Chapter 104 This is my wife
While Chen Lie was still in the kitchen, Zhou Cunzheng arrived.
It was sent to Chen Lie. With such a big favor of bringing back the news of the war in the north, and Zhou Cunzheng's help, and many people in the Zhou clan were anxious to buy grain after hearing the news, Zhou Lizheng really went to the county early this morning and got a batch of grain.
This includes several villagers from Shili Village.
Zhou Cunzheng said: "I heard about the war in the north last night. They are much more active than last time. Several families immediately asked me to help them run the business. I guess they will have to go to the county to buy food in the next two days."
They all have elderly people at home who have suffered through the war. They were unwilling to buy soybeans when they were more than 80 wen a dou before, but now they have to buy them at 350 wen a dou. They are so painful that their faces are twitching. What's more, they can't buy them at 350 wen, so they should be preparing to buy some soybeans and stockpile them at home.
Zhou Cunzheng didn't explain all this to Sang Luo in detail, but she only heard that someone in the village had taken the idea of hoarding grain to heart, and she felt that the efforts of Chen Lie and Zhou Cunzheng were not in vain.
After the passing of the inspection, the next step naturally was to get down to business. Zhou Cun was asking Sang Luo if she was going to the county town tomorrow.
Sang Luo nodded. She was supposed to deliver three jars of jujube candies and sour jujube cakes to Yongfengzhai tomorrow. These would be the last three jars saved up this autumn and winter.
Zhou Cunzheng said, "If the price of grain doesn't change much, my family can probably buy four shi of grain. Tomorrow morning, I'll have my son, Dalang, pull a cart to meet you at the foot of the mountain and go to the county together. Do you think it's appropriate?"
Sang Luo smiled: "There's nothing inappropriate, just ask Brother Zhou to come out at Maochu."
Zhou Cunzheng got Sang Luo's approval and left with a smile. After a while, Qin Fangniang and others also came over with a basket of tofu and the soybeans that were to be delivered for today's order.
Chen Lie was talking to Shi Dalang and Lu Erlang, while Sang Luo told them about her family and the Zhou family going to the county together tomorrow, and asked them, "Aunts, do you have any rules at home? How much grain do you plan to buy?"
This really exists.
Qin Fangniang said: "We bought two shi of rice. This is all the money we have. We will keep some for salt and medicine."
Since mid-October, the business in the county has actually been declining step by step. Food prices have been rising, and the people in the county are naturally worried. In fact, because they can easily know the daily food prices, the atmosphere is even more tense than in the village.
Qin Fangniang and her colleagues' business over the past month has been supported by restaurants and wealthy families.
Gan said, "We are also able to collect enough money to buy two stone of grain."
The Lu family is slightly better. The number reported by Feng Liuniang is three stones, but the Lu family has a much larger population than the Shi family and the Chen family, so they are not stronger in comparison.
The stall business had not been going on for three months, and the three families did not have much savings. Although they had some grain after paying the rent and taxes after the autumn harvest, it would not last long. She thought about it and said, "Why don't you consider buying less millet and buying a dozen bags of soybeans to store before the news of the war in the north reaches here and the price of soybeans rises sharply?"
During the famine years, bean rice was the staple food, and the three families had no shortage of soybeans, but they had sent a lot of them to her in the past two months to pay for the goods, and now they probably don't have much left.
Qin Fang's mother and the others looked at each other. It was true. It was not that the family did not plan to buy soybeans, but they wanted to save all the money this time and follow Sang Luo to buy grain from Manager Xu, and then buy soybeans with the money they earned later. But if the true situation in the north were to spread here, would soybeans still be priced at the current price?
When rice prices skyrocketed, soybean prices did rise as well. It's just that there are many mountains here, and the people grow enough soybeans, so every household has them, and they are not subject to tax. So, as grain prices continued to rise, soybean prices only rose a little tentatively. But since no one seemed to be scrambling for food, there was no further movement afterwards.
Therefore, even companies like Sang Luo that sell tofu using soybeans as the main raw material have never adjusted the price. However, when they went to the county a few times and couldn't buy much grain, they bought a lot of soybeans and brought them back in large bags and stored them on the shelves in the kitchen.
But the fact that the price didn't rise before doesn't mean it won't rise either when they know there are rebellions everywhere in the north. A few of them immediately became concerned and said they would discuss it with their families when they get back.
Sang Luo nodded and said, "Okay, then you can bring your own money tomorrow. Muramasa's family will bring a cart, Aunt Tian's family will bring one, and it would be better if they bring another one. If you can't buy grain, you can always buy soybeans."
Feng Liuniang nodded and said, "I have a cart at home, so we will pull one tomorrow."
After the matter was settled and the goods to be delivered the next day were agreed upon, Qin Fangniang and her group left together.
…
After everyone had left and the water in the kitchen had boiled, Chen Lie started to kill the chicken.
Shen An and Shen Ning stopped writing and ran out to watch.
Chen Ning was envious of the beautiful pheasant feathers. When Sang Luo was mixing the salt water, she ran over and asked, "Sister-in-law, can we make feather dusters with these pheasant feathers?"
Sang Luo smiled: "Don't we have one at home? We don't need so many. Just do the degreasing process like last time, then dry it and store it away."
Chen Ning was happy. He shoveled some wood ash to soak the chicken feathers later and went out to help his elder brother.
For dinner, there was a dish of pheasant stewed with winter bamboo shoots and a dish of chicken offal. The delicious taste of the pheasant and the winter bamboo shoots was enough to make one's tongue salivate.
After Sang Luo had money, she was not the kind of person who would spend too much on herself. Every ten or so days she would buy some pork or even mutton to improve her diet.
But pheasant meat is completely different. Sang Luo had never had the chance to eat this kind of thing before. This was the first time for Chen An and Shen Ning to eat it in the past few years. Chen Lie had eaten it a lot, but in the mountains they always roasted it whole, with almost no other seasoning except salt. How could it compare with what Sang Luo made.
So at this dinner, the three siblings were all busy eating. Even Sang Luo, who was always restrained from eating too much, accidentally ate too much.
…
I had to go to the county the next day, so I had to make some preparations at night. In addition to the goods to be sold the next day, the most important thing was money.
Chen An was the most skilled at this. He leaned over to the bed, half leaned inside, and took out the broken clay pot from under the bed. The pot felt quite heavy in his hands.
Starting from October, Sang Luo used the money from selling tofu and vegetarian tripe to buy a machete, a hoe and scissors, which were essential household items, as well as grain and soybeans.
Soybeans were easy to buy, but grain was hard to buy. Sang Luo had to go to the county about six or seven times a month, and she always brought Shen An and Shen Ning with her to buy grain. Even so, the amount of grain she could buy was limited, less than one and a half stone.
I originally thought that the food at home was enough to last for a year, so I didn't even think about using Manager Xu's connections, so naturally the money I spent was not much.
Therefore, in the two months of October and November, apart from the larger expenses mentioned above, the rest of Sang Luo's expenses were just for food and household expenses. Therefore, when she took out the earthenware jar, there were more than three strings of copper coins in it, which were the recent payments for goods. In addition, there were quite a few silver ingots of one or two taels in size, which were all exchanged with Yongfengzhai and Dongfulou.
Shen An and Shen Ning didn't have much money, so they knew exactly how much was in the jar. But Shen Lie was different. When he saw the small pile of silver, he was dumbfounded.
He knew that Sang Luo's business of making tofu could support his family, but he didn't know that he could save so much money.
Shen An and Shen Ning have already counted.
"Sister-in-law, there are fourteen taels in total."
Sang Luo agreed, and seeing Chen Lie's stunned expression, she said, "In addition to selling tofu and dried bean curd, my family also made some other things to sell before, and we made quite a bit of money."
At this point, he suddenly remembered and asked Chen Lie with a smile, "Crystal preserved meat is sweet and sour. We have it at home. We keep it for Xiao An and Aning as a snack. Do you want to try it?"
Shen Lie shook his head without even thinking about it, they had only been together for a little over a day, and he didn't know if it was his illusion, but sometimes he felt like Sang Luo was treating him like Shen An and Shen Ning.
Obviously younger than him.
Sang Luo carefully kept the fourteen taels of silver, plus an extra three strings of silver, and the box of ginseng that Chen Lie brought back.
The next morning, the family of four went to the county town with several other families before dawn.
This time he brought Chen An and Shen Ning not to buy food, but Chen Lie was worried about leaving his younger brothers and sisters alone at home. He had seen too many things on the way from the north, such as going to the county town. When the two little ones had gone through the process, he always felt at ease when they were in front of him.
Fortunately, there were many carts being pulled today, so Shen An and Shen Ning didn't have to get off the carts or walk a single step during the entire journey.
The guards at the city gate were very familiar with Qin Fangniang and her group. They had been able to enter the city almost every day for more than two months, rain or shine. Even Sang Luo, Shen An and Chen Ning had an impression of them. Therefore, the inspection was very careless. They didn't even need to take the money. They just took a glance, took the entrance fee and waved their hands to let them pass.
However, Chen Lie saw a few unfamiliar faces and asked them to show their credentials for a closer look before letting them pass.
After entering the city, Qin Fangniang and her companions were busy with their own things. Chen Youtian, Shi Dalang, Lu Erlang and Zhou Dalang followed Sang Luo. As for Chen Dashan, he said that he would go and get the pheasant first.
On the way here, Sang Luo asked if she needed help selling. Chen Dashan shook his head and said that he had a way. As a result, after entering the county town, they found that he and Sang Luo and her group were going the same way.
Originally thinking it was a coincidence, they walked straight to the back door of Dongfulou. Chen Dashan and Shen Lie looked at each other, and finally looked at Sang Luo together.
Chen Lie: "Did you sell your pheasants to Dongfulou?"
Sang Luo looked at Chen Lie and Chen Dashan: "Did you also sell your prey to Dongfulou in the past?"
Shen Lie and Chen Dashan both laughed.
Sang Luo also smiled: "Then let's go in together."
This time, naturally, refers to Shen Lie and Chen Dashan. Chen Youtian and the others consciously waited for news outside, while Shen An and Shen Ning, who had already entered the kitchen of Dongfulou, followed their eldest brother and sister-in-law in.
The boy in the kitchen felt very familiar with Sang Luo, and called her "Madam Sang" with a smile. He then called the two younger ones, Shen An and Shen Ning, and was about to invite people in.
Chef Yu stared at Chen Lie and Chen Dashan who were standing one step behind Sang Luo for several times, then he said "yo", put down the work in his hands and walked a few steps towards Chen Lie and Chen Dashan: "Is it Chen Xiaolang and Chen Xiaolang?!"
He was a little unsure at first, but when he saw Chen Lie and Chen Dashan smiling at him and calling him Uncle Yu, Chef Yu was happy: "It's really you! I haven't been here for a few years. Where have you been? Were you conscripted?"
Chen Lie nodded and said with a smile: "I just came back. How is Uncle Yu?"
Chef Yu said yes repeatedly. Hearing that he had just returned, he wanted to reminisce about the past and inquire about the situation outside. However, seeing that Sang Luo was still there, he could not neglect her. He smiled and said to Shen Lie and Chen Dashan, "Wait a minute, I will collect the goods for Madam Sang first."
He then turned and called Sang Luo.
Sang Luo smiled and handed over the vegetarian tripe and pheasant winter bamboo shoots she had brought.
When Chef Yu saw the pheasant and winter bamboo shoots, his eyes lit up: "These are good things, but..."
He looked at Sang Luo and said, "Mrs. Sang, you can trap pheasants now???"
Isn’t this too omnipotent?
Sang Luo didn't know how to catch a pheasant, but before she could say anything, Chen Lie smiled and answered, "I caught this pheasant."
He looked at Sang Luo again, smiled and said to Chef Yu: "A Luo is my wife."
A string of question marks popped up on Chef Yu's forehead. He looked at Sang Luo and then at Chen Lie, his eyes full of surprise.
Chen Lie smiled so much that his eyebrows were curved, and he subconsciously glanced at Sang Luo again. Coincidentally, Sang Luo was looking at him when she heard this. Chen Lie quickly suppressed the smile on his face, turned his head to the side, and tried to straighten his expression.
Sang Luo: ...
That comes out pretty smoothly.
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