Jiang Huaixu found his elder brother to inquire about the situation.
Jiang Dalang took Jiang Huaixu aside and said carefully, "We have a healthy horse that we didn't sell, and another one is a bit old, so we only sold it for ten taels of silver. Most of the horses we got from the bandits were healthy, and we sold them for a total of 276 taels of silver. The price of a cow has increased from 45 taels to 67 taels, so we bought ten of them."
"We make a lot of money." Jiang Huaixu looked at the cows in the yard, feeling a little distressed. "Brother, those horses used to urinate and defecate everywhere, making the yard stink. Now the cows are here... We cook all our food, so isn't it a bit bad to keep it in the yard?"
Jiang Dalang couldn't stand the smell in the yard either. "I asked my uncle, and he and my father said we could buy two plots of land behind Third Grandpa's house to house the cows and carts. We could share the ten cows and put them in the back, and each household could take turns looking after them."
“Why buy two homesteads?”
There was more than enough space for just the oxen and the cart. She thought for a moment and asked herself, "Tofu workshop?"
"Yes, this way we don't have to squeeze in our house, and it will be more convenient for us."
Jiang Huaixu felt relieved. He finally didn't have to pinch his nose and step on poop when going to the toilet.
After watching the fun, it was not yet time to go to bed, so Jiang Huaixu called a few half-grown children from the village to come and make five-spice powder.
First, he asked them to wash their hands one by one with soap, and then asked them to wipe off the slugs hanging under their noses. Jiang Huaixu shook the prepared five-spice powder repeatedly, then took out a stack of rough paper and demonstrated how much to measure and how to wrap it.
There were many children, and there were several older children like Liu Ye'er watching over them, so they wrapped the dumplings very quickly.
After two days of preparation and having ground enough spices, Jiang Huaixu told his uncle during dinner that he could go to the street to sell them.
Jiang Zhengmao could not hide the joy on his face. Money was spent like water. His heart was always uneasy. As long as the tofu and spices sold well, he would be completely at ease.
"Okay, then we'll go sell it tomorrow. Your mother and your sister-in-law Mei have tried it on the iron plate, and they are all delicious. It's just right for them to go together. Your third grandmother will also go, and she will collect the money."
Sister Mei's full name is Du Mei. She is Jiang Miao's wife. Zheng Li Niang is indispensable for cooking the big pot meal, and the wolf meat at home also needs to be made into meat sauce, so Du Mei takes over.
Jiang Huaixu had no objection, but she wanted to go too.
"Uncle, I want to go to the county town to sell our five-spice powder to restaurants and vendors."
Jiang Zhengmao felt great after hearing this. This girl was very good at talking and sometimes he couldn't even win the argument.
"If you want to go, go ahead. Doctor Kang has become the chief physician at the Qingnang Clinic. If you encounter any difficult problems, go to him for help."
Jiang Huaixu knew that Doctor Kang went to the county town after taking the pulse of the villagers one by one, but he didn't know that he had got the position of doctor in Qingnangguan so quickly.
After being surprised, she quickly agreed. From then on, they would have connections in the county.
As for how to sell tofu, it has already been discussed. The tofu will be cut into slices, five slices per package, three cents per package, fried bean cakes will be two cents each, and spices will be six cents per package.
The next day, before dawn, Jiang Huaixu was awakened by Fu Tuan. Hearing the noise outside, she patted her cheeks because she was too sleepy to open her eyes. When she opened her eyes, she saw that it was still dark and she suddenly had no desire to get up.
After lying in the warm quilt for a while, Jiang Huaixu sat up.
As soon as she moved, Jiang Wei and Jiang Fu beside her also moved.
Jiang Wei grabbed her and said in a hoarse voice before she even opened her eyes, "Little sister, I want to go to the county town too."
Jiang Fu's voice came from the left again, "Second cousin, I want to help too."
Jiang Huaixu did not stop him, but said: "I'll take you there when I can get up."
A quarter of an hour later, the three of them stood beside the carriage.
"Dad, are you going to the county town too?" Jiang Wei asked Jiang Boliang, who was already sitting in the car, with sleepy eyes.
"It's dark, Dad will drive you there. There's also an ox cart, your second grandmother will drive it."
Jiang Huaixu took a look at the carriage. The tofu were placed in a square basket with a cotton cloth on the bottom. There were six plates in total, two plates stacked on top of each other. Next to it was a large basin of bean dregs and a small bag of white flour.
All that's left are some pots, pans, seasonings and baking paper.
As for the ox cart, there were tied to it a table, benches, a pot and two buckets.
Looking at so many things, Jiang Huaixu deeply felt that it was necessary to rent a house on Beichuan Street.
The group arrived at the county town after dawn.
The ox cart first stopped at Fangzhengsi, paid a stall fee of fifty cents, received a red sign, and then headed towards Kang'an Street.
They arrived not too late, and many stalls were already occupied. Finally, they found a relatively large corner on the street next to Kang'an Street.
A group of people got off the ox cart and started to busy themselves with setting up tables and benches, and taking things off the cart. Jiang Zhengmao went to fetch two buckets of water. After bringing them back, Qian Xiuzhu lit the charcoal fire in the iron trough, put a big pot on the table and boiled a pot of water and poured it into the big kettle.
After cleaning the iron plate, I started frying tofu with Sister Mei.
Second Grandma stood beside the stall, looking at the people passing by with an eager look on her face, hoping that the stall would open soon.
Qian Xiuzhu first spread animal oil on the iron plate with an oilcloth. When the oil was hot, she took the cut tofu handed to her by Du Mei and fried it for a while until both sides turned golden brown. Then she sprinkled five-spice powder on the tofu, and the aroma immediately made people's mouths water.
After Jiang Huaixu and the other two finished their work, they saw that passers-by only stopped to ask the price but did not buy anything, so they came up with an idea.
She clasped Jiang Wei and Jiang Fu's shoulders with both hands, and the three heads touched each other, whispering for a while. Jiang Fu stayed where she was, and the other two disappeared around the corner.
After a moment, the two of them came back quietly.
Not long after, a woman who was dressed simply but looked relatively wealthy walked up to the Third Grandma. She first glanced at the fried tofu, and then casually glanced at Jiang Huaixu who was standing behind her.
"Grandma, this tofu smells really good. How much is it?"
Her voice was loud and clear and could be heard clearly by people around her.
Grandma San was busy welcoming her warmly. "This is called iron plate tofu. It's three cents per portion. There are five slices of tofu this big. It tastes delicious. Since you are our first guest here, we can give you an extra slice!"
The woman pretended to be embarrassed and asked, "Where is the cake?"
"Fried bean cakes are two cents each. If you buy three at once, it's only five cents!"
The woman didn't hesitate any longer and handed over five coins. "Just buy a portion of tofu and a bean cake!"
Third Grandma quickly took it and said "Ah" happily.
It’s open! It’s finally open!
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