Chapter 122 Chapter 122 Update.
"Hurry up, hurry up! Have you got everything?"
That day, Jin was busy from cockcrow to sunrise.
"Today is the first day of opening, so it's better to do it sooner rather than later."
Jin was seen wearing her earrings and silver rings, with a sleek bun and a cloth dress that reached her knees. She looked clean and respectable, and she was calling Ji Zhi in a big way in the courtyard.
Ji Xu and his family could hear it through the courtyard wall. Tian said:
"Look at her arrogant attitude, as if she's someone who has never done business before."
She had heard that the only vacant position in the Jiaomen Market at the north end of Wei Bridge was taken by the Jin family, because she had a son-in-law who worked as a treasurer there.
Tian also hoped that her daughter would make a lot of money by selling prepared food. In the future, her family would buy a house and land in Chang'an and return to their hometown in Wu in glory wearing gold-woven clothes.
Now that the bunk is gone, I feel unhappy. Even the breakfast is not tasty. I said sourly across the courtyard wall:
“It’s not certain whether it will sell well or not!”
Jin heard this and said to Ji Zhi:
"That position isn't something anyone can get. In Chang'an, not everyone can gain a foothold."
Her elder sister, Da Jin, who lived in Handan, had made a fortune by selling glutinous rice and meat soup. She was considered a wealthy family in Handan. Da Jin passed on the recipe of glutinous rice and meat soup to Jin.
Because her son-in-law was a minor official in Jiaomen City, and Ji Yuan said he wanted to respect her and bring her and Zhimei a good life, Jin followed her eldest daughter and her husband to Chang'an, intending to start a prepared food business of millet rice and meat soup.
But because Tiger Boy was still wandering around, she ran into Little One again that day, but couldn't find out his whereabouts, and she was extremely worried.
I heard from the neighbors that the Tian family next door originally wanted to rent a shop in Jiaomen City to do business. This was what Tian told everyone. She wanted to make a name for her daughter first, but she didn't expect that the shop was gone. The originally lazy Jin family suddenly became excited.
They are indeed sisters-in-law in this life and enemies in the previous life. She got the shop that Tian Shi never got.
Look, he is busy loading two large buckets of rice and meat soup onto the ox cart.
This ox cart was the dowry she bought for Ji Yuan. It was brand new and better than the worn-out one next door.
As for the two houses of my son-in-law, they are not rented. The deeds are in my daughter's hands. Two houses with courtyards like these in Anlingyi are worth at least 700,000 or 800,000 yuan, which is much more decent than the rented house next door.
Her son-in-law also had a horse that was worth twenty or thirty thousand coins. When Jin thought of this day, her face was filled with joy.
He drove the ox cart, took Ji Zhi with him, and went to the store to sell rice.
"Liang rice—hot liang rice! Meat soup—Jin's exclusive secret meat soup!"
She sells this rice and meat soup together, eight ounces of rice and four ounces of meat soup, for fifteen cents a portion.
She followed the method of Mrs. Jin for every grain of salt and every drop of oil. This store had a large flow of people, and even though it was in a relatively remote location, it sold thirty portions in the morning. Mrs. Jin couldn't stop smiling as she counted the money. She was even happier when she thought that she could still sell lunch and dinner.
Ji Zhi had been busy all morning, his face sweating. He was craving the rice wine sold across the street, so he asked Jin for money:
"Mother, I'm thirsty. Give me some money to buy some wine."
This sour milk is made from rice juice. It looks milky white and mellow. Drinking it will surely quench your thirst and stimulate your saliva production.
Jin was reluctant to give the money.
"Drinking some cold water will quench your thirst. Why waste that money? I can save it to buy you a dowry."
Ji Zhi was busy working, but he couldn't get a bite to eat and didn't make any money, so he felt lazy.
Who cares about dowry or not? She would not get up until Jin came to pull her ears for days.
Now that Ji Yuan is newly married, he has become more diligent. He gets up early to help Jin, so that Du Xian can have a hot breakfast before going to work at the store.
"Husband, please ride slowly. Walk in the city away from the sun so you don't get burned."
They had to say goodbye to each other at the door every day, which made Ji Zhi draw circles on his face to embarrass her. Every time he heard Jin talk about dowry, he became less and less willing to get married.
After getting married, Ji Yuan has changed a lot. He is no longer as cheerful as before. She doesn't want to become like that.
Next door, although the shop he owned was gone, Ji Xu was not discouraged.
She packed her belongings onto the ox cart as usual, and chose the first day of June to set up a stall in Huai City near the Imperial College.
There is no need to pay rent there, so just consider it as a test run. You can rent a shop that is vacant in the future.
Tian got up early in the morning to help her with the work, kneading the dumplings, mixing the batter, and making the meatballs. Her voice was particularly loud:
"Xu, where's the cattail leaf fan? Don't forget to bring a fan to keep warm when you go to Huai City to do business on such a hot day."
Ji Xu said, "Isn't it in your hand?"
"There are many students there, so even if business is booming, remember to eat and drink."
Tian ignored her and continued talking to herself while moving things, so loudly that the neighbors would hear her. She said that her family was going to Huai City to do business.
Afterwards, he took Ji Xu to the kitchen and whispered:
"Here, eat this."
I saw that she had prepared red beans, white sesame seeds, and half a bowl of horse-brewing wine.
"I've had breakfast. I'll eat these when I get back."
Ji Xu was about to leave when Tian pulled him back and said:
"No, seventeen red beans and seventeen white sesame seeds, swallowed with wine, can suppress the evil spirit. Why do you think our shop in Jiaomenshi can't operate since the Jin family moved in next door? It's because the evil spirit of their family is suppressing us."
"Where did you hear this, mother?"
Afraid of hearing her daughter's nagging, Tian didn't dare to say that she felt unlucky recently, so she went to Baqiao in the east suburbs to find a witch to tell her fortune. The witch was strange and said that there was an evil spirit next door. Wasn't Jin the evil spirit who had been afflicting her for many years?
"Did you go to ask for fortune-telling?"
"No, you don't know. I just heard the folk remedy from Aunt Liu across the street."
Ji Xu didn't have time to question her. After all, eating red beans and white hemp would not harm anyone, so he followed Tian's advice and ate them, and also drank the horse-brewing wine.
Tian tucked a jute paper talisman into her arms. Nowadays, hemp paper is available, mostly made of hemp and ramie, but the papermaking technology invented by Cai Lun in the Eastern Han Dynasty has not yet been invented. Hemp paper is still very rough and not suitable for large-scale writing. It is not popular and is mostly used to wrap medicinal materials in Guanzhong.
This paper talisman is made of red beans and white hemp, with the words "行道吉" written on it. Turn it over, and the back side will have "行无咎".
Tian tucked one into each of her family members to suppress evil spirits.
"With this, nothing will go wrong in Huai City."
When Ji Xu arrived at Huai City, he saw that it was the same as before. There were many students selling books under the shade of the trees, and there were also people selling food.
Now it is the dog days of June, and there are people selling evil-repelling cakes.
"My dear, buy some evil-repelling cakes to ward off evil and cool down the summer heat."
Ji Xu also found a shady spot and tied the ox under a locust tree. He set up a stall on the cart. On the left was plum blossom cake, on the right was lotus root starch dumplings floating in the water. In front of the cart hung a wooden sign with the following inscription in clear and concise Han Li script:
Plum blossom cake, six cents each; lotus root starch dumplings, ten cents each.
There was a wooden box for collecting money hanging in front of him, and he was waving a palm-leaf fan and shouting:
"Plum blossom cakes, soft and glutinous plum blossom cakes, lotus root starch dumplings that cool down the summer heat!"
The students of the Imperial College did not have to study today, and some of them from poor families were tempted by these two new delicacies.
A student came over, looking around. He was wearing a half-worn gray cloth dress and had seven or eight coins in his hand. He glanced at the sign and said:
"I want a plum cake."
Ji Xu poured the batter into the nineteen holes, added a spoonful of red bean paste to each, and then filled the plum blossom holes with the batter. He sprinkled three grams of red and green silk on the surface, and some pre-cooked round glutinous rice balls.
When the lid is closed and it is cooked and taken out, it is a pastry shaped like a plum blossom, with white pearls on top and red and green dots.
After the student had eaten, he brought his classmates to buy some food. These four or five of them were students who rented houses nearby. They were dressed in plain clothes and could not afford to go to big stores. The prices at such a small stall were affordable for them.
"This plum blossom cake is sweet and soft, you all should try it."
"I want this plum cake."
"I want these lotus root starch dumplings!"
"I want one too!"
Ji Xu was just about to prepare the things for them when he saw a young man in gorgeous clothes riding a horse passing through the locust tree grove. He was wearing a golden crown and rings, and his silk strings jingled. Behind him was a group of attendants riding horses, and the horses' hooves kicked up a cloud of dust.
Ji Xu was busy looking for linen to cover everything. The four or five students in front of the stall were eating with their sleeves covering their hands. They frowned and said,
"This man is so rude."
"The Wuling disciples have always been so unscrupulous, especially since he's the son of the Anling magistrate, Chao Wulang."
The mausoleum towns near Chang'an have a special status and are not under the jurisdiction of the Three Auxiliary Provinces. They are managed by the town magistrate of each mausoleum town. The town magistrate is a high-ranking official of two thousand stones. Although he has the same rank as the county governor, his actual status is higher.
"Girl, why didn't you come here to sell in the morning?" They asked while they were eating.
"Can this place be sold this morning? Haven't any officials come to evict us?"
"It's not a big deal if you go early. There are food stalls near the Imperial College morning and night. They avoid the city officials and can't be driven away."
Ji Xu was delighted to hear this. It turned out that there were also small businesses near the Imperial College every day, but students only set up stalls to sell books on the fifteenth and first lunar months.
"Your plum blossom cake is good. It's not spicy or strong. You can eat it for breakfast on weekdays without worrying about the taste in your mouth and offending Mr. Doctor."
"Yes, a bowl of lotus root starch dumplings in the morning is so refreshing and comfortable."
Ji Xu imitated them and bowed, saying, "Thank you for your advice. I will come here every day from now on. Here, I will give each of you a plum blossom cake to eat."
They were all Ding men. The plum blossom cake was small and tasted good, but it was a pity that one was not enough to fill them up, and they were reluctant to buy a second one. When they received the gift from Ji Xu, they all bowed to express their gratitude and said they would bring their classmates to patronize them another day.
The forty portions of plum blossom cakes and lotus root starch dumplings that Ji Xu prepared that day were all sold out. There were hundreds of students in the Imperial College, half of whom were children of high-ranking officials and half were children of poor families. As for the children of high-ranking officials and prominent families, they were well-mannered and would not eat at such small stalls. Even the big markets in Chang'an City would not be visited by them. They believed that sons of wealthy families would not go to the market, so even if they wanted to eat, they would ask their children to buy it for them to take home.
Those dandies who travel around with bullets, fight cocks and run around with dogs are another matter.
However, her stall is economical and popular among poor students. She can sell about 40 copies in the morning and evening. Although it is a bit far away, it is still very cost-effective because she does not have to pay rent or various taxes.
When she returned, Tian kept calling her Ah Jiao good and praising her for her ability.
"Even if we can't do it at the Jiaomen market, we can still do it at Huai Market! Erfeng, go to the north end of Weiqiao and get two liters of Luoma wine. Mother has prepared some snacks to go with it, and we can enjoy it to our heart's content."
He gave her some extra money and asked her to buy two liters of sweet mulberry juice for the children.
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