Chapter 165 Zhao Ergou Makes Money
Smoke is rising from the kitchen.
The people working in the yard couldn't help but drool.
However, being grown men, they naturally wouldn't stare longingly at someone else's kitchen. It had been agreed beforehand that it would cost thirty coins a day, without meals included, so they should hurry home and fill their stomachs before coming over. It would be too embarrassing to be seen drooling.
A group of men put down their tools and prepared to leave.
Cheng Wanwan came out of the kitchen with a smile on her face: "Sidan dug up a lot of shepherd's purse on the mountain this morning. There was some pork left at home, so I mixed it into filling and made some dumplings. If you don't mind, you can come and have some. But there aren't many dumplings, so just have two or three each to fill your stomach first."
In modern rural areas, when hiring people to build a house, it's customary to first host a celebratory feast. This is to ensure that the workers will put their hearts and souls into building a sturdy and solid house.
That year, food was scarce, so a feast was only held on the day the roof beam was raised. She didn't want to make a big fuss; offering two or three dumplings to each person was enough for her. After all, building a house is a major event in one's life, and one has to live there for at least ten or twenty years, so no detail can be overlooked.
The men in the courtyard were all stunned.
Pork and shepherd's purse dumplings are a delicacy they can only enjoy during the Lunar New Year. Yet, on this neither-New-Year-End-of-Year-or-Festival occasion, Aunt Dashan is treating them to dumplings.
Just as I was wondering what was going on, Wu Huiniang brought out plate after plate of dumplings. There were seven or eight plates, with about a hundred dumplings in total. The aroma was even more enticing, making my mouth water. The dumpling wrappers were dark yellow, probably made from white flour mixed with other grains, but they contained pork, which was already a rare and precious delicacy.
"This...this isn't quite right!" Zhao Anjiang rubbed his hands together. "These days, everyone's struggling. Let's save it for the children..."
He was the village head's son and the leader of this group. Since he had said so, no matter how reluctant the others were, they could only follow suit and decline.
Cheng Wanwan bent down and handed two plates of dumplings to Zhao Sidan: "Take these to the uncles and elders over there who are digging the foundation."
Zhao Sidan ran away with the plate in his hand.
It wasn't far from Cheng Wanwan's house, and soon they heard the cheerful sounds of the men eating dumplings at the base.
Cheng Wanwan smiled and said, "There will be many more times when I need your help in the future. I can afford to treat each of you to two or three dumplings. Hurry up and eat so you can get back to work."
The people at the base had already started eating, so the people in the courtyard could no longer pretend to be reserved and started grabbing two or three dumplings each, swallowing them in one bite.
For these men who work hard all year round, two or three dumplings are really not enough. Eating them is like not eating anything at all. But they have a taste in their mouths and inexplicably have strength in their bodies, so they work even harder.
Some thoughtful men ate only one to taste it, and wrapped the remaining two in leaves and put them in their clothes, intending to take them back for their children to try as well.
The men worked until almost noon before gradually dispersing.
Zhao Ergou returned with a radiant face.
Lunch was laid out in the main room, which was dumplings. Each person had a large bowl with about ten dumplings in it, and there were still some left in the pot. If you weren't full, you could get more.
A group of people gathered around the table, ready to start eating.
"Wait a minute!" Zhao Ergou said, "Why aren't you all asking me how much money I made today?"
Zhao Sidan licked his lips: "Money is nothing compared to delicious dumplings. Let's eat our fill of dumplings first."
Shen Zheng nodded: "Even the dumplings made by the county government cook don't smell this good. Auntie, can we eat now?"
Cheng Wanwan smiled and said, "Eat up, eat up."
The children were starving. As soon as they heard it was time to eat, they started shoveling dumplings into their mouths. The dumplings were actually quite big and had a lot of filling. The boys ate them one after another, slurping them down. Even the usually well-mannered Cheng Zhao was eating dumplings in big mouthfuls. Before long, the children's bowls were completely empty.
With their stomachs about 80% full, the children finally had the energy to ask Zhao Ergou about his business.
Zhao Ergou took a sip of water before proudly saying, "I took thirty catties of braised food to town and sold it to Zuixianlou and Jixiang Restaurant. I initially said I would sell it for sixty coins per catty, but I was afraid the shopkeepers would lower the price, so I started at seventy. Later, I negotiated it down to sixty-five coins, which means I made a total of nine hundred coins."
He took things out of his pocket. "These are hair ornaments I bought for my mother and sister-in-law, and a sesame seed cake for each of them. This rattle drum is for my future nephew."
The first thing he did after making money was to buy things for his family. He planned to buy his mother a gold hairpin when he earned even more money in the future.
Wu Huiniang was dumbfounded. She thought her second son was just playing around, but she never expected that this business would be as profitable as selling ice jelly.
Zhao Dashan swallowed hard. Nine hundred coins—that could buy so much rice.
Zhao Sanniu's eyes widened. He would have to patrol for several years to save up nine hundred coins.
Shen Zheng deliberately argued: "Only nine hundred coins? Is it worth you showing off like this? Look at how unsophisticated you are."
In one sentence, he offended all the Zhao family boys.
Zhao Sidan snorted, "My second brother earned nine hundred coins, while you, Zheng Ge, only earned a little over one hundred coins. How dare you say that?"
Shen Zheng: "..."
He could only earn four cents for a pound of pork offal, and only one hundred and twenty cents for thirty pounds. It was really a bit of a loss when he thought about it.
"Manager Yang and Manager Zhou said that more than ten catties a day is not enough, and they hope that I can supply more goods." Zhao Ergou sighed. "Today I went to Zhu's house to pick up goods. Butcher Zhu said that he can only supply fifty or sixty catties of pig offal at most a day. If it weren't for the lack of pig offal, my business could have expanded a lot more."
Cheng Wanwan laughed: "Pork offal can be braised, and so can other things. Think about it, what else can you braise?"
Zhao Sidan's eyes lit up: "Let's use meat! Braised meat is definitely tastier than pork offal."
Cheng Wanwan nodded: "Pork is fine, but not too much, because other ways of cooking pork are more delicious than braised pork, such as pork meatballs, braised pork, Dongpo pork, etc., while the most delicious way to cook pork offal is to make it into braised dishes, and the two cannot be compared."
Just then, there was a noise at the door.
The whole family turned to look at the yard, where they saw four wolfhounds—Xiao Dian, Xiao Hei, Da Hei, and Wang Cai—dragging a wild roe deer into the yard.
Zhao Sidan was overjoyed: "Xiaodian, you're amazing! Dahei, Xiaohei, and Wangcai, you're all fantastic!"
Zhao Dashan picked up the wild roe deer: "This weighs about twenty or thirty pounds, enough for the family to eat for a while."
Cheng Wanwan laughed: "How about braised wild game?"
Modern people like to pursue natural and wild products, so the price of some wild game has been driven up. However, people in ancient times did not really like to eat wild game. Wild game has a natural earthy and gamey smell, is difficult to clean, and has thick skin, little meat, and no fat, so it cannot be used to extract oil. Of course, for the people of Dahe Village, as long as there is meat to eat, it is good, regardless of whether it has a strange taste.
Cooking wild game with braising spices can mask the earthy taste and improve the original texture of the meat.
Most importantly, wild game is cheaper than pork. Even after pork prices have been reduced, it still costs 25 coins per pound, while wild game is around 15 or 16 coins per pound.
Zhao Ergou nodded vigorously, "Okay, let's braise the game. Let's test the waters with this wild roe deer first."
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