Chapter 20 Laba Congee
Mother Dong is still worried: "What if someone doesn't care?"
"We'll talk about it when it happens." If you are always worried about everything, how can you live your life and make money?
Su Ruojin felt relieved and thought, let's talk about the future later, anyway, I have already passed this hurdle today.
It was almost noon and almost all the breakfast stalls had been cleared. People were walking in groups of two or three, and the large alley became empty. The temporary mule cart hired by Su Ruojin arrived, and Shu Tong and Mother Dong worked together to move the boiler and other items up there.
Su Ruojin was too young to get involved, so she just stood aside leisurely.
The two stalls across the street saw that they had sold all the goods, and the heavy baskets of copper coins were so jealous that they wanted to grab them. In a bright and open world with people coming and going, they finally suppressed their greedy and jealous looks.
The Su family's mule cart disappeared from everyone's sight. The Xu family's kitchen maid spat, "You'll be hit by a car while walking, or drowned while crossing a river. You'll never make a living, you dead girl."
The insults were quite vicious.
Xiao Long Bao Zi came to the side of Xu's house and asked quietly, "Are we coming again tomorrow morning?"
Mrs. Li, the cook in the Xu family, glanced at the basket and saw that the bottom of the basket had just been filled with the copper coins she had earned from selling. She didn't know how to report back when she got home.
"I don't know." After saying that, she glanced at the other person's coin basket, which was not much better than hers. With someone comparing herself to her, Mrs. Li thought to herself, this way she can report back easily. She twisted her waist, cursed, and ordered the hanger-on girl to quickly pack up the things, put them on the cart, and push them away.
When she got home, Xu scolded her, suspecting that she had taken the flour money. Li swore that she had not. "Master, you don't know. The Su family's household items were confiscated by the patrol officers, and they actually bought another set. They arrived earlier than us this morning. Not only that, they also sold new dishes such as pot stickers and pan-fried dumplings. So many people came to buy them that no one bought our fried dough sticks and soy milk."
Mrs. Xu was surprised. "There is new food again?"
Mrs. Li nodded. "That's right."
"The Su family has so many recipes?" Mrs. Xu pursed her lips, put her facial features together, and a gleam of light burst out from her small eyes.
Seeing the calculating look on the mistress's face, Mrs. Li asked cautiously, "Our fried dough sticks are not as delicious as the Su family's. Even if we lower the price, those people will still go to the Su family to buy them. Do we still have to set up a stall tomorrow?"
"Why not?" Mrs. Xu said with a vicious look on her face. "Let's not go to Xiqiao Lane tomorrow. Let's go to Xinzheng Gate instead." There are many common people coming into the city from that area, and they can enjoy the delicious food just by frying it in oil.
"The head of the family is really smart." Mrs. Li flattered him.
Mrs. Xu narrowed her eyes again. It seemed that she had to ask her sister for advice, otherwise the money would not go into her pocket!
The xiao long bao seller also returned home. A middle-aged woman came up to him excitedly and asked, "Aying, how is your business?"
Wu Yueying looked dejected. "Don't mention it. When I made dumplings at home, the soup didn't soak into the dough. I didn't expect that when I made dumplings at the stall, the soup soaked into the dough. It was hard to wrap them, let alone steam them. Fortunately, I sold some siumai, otherwise I wouldn't have made a penny today."
Wu Yue'e frowned and said, "How did the soup get in there?"
"Who knows." Wu Yueying, who was setting up the stall, had no confidence at all, "I didn't expect that all my efforts would be in vain."
Hearing this, Wu Yue'e's mouth sank, "I was just saying that. Your brother-in-law finally helped you find such a profitable business, but I didn't expect that you couldn't afford it. It's really a waste of your brother-in-law's hard work."
Wu Yueying was furious. "Then my brother-in-law didn't even give us the recipe. He just bought us some steamed buns and asked us to try it. How can he make money?"
Wu Yue'e glared and started to scold: "I've helped you to the point of causing your vengeance."
"I don't care. Ask your brother-in-law to get the secret recipe of Baozhuo soup. Otherwise, this business won't work."
Wu Yue'e was so angry that she didn't say anything for a long time.
Seeing her elder sister was angry, Wu Yueying was still pointing at her elder sister, so she quickly came over and hugged her elder sister's arm and acted like a spoiled child, "Good sister, just watch me die of poverty. Since you have done it, then do it thoroughly and get the secret recipe over to me."
Wu Yue'e felt sorry for her sister, "You..." She thought to herself that she would wait for the man to come back and see what to do.
Su Ruojin didn't know what the two families were planning, but now that she knew who was running the stalls, she had an idea in her mind. No matter if it was the sister of the chief servant of the Prince of Jin's Mansion or the relative of the patrol officer of the Military Department, these people's identities and status were still far inferior to Su Yanli's. If they wanted to continue the Su family's business, they had to think carefully.
Sure enough, the next day Uncle Shutong came back from his stall and said that the two stalls were no longer in Xiqiao Lane. Su Ruojin asked someone and found out that one had gone to Xinzheng Bridge and the other had gone to Dongda Street, only selling shaomai. It was said that business was still good.
Without vicious competition, Su Ji’s morning stall business is getting better and better, with daily revenue rising steadily, and this year’s year looks to be doing just fine.
The Su family could take or leave the other confiscated things, but the mule had been with Su Yanli for several years and the family had developed feelings for it. For the sake of the mule, Su Yanli found someone and took them to a decent restaurant for a meal, and finally got a set of household items back.
Su Ruojin was surprised and said, "I thought the mule was starved to death by them, but I didn't expect it to come back alive."
Horses, mules, donkeys, etc. are important means of transportation for the people of Dayin. Government offices like the Bingmasi have places dedicated to raising horses and mules. If the owner of a confiscated mule is unable to get it out, it will be dealt with by the people of the Bingmasi after a certain period of time. It may be confiscated for personal use or auctioned. The money obtained should be confiscated, but in fact, most of these confiscated items have become the gray income of the clerks of the Bingmasi.
As expected, she is a child who is ignorant of the ways of the world. Su Yanli reached out and tapped his daughter's forehead gently, "This is an important means of transportation, how could we let it starve to death?" What an ignorant child.
If the 'ignorant girl' knew that her father thought of her like this, she would definitely feel aggrieved, because she was born in an era when there were no mules or donkeys for travel!
It was already the twelfth lunar month, and Laba Festival was just a few days away. Su Ruojin and Mother Dong went to the market to buy ingredients for cooking Laba porridge. If they were to eat it at home, they could actually include Eight Treasure Porridge in the confinement meals they made for Cheng Yingzhen. But since this festival was coming, how could they miss the opportunity to make money!
Su Ruojin decided to sell from the first to the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month to make a good profit, so she had to purchase quickly, otherwise it would be gone if she bought too late.
The ingredients of Laba porridge are rich, including large green and red beans, japonica coix seeds, longans, red dates, ginkgo, lilies, lotus seeds, chestnuts, walnuts, candied fruits, etc. The ingredients are different in each place and each family, and the porridge cooked is also of different colors, which is very appetizing.
According to the I Ching Five Elements Theory, green (mung beans) belongs to wood, which governs the liver and gallbladder; red (red beans, red dates, etc.) belongs to fire, which connects to the heart; yellow (soybeans, walnuts, etc.) belongs to earth, which connects to the spleen; white (lily and lotus seeds) belongs to gold, which connects to the lungs; black (longan, black beans, etc.) belongs to water, which connects to the kidneys. The ingredients of Laba porridge contain all five elements, which has a tonic effect on the five internal organs, can strengthen the body and prolong life.
So on the Laba day, Su Ruojin would stop selling Laba porridge. On that day, the emperor would personally bestow Laba porridge on the princes, ministers, guards and others. There would also be Laba porridge given by the royal family on the Imperial Street to show that the emperor was generous and generous and wanted to share the joy with the people.
(End of this chapter)
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