The waiter weighed the bacon and sausages, and found that the bacon was 112 catties and the sausages were 53 catties. The shopkeeper fiddled with the abacus and said, "The total is 32 taels of silver and 350 coins. Add what you just ate and the recipes for the two dishes, and I'll round it up to 35 taels of silver!"
An Ning smiled and said, "The shopkeeper is very generous." The shopkeeper laughed twice and said to An Dashan, "Your daughter is really smart."
An Dashan also smiled and said, "No, no, the shopkeeper is too kind."
The shopkeeper took out thirty-five taels of silver and handed it to An Dashan, and agreed to come back to deliver the goods in five days. After An Dashan agreed, he took his daughter out of the Juxian Building.
The father and daughter went to the place where they stored their carriages and horses, caught up with the mule cart and headed home. On the way, An Dashan asked, "Ningning, what do you think? Our offer is so high, will the owner of Juxianlou agree?"
An Ning smiled and said, "I originally wanted to split the profits, but that would be a lot more troublesome. If they give us a fake account, we won't have any evidence to prove it, so we might as well just sell it all at once. As for the price, I originally asked for a higher price so that there is room for negotiation. If I lower it a little bit, they will be more receptive."
An Dashan didn't want to beat around the bush like An Ning did. He said, "I don't understand these things anyway. Just do whatever you want."
An Ning nodded happily and said, "Dad is still the best."
When the father and daughter returned home, they saw that Gensheng's mother had already prepared lunch and was talking to Gao in the main room. Gao no longer had any pregnancy symptoms and ate everything with relish.
When Gensheng's mother saw An Dashan and his daughter coming back, she stood up and said, "You guys eat first. I'm going home."
An Ning stopped Gensheng's mother and said, "Aunt, we still have a lot of pig heads and pork jelly at home. If you don't mind, take them back and eat them."
Gensheng's mother said, "These are all good things. You can keep them for yourselves. I can't always bring things home!"
Gao said, "You can see that we can't eat all of this at home. You can take it back. Suozi is in the growth stage and cannot be deprived of nutrition."
Gensheng's mother thanked him profusely and took the things back home.
An Ning said to Gao: "When we have time, let's go to grandma's house and send some pig heads and pig trotters to her family."
Gao nodded and said, "Yes, Laba Festival is coming soon, and after Laba Festival it will be Chinese New Year."
The An Ning family made bacon from a total of 20 pigs. Now, apart from the ones they ate, they still had 15 pig heads, more than 60 pig trotters, and so many bones, internal organs, and jelly skin. Fortunately, it was winter now, so all of these could be stored.
When Gensheng's mother came to cook in the evening, An Ning said to her, "Aunt, we are going to grandma's house tomorrow. There are so many things at home, and I am really worried. I would like to ask you to help look after the house for a day tomorrow. I will pay you two days' wages."
Gensheng's mother shook her head and said, "I don't need two days' wages. I'm just helping to look after the house for one day. You don't have to be so polite to Auntie."
An Ning didn't say anything after hearing what Gen Sheng's mother said, and she followed Gen Sheng's mother to cook dinner. After dinner, An Ning's family went to bed early.
The next morning, An Dashan packed five pig heads, five pig ribs, twenty pig trotters, two strips of bacon and several sausages, and then took An Ning and Gao back to her parents' home.
When I arrived at Gao's house, I found out that Uncle Gao and Uncle Gao had gone to the town to do odd jobs with Uncle Gao's eldest son. Only grandma Wang, two aunts and several children were at home.
Wang was stunned when she saw so many pig heads, bones and trotters, and asked, "Where did you get so many pig heads?" Gao told Wang about her family's bacon making.
Wang nodded and said, "Yes, this is a good thing. Since it can be sold, why take it? Take it back and sell it. These pig heads are enough for us to eat."
Gao smiled and said, "I didn't take much, I just wanted to give you a taste."
At noon, An Ning taught Wang to stir-fry two dishes with bacon, and steamed a sausage. Wang also stewed a rib. During the meal, the bacon and sausage were praised by everyone.
After dinner, An Ning and his family of three rested for a while and then drove the mule cart back home.
In a blink of an eye, it was the agreed delivery day. An Dashan brought An Ning to the county town again, and they went straight to Juxianlou. When they arrived at Juxianlou, the shopkeeper had been waiting in the lobby for a long time. When he saw the two people coming in, he hurriedly stood up to greet them.
The shopkeeper invited the father and daughter into the back hall and said straight to the point: "I reported this bacon and sausage to our boss. After eating it, our boss liked it very much and agreed to your request. He bought your recipe for two thousand taels of silver. However, our boss also said that this recipe must not be sold to others. If he knows that you sold this recipe to others, the consequences will not be something you can bear."
An Ning didn't expect that the boss agreed without bargaining. It seemed that he didn't take the two thousand taels of silver seriously, or he underestimated this rich man and miscalculated. He should have asked for a higher price. An Ning thought about it, but said, "Please rest assured, boss, we still have this bit of integrity."
The shopkeeper nodded and said, "Then please write down the prescription, young lady. We will give you the money and the prescription at the same time."
An Ning nodded and started writing the prescription with the brush and ink brought by the waiter. An Ning had secretly practiced calligraphy at home, so she could tell what she was writing, but the handwriting was really ugly. The shopkeeper twitched his mouth when he saw the prescription. He didn't expect that the girl was so pretty but her handwriting was so ugly.
An Ning pretended to be calm and gave some instructions, then said, "This bacon won't be ready in a short time. When we come to deliver it next time, you can ask us if you have any questions."
The shopkeeper nodded and gave An Dashan the money from the sale of the house and the money from the sale of bacon and sausages. This time he brought a total of 205 catties of bacon and 100 catties of sausages. The shopkeeper rounded it up and gave him 60 taels of silver. Together with the 2,000 taels from the sale of the house, the total was 2,060 taels of silver.
It was not the first time that An Dashan had to deal with so much silver. He was very calm. After packing the silver, he took An Ning away from Juxian Building, which impressed the shopkeeper.
The father and daughter did not dare to stay any longer with the huge sum of money in their pockets and went straight back home.
When she returned home, Gao was strolling in the yard. An Ning had told her that strolling more would help her give birth more easily. She listened to An Ning very much and never thought about how a little girl could understand all this.
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