After selling the cakes the next day, Li Hehua moved directly to the rented courtyard.
Before leaving, she talked to Cao Simei and planned to take a day off from business tomorrow in order to free up a day to settle down.
The courtyard was fully furnished and could be lived in after a simple cleaning. However, some daily necessities still had to be bought by oneself. Li Hehua made a list in his mind, locked the door after cleaning, and went to the shop to buy what he needed.
The family also needed pots, pans, and other supplies, so Li Hehua simply bought pots, pans, and other supplies for business. She bought ten small bowls for home use, and then fifty large bowls for business use, followed by chopsticks, spoons, and seasonings. It happened that the shop also sold wooden barrels and basins, so she simply bought three wooden barrels, three small basins, and two large basins. After buying so many things, the boss took the initiative to give her a discount and was willing to deliver to her door, which made Li Hehua feel relieved, otherwise she didn't know how to transport them home.
After the purchase, Li Hehua found a blacksmith shop and bought two large pots and two small pots, as well as a spatula for cooking, etc., which are all needed for doing business.
The last thing to buy is a stove. In this era, there are no such things as induction cookers and gas stoves. If you want to do business outside, you can build a stove and make fire. Many business people do this, but it is not suitable for her because the space at the entrance of the alley is not big. Building a stove will easily block the view. It is estimated that residents in other alleys will have opinions, so she plans to buy a stove specifically for making fire, which is also convenient for moving.
In order to start a business, she went to a place that sold stoves and found a relatively large stove that could burn charcoal or firewood. Although the fire power was not as strong as that of an earthen stove, it was similar to that of a modern gas stove. It was completely fine to put a pot on it to cook rice and vegetables. The only bad thing was that this stove was very expensive, so few business people were willing to use it.
Li Hehua went to a place that sold stoves and picked out the largest one there, spending three hundred coins for it. Although it was a bit painful, it was worth it for the convenience.
The first day was spent shopping. On the second day, Li Hehua got up early in the morning and put the things she bought yesterday into their appropriate places one by one. She was busy until noon. At this time, this small courtyard officially became her first home.
Li Hehua was extremely tired and sat on a chair to take a break. Her clothes were wet from being busy and sticky to her body, making her feel very uncomfortable. She simply went to the kitchen to boil a large pot of hot water, poured it into a large basin she had bought specifically for bathing, and prepared to take a good bath.
When she was staying at the He family before, she was too embarrassed to take a bath every day, because unless it was summer, farmers would not spend time and firewood to boil water for a bath every day. Most of the time, they would just wash their faces and feet and go to bed. This was a great torture for Li Hehua, who was used to taking a bath every day. Fortunately, she now has her own residence and can take a bath whenever she wants, and she can still afford the wasted firewood.
After taking a shower, Li Hehua took out clean clothes and put them on, but found that the clothes on his body had become even looser than before and did not fit him at all.
She seems to have lost weight again.
Li Hehua took off the clothes he had just put on and looked down at his body. He was shocked to find that his waist was much thinner than when he first came, and the fat on his belly was not as thick. He had really shrunk. His legs were also much thinner than before, and the leg circumference was estimated to have shrunk by at least five or six centimeters.
Although she is still quite fat now, she has lost a lot of weight compared to before. When she just came here, she estimated that her body weighed about 160 to 170 kilograms. Now, she estimates that it is only about 140 to 150 kilograms, and she has lost about 20 to 30 kilograms.
Li Hehua's mouth curled up involuntarily, and she felt that the whole world had become beautiful. If she could continue to lose weight at this rate, she would soon be able to reach her ideal weight, and it would be just a matter of time before she could become a graceful woman again!
Li Hehua wanted to jump up and dance three times to express his excitement, but considering his current weight, jumping up would still make a lot of noise, so he had to hold it back and laughed there for a long time before returning to normal.
But her clothes are not suitable now. They are all loose and look sloppy. This is not acceptable. If she stays at home, it will be fine. But now she has to go out every day for business. Her appearance is very important. Although it is not necessary to look good, it is basic to wear neat and decent clothes. If she goes out for business every day in sloppy clothes, customers may not want to come to eat.
Li Hehua decided to go to the cloth shop to make two fitted clothes. Although she would continue to lose weight and the new clothes she made now would not be wearable, she could not save this little money for the sake of her business image. Thinking of this, Li Hehua took the money and went to the cloth shop.
Nowadays, most cloth shops sell cloth, and women usually buy cloth and make clothes at home, which is much more cost-effective. However, they don’t know how to cut cloth and make clothes, so they just hire someone to do it in the cloth shop.
Li Hehua entered a cloth shop that looked pretty good. After looking around for a while, she finally decided to buy coarse cloth. Although coarse cloth was not as comfortable as fine cotton cloth, it was cheap and she wouldn't feel bad about not wearing it in the future. She would wait until she got to her ideal weight before buying better clothes. For now, she would just make do with what she had.
"Boss, how much is this cloth?" Li Hehua asked, pointing to a piece of navy blue coarse cloth at hand.
The shopkeeper looked at what Li Hehua was wearing, pointed at several different colors of coarse cloth and said to her, "These cloths are all five cents a foot."
"Then boss, can your family make clothes directly?"
"Of course you can, but you have to pay for it. Usually, you have to pay three cents more for one foot of cloth."
Li Hehua nodded and decided to do it in this shop. He picked out a piece of lotus-colored cloth and said to the boss, "Boss, I need these two colors of cloth. Can you please make two sets of clothes for me? How much cloth is suitable for my body shape?"
Upon hearing this, the boss carefully looked at Li Hehua's figure, and after a while, he gestured with his palm, "Madam, your figure requires more cloth. For ordinary people, three or four feet of cloth is enough, but you need five feet of cloth to make a set of clothes."
Li Hehua felt a little embarrassed by what she said, and thought to herself that this boss was really blunt in his words. If she met a petty person, he would probably be so angry that he would turn around and leave. However, she was not angry, because she was indeed quite fat now.
"Then boss, please cut five feet of each of these two kinds of cloth for me, and then make two sets of clothes for me according to normal women's clothes. When can it be finished?"
The boss measured the length of the cloth with a ruler and replied, "It will only take two days. You can pick it up in two days, but you need to pay half of the deposit first."
Li Hehua was about to pay when he saw a piece of sky-blue fine cotton cloth on the counter, and suddenly thought of the little guy. This piece of cloth must be very suitable for children to wear and must be very beautiful.
The clothes on the little guy are also loose. They should be made by Zhang Lin. The elderly make clothes with the intention of letting the children wear them for several years, so the clothes are made very big, and they do not look good at all for the children. Moreover, Zhang Lin was reluctant to buy fine cotton cloth for the little guy, so the clothes on the little guy are all made of coarse cloth. The child has tender skin, and it must be uncomfortable for him to wear such clothes.
Li Hehua reached out and held the cloth in front of him, "Boss, how much is this cloth?"
The boss smiled and said, "This is fine cotton cloth. It is very comfortable to wear, but the price is also quite expensive, ten cents a foot."
Ten cents a foot, twice as expensive as coarse cloth, it was indeed not cheap, but she was willing to buy it for her little one, so she said, "Boss, I want to use this cloth to make clothes for my child. The child is probably only as tall as my thighs." She measured her thighs and said, "The child is thin, only about 30 kilograms. Please calculate the amount of cloth I need."
The boss has been selling cloth for many years and has a very accurate estimate of the amount of cloth. Hearing this, he only thought for a moment and replied, "Your child is thin, so we don't need much cloth. Two feet will be enough."
Li Hehua had no objection to the size, but she didn't know what styles of children's clothes were popular now. She wanted to make the most beautiful look for her little one, so she asked, "Boss, my child is a boy. What kind of clothes would look good?"
After hearing this, the boss said "wait a moment" and went straight to the clothes-making room in the back. After a while, she came out with a child's dress in her hand. She handed it to Li Hehua and said, "This is the child's dress that my family recently made for a customer. The customer will pick it up in two days. This dress is better looking. Do you think it's okay to make it like this?"
Li Hehua took the clothes and took a look. He found that it was a two-piece suit. The top was a small cloth shirt with two pockets and a belt, and the bottom was a pair of small pants. They were not as loose as the pants we have now, and they were not baggy. They should look energetic when worn, and still look cute like a child.
Li Hehua was quite satisfied with the style of this set of clothes. She nodded and said, "Then make it for me according to the style of this one, but can you help me make this set of children's clothes first? I want to get it tomorrow, okay?" Tomorrow when it's not too busy, she wants to go see the little guy and give him the clothes. Otherwise, if she opens a snack stand, she probably won't be able to see the little guy in a short time.
The boss nodded and agreed: "Okay, I'll ask the seamstress to make this set of clothes for the child first, and you can come and get it at noon tomorrow."
After the deal was settled, Li Hehua paid half of the deposit, and the boss gave him a note, which he could use to pick up the clothes.
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The next morning, just after Li Hehua washed up and had breakfast, there was a knock on the door of the courtyard. It was Cao Simei.
"Sister, you're here?" Li Hehua welcomed Cao Simei in.
"Am I not late? I can't delay the sale of cakes."
"No, it's still early. Most people haven't arrived at the market yet. There's no rush." Li Hehua poured a glass of water for Cao Simei. "Sister, have you had breakfast?"
Cao Simei waved her hand and said, "I've eaten. Don't bother. Let's go sell cakes now. The market should be busy soon."
Seeing that Cao Simei was unwilling to rest for a while, Li Hehua stopped persuading her. He took out the prepared pastries, handed them to Cao Simei two baskets, and then set out together to sell them at the market.
After selling all the two baskets of cakes, Li Hehua was thinking about going to see the little guy later, so he turned around and walked towards the meat shop.
Before, she didn't have the conditions, so she only made some cakes and snacks for the little guy. Although these things were delicious, they had no nutrition and were of no use in replenishing the body. She had never made truly nutritious dishes for the little guy. Now that she has money and a place to live, she can go home after selling cakes to make something delicious for the little guy, and then take it to Shangshui Village for him to eat.
After thinking about it, Li Hehua decided to make a nutritious soup for the little guy. After thinking about it, he decided to make a yam and wolfberry pork ribs soup. Yam and wolfberry pork ribs soup has the effects of clearing away heat, strengthening the stomach and intestines, and strengthening the spleen and stomach. It is especially suitable for the elderly and children. The little guy's stomach is very poor, so this is very suitable for drinking.
Li Hehua went to the pork jerky shop and bought a pound of pork ribs, then went to the market to buy some yam and wolfberry. Then he carried the things to the shop where he had made clothes yesterday and took back the clothes for the little one.
The tables, chairs and benches that I asked Carpenter Qian to make last time should be ready and can be picked up today. Li Hehua plans to go to Shangshui Village to see the little guy and then go directly to Lianhua Village to find Carpenter Qian to pick up the things, but this will require hiring someone to transport the goods.
Li Hehua vaguely remembered that she seemed to have seen a special cart driver in the town who could transport goods for others. It seemed that there was one at the intersection on the west side of the town. So she went west along the street and saw several carts waiting on the side of the road. She didn't know whether they were transporting people or goods. Li Hehua was about to ask each one when she saw a very special donkey cart. There was a sign hanging outside the donkey cart, which read "Transporting people and goods".
This cart was very different from the donkey carts she had seen in the town. Other donkey carts were just a donkey pulling a bare cart, but this cart had a compartment, like a horse carriage. It looked very clean and comfortable, making people willing to choose to ride in it.
Li Hehua immediately decided to find this car, so he went up to talk to the owner.
The car owner was a man in his twenties. He looked ordinary, but his eyes were determined.
Li Hehua asked, "Excuse me, can your truck carry goods?"
The car owner nodded. "Sure. I wonder when you want to deliver the goods? I have to take the villagers back to the village with my car, and then I can deliver the goods for you. Do you think the time is right?"
Li Hehua also didn't need the car to pull tables and chairs until the afternoon, so he nodded and said, "Okay, I won't need the car until the afternoon, I need to go to Lianhua Village to pull a few tables and chairs, do you have any problems?"
The owner of the car said, "It's no problem to go to Lianhuachi, but when exactly? Which store should we go to?"
Li Hehua went to get the tables and chairs at about 2 p.m., but the ancients did not tell the time, but the hour, so she calculated the hour in her mind and answered him: "Go to Carpenter Qian's house in Lianhua Village at 3 p.m." Then she started to ask for the price: "I have four tables and 16 chairs to move. I wonder how much you charge for one trip?"
The owner thought for a moment and replied simply, "Sixty cents per trip. Pay a ten-cent deposit first, and I'll send the car if it's OK."
Li Hehua felt that the price was not expensive, so he readily agreed: "Okay, then I'll trouble you to make the trip." Then he took out ten cents and gave it to him.
Just then, a young woman's voice came up to him, "Dashan, is there anyone here who wants to transport goods?"
The car owner looked up at the woman who was walking over. His eyes, which had been calm just now, softened instantly. "Well, this lady asked me to go to Lianhua Village to pick up some goods. It's already been agreed."
The woman nodded and smiled at Li Hehua.
Li Hehua just felt that the woman in front of him had an indescribable elegant temperament, which gave people a very good feeling. He couldn't help but smile at her before saying goodbye and leaving.
Li Hehua took the things he bought to find Cao Simei, as the pastries she had bought had just been sold out.
"Sister, do you want to come home with me and rest for a while before going home?"
Cao Simei quickly shook her head, "No, no, I have to go home quickly, the children and your brother-in-law are waiting for me to eat."
Li Hehua thought about it and agreed, so he didn't force her. He took the basket from Cao Simei's hand and said goodbye to her.
After returning home, Li Hehua took the purchased ingredients to the kitchen, peeled the yam first, and soaked it in clean water for later use. Then he lit the stove, poured clean water into the pot, and while the water was boiling, he chopped the purchased ribs into pieces, blanched them in boiling water, and then washed the blood off the ribs with clean water.
After processing, put the yam and pork ribs into the pot and boil them over high heat, then simmer for half an hour over low heat, add the washed wolfberries and cook for another half a minute.
After the yam and pork ribs soup was cooked, Li Hehua didn't dare to eat meat for fear of gaining weight. He only served out one cup of the soup as lunch. He put the rest into a purchased ceramic jar, covered it with a bowl to seal it, then found a thick piece of clothing to tightly wrap the jar and put it in the basket. This way the soup would not cool down so easily, and it would be at just the right temperature when it arrived at Sheungshui Village.
Time was urgent, so Li Hehua took soup, pastries and clothes for the little one and hurried out to Shangshui Village.
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