After lunch, under the scorching sun, some people were still working in the fields. Every year, quite a few people die from heatstroke.
"Her father, where are you going?" Chen Yu asked.
"I'm still thinking about the three plots of land I haven't finished, and I'm feeling really uncomfortable!" Niu Dadao said.
"If you're not feeling well, stay and help me make the sauce!" At noon, the female workers also took a break.
Only Chen Yu was still working, but there were four ice chests in the room where the sauce was prepared. The ice chests had holes to let out the cold air, and there were four bowls of fruit inside, which could both keep the fruit fresh and cool down, and also cool down the room.
Niu Da thought for a moment, smiled, and put down the hoe. "Honey, I think farming is more enjoyable than doing business!"
Although Niu Da was quick-witted and tactful, he didn't particularly enjoy dealing with many businessmen.
He felt that farming was still the best thing to do; it helped him relax and he felt a great sense of pride watching the fruits and vegetables grow in the fields.
But doing business also has its advantages. After all, fewer and fewer people dare to bully him because his family line has ended and they look down on him.
“Dad, I’ve been thinking that our braised fish is selling well, but we don’t raise enough fish. I heard Huang’s daughter mention this today. She said that Village Chief Zhao contracted Guhu Lake three years ago, but he didn’t manage it well and lost money every year.” “I was just thinking of taking over the contract so we can raise fish there. What do you think?”
The village chief Zhao had taken over the entire Guhu Lake three years ago because Niu Da had caught some silver carp there. In the first year of that year, he also caught a few kilograms of silver carp from the river and sold them for some money.
Later, I raised some fish and made a little money.
However, Chief Zhao was not good at raising fish and was unwilling to spend money to hire someone to take care of them. Most of the fish he threw in died, and he lost money for two years in a row.
The Niu family also raises fish, but the fishpond in the backyard is too small, and can only raise forty or fifty fish at most. It's barely enough to make dried fish with soy sauce. But Chen Yu thought that if such a big restaurant were to be built, it would definitely need a lot of ingredients.
"Okay," Niu Da agreed. "Speaking of which, our Cuihua has a great talent for accounting. If she studies for another two years, she can help us manage the accounts!"
Niu Da said this while working.
"Also, the vegetables in the fields are all finished, and the new vegetables haven't grown yet. I was thinking, since it's so hot, why not let the female workers rest for a month? During the rest period, we'll give each of them fifty coins a month! Next month, we'll make another one hundred catties of braised fish and five hundred catties of braised meat. When the weather is cooler, we'll make another fifty catties of fermented bean curd. What do you think?"
The path to sinking fish.
“There’s not much work to do at home, and it’s hot, so it’s good to let them rest!” Niu Dadao said. “I think that thing Dayou made is pretty good. If it works, I plan to buy it!”
"That would be great!"
Niu Dayou's copper hand-cranked juicer is indeed finished. "Uncle Niu, Auntie, this is done. Take a look and see if it works well?"
Niu Da looked at the juicer, cut a pear and put it in, shook it a few times, and found that the second layer of juice was not clean.
"Uncle Niu, press this again." There's a handle on the juicer; once you press it, the juice is extracted clean.
It's faster than a juicer that looks like a tiger bench.
"How long does it take you to make one of these?" Niu Da asked.
“Hmm… ten days, sometimes fifteen days, copper is subject to quantity restrictions on buying and selling!” Niu Da added.
Little Fu Bao looked at the thing. It was ten times faster than the tiger bench for grinding juice, and it saved effort, time, and manpower. "Is Brother Da You planning to sell it to our family?"
"If you sell it, we'll buy it at a high price, but the first ten juicers you make can only be sold to us!"
Little Lucky Baby said.
“I’m willing to give you eight taels of silver, but there’s only one condition: the first ten juicers can only be sold to our family,” Niu Dadao said.
The tiger bench juicer is cheap, but a more efficient juicer would cost several times that amount.
“Okay! Uncle,” Niu Da said again.
After Niu Da took the money and left, Niu Meihua and Niu Yong started grinding watermelons for juice. Niu Meihua said, "Second Uncle, the watermelons in the yard are ripe. Why don't we pick a few good ones and grind them?"
Niu Yongdao said, "Then I'll go pick watermelons."
They put the juice from the crushed stone into a ceramic jar about one pound in size, and waited until the weather cooled down a bit in the evening before using saltpeter to make ice.
They were brought to the night market to sell.
Put the saltpeter into a large bucket, then put a small bucket in it. Fill both buckets with water, with each small bucket weighing about five pounds. Put four pounds of saltpeter into the large bucket, and then take out the small bucket.
The ice in the large bucket is not edible because saltpeter has been added; it can only be used to refrigerate fruit.
This method was suggested by Ji Ninghai.
The Niu family's stall at the night market was about five meters long and wide. In order to sell fruit juice, they even had the kiln workers make two extra-large teapots and bought some tables and chairs.
The Niu family all sell this.
Xiao Heng was in charge of grinding the juice, while Xiao Fubao and Niu Baolan watched from the side. They were too young to do anything.
Niu Meihua was in charge of selling the chilled juice from two teapots, mainly to poor households who had a little money but couldn't afford to buy the whole jar.
Small cups cost 10 coins, medium cups 20 coins, large cups 30 coins, and refills are 5 coins less for each type of cup.
Niu Da and Shen Yu were in charge of selling chilled juice and watermelon juice in small jars. The smallest jar contained half a pound of chilled juice and cost eighty coins per jar, while the medium-sized jar contained one pound and cost one hundred and sixty coins per jar.
The large jar weighs five jin (approximately 2.5 kg) and costs four hundred wen (approxi
Other fruit juices, due to their smaller juice content, are priced twice as high.
Niu Cuihua and Sang Yu were in charge of selling melons and fruits.
Business boomed overnight.
"It's so hot, sir. It's cooler over there. Let's go sit over there." A charming woman held a half-sized round fan and slowly fanned herself, while holding a portly man's arm in hers.
This man was none other than Butcher Wang, who had been in the pork business a few years ago. Last year, he donated all his assets to buy a position as a county magistrate.
The woman beside him was his third wife, who came from the brothel Yichun and was its top courtesan.
Wang, the county magistrate's first wife, was the eldest daughter of Master Zhuo and the sister-in-law of Niu Yinhua. She died in childbirth, and a few days later, he brought in his concubine as his second wife.
Who knew that the mistress only knew how to give birth to daughters, and gave birth to three daughters in a row. In total, Magistrate Wang had twelve daughters, but only three of them were still alive.
The first one was his first daughter born to his first wife. Since she was his first child, Magistrate Wang did not intend to abandon her.
The two behind are the children born to that mistress.
His mistress also died in childbirth. He originally intended to throw his youngest daughter out to be fed to the wolves. His elderly mother said that perhaps the reason he kept having daughters was because he had committed too many killings, which is why everything went against his wishes.
Therefore, he kept his third daughter.
Sure enough, Chunniang, the top courtesan of the Yichun Courtyard whom he married last year, gave birth to a big, healthy boy this year.
Therefore, Magistrate Wang doted on his third wife, Chunniang.
"Let's go sit over there, so my little beauty doesn't get too hot. We can also see what good stuff they have for sale!" As he spoke, his fat hand reached in and gave her a quick kiss.
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