radishes to a house with a scale to weigh them. The basket of radishes weighed 173 jin (the measurement of jin in the Han Dynasty). Excluding the five jin of the bamboo basket, the net weight of the radishes was 168 jin.

Sui Yu asked Dong Zi's mother to help return the radish basket to her home. The two people who went to the street to buy cloth and candy had already returned. Zhao Xiaomi was walking around in the yard with a pink fine cloth draped over her ankles. When she heard someone knocking at the door, she ran over on tiptoe and opened it, "Third sister-in-law, do you think I'm beautiful?"

Dongzi's mother laughed when she saw her acting like a child.

"Beauty, please move aside first." Sui Yu smiled and pushed her away.

Zhao Xiaomi was a little shy as she didn't expect there to be a stranger. She tore off the cloth on her body, pretended nothing was wrong, and slipped into the kitchen from under the wall.

The radish basket fell to the ground, and Sui Yu breathed a sigh of relief. She pounded her waist and said, "Sister-in-law, wait a minute. I'll go get you some money."

"No hurry, you cook first, I'll go back and cook too." Dongzi's mother walked out and said, "It's not too late to pay me tomorrow. Dongzi's father will bring some noodles over tomorrow and we can pay together."

"Okay, I'll owe you eighty-four cents first." Sui Yu counted the money to avoid any confusion over the matter overnight.

After seeing Dong Zi's mother out, Sui Yu closed the door and bolted it. She walked to the water tank to scoop water to wash her hands. Sui Liang came out and stuffed a piece of malt candy into her hands.

"How many did you buy?" Sui Yu asked.

"Three, one for each of us."

Sui Yu was satisfied. Although this kid was cunning, he knew what he was doing and was not a greedy child.

Zhao Xiaomi draped a few feet of red cloth over herself. She stood beside the oil lamp, hands on hips, and said happily, "I look so beautiful."

"It's like a peach that has become a spirit." Sui Yu walked in and opened the lid of the pot. Millet porridge was cooking inside.

Zhao Xiaomi lowered her head and looked again, she just liked it.

"Do you have any money left? You can tear off a piece of plain cloth to make a bodice, or cut a narrow skirt to wear over it, leaving two long pink hems showing underneath." Sui Yu gave her advice.

Zhao Xiaomi thought about it and felt that it was feasible.

"Third sister-in-law, you cook, I'll come and cut the cloth and sew the clothes." She couldn't wait any longer.

Sui Yu smiled and said, "Go and do your thing."

The soup in the pot boiled, and Sui Yu washed three salted eggs and threw them in. These were the last three salted eggs. Since the beginning of making buns, all the eggs in the house were used for fillings, and there were no leftovers to pickle salted eggs.

After the porridge was cooked, Sui Yu washed a radish, cut it into strips and marinated it with salt and vinegar. The first batch of radish in early summer was fresh and crispy, with a slightly spicy taste, and went very well with rice.

After the meal, Zhao Xiaomi continued to cut cloth.

Sui Yu finished her work and lay down on the bed, while Zhao Xiaomi was still cutting cloth.

"I'm going to sleep first. Don't work too late. There's still time tomorrow." Sui Yu instructed.

"Yeah, yeah." Zhao Xiaomi responded perfunctorily.

Ever since Zhao Xiaomi came, she and Sui Yu have been sleeping in the main room, while Sui Liang has been sleeping alone in the side room. The two siblings have officially slept in separate beds.

It was the middle of the night and the rooster crowed. Sui Yu opened her eyes and saw that the oil lamp in the room was still lit. She turned over and found Zhao Xiaomi leaning against the wall with her eyes open, sewing. The thread passed through the cloth, making a slight sound as it was pulled.

Sui Yu remained silent. Zhao Xiaomi was only fifteen years old. In modern times, if she started school later, she would still be a junior high school student. It was understandable that she wanted to wear nice new clothes. She had experienced this too. She even wore new clothes and couldn't bear to take them off. She even wore them to sleep.

Listening to the swish sound of needle and thread, Sui Yu fell asleep again.

When it was getting light, Sui Yu got up to cook. When she moved, Zhao Xiaomi, who had just fallen asleep, also sat up.

"Sleep a little longer. When did you go to bed last night?" Sui Yu said gently.

"I went to bed a long time ago. I slept well and am not sleepy." Zhao Xiaomi had dark circles under her eyes, but she looked energetic. She put on her gray patched clothes and jumped out of bed.

Sui Yu opened the door and let the chickens go out to find food, and she went into the kitchen to cook.

Zhao Xiaomi sat in front of the stove, lighting a fire, and continued to sew clothes with her needlework basket.

After the meal was cooked, she put on the silk dress she had hurriedly worked on last night, without waiting to eat. While eating, her eyes were always on the bright red silk dress.

"Brother Liang, you wash the dishes and cook pig food, I'll go to the street to exchange money. Do you want to eat dumplings for lunch? Make more dumplings today, and I'll make more fillings." Sui Yu asked.

Speaking of food, Sui Liang was delighted. He jumped into the kitchen and asked, "Is it time to make lard? I want to eat dumplings stuffed with lard residue."

"Okay." Sui Yu took off her apron and tied it around his waist, saying, "When the pig food is ready, call Xiao Mi to scoop it up. You're still short, so don't get burned."

With that, Sui Yu led the camel out of the pen and placed the money box in the basket on the camel's back. When Zhao Xiping was still home, her family's money was kept in a locked wooden box. Now that her husband was away, and outsiders knew her family was receiving money every day, Sui Yu was worried someone might climb over the wall while they were away, so she simply exchanged all her copper coins for silver.

The imperial court had set up an institution for exchanging silver and money. Sui Yu led her camel over and counted the seventy strings of money for a long time. She also added half a string of copper coins.

"A pound of pork is gone." Sui Yu sighed with heartache. It was really evil. Copper coins and silver were both issued by the imperial court. When exchanging them, one or two coins of copper could not be exchanged for one or two silver.

The sun was approaching overhead, and Sui Yu led the camel to the pork shop to buy some pork. The family had enough lard to last for half a month, and it was not time to refine it yet, so he bought this just to satisfy his hunger.

When we got home, smoke was already coming out of the chimney. Zhao Xiaomi was chopping radishes. Hearing the noise, she poked her head out and said, "Third sister-in-law, steamed millet and rice for lunch, and I'll fry some radishes."

"Okay, have a quick bite at noon, and I'll cook some dumplings for dinner." Sui Yu handed over the piece of pork in his hand.

The cat officer smelled the aroma of meat and jumped down from the wall, meowing and running to the kitchen.

"You're so fat already, and you're still craving meat." Zhao Xiaomi drove it out.

After feeding and watering the camels, Sui Yu took the opportunity to bury seventy taels of silver in the sand pit, and then went into the house to cook.

In the afternoon, Zhao Xiaomi was sewing sleeves at home, while Sui Yu and Sui Liang drove the pigs, sheep and camels to graze. They also carried a basket of radishes to the river, washed them clean, and left them by the river to dry before putting them in the basket and taking them back.

Zhao Xiaomi's dress was ready, and she couldn't wait to put it on. She was in peach pink and looked dazzling.

"Third sister-in-law, I like to dress like this. Tomorrow when I go to set up a stall, I will wear an apron instead of a tight skirt."

"Okay, as long as you like it." Sui Yu had no objection.

While kneading the dough, Dongzi's father came in carrying two jars of noodles. When he entered the room, he first looked at the red-faced girl, and then said to Sui Yu, "Come and take a look at the noodles. I ground them four times before filling them into the jars."

Since it was a business matter, Sui Yu didn't dare to compromise. She scooped half a ladle of flour from her own flour jar to compare. The flour ground by Dongzi's father was not bad. She went out to borrow a flour bucket to measure the flour.

One dou of flour cost three hundred and sixty coins. Three dou of flour were poured out of two jars, leaving less than two bowls. Dongzi's father took it home to eat.

"I still owe Dong Zi Niang eighty-four coins last night. This is one coin, and this is one hundred coins. I'll count out another sixty-four coins for you." Sui Yu took out the copper coins she had saved for today, counted them over and over again, and said, "Brother, count them twice too. Make sure you're sure before you leave."

"Oh, okay."

Sui Liang took out a ball of grass for him to sit on.

Sui Yu continued to knead the dough. With her husband not at home and no one to rely on, she became skilled at kneading the dough and developed the strength in her wrists. In just a cup of tea, she had kneaded the dough in the basin into a ball.

Zhao Xiaomi was cutting radishes, and Sui Yu went over to fill two ladles with the stuffing and stir-fried the pork in the pan until the oil came out, leaving only half a spoonful of oil, and scooped up the rest and put it into a can.

"The money is enough. I'm leaving now." Dongzi's father picked up the shoulder pole. He thought Sui Yu was preparing the filling for tomorrow's dumplings. Smelling the aroma of meat, he said, "No wonder your business is so good. You're so generous with the oil and meat."

Sui Yu didn't explain, but instead followed his words and said, "In business, we can't cut corners."

"Do you still want noodles? I have wheat at home." Selling noodles is much more profitable than selling wheat to the grain store.

"Send me two more jars in five days." Sui Yu felt that this man was not the type to be cunning and cunning, so she went out and said, "I need three dou of flour in five days. Send me three dou every five days. As long as the flour is not coarser than the grain store, I will buy it from you."

"We don't have much grain left at home. We sold a lot of it to the grain store last year." Dongzi's father was upset. He promised, "After the wheat is harvested this year, I won't sell it to the grain store. I'll grind it into flour and sell it to you."

Sui Yu smiled at him and said slightly, "You don't have it, but other people do."

Dongzi's father suddenly realized and was instantly overjoyed.

"I don't want much, so don't make a fuss. It's okay to just do a small thing, but don't let the government come to your door." Sui Yu reminded again.

"I know, I know. I just want to borrow some food from my relatives." Dongzi's father went back excitedly.

Sui Yu went back to the house to make dumplings.

"You slut, you always flirt with men." The woman next door cursed softly.

As soon as the dumplings were wrapped, Dongzi's father came in with two baskets, one of mud radish and the other of radish vines. He walked in, dumped the two baskets on the ground, and said, "I'm not charging you for this basket of radishes today. Thank you."

Sui Yu was not polite. The idea she came up with was worth the radishes he could sell from ten acres of land.

"Well, be careful in your business. I heard someone is jealous and wants to report you." Dongzi's father muttered quickly.

After saying that, he walked away quickly.

Zhao Xiaomi turned her head and looked at Sui Yu worriedly. She asked in confusion, "Report what?"

"Who knows what's going on? Don't bother with them." Sui Yu didn't explain. She put down the dumplings she had wrapped and said, "Let them report me. I'm not afraid."

In the evening, Sui Yu went out to buy soybeans from door to door in the alley. When she had collected 20 kilograms, she came back and scooped two bowls of soybean sprouts. The shepherd's purse was not tender anymore, so she planned to change the filling in two days.

The next day, he opened a stall and mainly sold buns stuffed with lard and radish. Zhao Xiaomi stood behind the stall in a red dress. Passers-by all looked at her. Before they turned around, they heard Sui Yu shouting that the buns stuffed with lard and radish were three cents each. At that time, there were not many people selling radishes on the street, and many people were willing to buy one or two to try them.

Sui Yu and Zhao Xiaomi packed up their stall and headed home before sunset. They didn't rest, chopping radishes and kneading dough. They agreed to steam three more steamed buns for tomorrow's sale.