Chapter 21 Cooperation
When Huang Dongsheng learned that his cousin wanted to buy chicks, his first reaction was not to pay the money, but to think that his cousin had been cheated.
Why would hens sit on roost in this season?
"Cousin, those chicks he's selling are all sick. They're hard to raise." Huang Dongsheng asked Yang Wenying to look after the stall while he followed his cousin to the place where the chicks were sold.
Chen Yao asked the old lady about it in detail.
The aunt's family deliberately raised chickens in the utility room. The temperature inside was warmer than the outdoor temperature. The children in the family went to the mud every day to dig earthworms, chopped them up and mixed them with grass seeds to feed them.
If the temperature is up to standard and food is available, hens can brood eggs in this season.
Hearing this, Huang Dongsheng stopped and handed the purse in his arms to his cousin. There were ten copper coins in it that he had earned from selling tofu today. He asked his cousin to use it to buy chicks.
"Won't you come with me to take a look?" I just believed her.
Huang Dongsheng waved his hand and said, "I have to go back and sell a few more pieces of tofu. Cousin, go pick them out quickly, don't let anyone take away all the good ones."
After shouting, he disappeared into the crowd.
The old lady was gathering the chicks that were about to jump out of the nest back into the cage. Seeing Chen Yao coming back, she smiled and raised her head: "Look, how energetic these are."
Chen Yao picked up one and held it in her hand, examining it carefully. The chick's feathers were neat and shiny, its eyes were round and bright, and there was no feces residue on its body. When it was put back into the nest, its legs and feet were strong, its little wings were flapping, and it was chirping happily.
"Just these four." Chen Yao handed over ten copper coins and returned to the tofu stall with the selected chicks in both hands.
When Yang Wenying saw these furry little chicks for the first time, she couldn't let them go. She was afraid that they would be crushed by the things in Chen Yao's backpack, so she took them all out and let Chen Yao carry them alone.
All the money was spent on this trip, so Chen Yao simply helped her cousin sell tofu.
Just now, I met a returning customer who came to buy after get off work. He asked Chen Yao why she was selling tofu instead of Ruyi vegetables today. Then I looked again and found that you three know each other.
Without waiting for Chen Yao to reply, the cabbage vendor next to them said sourly: "How can you not know them? They are cousins."
Huang Dongsheng also couldn't stand the hawker in front of him. There was no one here when he and Wenying came here in the morning, but this cabbage seller wanted to squeeze them, saying that they were occupying his space.
Now he said these words in front of the guests, which made him so angry that he went up to him and wanted to have a good argument with him.
Chen Yao stopped Huang Dongsheng, smiled and said yes to the customer, and explained to the customer why she didn’t sell Ruyi vegetables today.
The sound was not loud, but the vendors at the nearby stalls could hear it. Their families had relatives quarrying stones to build the city wall in the eastern suburbs, so they had no choice but to come to the city to beg for food.
The returning customer also worked as a waiter on the long street. His face was deeply moved when he heard this. Although the war had been settled, many people were still living a hard life. His family was not as well off as the rich but better off than the poor.
So he generously bought two pieces of tofu.
Huang Dongsheng was delighted and busily served tofu to the customers, while Yang Wenying was collecting the money.
Taking advantage of this time, Chen Yao stood in front of the stall and chatted with the customer, "How do you plan to eat this tofu when you get home?"
"Hi, my husband at home is not a good cook, so I plan to buy a fish to stew. Will you still sell bean curd sheets tomorrow? If I make it as you say, it will taste amazing." The customer gave Chen Yao a thumbs up.
"Of course you have to come. I see that the cabbage here is quite fresh. The cabbage and tofu are delicious whether stewed, fried or stir-fried. You can buy some to try."
After Chen Yao finished talking to the customer, she turned around and asked the vegetable vendor, "Did you just pull these out of the ground this morning?"
The customer glanced over, and the vendor immediately reacted and handed a fresh cabbage to the two of them: "Yes, I picked it this morning. Look, the leaves are not even wilted."
So the customer took out his wallet and bought all the three cabbages left by the vendor. He wanted to eat buns stuffed with cabbage.
After the customers left, the vendor was so happy that he packed up his stall and thanked the three people with some embarrassment.
Before leaving, he did not forget to tell Huang Dongsheng: "I live closer to the city. I will come earlier to reserve this place for you."
Without Chen Yao's reminder, Huang Dongsheng introduced himself very politely and became friends with Bai Laoer, the cabbage seller. It can be said that they became acquainted with each other through quarrels.
In the future, when selling tofu, you can just call it cabbage, which is also a win-win deal.
Gradually, there were fewer and fewer people on the long street, and when the stall was closing, he sold another piece of tofu.
Looking at the six copper coins in his pocket, not only could he not pay everyone's wages, but even one less person would have to go into the city tomorrow.
On the way home, Huang Dongsheng walked behind them carrying a load on his shoulder: "Cousin, let Wenying stay at home tomorrow."
Today, when Wang, the official, was collecting money and registering, he looked at Yang Wenying with a strange look in his eyes. It would be best if she doesn't come in the next few days to avoid any trouble.
In fact, he wanted to ask his cousin if the officer Wang had done anything to him, but he didn't dare to ask. He almost forgot how his cousin practiced with the tiger bone knife at home every day.
"Wenying, what do you think?" Chen Yao did not agree immediately.
Yang Wenying didn't care about these things, but she was a little worried that if she didn't come, Huang Dongsheng would not be able to take care of the stall alone.
"After I get home, I will test his math skills again. If he passes, I won't go into the city again. In fact, we should leave someone at home." Yang Wenying had already positioned herself.
Although the tofu is made by the Tian brothers and sisters, if the stored bean curd sheets and bean sprouts are sold out, someone needs to make them now, especially now that there are four little yellow chickens.
Well, come to think of it, she really has to stay home.
The pressure shifted to Huang Dongsheng's shoulders, and Huang Dongsheng held on and said that he could do it.
After returning home, Yang Wenying gave Huang Dongsheng a few questions. Huang Dongsheng was really good at them, so Yang Wenying told everyone that she decided to stay at home from now on.
Yang Wenying then moved the four tender yellow chicks into the house.
At first, Chen Yao advised her to raise chickens in the house because it would have a strong smell, so she should use wheat straw to pad a nest, cover it with a basket, and raise the chickens under the porch for a while. When the chickens grow up a little, she can build a chicken coop in the corner of the wall in the yard.
But Yang Wenying refused to do that. She was afraid that the chicks would be frozen to death, so she would rather sweep the manure and ventilate the house every day than take them outside.
Yang Wenying also knew to collect the feces and use it as fertilizer for the vegetable garden, which shows that she really likes these furry little yellow chickens.
Tian Baozhu was holding a dry branch in her hand and tracing the big characters on the sand table. She listened to her cousin and Yang Wenying bickering with each other, and her shoulders rose and fell with joy, and she couldn't help laughing.
Outside the courtyard, Tian Baolai returned from the Yanhe River carrying a fishing net. Seeing his sister laughing secretly, he asked curiously, "Baozhu, what are you laughing at?"
When Tian Baozhu was frightened by her brother, her hands began to tremble and the handwriting was ruined. She was so angry that she raised her hand and hit him, which made everyone laugh.
"There are still a lot of fish and shrimps. Cousin, please help me deal with them." Chen Yao went back to the main house to ask her parents for scissors, and saw that her mother had already made a pair of gloves in her hand.
The days of carrying loads to the city to do business passed quickly. As the moon in the night became rounder and rounder, the Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching in the blink of an eye.
Huang Xing not only made the rabbit skin palm guards, but also used the linen that Tian Baolai and his sister exchanged to make dozens of pairs of five-finger gloves, ensuring that no one was left out.
The autumn wind swept the fallen leaves, and the sound of reading aloud in the Shen family courtyard suppressed the bleakness of autumn, causing several children in the village to squat in front of her house every evening to watch the fun and refused to leave.
During the day, Yang Wenying took care of chores at home, making bean curd sheets, growing bean sprouts, picking grass seeds to feed chickens, and occasionally helping Huang Xing exchange tofu with her neighbors. Gradually, she got to know many of the people in the village.
"Hua Niu, Shi Tou, have you prepared the sandbox?" Yang Wenying looked at the two children standing outside.
The three people sitting at the square table all looked up when they heard this.
What? Is Mr. Wenying going to accept students again?
Yang Wenying felt a little uncomfortable when Chen Yao looked at her: “What you said is that there is no difference between herding one sheep and herding a flock of sheep. If they want to learn, I will teach them.”
"Mr. Wenying is so righteous!" Chen Yao stood up from the bench and saluted her, then lowered her voice to tease her, "Didn't you collect the bribe?"
Yang Wenying was so embarrassed by these words that she raised her hand to hit her.
Because she really took advantage of the two children's tuition in disguise, and asked the children to help catch earthworms in the future. The little yellow chickens would eat earthworms when they grew up, but she really couldn't bring herself to eat the earthworms.
"Ayao, you don't object to this, right?" Yang Wenying was actually still a little uneasy, afraid that Chen Yao would think she was looking for trouble.
"Educating the people is a good thing. Why should I object?" Chen Yao looked at Hua Niu and Shitou. "Why don't you two quickly pay your respects to Mr. Wenying as his disciple?"
The two children looked only eight or nine years old. These days, while they were tilling the soil, they heard their parents talking about how Shen Yao made money by doing business in the city. They were curious and wanted to come to the Shen family to take a look, but they didn't expect to be caught by Yang Wenying.
Yang Wenying warned them that learning secretly was a shameful act, and told them that if they wanted to do business, they had to learn to read and do math first.
So after they had plowed all the farmland at home, they shamelessly came to the Shen family to study.
"Mr. Wenying!" The two children imitated Chen Yao and bowed to Yang Wenying.
Yang Wenying asked the two of them to stand up and signaled Huang Dongsheng to move to the side, leaving most of the bench for the two children to sit on.
With the addition of Huaniu and Shitou, Wenying's classroom has grown even bigger, with classes starting every evening.
Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Reunion Festival.
On this night, every household has to set up a banquet to celebrate the festival with their families, burn incense sticks under the moon, walk on the moon, and give moon cakes to neighbors.
But for the tenant farmers in Xiahe Village, tonight is a night of missing their loved ones.
Huang Xing watched her daughter pack four plates of tofu, a full basket of bean sprouts and thirty pieces of bean curd sheets, which was twice as much as usual. She couldn't help but remind her that she must come back before noon, no matter whether she had sold all the food or not.
"Mom, don't worry, I won't be late running errands for you in the eastern suburbs." Chen Yao waved to everyone in the yard, and set out for the city before dawn with Huang Dongsheng, who was carrying a heavy load.
The two men walked through the crowded crowd at the city gate and arrived at the East Market to pay and register. They found that both Constable Liu and Constable Wang were on duty today, which shows how lively the market was today.
"Hey, come quickly, the seat has been reserved for you." Bai Laoer waved at the brother and sister. The cabbages in front of him had piled up into a small hill, and each cabbage was covered with dew, which showed that they had arrived quite early.
Huang Dongsheng first set up his own tofu stall, and then helped his cousin carry the Ruyi vegetables over. Everything was ready, and soon buyers came to them one after another.
After setting up the stall for many days, Chen Yao's Ruyi vegetables and bean curd sheets have become popular in the East Market. Many people come to her stall as soon as they enter. With her recommendation, the vegetable vendors around can more or less benefit from it.
In less than two hours, all the items on her stall were sold out, and she also negotiated a big deal with someone.
Huang Dongsheng carried the remaining three pieces of tofu in disbelief and went into a two-story restaurant with his cousin. It was not until he put a heavy bag of copper coins in his pocket that he realized that this was not a dream.
My cousin actually signed a contract with a restaurant in the city, and she would deliver 300 kilograms of Ruyi vegetables to the restaurant every month. 300 kilograms converted into copper coins would be a full 300 coins!
Not to mention the bean curd sheets, the restaurant ordered fifty of them at once.
"Cousin, I want to buy some meat buns!" Huang Dongsheng wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes. It was obviously a happy thing, but he just couldn't help crying.
Chen Yao looked at the four strings of copper coins hidden under the basket, then touched her bulging waist bag: "Buy, buy more, let your father have a taste too."
"Well, bring it to my cousin-in-law to try!"
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