North and South groceries

Qiao Junlin's side originally planned to leave after the Lantern Festival, but later they heard that Ma's side was going to ship a batch of goods to Chang'an in the second ten days of the first lunar month, so the elders of the Qiao's family asked Qiao Junlin to go with them , on the one hand, you can take care of me on the way, and on the other hand, you can save some money.

And so, on the [-]nd day of the first lunar month, Qiao Junlin and Ah Zhi got up early, carried the big package they had prepared earlier, and went to Ma's house to meet other people. They didn't have a car, so they were going to walk Chang'an.

Qiao Junlin and his father also have an ox cart, but only this cart, if Qiao Junlin and the others drove them away, the family would be gone.

When Qiao's father mentioned this matter that day, he was very embarrassed. When Qiao Junlin saw it, he said that there was no need for an ox cart, and the two of them would just walk. They were careful on the road, and what to do after they went to Chang'an. As for the bullock cart, they didn't mention it again.

The two of Qiao Junlin left early, and the Ma family was not ready yet, so they waited outside the door for a while.

The sky was not yet clear, and although there was no wind or snow, it was still so cold that people's noses and ears were about to fall off, and when they breathed out, there was a cloud of white mist.Qiao Junlin stomped his feet, took out a note from his pocket, opened it to take a look, squinted his eyes and smiled.

I saw two ugly lines written on the slightly rough white paper: "Look up to the sky and go out laughing, we are not from Penghao."

Yesterday Luo Yong asked someone to bring him a small package, which contained a jar of fermented bean curd, two pairs of cashmere socks, and this note.

Yes, how could he be willing to be down and out and be a Penghao person for the rest of his life.

Carefully putting the note in his pocket, he took out a copy of "The Analects of Confucius" and read it. In the past, he was the most impatient with this book, wishing he would never see it again, but now he didn't want to hide it.

Speaking of which, it's too late to start working hard now. I hope that my uncle won't be too disappointed in him when he gets to Chang'an.

·

In the Luo family, since Erniang knitted the first pair of cashmere socks, she basically got rid of housework, and she didn't need her to cook or wash the dishes. She just knits socks every day.

Then the housework naturally fell on Luo Yong's shoulders. After all, Si Niang is still a little younger, and she is only ten years old during the Chinese New Year, which is still a false age. It's okay to ask her to wash the dishes once in a while, but it's earlier to cook. .

Although there are ten-year-old girls who are responsible for cooking in other families, there are still two older sisters at the top of the Luo family. Now that the two older sisters have withdrawn, it is replaced by Luo Yong, who comes from A good young man in the 21st century is really embarrassed to ask a ten-year-old girl to cook for him.When Erniang was doing these things before, he couldn't help but help her. Speaking of which, Erniang was only sixteen during the Chinese New Year.

When I woke up this morning, I saw the two chirping chickens around the corner of the kang, and the two little ones swallowed and told Luo Yong that he wanted to eat chicken.

Luo Yong thought that the family hadn't eaten meat for a few days, so after breakfast, he took a bag of grain and went to the village to buy chicken.

They also want to raise chickens, but it’s not spring yet, and the hens in the village don’t have nests. They hatched six eggs before, and finally two chicks came out. This is not bad, after all, it’s the first time , This time Luo Yong gave them another ten eggs and asked them to continue hatching.

Siniang Wulang and the other two were in charge of hatching the eggs, but Luo Yong didn't care. At the beginning, Luo Yong just said: "This kang is so warm, I guess it can hatch chickens." Then the two got excited. , I have to try with two eggs.

Erniang refused at first, fearing that they would ruin things, but Luo gave them six eggs with a wave of his big hand, and said that if they could really hatch, they would raise those chicks in the future, and they would be able to lay eggs when they grew up. The eggs are also picked by them. As for who will get the eggs, that's not to say, to coax the children.

Si Niang's little girl looks quite shrewd, but after all, she still rarely sees it, and she will be happy when she hears that even the eggs are picked up by her.

When she steps on the trap a few more times in Luo Yong's place in the future, she should gradually learn to be good. When she goes out in the future, it will not be so easy if others try to trick her.

Luo Yong spent a bucket of corn and exchanged it from the villagers for a small rooster weighing three to four catties. On the way, many villagers said that it was too expensive for him to exchange. With them, it was better to exchange a bucket of corn. A bigger rooster, or a smaller hen would do, this rooster is obviously too small.

"Then do you still have chickens to sell?" Luo Yong asked them.

"No more." All the villagers who were asked shook their heads and waved their hands. After the New Year, the chickens at home were sold for food, and the rest were to be kept for this year's breeders, and they could not be sold any more.

Luo Sanlang sighed, the people here obviously don't understand the market law of supply and demand. In the current situation where supply exceeds demand, if someone slightly increases the price of their own chickens, they will be called unkind.

The price really just went up a little bit, and this was proposed by Luo Yong, because when he went to buy the chicken, people said he wanted to keep the chicken for himself, and Luo Yong said that if you don’t eat it for a while, Give me this chicken first, and I will give you a bucket of rice, and you can buy a bigger one from someone from another village, so the other party agreed.

Luo Yong is a little worried now, he should not be called a profiteer or something in the future, reputation is too important these days.

In addition to food, Luo Yong also bought some fermented bean sprouts.

Growing bean sprouts is not technically difficult. Villagers know how to do it, but they don’t do it. Firstly, it’s because of the temperature limit, and secondly, they are worried about food. Although beans are not as good as rice noodles, they can fill you up quite well. When you grow bean sprouts, they become vegetables. In the eyes of the villagers, vegetables are cheaper than food.

Now it’s all right, every household has a heated kang, and it’s much easier to grow some bean sprouts. In addition, many villagers are doing a good tofu business now, and they are more willing to eat it.

There are often out-of-town traders who stay at the villagers’ homes. Those who are more frugal will eat the dry food they bring with them. If they are willing to eat a little, they will give some money and food, and buy some meals from the host’s house. At this time, it is the turn of tofu and bean sprouts.

It is said that the current standard for serving guests is a bowl of fried noodles, a plate of bean sprouts, a plate of tofu with shallots, and a bowl of hot noodle soup.A package like this only costs three Wen per person.Three pennies doesn't sound like much, but according to the current grain price, it is enough to buy six liters of corn, and many people are reluctant to eat it.

When he got home, he put the bean sprouts and the little rooster in the kitchen, and Luo Yong went to pick wool with Siniang Wulang and the others.

Tian Chonghu took back several catties of wool yesterday. Luo Yong beat and cleaned the wool several times with plant ash last night to wash off the grease and dirt on the wool, and dried it on the kang head overnight. , to fluff it up before sorting.

The fine and soft cashmere is picked out for kneading, and some bad wool that is not very good at first glance is thrown away directly. The rest is left alone for the time being. Whether it will be made into wool felt or brushes in the future will be discussed at that time.

After picking wool for a while, Luo Yong remembered again that Tian Chonghu told him yesterday that when he was harvesting wool in the city, he often had to borrow scales from others, which was very inconvenient. I know a lot of people, so it's not too difficult to borrow a scale.

Borrowing from others all the time is not a long-term solution. Buy a scale yourself. The price is too expensive. Even if you collect a few catties of wool, it seems that it is not particularly necessary. After thinking about it, Luo Yong decided to make a simple version by himself.

In this era, one hundred liters was one dendrobium, one hundred catties was one stone, dendrobium was the unit of volume, and stone was the unit of weight.

If he is not mistaken, a dendrobium of corn is about as heavy as a stone, so basically, a liter of rice is a catty, and a catty at this time is heavier than a catty in later generations. According to the calculation of later generations, it is about the same It must be more than a catty.

Anyway, it is to collect waste products and weigh them as wool, which is not bad, and it does not need to be very precise.Luo Yong found a relatively straight wooden stick in the woodpile, the thickness of a thumb, and peeled it with a kitchen knife, and ground the two ends on the stone to make it even, and then dug holes, one in the middle and one at each end. one.

Just these three small holes, he has been busy for a long time, and this will be left to future generations. He can get it done with just three clicks of an electric drill.

After digging the hole, put a small rope in the middle, and hang a liter of rice on each end. After trying it, it is basically balanced.One of the ends hangs down a lot, and Luo Yong decides that this end will be used to hang wool, so that those who sell wool can get a little cheaper.

Which one is lighter and which one is heavier? After a long time, others will always know. This kind of cheap use will definitely not be taken up. Anyway, they only need some fermented bean curd and miso to collect these wools, which is not much cost.

Weigh a catty of stones with this ready-made steelyard, replace the corn, and find needlework cloth, sew the stones into a small cloth bag, and then tie a hemp rope on it, and tie it to one end of the steelyard. Then a larger cloth bag was made and hung at the other end to hold the wool.

Such a tool is a bit crude, but if it is only used to collect wool, it is basically enough.

After the scale was finished, it was almost noon, so the chicken would not be killed at noon, but it would be killed at night.

Recently, many villagers have been working in his house. In order to build those houses as soon as possible, they usually don't go back to rest at noon. As for lunch, people don't eat lunch very much these days.

Luo Yong was embarrassed to ask them to build a house for his family on an empty stomach. When the last group of people came to work for him, he also had to eat a little at noon. At that time, there was nothing to eat at home, so they just cooked Pancakes make some hot porridge and so on, and often drink bean curd.

The situation of the Luo family is much better now than it was before, and now Luo Yong doesn't have to make tofu and sell tofu all day long, and can spend more time and energy on eating.

A few days ago, Luo Yong made Zhajiang noodles for everyone, and then Zhajiang noodles became popular in the village, and the miso they just made sold out quickly.

To make pancakes at noon today, first prepare a small pot of miscellaneous grain batter, then put a pottery plate on the stove, burn it on a low fire, and pancakes can be made on the pottery pot, the tools are a bit crude, a pottery pot and a kitchen knife, Let's do it.

"Brother, brother, what are you having for lunch?" The two, Si Niang and Wu Lang, couldn't sit still after smelling the smell.

"But you want to help?" Er Niang also came over at this time.

"There's nothing to help. You've been knitting socks for a long time, so let's take a break." Luo slapped two eggs on top of the pancakes, and swept them away with a knife. Yes, spread some miso and sprinkle a little green onion.

This is for Liulang Qiniang and the others, so no bean sprouts are put in. The two young ones, according to the calculation here, are said to be four years old. In fact, they are only two years old. Luo Yong is worried that they will not be able to chew the bean sprouts. , stuck in the throat.

This pancake was folded, rolled, and then cut in half. Erniang took it to feed Liulang and Qiniang, and they ate first. The two of them, Siniang and Wulang, were still around the stove, waiting for their own portion.

These two were quite edible, and Luo Yong made them a big pancake by himself, with beaten eggs and miso, and a handful of blanched bean sprouts.The two of them looked at each other eagerly, swallowing their saliva and yelling: "Brother, put more sauce for me, I want more sauce."

With just a few simple tools of his own, Luo Yong forcefully spread out a pot of batter.Except for the two little dolls, Liulang and Qiniang, Luo Yong and the others all have a cake and an egg, so the helper is embarrassed, there is no egg, no wonder Luo Yong is too picky, in fact, his family is not too rich now.

Those people who work in his house are all big-bellied men. One pancake is definitely not enough to eat. Even his family Si Niang Wulang can force two. These people are not enough, so Luo Yong fried them two pancakes. It's a thick pancake, maybe I still can't eat enough, so let's do it.

After eating the pancakes, these people started to work really hard, and the walls were built solidly, without cutting corners at all.

After work in the evening, when everyone returned home, they naturally wanted to tell their family what they ate at Luo’s house today. Hearing the dolls swallow their saliva again and again, some of them would come out of their arms. He took out a small cloth bag from his pocket, which caused cheers from several children in the family.

Although this multigrain pancake has been stored for an afternoon, it will not become cold and hard when it is covered with body temperature in the bosom. It is a bit more tenacious than when it was just baked, and it is very chewy. fragrant.

·

Luo's side.

"Brother! Let's kill the chicken now!" After all the workers in the backyard had left, Siniang and Wulang happily took out the little rooster and the kitchen knife from the kitchen.

"Okay." Luo took the kitchen knife with one hand and the little cock with the other.

"Brother?" Seeing him standing there without moving for a while with a kitchen knife in one hand and a rooster in the other, Si Niang couldn't help shouting again.

"..." Luo Yong picked up the kitchen knife and stroked the chicken a few times. He didn't know where to start. In his two lifetimes, he never killed a chicken.

"Let me come." Er Niang just came out of the house at this time, and reached out to take the chicken and the kitchen knife.

Although Luo Yong told her to just knit socks and not do housework, she still couldn't get used to it. Besides, Luo Yong's life was not easy all day long, and she couldn't just sit in the house and wait for ready-made food.

Luo Erniang lifted the little rooster to the side, and told Si Niang to take a rough pottery bowl and place it on the ground, squatting down, stepping on the rooster's wings with one foot and the rooster's paw with the other, stretching out her hand Grabbing the rooster's neck, tearing off a few hairs, and scratching it with a kitchen knife, the blood immediately flowed out and fell into the pottery bowl, not a single drop wasted.

The whole process was so smooth and smooth that Luo Yong was taken aback.

Erniang got up, threw the bloody little rooster into the empty wooden barrel beside her, and asked Siniang to add some boiling water to it.

Looking back, seeing Luo Yong still standing there in a daze, he pursed his lips and laughed: "After all, he is still a scholar."

Luo Yong: Is this being ridiculed?