North and South groceries

The Niu family is an ordinary merchant in Lishi County. They are engaged in grain business, and they seldom go to places outside Lishi County to do business. They mainly collect some grain from local farmers and sell it to grain merchants from other places. .

In addition, in their shop, they also sell some rice from the south, as well as things like maltose fermented bean curd made from processed grains.

The Niu family has been running their grain store in a stable manner in the spirit of being rich and safe. There has been no major development over the years, but there have been no major mistakes.

In the past two years, because of the relationship between Luo Sanlang and others, the number of people who came to their Lishi County suddenly increased, and the Niu family took advantage of the trend to open another guest house. After three years, the financial conditions of the family have also improved a lot, and gradually they have some savings on hand.

This summer, Naluo Sanlang first said that he wanted to build a threshing machine, and then there was such news from Chang'an City. For a while, the people in Lishi County were excited. But he didn't back down on this matter, he used all the connections that could be used, and those who should express their opinions, and also took out some of the money and silk accumulated by the family, and sent them to Xipo Village to borrow with Na Luosanlang For grain machine.

Although the money was borrowed, they did not expect to get it back in a short period of time. They wanted to send a threshing machine to each village in Hedong Road. With such a large expenditure, everyone felt that it would not take three to five years. Luo Sanlang should not be able to slow down.

Later, the emperor sent so many craftsmen to bring refined iron. At this time, it is estimated that most of the villages on Hedong Road have been sent by them, and some are too far away. It's not his turn yet, probably until the beginning of next spring.

After autumn, the farmers finished harvesting their crops and paid their taxes for the year. Winter was about to begin. It was getting colder and colder every day, and many families started burning kangs one after another.

I heard from those merchants who came from the south that in the area near Chang'an City, the sage was issued corvée this year. He said earlier that he would build a cement road to their side of Lishi County. At this time, the road construction really started.

These two days, the sky has been dark and the wind has been very strong. People in the county said that it will snow in two days, so every household has prepared enough firewood, and did not forget to burn the kang at night. , for fear of freezing the elderly and children at home.

"Why is it so warm in your room?" This afternoon, when Luo Yong entered the Niujia grain shop with two porcelain pots in his arms, he felt a rush of warmth.

"Hey, I'm old and can't stand the cold." Niu Weng said with a smile, "Why did Sanlang come to the city today?"

"I worked with someone before and made some canned food in the south. I brought two cans here to try something new with you." Luo Yong said, and put the two cans in his hand on the kang table.

"Why does Sanlang need to spend so much money?" Niu Weng hastily declined.These days, no matter how cheap the products are in the local area, if they are transported thousands of miles away to a place without such products, the price will increase several times. The two cans brought by Luo Sanlang today are not cheap.

"I didn't take too much." Luo Yong said with a smile, "The one with yellow oil paper on the lid is canned oranges, and the one with blue oil paper is canned peaches. You see which one to eat first."

"Ah Ong, I want to eat canned oranges." Before Niu Weng could say anything, the children next to him began to yell. They had heard that there were oranges in the south, but they had never tasted oranges. .

"My lord is talking, don't make any noise." Niu Weng scolded them with a stern face.

"Ah Weng, we want to eat canned oranges..." The children were not afraid of him, they tugged at the old man's sleeves and shook them.

"Why don't I open the canned oranges for you?" Luo Yong asked with a smile.

"Hey, I'll trouble Luo Sanlang then." They had heard about how to open canned food before, but they had never opened it themselves, nor seen anyone open it, so they had no experience.

Luo Yong hugged the canned oranges, removed the oiled paper on the lid, and then took off a small knife from his waist. He pried lightly with the tip of the knife twice, and the can made a soft "呵..." sound. There was a sound, and then the lid was twisted again, and the can was opened.

I saw that the porcelain white jar was filled with petals of orange-red orange flesh, floating in the clear soup that exudes this sweet fragrance, which looked extraordinarily attractive.

"Gudu!" The children started to swallow their saliva when they smelled it, and the sensible ones knew to restrain themselves a little bit, while the younger ones started to shove on the counter at this time.

"Go, go get some pottery bowls and spoon over here." Niu Weng said to his grandchildren.

When the pottery bowl was brought over, Luo Yong first picked up the porcelain pot, poured some canned soup to each pottery bowl, and then scooped up some orange petals with a spoon, and distributed them to each bowl.

Wang Jinhuai's canned food is also very kind, most of it is orange flesh, and there is not much soup, and Luo Yong has tasted it before, and he has also tasted that their canned soup has a lot of sugarcane juice added.

Boiled orange segments in sugar cane juice, this taste is really good, especially for these children who have grown up to eat oranges for the first time, they can't wait to lick the bottom of the bowl.

"Sanlang, you eat too, don't watch from the sidelines." Niu Weng greeted Luo Yong.

"Okay." Luo Yong picked up the pottery bowl in front of him and took a sip. He hadn't eaten oranges for a long time, and now this canned soup tasted like fine nectar in his mouth.

On the side of the urn, he first used a spoon to scoop up a spoonful of orange meat in his own bowl and distributed it to the youngest grandson. As a result, the grandchildren next to him all stared at him. Take a spoonful, and after eating, send these children to play in the backyard, and don't let them stay here and laugh.

"Tsk, this canned food is delicious." The old man stood up the ceramic bowl in his hand, sucked the last drop of canned juice hanging on the edge of the ceramic bowl into his mouth, and said with emotion.

"Right now, this thing is still rare, but in a few years, it should be common." After Luo Yong finished speaking, he asked Niu Weng again: "Did Lang and the others go to gather food?"

"Exactly." Niu Weng nodded and said, "It's the busiest time to do our business."

"I heard that the sage is building roads in the south. I wonder if they can buy grain there?" Luo Yong asked.

"There is no shortage of food there." Niu Weng shook his head: "The food produced in the nearby villages and towns is also enough, but some merchants in the north want to harvest beans."

"But the herdsmen want to buy it?" It was the first time Luo Yong heard that the north side actually wanted to buy beans from them.

"Not all of them." Niu Weng said: "I heard that people on the grassland are making money now, and many people in the customs are greedy, but they have nowhere to graze. In desperation, they want to raise sheep like pigs. Get up, some people cut weeds to feed the sheep, and some grow pastures, and buy some beans and the like.”

"I'm afraid of the epidemic..." Luo Yong sighed.In this era, both herdsmen and farmers are too weak to resist risks.

"What's the matter?" Niu Weng waved his hand and said, "No one who raises livestock does not know the danger of the disease, but he can't stop raising livestock just because of this."

"Why don't you eat this canned food?" Seeing that Luo Yong's bowl of canned oranges hadn't been touched, Niu Weng urged again.

"There are a few other companies to go, so I'll be leaving now." Luo Yong got up.

"Why did you leave without finishing a bowl of canned food?" Niu Weng hurriedly asked to stay.

"There are still a few of them to go, and I can't eat a bowl of each." Luo Yong said, smiling, and left the Niujia Grain Shop.

"You young man, why are you so polite, what kind of canned food did you give us for no reason?" Niu Weng got up and went outside the shop to see him off.

"It's just two cans." Luo Yong had already got into the donkey cart at this time: "And the money and silk I owe your family, if you need it urgently, tell me, if not, then ask me to owe you more." time."

"Hey, what's the hurry." Niu Urn waved his hand quickly.

"Let's go." Luo waved to him with a smile, and drove the donkey cart to the other side of the street.

Niu Weng stood outside his grain shop with his hands in his sleeves, watching Luo go farther and farther with the donkey cart, turned a corner, and disappeared, so he turned back and went into the house.

"Oh! You guys! Didn't you already eat it just now? Put it down." I saw that the little dolls who were driven to the backyard by him just now were all around the canned orange and refused to leave. .

"A Weng, tell us to have another bowl." A little girl discussed with her A Weng in a childlike voice.

"No, Ye Niang hasn't eaten yet." Niu Weng covered the half of the jar with oiled paper, and tied the colorful twine outside the oiled paper as it was.

"Da Lang's wife, Da Lang's wife." Niu Weng called out twice in the shop outside.

"Aye, is there something wrong?" A woman in her early thirties came out from the backyard.

"Put these two cans away, don't move the one covered with green paper, and the one covered with yellow paper has been opened, so it's best to put it away, and we can eat together when Da Lang and the others come back." Niu Urn explained.

"Hey." The daughter-in-law picked up the can with both hands and went to the backyard.

In the end, those children had no choice but to divide the bowl of canned food that Luo Yong hadn't touched much before to satisfy their greed, and put the canned orange juice in their mouths bit by bit, their hearts would be sweetened generally.

"Ah Weng, why doesn't Luo Sanlang like canned food?"

"Being stared at by you little greedy cats, can he still eat it?"

"We didn't stare at him."

"When I don't know you are peeking behind the curtain?"

"Ah Weng, Luo Sanlang is really kind."

"Is it human or canned food?"

"whee……"