Chapter 57 Chapter 57 I’m not good at tofu.
"I thought you were going to sell this tofu," said Aunt Lu. "But I didn't realize you were going to sell it in the county. The county is much more relaxed than the countryside. If you don't have a city ID, you'll be expelled. Even your belongings can be confiscated."
"I still wanted to give it a try. I'd inquired the other day. Our county has 4,000 households and a population of tens of thousands. The people who pass through the county every day, if they're smart enough, can still do it by avoiding the city officials. I thought Aunt Zhuang could sell some of this to eat, so she took the tofu from me and, as usual, took 30% of the profit.
But after the recent food price crisis, I'm afraid business in the countryside will become increasingly difficult. Auntie, perhaps you could go to Shengchangli. There's no one selling beans there, so they won't chase you away. If there are any unreasonable people, you could seek help from Wang Dianji or Cai Gaohuan from Songlinzi. I'll let them know in advance."
After hearing this, Chen's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were both embarrassed and excited. Lu took her hand and said:
"It's hard for you to come up with a new business and still care about us."
They originally thought that they would never have such good income again. Although Shengchangli was badly hit by the issue of grain prices, it was still much better than the rural market. Ji Xu had paved the way for it, so they had picked up a great bargain.
"What's so difficult about this? If my aunt sells well there, I can also make money." Ji Xu said frankly. To be honest, the price of beans is lower than that of flour. The Chen family's profit remains at 30%, so she can make more money.
"By the way, let me draw a route map with Auntie. Auntie, remember it will be much cheaper and you won't have to take a detour."
As he spoke, he broke off a straw from the Chen family's firewood and started drawing on the mud ground in front of the house.
Zhuang Hui Niang patted her dizzy head and said, "Oh my! How did you remember so many forks in the road?"
"Aunt, why don't you find a piece of linen and I'll draw it with charcoal. You can carry it with you and you'll become familiar with it after walking a few times." Ji Xu said.
Zhuang Huiniang hurried into the west room to look for linen. Lu Ai took Ji Xu's hand, her heart and eyes filled with emotion.
"You're so attentive, I'm sure nothing will go wrong in Shengchangli. Grandmother is only worried about you. If you go to the county to sell, I'm afraid you'll have to travel at night and get up early. I've asked your grandfather to pull your cart to the county gate every day, so don't be so reserved with me."
"That's impossible. Grandfather is old, already sixty. He has to get up at night and pull a cart for thirty miles round trip. He must be exhausted. I just heard him coughing on New Year's Eve the day before yesterday. I can't let my uncle and aunt be filial to them while Grandfather and Mother are exhausted for a young man like me.
Don't worry, Grandmother. I won't leave until it's almost daybreak. Woshe Valley is peaceful now, and there are patrols. Tingfu is watching the gate day and night, so I can't expect anything to happen to me. That wheelbarrow was designed to be portable, and Wang Dianji lent it to me. It's not hard to push."
Lu Ai was still worried, "But you are a young woman after all..."
"Just wait and see, Grandmother! I can do it."
When she said this, she inexplicably thought of Luo Shuangniang.
He smiled and said, "Grandmother really loves me. She just asked Uncle Chen to help me fix the wheelbarrow. I feel relieved now."
Lu Ai was at a loss as to what to do with her. While she was talking, Chen Da was outside banging on the wheel hub, making a clanging sound. He then said to the inside:
"It's fixed."
Ji Xu tried it in the yard, and sure enough, there was no unusual sound, and it was much smoother to push.
"It really is good. With it tomorrow, it will be easier to walk these thirty miles."
The next day, at midnight, Ji Xu got up to grind beans, make soy milk, and make tofu.
The water jar was empty halfway through, so she took out a torch and picked up a bucket to draw water. At this time of year, the fields were fallow, and most people would burn weeds to fertilize the land. The faint moonlight sprinkled on the bare farmland, and the outline of the Si'a-style well shed was clearly visible.
The torches swayed in the north wind. Ji Xu quickened his pace, went to the well, skillfully swung the bucket and pulled the rope. After two rounds, he filled his bucket and carried it home.
As soon as I entered, I hurriedly closed the door to block out the cold wind outside.
After a while, Ji Feng came in rubbing her dough eyes and slipping on her slippers. She poured a handful of cold water from the jar and washed her face.
Ji Xu had just scooped a ladle of hot water for her, and when he saw this, he said:
"You're going to freeze to death. How can you use cold water? Come quickly, I've filled this basin with hot water for you." Ji Feng suddenly regained consciousness from head to toe, wiping her face with a towel while saying:
"Sister, I'll go to the county with you to sell tofu."
"No, it's too far."
Ji Feng had been talking about going with her a few days ago. She felt sorry for her and was afraid that she would be tired, but thirty miles was really difficult for a girl of her age.
Ji Xu rejected it without even thinking about it.
"Sister, please let me go. After the New Year, I'll be nine years old. I can cut grass for the pigs, herd pigs, collect firewood, and light a fire. I'm also very good at talking. You once praised me as being better than Xiaolang. Why do you look down on me now?"
"How could I look down on you, sister? It's just that thirty miles is too far. You are still young, so wait until you grow up." Ji Xu said warmly.
Ji Feng snorted and said, "I don't feel it's far. Sister, do you remember that day when we went to the county market, did I feel tired?
I used to gather wild vegetables and herd pigs in the mountains, so my legs and feet are quite nimble. But my sister said she wanted to rest her shoulders that day, and she said it twice."
When he mentioned this, he even drew his hands on her face to embarrass her.
Ji Xu provoked her on the forehead with his finger, "You, you really want to go?"
Ji Feng's eyes were blazing, and he nodded like pounding rice, "Yes, yes!"
Ji Xu temporarily agreed to her request, thinking that she was tired and had lost interest, so he stopped clamoring to go and said:
"Help my sister light the fire first and make the tofu quickly."
The two sisters lit torches in the kitchen and made eighty-one pieces of tofu and a bucket of tofu pudding. Twenty pieces of tofu were the amount Zhuang Hui Niang had agreed on yesterday. She didn't dare to ask for more and wanted to test the waters first.
The two families also negotiated the price. Zhuang Hui Niang sold it for two cents a piece, and Ji Xu sold it for three cents in the county, making extra money from the journey.
The eighty-one pieces of tofu were exactly one plate. She weighed out the twenty pieces that belonged to Zhuang Huiniang and placed them in her family's ceramic basin. The rest were hers. She covered them with linen again and placed them on the side of the wheelbarrow.
The tofu pudding was placed in a bucket on the other side of the wheelbarrow and fixed with a hemp rope.
He also brought a willow basket padded with baju leaves, which contained a bamboo ladle for scooping tofu pudding, a handful of sharpened skewers, and a handful of straw.
There was also a bamboo plate covered with freshly made fried tofu for tasting.
In addition, there are two spare pine woods placed on the car deck, which are dipped in pine oil and used to light the road.
The days are short and the nights are long in winter. It was still pitch black outside when the tofu was made. The torches were not very bright, and occasional clanging sounds were made when the tofu was loaded onto the truck in the main hall.
Ji Zhu came out of the east room, rubbing her eyes. Her hair was like a poodle and she was wearing an undershirt. She said in a sticky voice:
"Sister, I'm going too."
This is really not good, it is too small. Ji Xu put the clothes on her and said:
"My elder and second sisters are going to the county to earn money. If they meet the city officials, they may have to run away. Xiaozhu is too young. We will take her with us when we go out to play.
Be good, we are leaving. You bolt the door and sleep for a while. When it is daybreak, Aunt Zhuang will come to get her tofu. Here, my sister has put it in the main room. If she knocks on the door outside, you can give it to her.
Wake up, get dressed, eat the food warmed in the pot, and go to Chen's house to play with Sui'er and the others. You have to heat up your lunch yourself, because the sisters will be back for dinner."
After all, they were very well-behaved and didn't make any noise at all. He sent them out of the main room and then bolted the door.
Ji Feng returned to the window and said to the inside:
"If you go out, lock the house and hang the two keys around your neck so you don't lose them. Make a fire and heat up the food without someone else, so you don't set the house on fire."
"I remember." The person inside responded obediently.
It was still dark, without a single star in sight. The wheelbarrow must have been used to transport bricks and tiles at night, and there was an iron ring welded to the front.
Now Ji Xu finally knew what they were for. With the torches in hand and Ji Feng holding a lighted one, and spare pine wood on the cart, they could last until dawn.
The road to the county town was far, so they had to set out much earlier than before to Shengchangli, so that they could take advantage of the time when the county officials were having breakfast and the supervision was relaxed, and sell their goods steadily for a while. She had learned all this from Luo Shuangniang on the ox cart that day. She was a native of the county and had seen a lot.
"Sister, put on your gloves."
Ji Feng took it out of the cloth bag. When Ji Xu left, he reminded her to wear gloves, and she picked them up specially for Ji Xu.
"It's not cold now, I'll wear it later."
Ji Xu said, although there were whistling shadows of trees and gusts of cold wind outside, he had just finished his work and was hot all over, so he didn't bother to stop and put on gloves.
The wheelbarrow made a rumbling sound, and two flames appeared in the darkness, moving outward.
As the car passed by Cui's courtyard,
A fire was lit in the west room. Liao came out of the east room, wearing clothes. Seeing Cui Guangzong, she carried the cloth bag on her back and asked with a yawn:
"Where are we going? Don't we have one day off?"
"During the New Year holidays, there is a lot of work in the iron shop. If you go there a day earlier to work as a blacksmith, you will have less work to do in the next few days." Cui Guangzong said.
While tying her skirt, Liao said, "Wait a moment, I'll make you some preserved tofu. It'll be good for you to eat on the way."
"No need, mother, go in and sleep. I'm leaving now." Cui Guangzong strode out of the yard.
Liao Shi didn't stop even after being called out. She went back to her room trembling. Her husband Cui Da turned over and asked:
"Guangzong is gone?"
"That's right. Working in the iron shop is tiring. I have to go there before dawn. It's really a torture." Liao lay back down with a complaint.
Cui Da still muttered to himself: "Yesterday I saw him talking to Old Man Chen on the side of the road. I wanted to ask him what was going on, but now he's gone."
"Sister, there's someone behind me."
Ji Feng stood beside Ji Xu and whispered to him, "They saw a tall, blurry figure half a mile away, lit by a torch."
"Don't panic, we'll go our own way."
But they were pushing the cart, so they were moving slower. They clearly heard the sound of shoes and a figure approaching. Ji Xu stopped the wheelbarrow and prepared to wait for the person to pass before making any plans. Fortunately, a fire lit up in front of them. It was a patrol team, led by You Youjiao, who was gradually coming towards this side.
"It's me."
It sounded familiar, and then I saw clearly that the person in front of me was Cui Guangzong. I don’t know what he ate to make him so tall, he must be eight feet tall.
He wore a black cap and a half-worn black jacket, and his clothes were so black that he blended in completely in the night. If he was not close, no one would have recognized him.
"Are you going to Tiesi?" Ji Xu asked.
Cui Guangzong had a wooden face and said nothing. He just nodded and seemed to be in a bad mood.
After all, they were from the same hometown, and he had a good memory of them, so Ji Xu felt relieved and continued to push the cart forward. You Youjiao came closer, asked them where they were going, and then looked around.
The remaining three of them happened to be heading towards the county on the same road, not too far away from each other. Not long after they had gone, Cui Guangzong said:
"You're too slow. Is this car really that heavy?"
Ji Xu said: "If you are in a hurry, you can go first. It's okay. You don't have to wait for us."
"After all, I'll do it for you."
After saying this, he handed her the torch and waited for her to take it.
"No, this is quite heavy. You go first." Ji Xu was not familiar with him, so he declined politely.
"Although I'm not as close to you as Feng San, we played together when we were young. Why are you so polite? You seem like a different person." Cui Guangzong looked at her for a while and said.
Ji Xu let go of the handle and added, "Is that so? Perhaps it's because I've been away from home for so long that I've become unfamiliar with the environment."
Cui Guangzong stopped talking, bent down to push the cart, and moved forward silently.
Ji Xu took the torch and walked behind, holding Ji Feng's hand, with his own thoughts.
But Ji Feng's words quickly brought her back to her senses.
"Sister, after you make money from selling tofu, what do you most want to do?"
"Sister Feng, tell me first, what do you want to do most?" Ji Xu said.
Ji Feng thought about it for a while, and many ideas flashed through his mind. He said, "Let's talk about it together."
Finally, they all said in unison: "Digging a well."
They couldn't help but smile at each other, because they made a living by selling food, which was extremely water-consuming. For example, when making tofu in the middle of the night, one jar of water was not enough, and they had to fetch water from the public well.
It was dark, and we had to walk two miles back and forth with torches to sprinkle water, and then bring back a bucket of water. It was troublesome and laborious.
Not to mention daily washing. Once the sun was good, the three sisters would wash their hair and take a bath, and they had to fetch water time and time again. Ji Feng felt distressed after seeing her sister so busy and tired for a long time, so she thought about digging a well.
Ji Xu also felt that having a well in front of the kitchen would be much cheaper.
"In Benguli, apart from the Feng family, there is no other family that has its own drinking water well." Ji Feng said.
Because it costs money to hire people to dig a well, and buying ceramic well rings is expensive, those who are more sophisticated also have to set up well fences and well sheds, not to mention the expenses of dredging the well and changing the water supply every year on the Beginning of Autumn. Therefore, in Benguli, each family paid for a well to dig for drinking water in the early years, and it is still used today.
There is a well in my own home? Ji Fengguang thought about it and became more motivated.
"Let's fence off the yard and buy some chickens and ducks to raise. I can pick chickens and ducks to eat every day. Just thinking about this is a great life..." said Ji Fengmei.
"They will all be there."
Ji Xu was thinking about more than these things. He kept talking all the way and didn't even feel tired.
When he left the pavilion, he called out to the pavilion father to open the door. The pavilion father yawned and asked him where he was going, then opened the door and let him in.
By this time, the sky had brightened. We extinguished the torches in the loess and continued towards the county town.
Ji Xu freed his hands and said, "It's not good for you to take my place all the time. You should take a break. I can do the rest of the way myself."
"This is not tiring. Blacksmithing is much more difficult than this." Cui Guangzong said.
Seeing that Ji Xu was still insistent, he left the car to her and walked away.
Lian Jixu packed a few pieces of fried tofu for her and said, "I've been through a lot on this trip. Take these pieces of tofu and eat them. They're not worth much, but they're a little cold."
He just waved his hand and said, "I don't like bean curd."
Ji Feng said from behind, "It's tofu, not preserved bean curd! What a fool who has no appetite."
In the hazy light, more and more people appeared on this country road. They were all villagers from villages closer to the county. They were carrying loads on their shoulders and baskets, carrying vegetables green with dew, and lively fish and shrimps, all rushing to the county town as soon as possible.
There were also people who arrived earlier and had already lined up at the south gate of Lingshui County. They saw a soldier on the city wall lowering chains, and the high-hanging suspension bridge was slowly lowered and spanned the river outside the city. There was a clang, and the gap in the tightly closed city gate became bigger and bigger, and the gravel road inside the city could be seen.
The villagers queuing up were delighted.
"The city gate is open!"
"The city gates are open!"
"Sir, I'm visiting my relatives, and these fish and shrimp are for them."
"I work as a hired help in a house there. I brought this dish with me to eat. You can see it all in my biography."
The villagers came closer while talking and secretly stuffed something into the gatekeeper's hand. The gatekeeper did not argue with them and waved his hand to let them go.
When Ji Xu saw this, he also took out two coins from his purse and held them in his palm.
When it was her turn, she handed the bamboo pass and the money to the other party, and the gatekeeper let her go without asking her why she was pushing such a large cart since the reason for coming to the city was written on the pass as a cook.
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