Zhenniang, The Three of Us (Part 9)
A group of people happily took the money home. Such a big event couldn't be handled by just the two of them, so Aunt Huang's husband, who pulled the cart, also came along.
Granny Wang rode in the carriage, while Zhao Zhenniang walked.
At first, Aunt Wang tried her best to let Second Sister sit down, but Jian Yu'an was a modern person after all, and couldn't bear to see such an old lady running around on the ground while she was sitting down, so she refused directly.
Aunt Wang was about to offer more, but Jian Yu'an glared at her, and she dared not speak.
I quickly climbed into the car; to my surprise, the fox spirit was quite kind.
On second thought, it's a fox; what's a few miles? It might just reveal its true form and arrive in no time.
Thinking of this, Granny Wang felt relieved. Making the fox spirit walk a little was nothing; obeying her was the most important thing.
After a long day of running around, even Aunt Wang, who could sit for a while, didn't rest. Everyone was tired and hungry, so Aunt Wang suggested that they go to the city to get some food.
Upon hearing this, everyone perked up their ears.
Things are plentiful and expensive in the city. People from the countryside bring their own dry food when they go to work in the city. They swallow their saliva while the steam rises from the pot, using their saliva to soften the rock-hard dry food.
Now that I've made so much money, could I...?
While Zhao Zhenniang was still hesitating, Ye Xiqing immediately responded: Yes.
Aunt Wang: ...
Third Aunt, you've come too...
Aunt Ye, Sister Hu, and the original Zhao Zhenniang are very different; you can tell them apart at a glance after spending time with them.
Everyone has different preferences. My second sister likes beautiful clothes, according to my third aunt. But why does no one say what my third aunt likes? How come she noticed it too?
...
After a long day of hard work, everyone was exhausted, their stomachs were bulging, and their bodies were dry. Looking at the dazzling array of stalls all over the street, they finally decided to find a wonton stall to sit down.
The roadside wonton stall sign proclaims "Big filling, thin skin," but in reality, the meat is passed down through three generations. Even after the owner leaves, the meat remains, and the skin is removed with a flick of the wrist, leaving no meat filling damaged. Passersby mainly buy wontons to drink the soup.
The vendors are clever; it's too costly to focus on the wontons, so they'd rather focus on the soup.
A spoonful of lard is enough to make a pot of soup, and one pot of soup can cook several bowls of wontons. Sprinkle with salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and cilantro leaves, and it tastes even better than eating meat. That's what you're all about when you drink this soup.
As soon as the wontons were served, Aunt Wang and Huang Qiuju’s husband picked up their bowls and took a big sip. The aroma of the soup filled their bodies, and they felt so comfortable that they wouldn’t trade it for a god’s sake!
Ye Xiqing, on the other hand, was quite refined and picked up a soup spoon to scoop it up.
Even in times of scarcity, things are better than the apocalypse. This soup is actually quite delicious.
Ye Xiqing picked up her spoon and took a few sips of soup. She had never liked wontons, not in any era. She instructed Huang Qiuju's husband to go to the stall outside and buy a basket of meat buns, then scooped the wontons from her bowl into Wang Gupo's bowl.
Aunt Wang was slurping wontons when she suddenly saw her daughter scooping wontons into her own bowl.
Although she is getting on in years, she is someone who never deprives herself of food. She eats fine food, has good teeth, and naturally has a large appetite.
Watching her goddaughter scoop wontons for her, Ke Ke was overjoyed. She was so lucky to have such a wonderful daughter in her old age, someone who always thought of her!
When she was happy, she would protect the bowl and say repeatedly, "No need, no need, you can eat it yourself!"
Then it dawned on me, wait a minute! Isn't that my third aunt?!
Upon realizing that it was her third aunt, Granny Wang's mind went blank. What was going on?
Ye Xiqing handed the wontons to her, then turned to the wonton stall owner and said, "Give us three more bowls of soup, but no wontons."
Upon hearing this, the couple who made wontons immediately responded.
In modern times, it's not uncommon to have duck blood and vermicelli soup without the duck blood or vermicelli; this was not unusual in the old days either.
Nowadays, people who don't like duck blood or vermicelli can spend the same amount of money to buy just a bowl of soup to taste. In the old days, however, poor people couldn't afford a whole bowl of wontons, so they would just buy a bowl of soup to satisfy their cravings.
In this situation, it's obviously impossible to sell it at the original price.
The couple selling wontons were busy chopping cilantro and ladling soup, cheerfully announcing, "Soup is half price, and we'll add some cilantro for you!"
Ye Xiqing turned around and said, "Okay, I like cilantro."
Granny Wang fell into deep thought.
Indeed, if Third Aunt is Ye Jiaxian, she would prefer drinking water to eating.
But if I make my aunt eat cilantro, isn't that the same as making her eat her own kind?
Thinking of this, Granny Wang immediately turned to the stall owner and said cleverly, "Just put some cilantro in two bowls, my husband doesn't eat cilantro!"
Although the stall owner didn't understand why someone wouldn't like cilantro, he thought rich people had many quirks and immediately said, "Yes, yes, yes!"
It even saves on materials!
Wang Gupo eagerly pushed the bowl of soup without cilantro in front of Ye Xiqing, her face full of flattery.
How could I let you ask in person? I'll take care of it for you myself!
Ye Xiqing: ...
She picked up the bowl, turned to face the vendor, and said, "It's not up to her. Add it to my bowl."
Aunt Wang: Huh?
...
Ye Xiqing's inhumane cannibalism made Granny Wang's heart tremble. What a vicious Third Aunt...
Fortunately, everyone enjoyed the meal. There were six buns in a steamer, enough for two per person, two white buns and two bowls of soup. Everyone was stuffed after eating.
A steamer basket of six buns cost 50 cents, a bowl of wontons cost 10 cents, and soup was half price. The total came to 95 cents, which could have been paid for with a dollar. The vendor even gave a lot of change in change.
But Granny Wang couldn't bear to part with the silver dollars, so she took out a bunch of loose coins from her pocket to make up the difference.
In those precarious times, currency exchange was not like it is today, where one hundred dollars equals ten tens of dollars, and ten dollars equals ten dollars.
In an era of financial system chaos, the exchange rates between different currencies fluctuated wildly, and the small change in the hands of ordinary people often became worthless overnight.
The ocean contained at least some real silver. People would deposit their silver, silver, and gold as they had them. The situation forced people to distrust the self-issued currencies of those warlords.
The pocket money was with Granny Wang, but the larger sums of money were with Ye Xiqing. This era was not peaceful, and there were many pickpockets, so Ye Xiqing personally escorted them.
After safely returning home, although it was late, it was still not dark because of the long summer days.
Aunt Wang was overwhelmed with gratitude, as her second sister escorted her during the day and her third aunt escorted her at night.
Once home, remembering something, she quickly handed Ye Xiqing a folded piece of paper while her third aunt was in a trance: "Third aunt, this is for you from my second sister!"
Upon opening the message from the small system and learning that another transmigrator was sharing a body, Ye Xiqing naturally wanted to contact the other transmigrator immediately.
However, the characters used now are very similar to modern simplified characters, making them easy to decipher if discovered by others. Therefore, Jian Yu'an chose a special communication method.
Looking at the familiar handwriting, Ye Xiqing was filled with emotion; she hadn't seen such a familiar handwriting in a long time.
Extend your hand and write a reply—
I don't understand, can you speak Chinese?
Jian Yu'an: ...
Are you crazy?! I wrote it in pinyin!
Jian Yu'an desperately wanted to contact Ye Xiqing, but Ye Xiqing's divine reply made her faint with anger.
She wasn't the only victim. Zhao Zhenniang, who had finally gotten another chance to enjoy delicious food, was also possessed again while eating.
As a user of the [Soul Transfer] technique, Ye Xiqing can naturally control the switching of personalities.
But figuring out when to switch personalities was too much trouble, so Ye Xiqing simply scheduled everyone into shifts.
Jian Yu'an is good at dressing up, so she is responsible for getting up early to wash up. Zhao Zhenniang is hardworking and diligent, so she is responsible for a day's work. She is in charge of all the personalities, which is very physically and mentally demanding, so she is responsible for eating and sleeping, including lunch and dinner.
There was no breakfast. People these days don't eat breakfast.
Everyone is contributing to this body, and everyone is sharing the body's resources equally. It's reasonable, very reasonable.
She had made sense, but Jian Yu'an was extremely anxious because he couldn't communicate with the other transmigrator at all!
The other time traveler did whatever he wanted and earned a hundred yuan. Jian Yu'an originally had further plans, but before she could make her plans, the other time traveler had already planned how to use the money!
...
After another delicious meal that left only a lingering aftertaste and no real feeling, Zhao Zhenniang didn't know what to say.
But the heavy silver dollars in her arms filled her with joy.
Counting the silver dollars one by one, the silver dollars fell with a clattering sound, which was refreshing to hear.
After counting the money over and over again, looking at the ten neat stacks of coins, Zhao Zhenniang thought for a moment and then gathered all the villagers together.
Aunt Wang scolded her daughter for being too honest, saying that she always tells others how much she has, but if you secretly take a few pieces, no one will know!
But Zhao Zhenniang believed that only by being sincere to others can you earn their sincerity in return.
This money was earned by everyone together; she took it secretly, which is a terrible thing to do.
He gathered all the villagers who participated in grinding the oil and helping to sell it, and told them everything that had happened that day in detail.
"That thirty yuan is the fee for the housekeeper to make the connection. Everyone should keep that to themselves and not go around talking about it."
"We still need to pay the Ministry of Civil Affairs oil tax and mill tax, the Public Security Bureau security fee, and the city garrison tax. I've done the math, and it'll cost another five dollars, leaving us with a net of ninety-five dollars. What do you suggest we do with these ninety-five dollars?"
The people below were all grinning from ear to ear when they saw the stack of money. One of them couldn't hold back and stood up, trying to suppress his smile, and said, "Auntie, if you're so kind, please share it with us!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd burst into laughter.
But despite the laughter, everyone secretly thought the same thing, and they all looked at Zhao Zhenniang with expectant faces.
Zhao Zhenniang used to be a little scared in such situations, but now she's inexplicably not scared anymore, and even has a smile on her face.
“I also want to give it to everyone, but have you ever thought about it? Right now it’s 95 yuan, and each person gets a few yuan. But if we use this money to expand the oil mill’s business, we can have even more 95 yuan every month.”
"Why don't we use this money to expand our business even further?"
Ordinary people at the bottom of society live hand to mouth, spending whatever they have as they go, without any long-term planning. But this time is different.
They were able to make money this time entirely thanks to Aunt Zhao's investment. They also know that without Aunt Zhao, they wouldn't have made a single penny, let alone ninety-five yuan.
People in this era don't consider contributing effort as contributing capital, and the funds raised are far from enough to build such a large industry. Therefore, people assume that Aunt Zhao contributed the most effort and has the most say.
He immediately chimed in, "Auntie, you speak!"
Zhao Zhenniang then explained in detail: "If we, the people of our village, are not of one mind, we will be poor together; but if we are of one mind, we will be rich together."
"The reason why those big oil mills are so profitable is because they have both manpower and capital. We don't have capital, but we have manpower. Why don't we combine our resources and pool our capital?"
Zhao Zhenniang's words were simple, but they struck a chord with the villagers.
The poorer the place, the more united it is; without unity, it cannot survive.
Now that Zhao Zhenniang had established her business, mobilizing the entire village went smoothly, and people readily agreed, saying, "Auntie, just tell us what to do, we'll listen to you!"
Zhao Zhenniang then revealed all her thoughts.
After this large-scale mobilization, Zhao Zhenniang discovered that things managed systematically actually had lower costs.
For example, when she buys a thousand kilograms of sesame seeds at a time, the sesame seller will give her a discount. The whole village is mobilized, so she doesn't have to spend cash on labor.
Why didn't she bring all the villagers together?
The villagers' first priority when asking for money was to have food, so she simply set up a communal kitchen to provide them with three meals a day.
Buying grain collectively is cheaper, and a few people can be specially assigned to cook, so that every aunt doesn't have to go home to cook at mealtimes, freeing up a lot of labor.
With food guaranteed, the villagers are less anxious about cash, allowing them to save more money to invest in mill construction, building more millstones to utilize the village's idle labor force.
With businesses operating at home, villagers won't have to go out and work themselves to the bone for others to earn just a few cents.
The villagers earn money, and they spend it themselves!
The people who came to listen were dumbfounded; they had never imagined that such a thing could be done!
Under clan rule, there would certainly be ancestral property, but these people were part of the ancestral property, not its users. The right to enjoy the ancestral property belonged to others.
But now my aunt is saying that the oil mill will be run collectively, and then we'll spend all the money we make together?
Why do we always say that idealists are unrealistic, yet they are the most mobilizing? Because the life that idealists depict is truly beautiful.
The villagers don't know if this will work out, but they're already willing to give it a try!
After determining the development path, a group of people began to discuss the implementation details.
Zhao Zhenniang asked Huang Liushen's husband to go out and buy enough rice, oil, and salt for the participants in the oil mill as a safety net.
We should use the remaining money to buy sesame seeds first. Ninety-five yuan seems like a lot, but it won't be enough once we start spending it. We need to ensure basic oil production first.
Huang Liushen's husband went to buy rice, flour, and cooking oil, while Huang Liushen stayed home and cooked for everyone in the big pot.
The working people just lack capital, not wisdom. Seeing the lively discussion, Aunt Huang raised her hand and suggested to Zhao Zhenniang.
Buying everything ready-made is too expensive. Oil residue from the oil mill is great for fattening pigs.
Selling the oil residue only fetches 1.5 cents per pound. Raising a large, fat pig can earn you ten or twenty yuan per pig.
Even if they don't sell them, the people in the oil mill can keep them for themselves, saving them a lot of money.
Raising pigs isn't difficult; she feeds them while she's cooking.
Let's raise a few pigs!
After thinking about it, everyone agreed that what Aunt Liu said made sense. Although the oil residue could be sold for money, as the raw material, there was no end to the profits from the finished product. Just like Aunt Liu said, it was more economical to eat it ourselves, and the savings were the profits.
The thought of slaughtering pigs and eating pork during the Lunar New Year made everyone's mouths water, and they all raised their hands in agreement.
Just like that, in the blink of an eye, all ninety-five yuan was gone. When Jian Yu'an woke up early in the morning, all that was left was a bowl of rice soup that everyone could share in the morning when they cooked together.
Looking at such an advanced business model, and then at the note that read "can you speak Chinese," Jian Yu'an was furious.
Has it reached this historical stage?! And you just do it like that!
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