Chapter 43: Failure in digging the canal in Guihua Village
Cheng Wanwan took in everything.
She didn't say anything and let Chunhua and Donghua take two bowls each and leave. The four people in the third room each had a bowl of ice jelly in their hands.
She picked up two bowls, handed one to the old lady and the other to the old man.
With only two bowls left, Zhao's second wife, Wen, spoke up: "Dawang and Erwang, you two share one bowl, and Xiahua and Qiuhua, you two eat one bowl."
Cheng Wanwan smiled. In just a few minutes, she had figured out who was easy to get along with and who was more cunning.
She said, "Dawang, you're fast. Take a few more bowls to your aunt's house and get a few more bowls of ice jelly. You can have as many as you want."
Zhao Erwang quickly raised his hand: "I'm going too, I'm going too!"
The two boys ran away quickly.
Old Zhao stared at the slippery stuff in the bowl, hesitatingly asking, "Grandma Dashan, are you saying this is ice... ice jelly?"
Grandma Zhao felt a little scared: "I've lived for sixty years and never seen anything like this before. It doesn't look like something edible."
Zhao Er said casually, "Sister-in-law definitely wouldn't bring over something inedible. We'll know once we take a bite."
He picked up the bowl, drank half of it in one gulp, and was immediately stunned: "No wonder it's called ice jelly, it makes me feel cold all over. Sister-in-law, is this really made from lantern grass? How is it made?"
Zhao San also quickly took a sip and swallowed it whole. "Why does it taste like hawthorn? This thing is too sour. I never touched it before. It tastes quite good in this ice jelly..."
The youngest, Donghua, drank it all in one gulp and wiped her mouth: "Auntie, it's delicious, very sweet. I haven't had enough, is there any more?"
Old Mrs. Zhao glared at her coldly: "You just open your mouth and ask for food? Who taught you manners? This is what your aunt brought to sell. A bowl should cost at least one coin. If you want more, pay up!"
Cheng Wanwan thought this old lady was really cute and she had helped her solve a big problem invisibly.
She smiled and said, "I'm planning to sell this ice jelly for two coins a bowl, Mother. Do you think that's a good idea?"
Sun took a deep breath. This thing is sold for two cents a bowl. Is that crazy? Wouldn't it be nice to buy a meat bun with two cents? The price of meat buns has increased now. It will probably cost four cents. Two cents can buy a steamed bun. Why buy this snack that is not filling?
However, she wouldn't kindly remind her, leaving her sister-in-law turned away and unable to earn a single penny. Let's see how the old lady can still be so biased then!
She smiled and said, "I think two coins is too cheap. This thing is unique in Dahe Village and Ping'an Town. Selling it for three coins is not excessive."
Cheng Wanwan originally priced it at three coins, but because of the natural disaster, many families didn't have much money saved up, and three coins was a bit expensive. She was worried that no one would buy it.
Two cents a bowl, not too cheap, but acceptable, she can make some money.
She observed that the ice jelly with brown sugar water seemed to be more popular, but those who liked sour taste could also accept the one with hawthorn, so both flavors were fine.
After everyone finished eating, she said, "Let's try selling it for two coins first. I have to go to town tomorrow morning, so I'll go back and get busy."
When she returned with her basket, Zhao Dawang and Zhao Erwang had already eaten two bowls of ice jelly. The two of them rubbed their bellies and sighed, saying it was so delicious.
It was very hot this summer, and even if they fanned themselves hard, the heat could not be driven away. But at this moment, they felt cool from the soles of their feet to the top of their heads.
Cheng Wanwan couldn't help but laugh: "You two carry this big bowl of ice jelly back so that the Zhao family can eat their fill."
This batch is made from solidified wheat starch. It took a long time to solidify and wasn't smooth enough, so it didn't look very appealing. To avoid waste, we'll just use it up ourselves.
Zhao Dawang and Zhao Erwang sprang to their feet with a quick leap, picked up the basin, and headed outside, afraid that their aunt might change her mind.
The two men carried a large bowl of ice jelly back, and Old Mrs. Zhao was stunned: "You two brats, why didn't you bring your aunt's house back? This is your aunt's livelihood, so give it back to her right now!"
Zhao Dawang quickly said, "It was my aunt who asked us to bring it back. She said we could eat as much as we wanted today, but there would be no more later."
Before the old lady could say anything, Donghua rushed over, almost drooling into the basin.
"Alright, have another bowl each," the old lady said helplessly, "keep the rest in the fridge and eat it tomorrow. You're so unrestrained every day..."
The old lady entered the house and said to Old Man Zhao, "My eldest daughter-in-law is becoming more and more open and generous in her actions; she's really different from before."
Old Zhao, puffing on his pipe, said, "She used to covet the promotion of the Cheng family's eldest nephew, which caused a falling out with the Cheng family. Now she's supposed to be more sensible, isn't she? I wonder if this ice jelly will fetch a good price."
Grandma Zhao shook her head: "We are all honest and hardworking farmers, we've never done business before, and we can't teach her anything. Let her figure it out herself..."
Cheng Wanwan has been counting.
Half a pound of agar-agar seeds can make a large bowl of ice jelly, which weighs about twenty pounds. If twenty pounds of ice jelly is cut into small pieces, it can fill at least eighty bowls.
A bowl of ice jelly costs two coins. That means she can earn about 1,200 coins from the remaining four catties of stone flower seeds, which is equivalent to one tael and two mace of silver. After deducting the meager cost, she will have a net profit of at least one tael of silver.
You have to know that in that era, the annual income of a farmer's family was only two taels of silver, and that was under the condition of good weather and good harvests.
If she successfully sells all of these ice jelly desserts, she will earn almost half a year's worth of money, which is equivalent to a huge sum of money.
But the prerequisite is that the ice jelly can be sold.
Cheng Wanwan asked Wu Huiniang and Zhao Dashan to take out another half pound of agar-agar seeds to make ice jelly. Together with the finished product that had been tried out and not eaten yet, a total of about 130 bowls could be produced. They would use these to test the market reaction tomorrow.
That night, Cheng Wanwan and the children were busy until very late.
In the neighboring Guihua Village, torches were lit and people stayed awake all night.
This afternoon, many people from Guihua Village secretly went to Dahe Village and saw with their own eyes a ditch flowing down from the mountain and into the dried-up rice paddies. Many people were envious.
After careful consideration, the village head decided to follow the example of Dahe Village and call on all the villagers to dig ditches.
This decision was unanimously approved by everyone in Guihua Village.
However, a considerable dispute arose when it came to selecting the person to dig the ditch.
“Village head, my family’s fields are closest to Dadong Mountain. Logically speaking, shouldn’t my family have one less laborer?”
"Village head, everyone knows that the men in my family are very strong. One man can be compared to two men from other families. Let's just have him!"
"Shut up, everyone!" Li Zheng's beard curled up in anger. "Dadong Mountain is the top of Dahe Village, and it's even farther away from our Guihua Village. They have over 400 laborers, and we need at least 600 to dig the ditch within three days. Why don't you all think about working hard and are just thinking about being lazy..."
"But our fields are close together, so we really don't need to put in much effort."
“My home is far away, but we’re all from the same village, so we can’t be so petty.”
"If we're far away, we need more people. If there aren't any adults, the children will fill in. Anyway, our family can't suffer any loss!"
"You're asking for a beating!!"
The people of Guihua Village were in complete chaos, and a whole night passed without any resolution.
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