Chapter 75 Iced Jelly Becomes the Standard
It was getting dark.
At the beginning of life.
The four children in the room took turns reciting the sentence. It wasn't enough for them to just memorize it; they also had to recognize the characters and, ideally, learn how to write them.
Only Zhao Sidan studied with the most enthusiasm.
Zhao Dashan and Zhao Sanniu both looked miserable.
Wu Huiniang tried her best to keep up with the pace. She was quite meticulous and learned to recognize characters relatively quickly.
The night ended with the sound of children reading aloud.
In the middle of the night, Cheng Wanwan suddenly heard the chickens and ducks in the yard making a racket.
She quickly got up and went outside, only to see Aunt Wang from next door already cursing loudly: "That damned weasel! It killed two of my ducks! You mudskipper, don't chase it at night! Can you catch its four legs with two legs?"
Cheng Wanwan hurriedly went to check her chicken coop. Two ducks had their necks bitten open and were covered in blood. She counted them and found that two ducks were dead and one chick was missing. It must have been stolen by a weasel.
With red eyes, Zhao Sidan buried the two dead ducks.
After buying the ducks, he was the one who fed them most of the time; he had a deep affection for them.
Zhao Sanniu gritted his teeth and said, "After that, I'll sleep on the ground in the yard. I'm determined to catch a weasel alive, roast it, and eat it!"
Aunt Wang's voice came from next door: "Weasels run fast, it would be a miracle if you could catch them. Looks like we need to get a dog, otherwise all the chickens and ducks in the house will be stolen by the weasels."
Cheng Wanwan asked her, "Does Mudfish Mother know anyone who has puppies?"
It's definitely worth getting a dog. It can wake up a sleeping person immediately if anything happens at night, and it can also deter thieves.
Moreover, dogs are omnivores and easy to raise.
"I'll go back to my parents' house first thing tomorrow morning to ask."
Although the task was entrusted to Aunt Wang, Cheng Wanwan still took a walk around town the next day when she went to deliver the goods, but there were no puppies for sale on the streets.
After delivering goods for three days, Cheng Wanwan had earned more than three taels of silver through legitimate means. Once the season for eating ice jelly was over, the money she had earned should be enough to buy that piece of wasteland at the foot of the mountain.
Buy land at the end of the year, dig ponds during the off-season, and you can fill them with water to plant bamboo shoots in the spring.
I strolled around town, bought some necessary seasonings, and went to a tailor shop to buy some needles and thread in various colors.
Just as they were about to head home, a middle-aged man in a carriage quickly caught up with them: "I am Manager Xu from Yuelai Restaurant in Phoenix Town. I wonder if you could spare some ice jelly for me, auntie?"
Cheng Wanwan gave a businesslike smile: "I wonder how much Manager Xu needs per day?"
"Although Yuelai Restaurant is not the largest restaurant in Phoenix Town, business is still pretty good. It can probably sell a hundred bowls a day."
Manager Xu didn't put on airs.
His son was studying at Nanfu Academy and had mentioned ice jelly to him a few days ago, but he didn't take it seriously, thinking it was just an ordinary snack with a more refreshing name.
Who would have thought that in just two days, ice jelly would become a standard dish in most restaurants?
Zuixianlou Restaurant in Fenghuang Town serves ice jelly. In the past, all the old customers of Yuelai Restaurant would go to Zuixianlou just to have a taste of ice jelly.
He inquired around and found out that the ice jelly was made by this auntie.
So he rushed over without hesitation.
If Cheng Wanwan hadn't found someone to help her clean the ice jelly, she really wouldn't have dared to take on this job.
But now that Zhao Youyin and Zhao Youcai are working hard to wash the ice jelly seeds, and Sun is tirelessly peeling the stone flower seeds, the business can indeed continue to expand.
She smiled and agreed, "Okay, the Yuelai Restaurant in Phoenix Town, a hundred bowls a day, two coins a bowl. I'll take my son to deliver the goods tomorrow morning."
Manager Xu quickly took out twenty copper coins from his sleeve and handed them over: "This is the deposit. It's settled then."
Cheng Wanwan glanced at Manager Xu a few more times. Paying a deposit in advance is a sign of contractual spirit, and it also shows that Manager Xu trusts her. People with a sense of contractual spirit are very suitable for in-depth cooperation.
After saying goodbye to Manager Xu, Cheng Wanwan and Zhao Sanniu returned to Dahe Village.
As soon as she got home, a small black puppy pounced on her, hugging Cheng Wanwan's trouser leg and whining affectionately.
Zhao Sidan came running over: "Mom, this is a puppy that Aunt Wang brought over. I named it Xiao Hei, is that okay?"
Zhao Sanniu shook his head: "Xiao Hei sounds too weak, let's call him Da Hei instead."
Zhao Sidan frowned and said, "Well, then I'll listen to Third Brother. From now on, I'll call you Big Black."
Cheng Wanwan: "..."
The pets in my house are all named after their colors: Big Yellow, Second Yellow, Big Red, and Big Black.
She bent down and picked up the puppy. The dog was about a month old, but it was very thin, all bones when you touched it. Come to think of it, with such a poor harvest, even people don't have enough to eat, so how could they possibly feed an animal?
But now that he's at their home, he's a member of the family, and he'll eat whatever they eat.
Cheng Wanwan asked Zhao Sidan to go home and get two eggs. She took the eggs to Aunt Wang's house next door. Aunt Wang was making lunch. She boiled a pot of water, threw in the black flour mixed with water, and then stirred in wild vegetables. There was a lot of water and a lot of wild vegetables. The paste was almost invisible, and no salt was added.
The head of the family, Wang Yongcheng, left with the county magistrate, leaving behind only one adult and four children.
Barley, wheat, loach, and a youngest sister, Little Sprout.
A small, yellowish-brown dog was running around on the ground. It was also very thin and looked malnourished.
"Grandma Mountain, what brings you here?"
Aunt Wang stopped what she was doing and came out.
Cheng Wanwan shoved two eggs at him: "I don't know how many copper coins a puppy costs, how about two eggs?"
"The puppies aren't worth much," Aunt Wang quickly declined. "These puppies are skinny and won't live more than a few days. When I went back to my parents' house, the old man in the village was about to throw them up the mountain to feed the wolves. We just picked them up for free, so why would we want your eggs? We're about to eat, so you should go home now!"
Aunt Wang pushed Cheng Wanwan directly out of the courtyard gate.
Cheng Wanwan looked at the two eggs in her hand that she hadn't been able to give away and sighed helplessly.
As the saying goes, poverty makes people lose their ambition. Although Aunt Wang was poor, she never coveted a bite of food from others. Such a person with integrity deserves our respect.
She left.
Aunt Wang looked at her four children and said, "This puppy has never had a drop of milk since it was born. The old man who raises dogs said it probably won't live more than a few days. If I take her eggs, she'll come after me with her life when the puppy dies. I can't afford to mess with that unreasonable shrew."
Not only was Da Shan Niang not afraid of her own mother-in-law, but she wasn't even afraid of the county magistrate.
The four children nodded in unison.
Wu Huiniang had already prepared lunch. While cooking the rice, she scooped out a little bit of rice water to feed the puppy.
The puppy probably hadn't eaten much, because it gulped down a bowl of rice porridge and then begged Wu Huiniang for more.
Wu Huiniang said gently, "You're still too young. You can only eat this much at a time. I'll give you more tonight."
The puppy whimpered sadly twice and then went to sleep under the shade of a tree in the yard.
Cheng Wanwan sensed that the dog was really not in good spirits and was afraid that it really wouldn't live more than a few days, just as Aunt Wang had said.
When no one in the family was looking, she fed the little guy some canine antibiotics and secretly bought some dog milk powder, mixing the medicine into the milk powder.
After being fed the medicated milk powder, she became energetic after a while. Just a moment ago she was clinging to Wu Huiniang, but now she directly recognized Cheng Wanwan as her mother and kept hugging her leg, unwilling to let go.
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