North and South groceries

This afternoon, as usual, it was Luo's time to teach arithmetic at Xu's guest house.

Before class started, two young people from Xiaohe Village brought Luo Yong a small basket of maltose.

Two days ago, Luo Yong entrusted a villager from his village to deliver hemp paper. He sent three buckets of millet and wheat, and asked an old man in their village to help make caramel. No, now that the candy is ready, someone will give it to him Bring it over.

Luo Yong took the basket and turned it upside down, knowing that the other party didn't take much of his wages, so he said, "When you two go back, remember to bring me some buns for Huang Weng."

The old man Huang who made caramel was about the same age as Zou Lizheng, but he was not as blessed as Zou Lizheng with many sons and grandchildren. He originally had a son, but he was ahead of him, but he had two granddaughters. They are both married, and now they are the only couple living with a daughter-in-law in the family.

Finally, the family still has a field, and Huang Weng has a handicraft, so life is not bad, but compared with the bustling family of other families, it seems very deserted.Their daughter-in-law and the old couple now treat her like a daughter, afraid that she will be alone after they leave, and they also want to find another home for her, but unfortunately it is not easy.

"Hey." The two young men responded, each found a small mat, and sat down in the hall.

They came late today, and the good seats on the kang had already been taken up. Fortunately, the brothers of the Xu family are hardworking people, and there are a lot of horses, big and small, in the shop.

But even if they came early, they probably couldn't compete for the seat on the kang. Recently, more and more foreigners came to Xu's guest house to listen to Luo Yong's lectures. Judging by the clothes and demeanor of those people, they couldn't be ordinary merchants and hawkers.

These people live in Xu's guest house all day now, and they have been staying in this hall since they had breakfast this morning. If they have money and leisure, they should sit on the kang. Like them, they don't spend money just to listen. For class, it is not bad to have a small Maza.

"Let's memorize the ninety-nine multiplication formulas twice before class." When the time was almost up, Luo Yong spoke.

"Nine nine 81." Immediately, one of Luo Yong's disciples started.

"Nine-nine 81, eight-nine 72..." Everyone else consciously followed, regardless of whether they were sitting on a horse or a kang, in front of Mr. Luo Yong, they were all honest and honest. One by one, they all opened their mouths and recited aloud.

For these people's cooperative attitude, Luo Yong is still very useful. At this time, people show great respect for those who teach them knowledge, and cherish the rare learning opportunities. It is precisely because of this that Luo Yong is now He also taught very seriously.

He has been teaching fractions and decimals recently, and some of them can't keep up, or they think it's useless to learn them, so they don't come here very much. Anyway, Luo Sanlang also said that he will still be there when next year's winter comes. If the basic class is held again, those who have not learned it will not be in a hurry. Although Luo Sanlang is young, he always counts his words.

After reciting the ninety-nine multiplication formulas twice, there is about one and a half hours of class time. During this period, Luo Yong will first explain today's knowledge points to them, and then arrange arithmetic problems, repeating in the continuous practice Digest this knowledge point until most people have learned it.

After one and a half hours, it will be time for the students to practice and communicate freely. Luo Yong was dragged by them to communicate several times. Those ten years of study in the 21st century were finally not in vain, and I could barely hold on to the scene at critical times.

These people are all eager to learn, and they never finished their research. Luo Yong was planning to slip away when he saw the opening, and he didn't forget to give the two young people in Xiaohe Village five cents before leaving: "Wait for the buns to come out later. Go buy it yourself, you two will each eat two, and Huang Weng will take the rest."

"We don't want to eat anymore." One of the young people held the five Wen coins with a shy face.

"You're very polite, it's such a long journey, you can do it without padding your stomach." Aunt Luo just finished serving two plates of dumplings at this time, and happened to pass by them.

Just after Luo Yong finished his class, someone in the hall began to order food. In this cold day, sitting on this warm kang, eating delicious food, and discussing knowledge at the same time, that is also very cozy.

"You two go to the back, I'll get you some hot soup." Aunt Luo told them to go to the back and drink some hot soup. The couple are now working in Xu's guest house every day. Many young people in Xiaohe Village often come here Delivery, and they are also very familiar.

"Then I'll go first." Luo Yong greeted his elder sister.

"Go ahead." Aunt Luo smiled.

Luo Yong left Xu's guest house with the small basket of maltose, and instead of entering the village, he went to the cement workshop.

In this cold day, the roads are covered with icy slag, and the hillsides near the village and the fields are covered with white snow. into a cloud of white mist.

From time to time on the road, you will meet men, women and children pushing cars. Since the cement road in Xipo Village was repaired, there are many more people who come here to transport cement than before, because the road is smooth, and you don’t need to be the strongest. As for the labor force, as long as there are two or three women, children, old and weak pushing carts together, they will dare to come here to transport cement.

It often snows in winter, and the snow-covered cement road is not so easy to walk, but it is still much better than the old dirt road. The villagers on both sides of the road often come out to sweep the snow. It was soaked, and it was rare that someone was willing to pay for cement to build roads for them, and everyone cherished it very much.

Luo Yong carried a basket of caramel, and greeted those who knew him but didn't know him all the way with a smile. After a while, he arrived at the big thatched shed where the cement workshop was located.

The thatched hut is quite big, and it stretches along a long stretch. Hundreds of workers work in the shed, and it doesn't look crowded. Everyone is busy with mud and mud, throwing bricks, and lighting fires. In full swing.

A row of pottery urns were burning in the back of the shed, each of them was as big as a water tank. At this time, white steam was rising from the tops of the big urns, and hot water was burning there, just to be able to burn in the water. It can also be mixed with mud in this cold weather.

Luo Yong knew that only the inner pottery urn was boiling ginger water, which was specially used for the workers to keep out the cold, so he walked over at this time, grabbed a few handfuls of caramel from the basket and sprinkled it into the big urn of ginger water. , and then leaned down again, adding a fire to the stove.

When Luo Yong came over just now, many people from the cement workshop saw him, but none of them stopped their work.

"Master, why are you here?" At this time, one of Luo Yong's disciples came over here. There are many people buying cement these days, and their workshop is also very busy.

"I'm just here to take a look, you can go and do your work." This is his own cement workshop, just come and take a look, and no one needs to be greeted.

"I just collected a few loads of plaster, and I'm going to make dinner later." The disciple rubbed his hands and said.

"What do you want for dinner tonight?" Luo asked him casually.

"I trimmed a few sheep racks, chopped them and cooked them with reeds, as well as pickled vegetables and pancakes." The disciple replied.

"It's really hard work for you." Luo Yong also knows that the meals at the cement workshop are mainly made by his disciples and some family members who live in the sheep pen. They don't earn much money, and they do a lot of work all day long. .

Not far from the cement workshop, next to the roadside, a row of adobe houses has been built, and each house is built with a big heated kang.

The workers work here during the day, eat big pots of rice, and sleep in Datong bunk at night. Although the conditions are not very good, they can have enough food during the day and don't have to be cold at night.

"Hey, it's not hard." The disciple said cautiously.

"You drink a bowl of ginger soup first." Luo Yong took a clay bowl from the side, touched a caramel from the basket and put it in, and then used a big spoon to give him a large spoonful of ginger soup from the clay urn.

The disciple was holding a bowl of ginger soup with a happy expression on his face, and at the same time he did not forget to greet the others: "Hurry up and have a bowl of ginger soup, my master even added caramel to it."

Some workers nearby had already pricked up their ears and waited, and now they heard his greeting, and all of them gathered together with a smile on their faces. This big urn of ginger soup is enough to bring sweetness, and this basket of caramel can last for ten days and a half months.

In this cold weather, drinking one or two bowls of hot, spicy and sweet ginger syrup every day can not only drive away the cold, but also add a little heat.

The disciple just finished drinking a bowl of ginger soup, and chewed the unmelted caramel at the bottom of the bowl, making the other people envious.

In these days, no matter men, women, old or young, there are few people who do not like to eat sugar. At this time, people generally lack nutrition. Sweet food is not only a spiritual yearning for everyone, but the body also needs this kind of high-calorie food.

Things like caramel can barely be eaten by the people here, but they think it is expensive, and most of them are not willing to eat it. Sucrose is very rare, it is not produced locally, it is all shipped from other places, and the price is also high very.

Luo Yong speculates that the sugar cane at this time should not be as sweet as later generations, and the sugar content is not so high. Otherwise, with the current high price of sucrose, farmers in the south have no reason not to plant it vigorously.

Speaking of sucrose caramel, Luo Yong still knows a kind of sugar, which is extracted from beet processing, but unfortunately there are no such beet seeds in his space.

Luo Yong only thought about cane sugar and beet sugar, but he never thought that a few days later, someone gave him another kind of sugar.

The person who gave the candy was Boss Yin in the village, that is, the father of Aunt Yin who had the accident. When his daughter had an accident, Luo Yong helped to find someone, and everyone worked together to find the girl. A whole day passed in a blink of an eye. In [-], Luo Yong had almost forgotten about this incident, but he still remembered it when he didn't think about their family.

In autumn, the couple of the Yin family dug a lot of coriander roots in the field, scrubbed them clean, mashed them, soaked the sweet juice in clean water, and boiled them slowly over a low fire to finally get the little bit. Sugar, this sugar is called heart-washing sugar.

This time, the Yin family sent Luo Yong a small jar, and I don't know how much coriander root they had to pound to get it.

This heart-washing candy is the best for moistening dryness and dispelling heart fire, but it has no coldness. It is very nourishing. Luo Yong also cherishes this can of candy.

Every night before going to bed, mix some sugar water and give it to the children in the family to drink. Even if the kang is hotter at night, it is not easy to get angry.