Hearing her say this, Xia Hua explained helplessly, "This is a pipe that can bring water down to the pool at the foot of the mountain. When it's full of water, we won't lack water. Once the house is built, we'll use this pipe to bring water from the pool to our house, so we won't have to carry water; we can just turn it on and use it."
However, the pool area is dangerous. Please tell your children not to go there in the future. Although the pool is enclosed, it's still quite high, and children tend to be wild. Please make sure they go there.
When people heard about it, they realized it was a really good thing. Before, they were wondering why there was a house-like thing there that seemed useless. Now it seems that it's not useless at all; it's very useful.
Village Chief Lin said, "Don't worry, sister-in-law, we'll take good care of the children. Everyone, hurry up and dig, don't waste any time." Soon everyone lined up, each person digging a section, and after digging, they went down to dig again. An Shuyi and Xia Hua taught them how to put the water pipes in place, and then covered them with soil.
After it got dark, the water pipe was finally buried. Xia Hua put the last section of the pipe into the pool, where there was already a hole the size of the pipe.
Then Wenwu brought some cement and smeared it around the area. "Wenwu, a few of you go up and push aside the stone slab over the pool, and put this in there."
"Okay, sister-in-law!" The group climbed up by stepping on the shoulders of the people below, then opened the stone slab and put the white thing inside.
Village Chief Lin came over and asked, "Sister-in-law, what are these things? Why are they in the water?" The two women had brought out strange things that they couldn't guess.
An Shuyi explained, "That's alum, which can kill insect eggs in the water, so you won't get a stomachache when you drink it. But for safety, you should still boil the water before drinking it."
"We understand, sister-in-law."
"Now that the excavation is complete, let's go back for dinner. Once the cement around the pipe dries completely tomorrow, we can go up and bring the water down." After An Shuyi finished speaking, she and Xia Hua walked ahead.
After finishing her meal, Xia Hua distributed the money to the forty young women and wives who made dresses, and then went to teach them how to make skincare products.
An Shuyi first had the women who made braised meat wash the meat, and then she went to the winery to teach the fifty people who made ice to make fruit wine. Making fruit wine is very simple: wash the fruit, layer the fruit and rock sugar, and finally pour in high-proof liquor.
Seeing that they had already learned, she let them do it themselves. She then went to teach her sisters-in-law how to make braised meat. A thousand catties of pork were all braised, and dozens of chickens, ducks, and geese were also slaughtered and braised together.
The people of Taoyuan Village worked all night, and by dawn the meat was ready. They put it in buckets, then loaded it onto two carriages. An Shuyi took half of the meat to Jinnan Prefecture, and Xia Hua took the other half to a slightly more distant county town.
Other prefectures take two or even three days to reach, making it unsuitable to sell braised meat there. The second brother, Wenyou, and Wenze were also instructed to go to Taiyuan Prefecture to find customers there. Regardless of the business, except for Xuan paper, it's up to them to make a living.
They only brought an oxcart and samples, along with some travel expenses. Of course, if they brought customers, they would also benefit greatly. For every 100 taels of silver a customer bought, they would receive one tael.
Upon arriving in Jinnan City, An Shuyi instructed Wen Mo to drive the carriage to the Shikelou Restaurant. This was a long-time customer of the village and the largest restaurant in Jinnan City, so she had to make another trip.
When the waiter at the restaurant saw her, he came over and said, "Madam An, what brings you here? I'll go get the boss." Then he hurriedly ran away.
Manager Song was summoned by a waiter and said, "Madam An, please come upstairs to the private room for tea!"
An Shuyi waved her hand, "Boss Song, I'm here today on business. We can have tea another day. We have a new kind of cooked food in Taoyuan Village, and I wanted to ask you if you would buy it." After saying that, she turned her head and said, "Wenmo, give Boss Song some of the meat you prepared."
"Cooked food, Madam An's village is really amazing, they do all kinds of business, I must try it properly." Manager Song said, looking at the cooked food she mentioned.
This must be meat, just a darker color. There's also something red in the small bowl next to it.
"Mr. Song, when you eat it, you can dip the meat in it, it might taste better, but it's a bit spicy. It's also delicious without dipping, you can try it or not."
After listening to her, Boss Song picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. He found the meat delicious. It was just cooked meat, but it had a unique flavor and a hint of spices.
He picked up another piece, but dipped it in the bowl first. As soon as he put the meat in his mouth, it was numbing, spicy, and delicious. This time, although it didn't have that spice flavor, it was even better. He then picked up another piece of chicken, which was also delicious.
He put down his chopsticks and said, "Madam An, this is cooked food. How can it be made so delicious? How much is it? How many pounds is it? I'll buy it all."
Seeing his expression, An Shuyi felt reassured. "This is braised meat. It contains pork, chicken, duck, and goose. Pork costs seventy coins per pound. You should know that it costs more than ten coins to buy a pound of pork. And this will shrink after cooking, plus I've added all sorts of spices."
"Chickens, ducks and geese are sold whole. A chicken costs 200 coins, a duck 400 coins, and a goose 600 coins. Chickens are the smallest and don't have much meat. Ducks and geese are bigger and more expensive. We currently have 500 catties of pork, and ten chickens, ducks and geese each."
Mr. Song nodded. “Mrs. An, I’ll take them all. I don’t know if you have any more. If you do, I’d like to buy them all. What I mean is, Mrs. An, could you only sell them to our restaurant?”
An Shuyi shook her head. "Boss Song, you should know that we can make a thousand catties of meat at a time. Your restaurant can't just sell braised meat. But I can promise you that in Jinnan City, we will only sell to your restaurant and not to anyone else."
Upon hearing this, Boss Song agreed, "Thank you, Madam An. Shall I have my assistant get the money for you, or will you go and fetch it yourselves?"
"Yes, since you're going to haul ice anyway, you might as well bring the meat over as well. In our Peach Blossom Village, we also have fruit wine, custom-made dresses, and skincare products for young ladies. You can come and take a look when you have time."
"Madam An's village is truly a place where talented people emerge, and there are all kinds of businesses. I'll definitely go and take a look when I have time," said Boss Song.
Actually, he had considered taking over the method of making ice, since it was just a small village where refugees had settled. But before he could make a move, a worker said that the prefect had visited the village and left with some things.
He didn't act rashly because he hadn't figured out the relationship between Peach Blossom Village and the Prefect. Many others had the same idea, but they all hesitated because they were wary of the Prefect.
An Shuyi smiled, watched Wen Mo take the money, and said, "Then we'll wait for Boss Song. We'll take our leave now."
"Please take care, Madam An."
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