Chapter 6 Barter
After seeing off Tian Baolai and his sister, Chen Yao and Yang Wenying cleaned up in the kitchen.
Put the soybeans to be ground tomorrow into a wooden barrel and soak them in water. After washing the four wooden baskets, put them together with the linen cloth into the pot to steam and sterilize them.
After washing up with the hot water in the pot, the family decided to go to bed early.
As soon as Chen Yao poured the water out the door, she saw Yang Wenying coming to look for her with her hair loose: "Why aren't you sleeping yet? You have a long way to go tomorrow."
"I haven't taught you today's characters yet." Yang Wenying squeezed past Chen Yao and entered the house.
Chen Yao had no choice but to bring a sand table and sit opposite her, glancing at the moon in the sky.
The Mid-Autumn Festival was really approaching, and the moon was so round and bright all night long that she couldn't find an excuse to be lazy.
Seeing that Chen Yao was absent-minded, Yang Wenying tapped the back of her hand with a dry branch and said, "Reviewing the old will help you learn new things. Write the three words you learned last night again for me."
Humph, if you can’t write it, huh, huh, huh!
Chen Yao wrote the words.
…
Yang Wenying was speechless. She pretended to be a strict teacher and coughed lightly, "Then let's learn these three characters tonight. These three characters have many strokes and a complex structure. It doesn't matter if you can't learn them tonight."
Chen Yao shook the sand table, smoothed out the words she had written, and re-wrote "Humanity is inherently good." "Mr. Wenying, can I go to sleep now?"
Mr. Wenying stood up with his hands on the table. "No, I can't sleep. Since you are so smart, I will teach you how to count with sticks, so that no one will bully you tomorrow because you don't know how to count!"
Chen Yao saw that she was worried about tomorrow's events, so she took out the tiger bone knife and placed it on the table. "Don't worry, my cousin and I will protect you. You'll be fine. Go back to sleep!"
Yang Wenying was finally pushed out of the door by Chen Yao.
That night, Yang Wenying tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep. When she was half asleep, she seemed to hear someone whispering in the yard.
She suddenly woke up, changed into a patched coarse linen shirt, combed her hair into the same bun as Shen Yao, and then pushed the door open and walked out.
In the yard, it was dark, and Huang Dongsheng had arrived.
"How much has the land at home been tilled? Why did you bring soybeans?"
Chen Yao looked at the two baskets that Huang Dongsheng carried on a shoulder pole. One basket contained a sack of soybeans, and the other contained two empty wooden barrels.
"My mother asked me to bring them. They are all good beans. My mother told us to go ahead and do it. If we can't finish turning the fields by the end of the month, my uncles and others will come to help!"
Huang Dongsheng finished speaking, looked at the figure standing behind Chen Yao, and hurriedly lowered his head and said: "Cousin, let's go to the drying yard to grind beans while the villagers are still asleep."
Chen Yao turned around and motioned for him to go to the kitchen with her to get the bucket. Seeing Yang Wenying standing behind her, she asked, "Are you awake?"
Yang Wenying nodded, washed up with cold water in the yard, and followed Huang Dongsheng with Shen Yao, each carrying two empty wooden buckets, to the drying yard.
When I woke up in the morning, a thin mist covered the entire Xiahe Village. The air was damp and cold, and the temperature seemed to be lower than yesterday.
Chen Yao threw the empty bucket into the well in the drying yard, picked up a bucket of water and walked to the stone mill. With Huang Dongsheng around, she couldn't do heavy work like grinding pulp.
However, halfway through, seeing that her cousin had begun to pant, Chen Yao used the excuse that she was a little cold and replaced him.
The three of them carried four and a half buckets of rice water back to Shen's house, made a fire and burned firewood, filtered the residue, boiled the rice water and made tofu.
Chen Yao had already told everyone the secret recipe for making tofu that day, but Huang Dongsheng still found it novel after seeing it with his own eyes today.
The soybeans that are usually hard to swallow can miraculously turn into tofu that costs only two cents a piece?
Huang Dongsheng watched his cousin come in from the main house. He and Yang Wenying rushed to scoop a bowl of fried bean dregs from the pot and handed it to her. "Cousin, my mother said that tofu in Qingfeng Town is sold for two cents a piece. If we carry it to the village to sell, how will we sell it and how will we get the money?"
He has never been to town, but his mother told him to listen to his cousin on how to run the business, and to talk less, listen more and do more!
Chen Yao took the bean dregs and motioned Huang Dongsheng and Yang Wenying to sit down and eat as well. "We can make it ourselves for one penny or one yuan, or we can barter for it. My father just said that the nearest villages to Xiahe Village are Shanghe Village, Shahe Township, and Wanhe Township, so we shouldn't go too far."
"Well, then let's go to my aunt's house first. We are familiar with that village." Huang Dongsheng finished eating the bean dregs in a few bites, drank two bowls of soy milk in a row, wiped his mouth, stood up and said.
Yang Wenying sat on a low stool, curled her lips at his rude actions, and wanted to say something but didn't dare.
After all, she is the only outsider here!
"Well, if we're lucky, we might not even have to go to the other two villages. My dad told me that the mountain roads to the other two villages are difficult to walk on, and it would be even more tiring for us to carry the load!"
"Don't worry, cousin. I'm strong and can carry any weight." Huang Dongsheng clenched his fists, showing off his youthful arms, his eyes shining.
Yang Wenying watched him trying so hard to stand up to Shen Yao, feeling frustrated all morning. Finally, she couldn't help but retort, "You're the only one who can do this. Can't I choose?"
After saying that, he took the bowls and spoons from the two people's hands and rinsed them in the pot.
Huang Dongsheng touched the back of his head and asked silently to his cousin, "What's wrong with her?"
Chen Yao gestured for him to move the four-plate tofu into the basket in the yard first. When only she and Yang Wenying were left in the kitchen, she took away the shoulder pole and said, "Dongsheng means no harm, don't think too much about it."
Yang Wenying paused while washing dishes, turned around to look at Chen Yao's back as she walked out, and angrily threw the rag in her hand. She just couldn't stand Huang Dongsheng talking to Shen Yao in a pedantic manner, always competing with her for work, which made her seem useless.
"Dad, Mom, we're leaving!" Chen Yao stood outside the fenced yard and waved to the people in the house.
Huang Xing slowly came out of the house, held the door frame and watched the children go away. She looked at the sun in the sky and knew it would not rain today. She turned around and took the mushrooms and small fish in the winnowing basket to the yard to dry.
"Tofu, delicious tofu is free. Needles, thread and cloth can be exchanged for tofu, soybeans and vegetable seeds can be exchanged for tofu!" Chen Yao watched her cousin walking in front with a load on his shoulder, and she shouted slogans in the middle.
Yang Wenying fell behind the two of them, caught up with them, grabbed Chen Yao's sleeve, and frowned: "Didn't we agree on one penny for one piece of tofu?"
Why did you change your mind as soon as you left? How can you save money to redeem your brother if he doesn’t want money?
Chen Yao looked at her cousin who was surrounded by fellow villagers. After whispering to Yang Wenying, she stepped forward to help her cousin out of the crowd: "My dear uncles and aunts, this is our homemade tofu. We plan to sell it in other villages. It's one penny a piece."
"Ayao, didn't you just say you didn't want money?" the woman who came out asked, looking into the basket.
"Aunt, we charge a copper coin or a piece for food, but we are from the same village, so how can we accept money? If you uncles and aunts want to eat, you can bring a bowl of soybeans, or vegetable seeds, hemp rope and coarse cloth to my house to exchange with my mother."
"Really? A bowl of soybeans can be exchanged for a block of tofu?"
"It's true. If you go too late, there will be none left." Chen Yao smiled sincerely. Seeing that the women who had gathered around her had turned around and shouted to the children at home to scoop up the soybeans, she signaled her cousin to keep going forward.
After leaving Xiahe Village, stepping onto the stone bridge and walking a little further, the row of stone houses in Shanghe Village appeared before everyone.
"Tofu, tofu for one cent a piece, needles and thread for tofu, soybeans and vegetable seeds for tofu!" Chen Yao continued to shout slogans in a loud voice, attracting villagers to come out with their bowls to stop and watch the fun.
Huang Dongsheng was making up his mind and shouted out the song along with his cousin. Although he was a little halting, it became easier to sing after the second and third times, and he became more motivated the more he shouted.
They want everyone to know that the tofu they sell is delicious and inexpensive.
"A bowl of soybeans for this piece? How about the linen and rope?"
"One foot of linen cloth, three feet of hemp rope. If you have vegetable seeds or vegetables grown at home, you can exchange them. If you don't have these, you can buy them with one penny."
Upon hearing this, someone had already returned, scooped up some soybeans, and brought a bundle of hemp rope from home to exchange for tofu with Chen Yao.
A plate of tofu is divided into twelve square pieces, each of the same size.
Chen Yao smiled and scooped two pieces of white tofu into the visitor's large bowl, while Yang Wenying held up the linen bag she brought with her and filled it with soybeans given by the villagers, and took the hemp rope with some disgust.
When Huang Dongsheng saw his cousin talking to someone, he stood aside with a carrying pole, shouting slogans at the top of his voice, and kept an eye on the people around him from time to time to prevent them from taking action.
"Dongsheng, Ayao, it's really you!" Tian Baolai shouted to the two people who were surrounded from a distance.
When Chen Yao removed a wooden board, the villagers had already left with the tofu.
"Baolai, do you know each other?" At this time, a plump white woman was holding a bunch of carob in her hand and was looking at Yang Wenying and Shen Yao without blinking.
Tian Baolai didn't expect that Mrs. Tu, the village chief, was also here. He stepped forward and blocked her view. "Mrs. Tu, they are my cousins. They live in Xiahe Village."
"I see, no wonder..." the plump white woman muttered, and stuffed the carob in her hand into Yang Wenying's hand, "Here, these should be able to be exchanged for a piece of tofu."
The slender carob beans looked a bit like snakes at first glance, which scared Yang Wenying so much that she threw her hands away and screamed, and the carob beans fell to the ground.
The butcher's wife's face fell to the ground like a carob. What's wrong with this guy?
Just as he was about to explode, he saw that the carob on the ground had been picked up by another little girl.
"Ma'am, these carobs are grown by yourselves, right? They are growing really well. We in Xiahe Village have never seen such fresh and tender carobs. You are losing out by exchanging them for tofu from us." Chen Yao praised while wiping her hands and taking the tofu to her.
Mrs. Tulichang snorted softly, and her expression relaxed after being coaxed by Chen Yao: "If I hadn't made fish head and tofu soup today, I wouldn't have picked these carobs for you."
"Oh, it seems that this piece of tofu from my family can be cooked in Madam's house. It is lucky today. If Madam is free tomorrow, I will still be here and give you a piece of bean curd stick for free to try." Chen Yao said to the fat white woman.
Mrs. Tulichang didn't bother with them any more and went home with the tofu.
"I..." Yang Wenying's face flushed, tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, and she felt a little scared and aggrieved.
If I had offended the wife of the village head just now, I'm afraid their business would have been ruined by me.
"Don't be afraid, both of you. To do business, you need to be bold and sweet-talking, so that you can coax money from customers' pockets into ours!" Chen Yao winked at the two of them.
Tian Baolai was amused by his cousin's quirky appearance and couldn't help laughing out loud: "Ayao is right, you two should learn from her."
"Cousin, don't laugh. I'm doing serious business." Chen Yao deliberately put on a stern face.
"Well, I won't laugh." Tian Baolai raised his lips and handed over a basket. "My mother knew you were going to other villages, so she made some pancakes for you to eat on the way."
As soon as you open the basket, you can smell the aroma of the bread.
Yang Wenying and Huang Dongsheng swallowed unconsciously. Their eyes met and they turned their heads away awkwardly.
Chen Yao didn't take it, but took a piece of tofu and a bag of broad leaves and put them back in his basket: "Thank you for your trouble, auntie, we also brought some cakes, cousin, please go back quickly, it's time for us to leave!"
As soon as Chen Yao spoke, Huang Dongsheng had already shouldered the burden and strode forward, "Cousin, go back and plow the soil. After you're done, we'll carry the burden together."
Tian Baolai looked at the three figures walking away, carried the basket back home and told his parents what had happened, and was beaten by his mother again.
Is it really because he is too dumb? It seems that he needs to help finish turning the land at home as soon as possible and do the business of deceiving people with A Yao.
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