Chapter 394 Popsicle 1
It was so hot that it was unbearable to walk a few steps. The manual fans that were once popular became popular again. The carpenter's business was booming, but the air was hot and the wind was still hot. People tried all kinds of ways to cool down.
If you ask what is the best way to cool down, of course it is ice. Whether it is placed in the room or in water, it is the best way to cool down.
In the hot summer, if you ask what is the best business in Beijing, it is of course ice, but it is also expensive. Only rich people can afford it. Those who can do this business are either rich or noble. It is not something that ordinary people can do, nor is it something that ordinary people can afford.
Su Ruojin took Ningning and others to the West Mountain to check out the vegetable fields. When they were stopping for a meal at an inn along the official road, they saw peddlers stretching their necks due to the heat, and some even fell to the ground due to heatstroke while walking.
People passing by quickly helped the man up, pinched his Ren Zhong point to wake him up, and advised him to go home quickly, "Wait until it's cooler in the evening before coming out to take on more work."
The middle-aged man shook his head. "Who doesn't want to go out in the evening? But there are so many people going out in the evening that it's not our turn to do that."
Yes, everyone knows that the weather is hot, but in order to survive, we still have to work hard.
Su Ruojin asked Mao Ya to bring a bottle of iced water to the middle-aged man. The man was too polite to take it, so Mao Ya stuffed it into his hand and said, "Take it, and take a rest in the shade."
"Thank you very much... Thank you very much." The man happily walked away holding the cool bamboo tube.
Su Ruojin looked up and felt the scorching heat was unbearable.
Su Xiaomei pouted and said, "It would be nice if I could have some popsicles."
The weather was getting hot, and the Su family hadn't had time to make popsicles yet. Su Sanlang also wanted to eat some, "Sister, let's make more when we get to Xishan."
Cool sticks? Whether it is storing ice or making ice, it has been monopolized by the wealthy families, but popsicles are not available! In the 1970s and 1980s, many people put a quilt in a small wooden box and dragged it on bicycles to sell it in the streets and alleys. Each stick cost 10 cents, and even the poor could occasionally indulge in eating one to cool off.
Suddenly, she stood up, looking excited, "Aning, let's not go to Xishan yet, let's go back to Beijing."
Ning Ning: “Ah…”
Fan Yanjia, who was traveling with his wife: …
Su Ruojin happily held Ningning's hand and said, "How about we open a workshop together?"
Ningning looked at the middle-aged man who hid under the shade of a tree with a bamboo tube in his hand, "Ajin, do you want to sell bamboo tube ice water?"
"Uh..." Su Ruojin said mysteriously, "Almost."
"Do you really want to do it?" Ningning reminded her, "There is iced water for sale in Bianjing City."
Because the weather is too hot this year and ice is expensive, there are fewer vendors selling ice water on the market. Rich people have ice at home and will not buy ice water from vendors. Poor people cannot afford to buy ice water because ice is expensive this year and the ice water is also expensive, so the ice water business is not very good.
"Yeah." Su Ruojin nodded affirmatively.
Everyone: ...
Su Ruojin has always been the backbone of the group. Since she said she wanted to go back, the others had no choice but to follow her back to Beijing.
After returning home, Zhao Lan planned to take a day off to visit his wife in Xishan. Unexpectedly, when he entered the bedroom, he saw his young wife. “It’s too hot, you can’t stand it and come back?”
Su Ruojin shook her head and quickly took out her recipe for making ice with nitrate, and then took out the recipe for making popsicles, "I want to open a popsicle workshop."
So that's how it is. Zhao Lan smiled and took the ice and popsicle recipe. "With my connections, getting nitrate shouldn't be a problem. How much do you sell the popsicles for? How much is one?"
"One penny each."
"One cent?" Zhao Lan didn't expect such a rare item to be sold so cheaply.
Su Ruojin said: "The workshop mainly makes salt water ice. After it is made, vendors go from village to village to sell it, so that ordinary people can also enjoy ice to cool down."
Zhao Lan understood that his wife wanted to make money and also wanted ordinary people to enjoy ice to cool down. Although the popsicles were only a little bit big, at least they could let them enjoy a little ice to cool down in the hot summer.
He nodded, "What do you need me to do?"
See, this is the benefit of having a husband who is a big boss. Su Ruojin happily hugged Zhao Lan's neck, "A popsicle that costs one penny can only make money by quantity. Of course, only when the quantity is increased can ordinary people enjoy the heat relief of popsicles."
With power and money, efficiency is top-notch. Five days later, the first batch of popsicles were on the market. Many children aged ten to sixteen hung a wooden box around their necks with thirty to fifty popsicles stuffed inside. They walked around the streets, "Popsicles, one cent each, salty and sweet, come and have a look, taste them..."
In the streets and alleys, there were peddlers, porters, and children playing at the door. When they heard the word "popsicle", they all gathered around the vendor selling popsicles and asked, "One penny for a popsicle?"
The tanned boy smiled, revealing his white teeth. "Yes, one cent a stick. Do you want one?"
Although life is difficult this year, the weather is so hot that if one can really buy ice with one penny, it is not considered a waste of money. So the middle-aged peddler gritted his teeth, took out the penny he had earned with great difficulty, and said, "Give me one..." He was thinking about choosing sweet or salty.
The boy suggested: "Brother, it takes a lot of energy for you to walk around the streets. You need salt water to replenish your energy. It's suitable for you to eat salt water ice."
The young man spoke very convincingly, and the peddler smiled cheerfully and said, "Then listen to what you say, little brother. Take a salt water ice."
"Okay!" The young man took the money, quickly opened the lid of the wooden box, took out a cool salt water ice from the quilt and handed it to the peddler.
"Wow, a cool breeze." The peddler was very surprised when he received the salt water ice. He quickly put it into his mouth and sucked it. The melted water slid from his throat all the way to his heart. It was really cool. "Oh my God, this is simply a heavenly enjoyment."
Everyone was staring at him, and suddenly, someone reacted and said, "Give me one like this." This is a man who makes money by his physical strength.
"I want one too... I want one too..." The man who was about to faint from the heat suddenly became energetic and took out one of the few cents he had earned with great difficulty to enjoy the ice that only the nobles were qualified to enjoy.
"Oh my god, I'm not lying, it's so cool..."
The adults ate to quench their thirst and cool down, and the children also crowded in, "I have a penny, give me a stick."
The boy gave the children slightly sweet ones, as well as luxury versions with red beans and mung beans, but these beans cost two cents each. Some people from well-off families could afford them, so in a short while, all fifty sticks in the boy's box were sold out.
Looking at the sky, he sighed. It was a pity that each vendor could only sell 50 sticks per day. But for a kid of his age, after paying the five cents for rent for the wooden box, he could still earn forty-five cents, which was already very good.
The boy ran home happily, waiting for tomorrow's business.
Five days later, not only were there one-cent popsicles for sale in every corner of Bianjing City, but all the villages and counties in the capital area had popsicle workshops. All the workshops had a unified selling price: salt water and sweet water popsicles were one cent each, and those with beans were two cents. As for delicate popsicles like ice cream, they were also for sale, but only the rich could enjoy them.
The censor held the memorial with the core in his hand for a long time without moving. If it was something else, he would not be sure. However, every day, a vendor would come to his back door to sell popsicles. The children and servants in his family had eaten them. They were honest and fair. One cent for salt and sugar only, and two cents for beans. Even if they were small, they were still ice cream, right? One cent for each, and the core was also in it. Besides, those little boys were running around in the heat every day. They were not worth a cent.
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