The family's dinner tonight was cold noodles, and Liu Yuelan made a few pancakes. This is considered a top-notch meal in Nanshan Village these days.
After Song Dahai and Liu Yuelan had finished eating the cold noodles, Song Ning asked, "Dad, Mom, how was this?"
"It's really delicious, cool and refreshing. After eating a bowl, I don't feel so hot anymore."
"It's a bit chewy, smooth in the mouth, and very fragrant."
Poor families don't have many fuss oversights. Since the disaster, they've been focused on surviving and haven't thought about much else.
Let alone cold noodles, they would find even a handful of flour delicious.
After hearing their evaluations, Song Ning finally smiled.
"Dad, Mom, if you both think it's okay, I'd like to make some cold noodles and sell them in town."
Song Dahai and Liu Yuelan had never done business before, nor had any of their ancestors done it for generations. They knew nothing about it and were stunned when Song Ning said such a thing. They were speechless.
After a moment of silence, Liu Yuelan said, "Doing business is not so easy. The harvest is not good now. If you sell it cheaply, you will lose money. But if you sell it expensively, no one will buy it. I heard that even the food vendors in town don't earn much money in a month."
“I just want to give it a try first, just in case it works. We happen to have some money on hand right now, which can be used as capital. If it works out, it can be a way to make money. If it doesn’t, we’ll quit.”
Given the current situation in the village, we don't know how much longer we can hold on, so we have to find a way to survive.
"But none of us in the family have ever run a business before, and even the villagers don't know how. How are you going to do it?"
"If you haven't done it before, you can learn. You learn everything by trial and error. As long as we sell good products, we won't have to worry about selling them." That's what she said, but in reality, Song Ning wasn't sure either.
After remaining silent for a long time, Song Dahai finally spoke: "Alright, if you want to do it, then do it. Dad supports you."
Song Dahai agreed, and Liu Yuelan had no objections either.
With this matter settled, they now have something to do.
The next day, the family started getting busy after breakfast.
Song Ning and Liu Yuelan were in charge of making liangpi (cold skin noodles), while Song Dahai was in charge of making some tools, bowls, and chopsticks in the yard.
While making cold noodles, Liu Yuelan asked, "Er Ya, how much do you want to sell this for?"
Song Ning has gradually replaced the flour in their house with flour from her space, and most of the ingredients they need are also grown in her space. So, they hardly need any cost.
Food in town isn't cheap these days. A steamed bun costs two coins, and everything else starts at three coins. Their food can't be sold below market price.
"I was thinking of selling it for three coins, which is one coin more expensive than steamed buns, but not too cheap compared to the others."
Three coins... Most people would just buy coarse flour buns to fill their stomachs, I wonder if anyone would buy such a snack.
“Dad thinks it’s good. Our stuff is so delicious, even three coins is cheap,” Song Dahai, who was setting up a long table in the yard, chimed in.
Liu Yuelan was also pleased, and while kneading the dough, she smiled and said, "Our Er Ya is so clever."
Song Ning was a little embarrassed by the sudden praise.
A family of three on the hillside was busy with their work when suddenly, a commotion arose from afar.
It originated from the Jiang family's house down the slope.
Ever since the last thief broke into the Jiang family home, they've had nothing to eat, and after Granny Jiang's suicide attempt, the house has been in constant chaos and noise.
I heard that the village chief couldn't bear it and took some grain from his own home to help them. Because of this, he was scolded by his wife for several days.
After that, Yu never gave the Jiang family a friendly look whenever she saw them. Even though she knew the Jiang family had it tough, she still felt uneasy.
Some of Jiang's relatives and friends also gave some money; they were all from the same village. Song Dahai also sent some over; although it wasn't much, it was a token of his appreciation.
In addition, they went up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables every day, so they always had something to eat.
After Granny Jiang recovered, she locked up all the grain that the villagers had given her and kept a close watch on it all day long, afraid that the grain would be gone again when she woke up. She would even open the cabinet in the middle of the night to check, and only when she saw that the grain was still there would she feel at ease.
The whole family was also made to be superstitious by Granny Jiang, fearing that she might do something again.
I heard that now the Jiang family takes out some noodles and mixes them with wild vegetables every day when they eat, so that the whole family can eat until they are half full. They save every bit of food they can, as long as they don't starve to death.
But when people are hungry, they easily become irritable, especially since the Jiang family has two children who make a fuss when they are not full, which really annoys Mrs. Sun.
Sun wanted the two children to eat more, but Jiang Pozi refused in order to save food, which caused a rift between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
Originally, the relationship between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in the Jiang family was the most harmonious in the whole village, but recently they have been arguing every day over food.
Ultimately, it all comes down to poverty.
Song Ning remembered the potatoes she had found on the mountain. In order to encourage people to dig more, Song Ning hadn't mentioned it before, and even Song Dahai agreed with her decision.
If the potatoes were dug up back then, the amount a family could dig up would only be enough for a little over a month at most. But if they grew bigger, it would be a different story.
That vast valley could provide each household with enough food for more than three months.
The Jiang family still has food, and their two sons work hard in town every day, so they should be able to earn some money. For the time being, there shouldn't be any problems.
Thinking of this, Song Ning suddenly remembered the water in her space. She wondered if it would be useful to sprinkle some of the water in the valley.
Song Ning plans to try it next time.
Later that evening, Liu Yuelan reminded him, "Husband, go and ask Aunt Zhao's oxcart if it's going to town tomorrow?"
"Dad, if no one from the village goes to town tomorrow, tell Uncle Da Niu that we'll hire his oxcart."
There are quite a few things to pick up tomorrow. If it were just Song Ning alone, it would be easy; she could simply put the things in her spatial storage, which would be the easiest way.
But Song Dahai and Liu Yuelan followed along, so it was still better to use an oxcart.
Since it was our first time doing business, we prepared a lot. Tonight, the moon was shining, and the three of us stayed up late gazing at it by the moonlight.
Song Ning didn't dare to make too many; she made fifty-two, almost emptying the flour sacks in the house.
Liu Yuelan was heartbroken. It was more than ten kilograms of flour, enough for her family to eat for a long time. Now she had used it to make cold noodles. If she couldn't sell them, then everything would be over.
The oxcart arrangement was finalized, and everything was ready. Only then did Song Dahai and Liu Yuelan rest. After they left, Song Ning put the prepared cold noodles and soup into her spatial storage.
It's hot now, if we leave it like this overnight, it definitely won't taste good tomorrow.
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