The long summer continues.
Since the eggs we had saved up at home couldn't be sold, we simply boiled them in plain water, let them cool, and then ate them ourselves, putting them in our pockets.
Lu Amian occasionally thought of sneaking out to catch a few fish to treat herself.
But this is not easy; the hotter the weather, the more people will go to the river to bathe and play.
She was at a loss and spent her days playing outside with a large lotus leaf on her head.
"They're not stupid after all; they know to run to the shade when it gets hot."
Dr. Wen, a friend of Meng Chijian, knew that the young couple had been having a cold war recently, and offered a few words of advice with a smirk.
However, after Lu Amian quieted down, someone took the initiative to come to her door.
"I've found a chance to make a fortune!" Yuan Hua, whose skin had darkened two shades, flashed a bright white smile and quickly slipped one foot over the threshold, making it impossible to close the door.
A-Mian looked at him with some suspicion.
She had heard that Yuan Hua said he was going to work as a laborer at the docks, but he only went for two days.
Upon returning, he wailed and shouted things like, "This is inhumane! Do you know what labor law is? Do you know what high-temperature allowance is?!" As a result, he completely angered the dock owner.
Yuan Hua was quite temperamental and managed to get back two days' wages.
The total was 150 coins (because he only worked for half a day the next day), and he also gave 50 coins to A-Mian's family as agreed.
"Really, really, let me tell you..." These past few days, Yuan Hua has been shamelessly sneaking around the village during mealtimes to sneak a bite or two of food. While feeling dizzy from hunger, he's trying to figure out what kind of novel he's transmigrated into.
Judging from the current situation, passing the imperial examination is definitely out of the question, as there isn't even a teacher in the village.
His plan to become a military general was completely shattered after a day of moving goods.
He suddenly had a brilliant idea: with his modern business acumen, he should aim to become incredibly wealthy!
"So, what kind of business do you want to do?" A-Mian asked.
She was about to start preparing dinner, so she was holding a large head of cauliflower.
Yuan Hua's eyes lit up when she saw it. "I have my own ideas. I've come to you to buy the vegetables from your backyard. I'll take as many as you have."
"...But you only have one hundred coins."
Yuan Hua said, "I'm just starting out. In the future, your yard might not even be able to supply enough goods! Here's what I'll do: I'll give you eighty coins first. Go pick the freshest vegetables. I have a great use for them."
Ah Mian never refuses money.
Without asking what he wanted to do, he accepted the coins and went to the backyard to pick a basket of cucumbers, loofahs, leafy greens, and other vegetables that had ripened in the sun. He then instructed, "You can borrow this bamboo basket for now. Remember to return it tomorrow."
Yuan Hua was taken aback, his eyes darting around. "You...this...is just a basket, don't you even have the right to make this decision..." His muttering grew softer and softer, his gaze towards A Mian gradually softening with pity. "It's alright, once I make money..."
He left after uttering a nonsensical remark.
Seeing his erratic behavior, A-Mian shook her head. However, having earned eighty coins at home, she hummed a little tune as she went to cook.
Yuan Hua returned to the old ancestral hall just like a few days ago.
His emotions were in turmoil; this was the first time in his life he had ever done business.
His idea would be groundbreaking; it was a brilliant idea that these ignorant natives could never have conceived of before.
He wants to make healthy meals.
The diet of people in ancient times was very unhealthy, according to Yuan Hua's observations after a day of manual labor.
The men who did manual labor were not the kind of men you see in modern gyms; most of them were short and hunchbacked, a result of carrying heavy loads their whole lives.
Moreover, their meals were very simple, consisting of a bowl of unhulled wheat rice and the rest of fatty meat.
Even though there's only a tiny bit of lean meat in it, but the butcher calls it "pork belly" and sells it for a pretty high price!
It cost 35 coins per pound, so most of the time the laborers had to pool their money to eat together.
"How can you be healthy eating this every day?" Yuan Hua frowned deeply, thinking that it was no wonder that people in ancient times did not live long. If they ate like this for a few days, they would probably develop high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
He picked a lot of lotus leaves, trying his best to make each small salad as exquisite as possible. Looking at the arrangement on the plate, he was very satisfied.
Healthy light meals have low costs and high selling prices, making them the best choice for starting a business... Yuan Hua worked hard packing until midnight, finally making thirty salads before finally falling asleep satisfied.
The next day, when he heard the rooster crow, he forced his eyelids open and wanted to lie down for another five minutes. However, he was afraid of falling behind the large group of villagers going to the city, so he finally gritted his teeth and got up to wash.
As dawn broke, the air was already quite hot and dry.
The villagers hurried on their way, but one old woman asked curiously, "What's in your basket? It looks so strange."
Yuan Hua smiled slightly, "Salad... well, although there's no salad dressing, I can just drizzle some soy sauce on it when I get home and it should taste pretty good."
The old woman shook her head and clicked her tongue, "You can't sell these."
"..." Yuan Hua was already a bit grumpy early in the morning, and now she was even more disdainful: "You wouldn't understand even if I told you, you're so ignorant."
The old woman's face also darkened: "I was just trying to be helpful."
"No need! This business of mine is my own creation; others can't even sell it if they want to."
Since they couldn't agree on anything, Yuan Hua simply strode ahead.
This stuff wasn't meant for the poor and needy.
Yuan Hua's goal was clear: once he entered the city, he inquired about the wealthy families and visited their mansions. However, he was unable to meet any of the owners; the gatekeepers all turned him away without exception.
"A bunch of snobs! You'll regret this later!"
By the time the sun was high in the sky, he hadn't sold a single one.
Not only that, but I was also hot, hungry, dizzy, and lightheaded.
Thinking that he still had twenty coins left in his pocket, Yuan Hua had no choice but to spend ten coins to buy a serving of sticky rice in bamboo tubes from a street vendor.
I felt choked after eating, so I spent another penny to buy tea.
A morning of running around yielded no results, and even the lotus leaves used for wrapping looked rather wilted.
"Instead of hitting a wall here, let's go back to where we started." Feeling energized, Yuan Hua picked up her basket again and started hawking her wares, "Healthy salads, delicious light meals! Replenish your body's daily vitamin needs!"
He thought that he had come up with this idea because of the dockworkers, and since the dockworkers earned hundreds of coins a day, he was sure he could sell it if he lowered the price.
Rushing all the way to the dock, Yuan Hua only had nine coins left, and he didn't care about losing face anymore.
When I met a passerby, I stopped him and asked if he wanted to buy my salad.
Some people were curious, "What's inside? I have to see it."
Seeing that the first sale was on the horizon, Yuan Hua eagerly opened the lotus leaf package and began to enthusiastically explain the many benefits of eating vegetables, "So much, only ten coins!"
The man scoffed, "Are you crazy?! You dare to sell a bunch of tattered vegetable leaves? I wouldn't buy them even if you gave them to me for a penny!"
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