Chapter 520: Yizhou Journey
The beans grown in farmers' fields have many uses. They can be used to cook vegetables and make bean rice. Of course, most of the time they are sold to grain merchants.
Beans are very important feed. Cows and horses love to eat them, especially horses. Some beans should be mixed into good fodder.
Horses raised in this way will have shiny fur, so in the past, most of the beans produced by the Zhou family were sold to grain merchants.
However, ever since Xiao Qian learned how to make tofu, they rarely sold beans from home. In addition, people in the village would occasionally exchange beans for tofu with them, so they had quite a lot of beans at home.
In the past, they made tofu and had Zhou Erlang take it to the county town to sell, and business was good. Now that they opened the shop directly in the county town, making tofu became more convenient. In addition, Xiao Qian learned several recipes about tofu from Manbao and modified some of them herself. Now there are quite a few dishes related to tofu, which is also a feature of Qian's Restaurant.
Beans are cheap, and making tofu, aside from the effort and time it takes, is more cost-effective than other dishes.
But what the Zhou family lacks the least now is energy and time.
After working for a while, Zhou Dalang found that the shop needed a lot of tofu and tofu pudding every day, so he simply spent money to buy a stone mill and placed it in the backyard of the shop. Every morning, he and Zhou Liulang would take turns pushing the stone mill to grind the beans.
Sometimes, if there is not enough tofu after lunch, they can make it again in the afternoon. This is more convenient than carrying the beans to the mill at the end of the street to grind them and paying for it.
County Magistrate Yang loved to eat Qianji Restaurant's tofu, all kinds of tofu. As a result, Qianji Restaurant gradually became famous in the county.
Passenger flow gradually stabilized.
Xiao Qianshi and Zhou Xi became more and more adept at handling the affairs of the shop. When Zhou Dalang returned home for the busy farming season, Xiao Qianshi, Zhou Xi and Zhou Liulang would be able to run the shop.
In addition, the older kids would occasionally come to help when they had holidays, so the shop was not very busy.
Seriously speaking, the busiest people in the entire Qili Village may be Mr. Zhuang and Bai Shanbao.
Mr. Zhuang is very busy now because he has to teach new students and increase Bai Shanbao's schoolwork.
Manbao is also very busy, but her busyness is hidden. Although Mr. Zhuang still lets her take the same classes as Bai Shanbao, he does not assign her so much homework, so on the surface she looks quite relaxed.
But Teacher Mo gave her too much homework.
In the past, she would only take half an hour to go to the teaching room to listen to the get out of class when it was almost time to go to bed, and then read some medical books during the day. She could do her homework or not as she pleased.
But for some reason, Teacher Mo suddenly sped up her progress. She would feel guilty if she didn't do the homework assigned by the teacher.
Manbao sighed as he learned medical skills and was very busy.
By the end of the year, Datou Daya and Ertou Erya officially graduated from the school. They had learned how to use an abacus and do simple accounting in the school.
Old Zhou felt that what they had learned was enough, and Datou and the others thought so too. The main reason was that the teacher had mentioned to them that they had finished learning the "Book of Songs" and should consider learning "The Great Learning" next year. The four of them flipped through their aunt's textbook and listened to her talk about what they needed to learn in "The Great Learning" in a daze. The four of them decisively said that their grandfather was right.
So the four of them officially graduated from the school, and at the same time, there were also a few classmates who graduated with them. They had studied for four or five years in succession, and did not take the imperial examinations. Basically, what they learned was enough for them to use.
Old Zhou called his four grandchildren together, watched them do the abacus, stroked his beard with satisfaction, and asked them to take turns helping in the shop, mainly responsible for collecting money and keeping accounts.
Especially to Big Head and Second Head, he said, "When you become proficient in your own shop, go out and find work as accountants. You've spent two years, and at least you've learned a skill that can support you."
Erya asked excitedly, "Grandpa, what about us?"
"You guys, just help your mother sort out the accounts in your own room."
Manbao, who was learning to weave bunny rabbits with his second brother, immediately said, "Dad, let Erya help Mom with the accounts."
Old Zhou waved his hand and said, "No, no, don't you still have me?"
"But I'm going to Yizhou in the spring. The family will spend a lot of money then. Can you keep track of the accounts when I'm not home?"
Old Zhou almost choked on the smoke, "What? You want to go to Yizhou?"
"Yes," Manbao said, "After the spring, the master will take Shanbao to Yizhou to take the provincial examination."
She said happily, "My master said he would take Bai Er and me to see the world."
"Then why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"Master just told me this today. I originally said I would tell you tonight." Manbao brought the topic back to her father, "Dad, although most of the money has been spent since the spring, there is money coming in from my eldest sister-in-law every month. It's such a large amount, so it's better to remember it. So let Erya help mother remember it."
"Okay," Old Zhou didn't care much about that. What concerned him was that his daughter was going to Yizhou. He was very worried. "Yizhou is so far away. She doesn't need to go all the way to Yizhou to see the world, right?"
Qian came out of the house. She had also heard it from inside. She glanced at Old Zhou and asked Manbao, "How long will it take?"
"I don't know. The teacher said the provincial school exam is in April, so we'll leave in March to familiarize ourselves with the place. We'll also have to travel around a bit afterward, so it might be autumn by the time we return."
"So long? I'm worried about you going out alone."
Zhou Liulang immediately raised his hand and said, "Dad, Dad, let me go with you."
Old Zhou glared at him and said, "Behave yourself. I asked you to come back to see someone. If you go out with your sister for another six months, will you ever get married?"
"I'm only seventeen, there's no rush."
"I'll be eighteen after the new year!"
Zhou Liulang: "...Dad, my birthday is only a few days different from Manbao's. Can we just count him as one year older without turning over the year?"
Old Zhou snorted and said, "You have to go back to the county tomorrow to help your sister-in-law. Look at you, you don't know what's wrong with you. Your fifth brother knew he had to save money to get married when he was thirteen or fourteen years old, but you're already eighteen or almost nineteen, and you still don't want to get married..."
"Dad, you just said I was only eighteen after the New Year, how come I'm nineteen already?"
"Xu Sui, do you know what Xu Sui means?"
Zhou Liulang, who just turned seventeen less than two months ago: ...He hates the age in Chinese characters the most.
Manbao giggled with joy.
Old Zhou looked at her and said earnestly, "Manbao, you are not a child anymore. You can't run around outside like before. Otherwise, you should not go to Yizhou this time."
The next chapter will be around 9:30
(End of this chapter)
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