The persimmons have been washed and dried. Song Anxin is instructing them on how to peel them: "Leave a little skin on the top and keep the stem. Peel them nicely, otherwise the dried persimmons won't look good and buyers won't like them."
Several women carried over several pots of boiling water. The persimmons needed to be rinsed in the boiling water to sterilize them. Then, they used long hemp ropes to tie the stems of the persimmons together, leaving some space between each one to prevent uneven drying.
The woman quickly strung the persimmons together and hung them in the open space of the yard to dry. There were many bamboo poles in the yard for hanging the persimmons, and soon the open space was filled with rows of persimmons. The persimmons strung on the poles shone with a golden light in the sunlight, which looked very beautiful. The persimmon peels were also put in bamboo baskets and spread out in the yard to dry together. These were to be saved for making persimmon frost.
Song Anxin said, "Remember to bring the persimmons indoors at night to prevent them from getting damp. Open the windows for ventilation. After three days, a film will form on the surface of the persimmons. At that time, we need to squeeze them one by one, but we can't squeeze too hard to avoid breaking them. After squeezing and kneading them two or three times and drying them for about ten days, and finally covering them with frost, they will become dried persimmons."
But just three days later, when Song Anxin came to teach the workers how to make persimmon cakes, a problem arose: all the persimmon cakes had grown mold!
In the persimmon cake workshop, early in the morning, a group of workers gathered in the courtyard, looking at the moldy persimmon cakes and discussing them animatedly.
"Why are all these persimmons covered in mold? What happened?!"
"Oh dear, could Aunt Lin have taught them the wrong things? There are so many persimmons, how much money did they cost!"
"Yes, we even invested money in this. Is this method of making persimmon cakes really reliable? We don't want our money to be wasted..."
The moment these words were spoken, panic flashed across everyone's faces. Who could argue with that? A little effort and some mud bricks were nothing compared to the money their family had invested.
"Stop talking, the village head and Aunt Lin will be here soon, they'll definitely have a solution," a young woman said.
Lin Lizheng received the news and rushed over, only to bump into Song Anxin, who was also hurrying there. Song Anxin had received the message from the workers at the persimmon workshop on her way and had rushed over quickly. When they entered the persimmon workshop and saw that almost all the persimmons were covered in mold, both of them looked rather grim.
Lin Lizheng said, "Fengnian's mother, what... how could this happen? Did the workers not do a good job?"
A woman immediately jumped out and said, "Village head, don't wrong us. We did everything according to what Aunt Lin said, without any carelessness. We brought them in every night. We didn't expect that when we came this morning to hang the persimmons out to dry, we opened the door and found them like this."
"Yes, Fengnian's mother, think about it carefully. Did you forget something from what the book said that caused this to happen?"
Song Anxin had been deep in thought since she came in without saying a word. Her method must be correct; she had succeeded in doing it herself before. So, where exactly did things go wrong?
“Everyone, please don’t rush,” she said. “Uncle, let’s not start work today. Let the workers go home first. I’ll think it over carefully and give you all an answer.”
Lin Lizheng responded and said to the workers, "Everyone, let's disperse for today. We'll get back to work after we find out the reason."
The workers left with anxious expressions on their faces, fearing that their investment would be wasted and that they would lose the opportunity to earn money in the workshop.
Song Anxin also told the village head to go back first, since he didn't know anything here and could only worry helplessly. Although Lin, the village head, was worried, she believed that Fengnian Niang would definitely find the reason and come up with a solution. She was sure that the persimmon cake business was good, and she had absolute faith in Fengnian Niang.
Song Anxin looked at the persimmons and carefully recalled every step she had taken to make them. She even picked up a persimmon and squeezed it. The persimmon was fine. She then walked to the drying area, where the sun could shine on it completely. Even if it wasn't dried by the sun, it was still an excellent spot.
Just then, Lin Fengnian arrived. He heard on the way that something had happened at the persimmon cake workshop, and he was worried about his mother.
"Fengnian, you're here. Quickly help your mother figure out what went wrong with making persimmon cakes..." Song Anxin explained the method and precautions for making persimmon cakes to Lin Fengnian. Her eldest son had been focusing on books about farming and putting his knowledge into practice recently, so perhaps he could help her find the cause.
Lin Fengnian thought for a while, then went to the room where the persimmon cakes were kept. "Mother, come and see!"
Song Anxin went over and noticed a puddle of water that hadn't dried yet under the window. She frowned and said, "Fengnian, go and get it for your village head."
She had repeatedly warned that the persimmons must not get damp. Although the persimmons should be dried with the windows open, the windows must be closed in time if it rains. Therefore, the local government assigned someone to sleep in the workshop so that he could get up and close the windows in time if it rained at night. He was also responsible for the safety of the persimmon workshop at night to prevent thieves from coming in and stealing things.
“Village head, look here is a puddle of water. I remember it rained a little these past two nights. The persimmons are covered in mold and turned black because they came into contact with the rainwater.”
Lin Lizheng's beard stood on end when he saw the dampness in the water, and Lin Dazhuang and Erzhuang beside him also tensed up. "Fengnian's mother, I'm sorry for this." He instructed, "Dazhuang, go and call your third uncle. Erzhuang, go and call your mother. Also, have all the workers from the persimmon cake workshop come over."
"Oh dear, Third Uncle, how could you do this? You're ruining this persimmon business!" The village headwoman scolded, slapping her thigh in the courtyard.
The "third uncle" she was referring to was Ma San Gong from the village, a relative of the village head's wife, and also a notorious lazybones in the village. He would stay home and sleep whenever he could, and would never go out.
He was in charge of guarding the persimmon cake workshop at night. It was an easy job; he could just sleep all night and keep watch without doing any hard work, and he would get three coins for it. The village head was in charge of hiring workers for the persimmon cake workshop, and she probably hired him because she wanted to help out her own family.
Ma Sangong was somewhat unconvinced and said, "How was I supposed to know that persimmons would grow mold after getting a little rain? I didn't see that it was raining heavily these past two nights, so I thought nothing would happen and didn't get up."
"Oh dear! You old man, it's one thing that you're too lazy to do any work in the fields, but we've given you such an easy job, and you're so lazy you won't even get up to close the window! You're really doing a disservice!"
An old woman went up and started hitting him. This woman was Ma San Gong's wife, who was also Ma San Po, a female worker in the workshop who made persimmon cakes.
"Ouch, wife, please don't hit me! I already said I wouldn't do it, but you insisted. I can't even get a good night's sleep..."
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