Chapter 85: A pleasant conversation

"Besides the grocery store, what other businesses does your family have?" Su Ying was curious.

"No more! My grocery store is mainly located in the four towns and the county seat of Wu County, and we also have a store in the provincial capital.

The grocery store business is just like that, with the same goods in every store, the business is neither good nor bad.

The county government was poor, and my father often used the money to subsidize the servants' wages; otherwise, there would be no one working in the government office. "Hu Erlang laughed.

Ah, there really are people who support the government out of their own pockets! No wonder no one wants to be the county magistrate of Wu County.

"Have you ever thought about doing other businesses? For example, grain, oil, cloth, cosmetics, etc."

These are relatively profitable businesses, regardless of the dynasty.

“I did, but Wu County was too poor, and grain and oil were almost the same as groceries, so they couldn’t be sold at a high price. The poor people mostly bought old rice.

When natural disasters occurred, the grain had to be used to provide relief to the victims, but it could not be sustained for long.

It’s no problem to open a cloth and cosmetics shop in the provincial capital, but in Wu County…” Hu Erlang smiled bitterly and shook his head.

Su Ying didn't say anything after hearing this. She thought that he was a kind-hearted person and would not do such a heinous thing as taking advantage of others' misfortune and raising prices.

As a result, the business is getting narrower and narrower.

"I have two things here, I wonder if you are interested in them!" Su Ying thought of the honey and sour jujube rolls she brought with her.

"What is it?" Hu Erlang asked.

Su Ying took out a large bamboo tube from her backpack, unscrewed the lid, and took out a sour jujube roll. "Try it."

Hu Erlang took the sour jujube roll. It was light yellow, a little sticky, and smelled sour and sweet. "What is it?"

"Sour jujube rolls! Made with sour jujube and honey."

"Sour jujube?" Hu Erlang thought of the sour jujubes that could be found everywhere. "Can this be used to make cakes?"

"Of course, there are many foods that can be made from sour jujubes. It just depends on whether you want them." Su Ying replied, "Is there no one here who wants to eat them?"

Hu Erlang nodded.

Usually, apart from the greedy children, no one eats it because it is too sour.

Even in years of famine, no one had food to eat. People were already hungry, and eating sour food made them even hungrier.

"Try it, it tastes good!" Su Ying strongly recommended.

Hu Erlang tore off a small piece and put it in his mouth. It was sour and sweet, with a rich honey aroma and a chewy texture. It slowly melted after he held it in his mouth for a while.

"Hmm, it's delicious!" Hu Erlang's eyes lit up, "Sell them all to me!"

"No, it's not much, and I won't get much if I sell it. I might as well give it to you as a thank you gift for the ox and plow!

I'll make some more for you when I get back, and you can take them to the state capital to sell."

Su Ying stuffed a bamboo tube of sour jujube rolls into Hu Erlang's hand.

He took out a large bamboo tube and said, "Here's some fresh honey, I'll give it to you as well!"

"Enough, enough! Girl, I'll accept the jujube cake, but I can't take the honey, it's too expensive!" Hu Erlang hurriedly declined.

The girl from the Su family came from Chang'an City. As a rich girl, she didn't know how valuable honey was and gave it away carelessly.

I have already collected the sour jujube rolls, how can I collect honey?

"I picked it yesterday. Look, my dear. It's really fresh. It's great for drinking it yourself or giving it to others!" Su Ying insisted.

"Well, girl, honey is expensive, why don't I buy it! It's better for you to sell it to me than to others!" Hu Erlang compromised.

It is obvious that they are planning to sell it for money, not give it away as a gift.

"Afu, give me the money!" Hu Erlang said to the servant.

"My dear!" Ah Fu took out a string of money and was about to count it, but was grabbed by Hu Erlang.

Put it in Su Ying's backpack, "Keep it, girl!"

Ah Fu's face changed in shock. That was five or six hundred coins! "My dear!"

Hu Erlang glared at him and told him not to say anything more.

"My dear!" Su Ying didn't know how much the honey cost, but with such a large string of money, she knew a lot.

"Girls, please keep it. You have nothing of your own and want to buy many things. Don't refuse.

When my family gets better off, I won't hesitate to give me any more money!" Hu Erlang held down the backpack, preventing Su Ying from taking out the money.

"Okay! I won't push it back and forth with my husband!" Su Ying had to compromise.

The two of them were pulling and tugging, attracting the attention of passers-by. She really needed money, so she agreed to buy Hu Bing for her younger brother and sister.

"My dear, I have a few business opportunities and would like to cooperate with you."

Su Ying thinks Hu Erlang is a good person and a trustworthy partner, but he may need to make some changes in his sales methods and thinking.

"Oh? What business? Tell me about it." Hu Erlang said.

"Well, besides the sour jujube rolls and honey you have, we also have vermicelli. How about we produce it and you sell it?"

"?" Hu Erlang looked at Su Ying, "Girl, do you know how to raise bees?"

"I guess so!" Su Ying nodded.

"Beekeeping is a good business, but what is vermicelli?" Hu Erlang knew that Su Ying had too many strange ideas.

"Noodles made from fern root powder and kudzu root powder are durable in storage, easy to transport, and not easy to break," Su Ying introduced.

"Fern roots and kudzu roots can be made into powder?" Hu Erlang was shocked.

"Yes! It produces a lot of flour. The noodles made from it can be used as a dish or as food. They should sell well in the state capital."

"So!" Hu Erlang pondered silently, "Cooperation is no problem. Can I go and take a look?"

"Of course! Would you like to come with us later?" Su Ying asked.

"Okay, what do you use to produce it?" Hu Erlang was curious.

"We are a group of villagers working together. We are so poor that we have to pool our production tools!" Su Ying said with a smile.

"Now we're still short of a big iron pot! If you can bring me one, I'll give it to you."

"Okay!" Hu Erlang responded casually.

"Really?" Su Ying was joking, but she didn't expect Hu Erlang to agree without even thinking about it.

"Didn't you say you would give me a big pot as a gift? You won't regret it, will you?" Hu Erlang joked.

"No, it couldn't be better if my husband joined us!" Su Ying said happily.

The grocery store is very busy at the moment. Several Jiangdong plows in the store have been sold, and the money was paid for in installments.

The remaining people who did not leave were busy registering incoming materials for processing and bought some groceries. I wish the shopkeeper and his family were busy and sweating.

County Magistrate Hu took Su Bucheng to the teahouse opposite the grocery store and sat down to continue chatting about grassroots matters such as agriculture, sericulture, and water conservancy. They had a very pleasant conversation.

He also did not neglect Su Lao Er and Su Lao San. These two had worked in the Ministry of Works and the Sino-Agricultural Temple, and their knowledge was far greater than his. He would make more friends with them, as they would come in handy one day.

"Yeah!" Hu Erlang came in.

"You little brat, why are you here so late?" asked County Magistrate Hu.

"I have business to discuss with the girl from the Su family. I will go to Huanggou Village with Mr. Su and others later." Hu Erlang replied.

"You're going to Huanggou Village? It just so happens that my father is going there too!" County Magistrate Hu turned to Su Bucheng and asked, "Are you welcome, Mr. Su?"

He wanted to see the humus fertilizer that Su Bucheng mentioned, and also wanted to see what the powder made from fern roots and kudzu roots looked like.

As a senior official, what he cares most about is food and harvest, which they just talked about.

"I'm honored, but I'm poor and I'm afraid of neglecting you, sir." Su Bucheng said apologetically.

"That's fine! It's like that in the countryside. You can find any place to rest. I'm not particular!" County Magistrate Hu said nonchalantly, "Let's go with Mr. Su later."