Chapter 13 Keep it secret
Xu Zhichun said to the two of them, "As the saying goes, husband and wife are one. Logically, we shouldn't hide our money-making method from our husbands. But if he finds out, what should he do if his parents, brothers, and relatives ask about it? If he tells everyone, our business will be in trouble. If he doesn't, we'll be blamed. It's better for us to keep it a secret from the beginning. If others ask, we can just say that we three women are just making some pocket money. It's just a small thing. Others won't be bothered to worry about it, right?"
"Besides, this is also a good opportunity for us to stand up straight. We can earn money on our own. How dare the men at home look down on us? We have a way to make money in our hands. This is our confidence. We are not afraid of anything. We can buy whatever we want. We don't have to think twice about asking men every time we want to buy something. Isn't it better than anything?"
Zeng Xiaoyan and Aunt Zhu'er suddenly understood.
"Sister Zhichun is right. I have the confidence to make money on my own. I don't want others to interfere in this matter."
Aunt Zhu'er nodded in conviction. "That's right. I understood it as soon as Zhichun said it. Xiaoyan probably doesn't know that she's rich. Take me for example. My husband treats me well, but when I want to get a new dress or buy some nice shoes, I have to think twice before I dare to tell him, for fear that he won't agree. If I could earn my own money, why would I need to ask him about what I want? I'd just buy it myself!"
Zeng Xiaoyan smiled and said, "Actually, I'm the same. My husband has no money, but when I was at my parents' house, if I wanted to buy something, I had to think hard to please my father first. I would only ask for it after he was happy. And I didn't dare to buy anything too good. If I did, my stepmother would be unhappy, and the thing would never fall into my hands. If I could earn money myself-"
Zeng Xiaoyan's eyes lit up, she straightened her back and raised her voice three points higher: "What do I care about them!"
Feeling sympathetic towards each other, the three of them sighed and comforted each other, and their relationship became even better.
Xu Zhichun breathed a sigh of relief. They decided on the profit-sharing model and confidentiality clauses. The rest were minor issues, and after some discussion, they were all settled.
Xu Zhichun smiled and said, "When my little prodigy comes back, I'll have him write a contract with all the terms we've agreed on. The three of us will put our fingerprints on it and sign it, and we'll stick to it from now on. Whoever doesn't follow the rules will have to compensate the other two and withdraw. As the saying goes, there's no order without rules, and even brothers have to settle accounts. We're not doing this for anything else, but to show that the three of us are honest and open. This way, we can all feel at ease, and this is the only way to last."
Zeng Xiaoyan said readily, "Sister-in-law Zhichun is right. My family's business has been running for a long time, and I've seen many cases of friends and family turning against each other over money. Often, it's because of unclear accounts. Over time, small conflicts become big problems, and there's always a day when they explode. It's great that we can be clear and follow the rules like this!"
Aunt Zhuer smiled good-temperedly: "I don't understand these things. If you say it's good, then it must be good."
Xu Zhichun clapped his hands and laughed, "Then it's settled. After the deed is written, let's ask the village head to take a look at it privately. If there's no problem, we'll sign it. Please ask the village head to keep it secret."
They got down to work right away and the three of them started making konjac tofu in the afternoon.
Xu Zhichun said that he wanted to make a few square wooden basins for shaping, so that the konjac tofu would look better.
If you are selling something, it is also important that it looks good.
Aunt Zhu'er immediately took her home and asked her to pick out wooden boards and strips in the wing room.
Her husband is a carpenter and there are a lot of these things at home.
Xu Zhichun was overjoyed. He happened to have some ready-made ones, so he picked them out and put them together to make three templates. He nailed them together with bamboo nails and they were ready to use.
There are about 31 or 32 pounds of konjac. He needs to peel it, dice it, grind it into pulp, stir it with alkaline water, shape it, and finally boil it in water and rinse it. Xu Zhichun can do it all by himself in the evening.
Fortunately, there were three of them, and they finished everything in about an hour. If Xu Zhichun was alone, it would have taken who knows how long.
Besides, as a young widow under 20, going to the city alone to sell things, who knows what kind of troubles and disputes she would get into? She couldn't afford such a risk.
When cutting the konjac, Xu Zhichun specially reserved five or six pounds of snow-white konjac heart for grinding separately. He boiled water in a pot, and used an awl to drill dense small holes in the bottom of a ladle for scooping water. He scooped up a ladle of snow-white konjac heart pulp, and let it evenly leak into the boiling water pot through the small holes in the ladle like rain lines. Aunt Zhuer stirred it slowly with chopsticks as she said, and saw thin round rice-like snow-white konjac threads rolling in the boiling water.
Zeng Xiaoyan and Aunt Zhu'er were surprised again.
"Wow! What is this? It's so white and beautiful!"
"This looks delicious! It's amazing! Sister Zhichun, the people in your hometown are so skilled."
Xu Zhichun smiled and said, "This is called konjac noodles. It tastes different when stewed in soup or served cold. It's even crispier and more delicious. We sell this too."
Konjac noodles, the best match for oden and malatang.
It can also be made into a spicy snack.
This is a very popular delicacy in modern times, it is impossible that there was no market for it in ancient times.
Take out the konjac noodles, cool them in water, drain the water, and then tie them into knots. Only the knotted konjac noodles have soul.
The three of them took action and soon accomplished the task.
These konjac noodles are only delicious when they are spicy. If you have soy sauce at home, you can chop up some red peppers and fry them in oil to make a simple chili sauce, and dip the konjac noodles in it. Unfortunately, I don't have any soy sauce at home.
Then I could only heat up the chicken soup and cook some konjac noodles to taste the chicken soup flavor.
It is indeed crispy, refreshing and addictive.
Zeng Xiaoyan and Aunt Zhuer both praised it highly.
"Oh, I should go back!"
Zeng Xiaoyan suddenly slapped her forehead.
I had said I would send half a bowl of chicken soup to your home after lunch, but it’s almost time for dinner now.
Aunt Zhu'er also laughed and said, "It's time for me to go too. I have to feed the chickens and pigs and make dinner! I also have to go to the vegetable garden and water it!"
The three of them made another appointment to go out tomorrow and happily went about their own business.
As soon as they left, Xu Zhichun quickly prepared a big meal for the chickens and two pigs.
I felt very satisfied when I saw that the two pigs had obviously gained some weight and looked much better. Their hair, which was originally rough and hairy like weed roots, had become smoother and shinier.
After finishing them, she took out half a wild rooster from the space and cut it into pieces. She added water to the casserole, washed the chicken pieces and put them into a slow cooker. This was the dinner for the uncle and sister-in-law in the evening.
Zeng Xiaoyan packed a bowl of chicken soup and a bowl of konjac tofu in a basket. Half a chicken wasn't much, but it was enough for the whole family to enjoy a little soup and a little meat.
As soon as she finished speaking, her second sister-in-law Zhao exploded.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
