Not long after the soldiers left, Old Man Ma arrived with his men.
A cart with many baskets on it, and three people standing in front of the door waiting.
Song Ning quickly had someone push the cart into the backyard.
"Uncle Ma, why are you here so early?"
Old Ma wiped the sweat from his brow and laughed, "After the girl went back yesterday, the village got busy, working until midnight. Afraid of delaying the girl's plans, they harvested these seeds overnight and urged me to deliver them this morning."
From Daliushu Village to Huzhou, it takes less than two hours by horse-drawn carriage, but if you walk and push a carriage, it would take at least three hours.
I haven't slept all night.
"There's no need to rush, don't tire yourself out."
Old Ma slapped his arm and said, "Our bodies are all made up from farming. Look, we're perfectly fine."
The villagers were anxious, afraid that Song Ning would give up if they waited too long, so they went up the mountain overnight, with the elderly and children all involved, and managed to get all this out.
Song Ning quickly had someone bring hot water.
"Please wash your face first, have some breakfast afterward, rest for a while, and then we'll weigh you."
Just as Old Man Ma was about to refuse, Song Ning continued, "Don't worry, it's all free."
Before Old Man Ma could speak, Song Ning ordered his men to unload the goods, saying they would talk about it after breakfast.
After washing their faces, the three of them, including Old Man Ma, had breakfast brought out from the kitchen: a bowl of porridge, two eggs, two pies, several steamed buns, and two small dishes of side dishes for each person.
"Please eat first. If you need more, just let me know. The host said that you've all worked hard, so you should have a good breakfast," Su Qiao'er said with a smile.
After the man left, a middle-aged man who had come with Old Man Ma couldn't help but swallow hard: "Uncle Ma, have you met a benefactor?"
“That’s not just my benefactor, that’s the benefactor of our whole village.”
That's right. In these times, relying solely on farming would likely lead to starvation.
Now things are much better; they no longer have to leave their hometowns, and they can earn money right here in the village.
Even a child can do threshing the seeds of those grasses.
"We all benefited from Uncle Ma's help. If it weren't for Uncle Ma, we wouldn't have had such a good thing."
"Alright, stop flattering me, hurry up and eat, then get back to work."
"Ai."
The three of them enjoyed their meal immensely.
The three of them stared at the remaining buns with gleaming eyes, wanting to take them with them.
However, it wasn't appropriate to eat and take things at the same time, so I finally managed to look away.
After the meal, Xiao Cui and Su Mingchao came out to weigh themselves. The total was fifty catties, and at ten coins per catty, that was half a tael of silver.
Fifty catties of seeds can make a lot of ice jelly.
"Uncle Ma, what do you call these grasses in the village?"
"Pig feed".
......
If someone asks what ice jelly is made of and you answer "pig feed," I'm afraid no one will dare to buy it.
"Uncle Ma, I'm using these things to make food. Shouldn't we change the name 'pig feed'?"
This grass originally had no name here, but because the villagers cut it to feed their pigs, it naturally became known as pig feed.
"I found this here. How about we take another one according to the village custom?"
"Our village is called Big Willow Tree Village, so how about... we call it Big Willow Grass?"
“…Then let’s call it Willow Grass, three characters are easy to remember.”
"become."
Song Ning paid the bill, taking half a tael of silver plus an extra ninety coins.
"Uncle Ma, you three have worked hard today. Consider the extra thirty coins as a reward for your hard work."
"This won't do, no, we can't accept it."
"Please take it. I can't go every day, so it's my pleasure to watch it for me."
Old Ma accepted the money with great emotion, tears streaming down his face: "Young lady, you are such a kind person."
"I'm just a businessman, I'm in the business of buying and selling, please don't say that."
"Don't worry, there are plenty of willow branches and grass on that mountain. As long as I get them, I'll bring them to you, girl."
"good."
After the three left, Song Ning grabbed a handful of seeds. In her previous life, she called these seeds "stone flower seeds," which were excellent ingredients for making ice jelly.
"Xiao Cui, have some people put some of these things into each cloth bag. Everyone who is free now, come and help."
This stuff is durable; a small bowl of seeds can make quite a lot, fifty catties. Even if everyone in Huzhou came, they probably wouldn't be able to finish it in a day.
He sent someone to buy some sugar and hawthorn berries, and also sent someone to burn some wood to make wood ash for soaking in water.
The remaining people each had a basin of water in front of them, and they put the bags containing agar seeds into the basins and started rubbing them.
With more people working, the work got faster. Everyone followed Song Ning's example and kept kneading until the water in the basin became viscous. Song Ning examined it for a while and then stopped.
Pour in the water used to soak the wood ash, and then place the basin in a cool, shady place to let it solidify.
They got up early today; if things go well, they'll be able to eat lunch.
Song Ning then boiled some sugar water in the small kitchen and prepared a lot of fruit to make different flavors later. She would sprinkle some crushed peanuts and sesame seeds on top, and a bowl of icy cold ice jelly would be ready.
It wasn't lunchtime yet, and the shop was busy preparing ingredients for lunch. Song Ning greeted Su Hongxiu, "Sister Hongxiu, please make less cold noodles today."
"Okay, sure."
Everyone was so happy last night that they forgot about checking the accounts. Song Ning took the opportunity to glance at the ledger.
Although the price was 50% off again yesterday at noon, we still made the same amount of money.
Although the price was cheap, there was a lot of foot traffic, so at noon we not only didn't lose money, but we also made an extra hundred taels of silver.
The evenings were the main source of income; in total, we earned six hundred taels of silver yesterday.
Her restaurant is in a prime location, so the income isn't much, but the restaurant isn't very big either, so this amount is enough.
People started arriving outside around 9 AM.
Song Ning went to the backyard to take a look at her ice jelly, poked it with her chopsticks, and said, "Great, it's done."
Quickly cut the ice jelly into pieces, add some chopped fruit, sprinkle with crushed peanuts and sesame seeds, and finally pour half a spoonful of brown sugar syrup over it.
"Xiao Cui?"
Xiao Cui ran in from outside, and before Song Ning could speak, she saw what Song Ning was holding: "Is it done?"
"This contains watermelon, have a taste."
Xiao Cui looked left and right, but couldn't figure it out. She did see that the owner had put wood ash in it. This thing... is it really edible?
"Why don't you try a bite first?"
Xiao Cui took a small spoonful, then a large spoonful, and soon most of it was gone.
Her eyes lit up: "Boss, this is so delicious! No wonder it's called ice jelly. It's so sweet, sour, and icy cold. It's so good!"
Song Ning beamed: "Give the order that every customer who comes to the shop today will receive a free bowl of ice jelly."
Each person will only receive one bowl; if they wish to eat more, they will have to purchase additional bowls.
Two flavors are available: brown sugar and fruit.
"Okay."
She could handle all of this ice jelly by herself. She had a hundred bowls of ice jelly laid out in the small kitchen in the backyard before she stretched and went outside.
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