Chapter 19 Chapter 19 “The chickens are fed…
"I've fed the chickens, Fifth Sister. I've also washed the dishes you mentioned and put them in the backpack. When are we leaving?"
Su Tao walked in from the door. She was wearing a coarse cloth dress, but she was very beautiful. She was the most beautiful of the three sisters in the Su family. When she walked into the room, the whole room seemed to become brighter.
"It will be ready soon. Fourth sister, please check if the rice is cooked. If it is, put it into the wooden barrel and put it into the backpack." Su Li said to Su Tao as she shoveled the pig intestines into the ceramic basin.
After being boiled and stir-fried, the ten pounds of pig intestines shrank greatly and finally filled up a whole ceramic basin. Su Li finally shoveled the pig intestines from the pot into the pot, shook the spatula lightly with her hand to shake off the pig intestines stuck on it, and then poured the water in the ladle into the hot pot.
With a "sizzle", Su Li quickly cleaned the pot with a loofah to prevent it from getting cold and being difficult to clean. Her movements were quick and efficient, and after cooking the food, the stove was cleaned spotlessly, not dirty at all.
This made Chen, who was ready to help, gasp in amazement. Her youngest daughter had only two hands like her, but she had the illusion of having eight hands. It was so amazing that she even suspected that this was her weak and shy daughter from the past.
"Mom, I've been looking for the cart at home for the whole morning but couldn't find it. Can you help me find it?" Su Li said to Chen. Now everything is ready, except for the east wind.
Originally yesterday, Su Li was still thinking that without a means of transportation, so many bowls, chopsticks, and dishes could only be carried to the dock by manpower, which was a bit too tiring. Unexpectedly, when discussing with her mother Chen, she accidentally discovered that there was a wheelbarrow at home. It was said that it was Chen's dowry. The dowry was originally transported by the wheelbarrow. It was rarely used on weekdays and had been idle (mainly because there was no need for it). Now it can be used.
Chen was still immersed in her thoughts. When she heard this, she came back to her senses and quickly said, "It's in my room. Didn't you see it?" After that, Chen turned around and left the kitchen.
A wheelbarrow, as the name suggests, has only one wheel and is made of wood. It is mainly used to transport goods. The Su family's wheelbarrow is quite old and looks a bit old, but fortunately, Chen tried it and it still worked.
Chen took a dry towel to wipe it and brush off the dust, then took a wet towel to clean some dirty places on the handlebars. Finally, holding the handlebars, Su Li and Su Tao worked together to place the backpack and basket filled with food.
This alone is naturally not enough. The country roads are in tatters even if it doesn't rain, not to mention when it rains. Only the official road paved with stone slabs will be smoother, so these things need to be reinforced.
The natural way to reinforce it is with ropes. Use a hemp rope as thick as a human finger to tie the basket and the cart together, and tie a slipknot to make it more secure.
After everything was ready, Su Li and the other two officially set out to sell food.
After closing the door and bolting it, Chen went to the village and asked her good sister Mo to help watch over the chickens and prevent them from being stolen. Only then did she leave with peace of mind.
The journey was indeed very difficult. At first, the cart was difficult to push and required certain skills. After the mother and daughter had mastered the skills, they often encountered muddy and difficult roads. One person could only move forward slowly and carefully, holding both ends of the cart, while another person dragged it in front.
The steep and undulating uphill slope made the three of them exhausted. Before they had even walked halfway, their clothes were soaked with sweat.
"I'm so tired!" Su Tao couldn't help but say as she looked at the uphill slope in front of her. In the past, she had never realized how difficult this road was to walk on when she was walking with nothing in her hands. Now that she was pushing things, she realized that it was really tiring.
Su Li also wiped the sweat from her forehead, complaining in her heart. She used to either drive herself or take a taxi when traveling. Except for going hiking with friends, she had never walked so many miles.
So much so that she couldn't help but envy the ox cart carrying people passing by in the village just now.
But envy is useless. An ox cart costs two cents per person, and six cents for three people. The family is very poor now, and they wish they could split a copper coin into two. They don't have extra money to ride an ox cart. They can only envy others.
"After this slope, it's downhill. Try harder."
Chen gritted her teeth and pushed the cart, and Su Li and Su Tao also pushed hard together. However, the more anxious they were, the more likely it was to go wrong, especially since the two sides of the wheelbarrow were not supported, making it easy to trip over stones or something. Look, the wheelbarrow was about to overturn because it accidentally ran over a piece of gravel, and all the food on the cart would spill onto the ground.
At the critical moment, a pair of rough and powerful hands suddenly grabbed the frame of the cart from behind the three people, saving the food in the cart.
"Thank you, Brother Wang." Chen was almost scared to the point of breaking out in a cold sweat. She was afraid that the food the three people had worked so hard to prepare would be thrown away and all their hard work would be in vain. You know, there was not much food stored at home. The meal prepared today was enough for the family to eat for more than ten days.
"It's okay, it's okay. Just be careful. This road is not easy to walk on." Wang Tiezhu straightened the cart and reminded again, but his eyes involuntarily drifted towards the things on the cart.
Did it look like food? He and his son could smell the aroma even as they walked behind the others. It was so fragrant. He didn't know what the Su family was planning to do with it.
Here, Chen thanked them again. You know, although the Wang family lived next door, they were hunters and often went into the mountains to hunt. Even if they came back it was late at night, so the two families did not interact much. Unexpectedly, the father and son of the Wang family were quite warm-hearted, which was not consistent with their big and strong appearance.
"Where are you going?" Wang Tiezhu asked curiously. He was very interested in the things on the three-person cart. It was no wonder that he was smelling the overbearing and rich fragrance of the Su family's food as early as the morning when he and his son came back from hunting. The father and son had to rely on this fragrance to soak half-cooked cold rice in boiling water. It was quite sad.
There was nothing to hide about this. After all, I had decided to sell food, and I wasn't afraid of others finding out. "I made some food and sold it at the dock."
Eat? Sell?
Wang Ergou, who was carrying a musk deer bigger than himself on his back, pricked up his ears when he heard the conversation between his father and the aunt next door.
So the Su family next door actually makes food and sells it? So what's the point of him eating all this pig food these days? Huh?! Tell me!! What is it!!
Wang Ergou instantly stared at the cart with envy, swallowing his saliva while waiting for his father to say something. It was simply because the smell was so fragrant that it reached his nose. What could possibly be so fragrant? Even more fragrant than the dishes filling the building? Was it stewed lamb? Or was it stewed pork? He sniffed again, but couldn't tell. It was definitely meat. He just didn't know what kind.
On this side, Wang Tiezhu and Wang Ergou were indeed father and son. When they heard what Chen said, they quickly asked what she was selling. The way they stretched their necks was really funny.
When he learned that it was stir-fried pig intestines, he was stunned. "Pig intestines?"
Isn't that pig offal? Wang Tiezhu couldn't believe that the fragrant smell was actually pig intestines.
But there was no reason for others to lie to him. Finally, Wang Tiezhu asked where the dock was and how much it cost, and then left quickly.
Seeing the backs of the two big men leaving, Su Li couldn't help but feel envious. They must be hunters. Look at the fat hares hanging around their waists and the animal that looked like a deer but was not a deer and weighed at least half a pound on their backs. It was obvious that they could be sold for a good price.
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Back to the topic, because of the recent accident, Chen, Su Li and the other two walked very carefully on the rest of the journey, so they arrived at the dock a little later than expected.
Fortunately, Su Li met Aunt Shen, with whom she sold things that day. When she saw Su Li, she quickly called her over.
"Why are you so late today?" Aunt Shen moved away all the stools, baskets and charcoal she brought with her, making room for Su Li to put the cart in.
Over the past few days, thanks to her youngest daughter's introduction, Chen had quickly become acquainted with Shen while selling fruit. She smiled and said, "It's raining, so the roads are a bit rough. How are the boats today? Is business good?"
"Oh, it's about the same as yesterday. There's always some left over every day."
The weather was hot, and the mutton patties were not selling well. Shen was used to it. She didn't make much every day. In her free time, she would find a place to sit and take a nap. She would put the mutton patties on the stove, without adding charcoal, and slowly bake them with the residual heat. She would sell one to someone, and take a break if no one came. Although she would sometimes feel annoyed when she couldn't sell any, there was nothing she could do about it.
This is also the reason why she asked everyone to be mentally prepared when she heard that Chen's mother and daughter were coming to sell food. It was because the weather was too hot and it would be difficult to sell food.
"Thank you, Aunt Shen, for today. Have you had lunch? Would you like to have something to eat?" Su Li fixed the cart and put all the food and bowls in place before saying to Aunt Shen.
"No, no, I just had some bread, I'm not hungry." Aunt Shen didn't feel comfortable eating other people's food, so she quickly waved her hand to refuse. She had become familiar with the Su mother and daughter in the past few days, and knew that Su Li'nai had broken her leg and was being treated in the clinic, and was in urgent need of money.
Seeing Aunt Shen like this, Su Li did not force her. The sun was high in the sky and it was noon. The number of people carrying sandbags and moving goods on the dock gradually decreased. There were more and more people selling various foods, such as wonton stalls and steamed bun stalls. Even people came to Aunt Shen's stove.
Seeing this, Su Li organized her words and started to shout, "Delicious meal, one meat and one vegetable for only ten cents, with meat and vegetables, large portions to fill you up, don't miss it if you pass by."
Just these few words stunned Chen and Su Tao, and they were stunned for a moment.
Just start selling it like this?
Although Su Tao had reviewed it with Su Li at home, when the time came, she opened her mouth but couldn't utter a word.
The same went for Chen. Although she was much older than her daughter, she had never hawked goods on the street before, and she felt a little embarrassed for a moment.
Just as Chen opened her mouth to join in the shouting, a large man in grey coarse cloth came over.
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