By the beginning of October, the weather had turned cold.
Winter has arrived in the capital.
At this time of year in previous years, many merchants would have already prepared to leave the capital, fearing that if they stayed any later, the rivers would freeze, making the roads difficult to travel on, and delaying their return home for the New Year.
But this year, merchants seem to be taking their time.
More goods are being shipped to the capital city in a steady stream.
The capital city is unprecedentedly bustling.
I didn’t expect that I could still eat southern fruits in this season. It’s really surprising.
"Have you heard? The cement road from Beijing to Luozhou is almost completed."
"I've heard it a long time ago. It seems that we only need a few dozen miles to connect the two ends."
"The meat and vegetable shop at Sihai Trading Company has added a lot of new varieties recently. They all seem to be shipped from the south, and the prices are not expensive."
"How can it not be expensive? An orange this big costs two cents. Two cents can buy a few eggs."
"I tried some oranges yesterday. They were really sweet. I heard they're different from the ones we have here."
“And dried sweet potatoes.”
"I'd only heard of people growing sweet potatoes in the south, but I never thought they were so effective in stabilizing hunger."
"I heard sweet potatoes can be grown in the north."
"Really? You can't just talk nonsense about this."
"What nonsense! My sister-in-law's brother's brother's cousin is working on the farm. I heard that many farms are planting sweet potatoes this year, and one acre can produce over a thousand kilograms."
"Really? My goodness, a yield of over a thousand kilograms per mu means we won't have to worry about going hungry during the lean season."
"Just growing sweet potatoes won't work. Annual taxes and corvée labor can't be offset with sweet potatoes. We also have to grow wheat and rice."
"That's true."
"Besides the high yield per mu and the ability to make dried sweet potatoes, what else does sweet potato have?"
"Of course not! It's great for feeding pigs. It can also be ground into powder and made into sweet potato vermicelli. I heard it can also be used to make wine."
"Can sweet potatoes really be used to make wine?"
The teahouse owner actually joined in the conversation between the porters.
"I've heard that sweet potatoes have a high yield per acre and can be boiled, steamed, or even roasted. They're great for keeping hungry, but they make you fart a lot. They're also great for feeding pigs; they grow faster. They also say they can be used to make wine, but I've never seen it."
The teahouse owner said, "If I could really make wine, I would plant ten or twenty acres of it."
“I don’t know if it’s really possible to make wine.”
"What are the sweet potato vermicelli you just mentioned like?"
"You can go to the meat and vegetable shop in the Dahuaishu Market. They sell it there. It's good and not expensive. I'll buy half a pound tomorrow to try something new."
The porters drank tea from big bowls, rested for half an hour, and then went back to work.
The teahouse owner took notice of sweet potatoes, gritted his teeth, and spent money to buy dried sweet potatoes and sweet potato vermicelli. He also weighed dozens of kilograms of sweet potatoes and brought them back, intending to learn how to cook, steam, and roast them.
This teahouse is the lowest-class teahouse on the roadside, a thatched shed that can't block the wind, but can only keep out rain and snow.
The owner of the teahouse has been running it for many years and has earned his money through hard work.
After much difficulty in saving up some money, I bought more than ten acres of sloping land and several acres of irrigated land, and was considered a small fortune.
The teahouse owner had a plan: while he was still healthy, he would work for a few more years and buy more land. When he got older, he would retire to the countryside. With a few dozen acres of land, his family could make a living.
If the sweet potato yield per mu is really that high and really that good, the teahouse owner feels that his plan to buy dozens of acres of land may be realized ahead of schedule.
Over the next few days, the teahouse owner and his family ate sweet potatoes in different ways.
It tastes really good, sweet and sticky. It tastes best when it is roasted.
Just as the porters said, sweet potatoes can satisfy hunger, but they cause a lot of fart and are not elegant.
After eating the sweet potatoes, the teahouse owner looks forward to the day when the sweet potatoes can be used to make wine.
You must be able to make wine.
As long as he could make wine, he would plant sweet potatoes on all the hillsides of his own land.
As for where the seeds come from, the teahouse owner hasn't thought that far.
Anyway, when it comes to spring plowing, I can always find a way to get seeds.
…
Balipu, 300 miles away from the capital, is located on the official road from the capital to Luozhou.
Since the road construction team came last year, this small place located in the valley has become bustling.
Those who build roads, burn cement, and deliver supplies...
Even in the coldest winter, the construction team didn't rest and was still burning bricks, saying they were going to build a house.
The local people don’t understand the relationship between building roads and building houses.
All they knew was that life at home got better after the construction team arrived.
Men go to work on construction sites, get two meals a day, meat soup to drink, and get paid.
Women help with cooking and are also provided with food and paid.
Since he couldn't find a woman with work, he took on the mending work.
The construction team is made up of men who earn a lot of money and are free, so they are willing to pay someone to do their clothes.
The people living near the construction site benefited from this.
In addition, the construction teams also took in livestock and poultry that had previously been unsaleable, offering reasonable prices. This sparked a small wave of poultry farming.
The construction team sold the wood, stones, and worthless lime that could not be transported.
The lives of the people in Balipu were getting better, and this section of cement road was also completed.
When the construction team left, the local people were filled with regret and loss. The good days had gone with the departure of the construction team.
In the days to come, I am afraid that we will return to the poor and conservative life of the past, where we could not even have a full meal all year round.
Unexpectedly, after the construction team left, two magnificent houses appeared on the side of the cement road.
The surrounding land and forests were also bought.
Soon, a sign was hung on the house and two rows of tall wooden fences appeared on the cement road in front of the door.
The only educated boy in the nearby village pointed at the two signs hanging on the door and muttered, "Toll booth, rest stop."
"What the hell is this?"
"have no idea?"
"Isn't a rest stop the same as a post station? That's understandable. But what's a toll booth? Does that mean we'll have to pay to pass through this road in the future?"
When they heard about the money, the villagers fled in panic, fearing that some ferocious men would run out of the magnificent mansion and ask them for money.
The only boy stood awkwardly in the wind. He wanted to run away with the villagers, but he felt it would be disgraceful. He was afraid to stay, his legs trembling and he was about to wet his pants.
Oh, oh, oh!
As expected, a man emerged from the grand mansion. He was a young man with a gentle appearance and a shrewd look in his eyes.
"Hey, aren't you going to run?" the young man asked the old student.
The old student is thirty years old this year. His surname is Wang. The farthest place he has been to is the county town dozens of miles away.
He licked his lips and said nervously, "Let's go, let's go now."
"Don't be busy." The young man grinned. "From what I heard you say just now, can you read?"
Old Man Wang nodded, "I've studied."
The young man looked at the old man's clothes and his pale face. He was obviously a pauper, and also a bit inexplicably aloof.
"We're hiring literate people. Would you like to join us? We'll provide food and wages."
Mr. Wang first exclaimed "Ah".
The young man chuckled, "What? You want meat every day? You want a salary of one or two taels a month? You also get a bonus at the end of the year for good work, and you can buy good things from the boss at an internal price. How can you not be tempted?"
"What do you do here?" Old Man Wang was tempted, but he was still a little hesitant.
Just as the young man guessed, he was somewhat inexplicably aloof. As the only literate person in the village, he could live in such poverty for a reason.
The young man smiled and said, "You can read, so of course you'll be doing copying work. Are you ashamed of your handwriting?"
"It's a good thing. Can I consider it?"
"Why are you so slow? Our boss went to the county town to recruit people today. If you don't agree now, you won't have a chance tomorrow. The people in the county town really want us here."
Wang Laotongsheng suddenly became anxious, "Are you not going to recruit anyone tomorrow?"
"We're fully staffed, so of course we won't hire any more. You know, the people coming from the county are all experienced and can be used right away. As for you, you still have to attend a two-week training course before you can take up the job."
Wang Laotongsheng didn't quite understand what the training class and job posting were, but he understood the meaning of the words.
If he doesn't agree now, the job will slip through his fingers.
There was meat to eat every meal, and Wang Laotongsheng swallowed his saliva in frustration.
A monthly salary of one tael of silver, and Wang Laotongsheng's heart was pounding. He was even more excited than the first time he slept with a young lady.
He looked at the two imposing houses before him. The one with the sign "Toll Booth" was a two-story building, while the one with the sign "Rest Stop" was a house with a very deep entrance. Just like the deep courtyard, he didn't know what was inside.
The young man just came out of the rest stop.
Old Mr. Wang used his not-so-bright brain to judge that if he missed the opportunity before him, he would never find a better job than this.
He exhaled. It was cold early in the mountains. The cold weather arrived a month or two earlier than outside.
The young man didn't rush him, but continued eating with a big ceramic bowl in his hand.
The white fat meat made Wang Laotongsheng, who hadn't smelled meat for several months, so greedy that his eyes widened and his mouth kept secreting saliva.
The young man asked him, "Do you want to eat?"
Wang Laotongsheng nodded subconsciously.
The young man grinned and said, "Now that you have signed the employment agreement, you can also eat this meal."
"Can we eat it now? Like you have so much?"
"That's right. Here, everyone from stationmaster to handyman is provided with food."
Wang Laotongsheng didn't understand what a webmaster was, but he did understand what Guanbao meant.
"I'm working, and I'm working now. I'm sure I can eat."
"Yes! I guarantee you'll die of it."
Old Man Wang touched his stomach, which was so hungry that only ribs were left. He dreamed of eating too much.
"hey-hey……"
With his head dazed, he followed the young man into the rest stop, signed an agreement, and then ate the fat meat.
Old Mr. Wang ate while crying.
The stationmaster grumbled to the young man, "Another fool has been dragged here."
"A literate fool." The young man laughed.
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