North and South groceries

In the seventh year of Zhenguan, in mid-October, Lishi County was already heavily snowed. On a mountain road more than ten miles east of the county, two people were trekking in the wind and snow.

Both of them are villagers of Xipo Village. These days, they have come and gone on this road many times. It was better if it didn't snow before, but when it snowed heavily, the road became extremely difficult.

"Da Lang, is it heavy? Let me carry it for a while?" The old woman who spoke had gray hair, but she was very energetic. She was walking in the wind and snow with a big basket. How difficult it was, the old man's hair was a little messy from the north wind at the moment, but the clothes on his body were neatly dressed, even though they were the most common linen clothes, they were very clean and tidy.

"No, I can carry it." The fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy was not strong, and it was obviously very difficult to walk in the snow with a big basket on his back. He didn't complain, but just gritted his teeth. persist in.

"If you are tired, just tell me, it doesn't matter if we stop for a rest, don't worry about it for a while." The old woman really felt sorry for her grandson.

Her eldest son had an accident while serving corvee and lost a leg. He couldn't go out in this kind of weather anyway. Apart from the grandson, there was no one else in the family who could do this job.

The boy also said that Xue Da told her not to follow, he could do it by himself, how could the old woman agree, such a good grandson, she was afraid that she would be taken away by wolves, it was freezing cold, and there were many The wild animals are hiding, and those wild animals that cannot be hunted and eaten will often go down the mountain, so be extra careful when going out.Don't look at her old bones, if she is really ruthless, even the wild beasts have to be afraid.

"When you climb over the slope ahead, you will see your aunt's house."

"If you trade this basket of tofu, you can get a lot of beans."

"Oh, it would be great if I could have a cow. Dalang, wait a little longer. When your mother learns the craft of making tofu from Luo Sanlang, our family will save some money and buy a cow. , then you won't have to work so hard, as long as you have cattle, it will be convenient for you, Aye, to go out, and you don't have to be like now..."

The old woman felt sorry for her grandson, and she kept talking about it all the way. The dead ghost in her family was short-lived, and her son was disabled. The family mainly relied on her and her daughter-in-law for support. In the past two years, the grandson has grown up, and he can help them share some of the burden.

A few days ago, Nasaburo of the Luo family said that as long as the people in the village were willing to help his family for a month, he would teach them all the skills of making tofu.

What is the work for a month, all in the village, right under the eyes of my family, and I can't suffer much, and in addition to the severe winter, I am not afraid of delaying the farming work.Her family originally planned to arrange for the eldest grandson to go there, but after thinking about it, they decided to let her daughter-in-law go. At first, they were worried that Luo Sanlang would dislike women's lack of manpower. When Ting was grinding beans, her daughter-in-law helped out and knew that she was a quick worker.

These days, her daughter-in-law went to Luo's house to work every day, and she and her grandson exchanged tofu from Luo's house and went around to visit relatives.

After walking through quite a few villages, I finally found out that the people in the village where her eldest daughter’s family is located are the ones who are most willing to eat. Every time the tofu is memorized, it will be divided up by the villagers in a short time, and the beans are also given readily. If it weren’t for her every time They all insisted on leaving a piece for their grandson and granddaughter, fearing that there would be nothing left.

In their Xipo village, there are some people who don’t know the sky and the earth, gossip behind their backs, saying that the old woman is crazy about food, and it’s freezing cold, and she asked her grandson to come out to eat with her. This kind of suffering.

They know shit!Don't look at Luo Sanlang now, even if he sells tofu in the village, he can still earn some beans every day.Their Xipo Village is only a big place, and now there are more than a dozen people helping the Luo family. In the future, when Sanlang of the Luo family teaches them the craft of making tofu, there will be more than a dozen more in the village. Tofu people, where will the tofu go when the time comes?Don't prepare early.

These days, her son has not been idle at home. All the things needed to make tofu have been imitated by the Luo family. In addition to her business, it can be said that everything is ready. Wait for her daughter-in-law to learn the craft from the Luo family.

In a village not far ahead, because it was a heavy snow day, the doors and windows of every house were closed at this time. In a certain family’s house in the village, three or five women were sitting together, twisting twine and making Clothes make clothes.

It is also a rural area, and this village seems to be richer than Xipo Village where Luo Sanlang lives, because it is not far from the county seat, and they can earn some income by growing some vegetables and selling them in the city. It is also easier to sell at a good price here, because you are close and well-informed. Sometimes you can sell directly to residents in the city without going through those grain merchants, and you can get a few extra pennies.

"Grandmother, grandma is here." A few children gathered around the window to play with the window, quietly opening and closing the wooden window, as long as it didn't make too much noise, the woman in the room didn't care.

"What grandma, I think you want to eat tofu?" Several adults in the room joked.

"Really, grandma is here, and so is my cousin." The children simply opened the windows to show them.

A gust of cold wind poured into the house, and many snowflakes blew in. Looking out the window, I saw two people walking towards this side in the wind and snow.

"Grandmother, why are you still here under such heavy snow?" A woman rushed out to greet her, and reached out to take the basket from the old woman's hand.

"It was agreed earlier that I will come over in the next two days, I'm afraid you'll be waiting in vain." The old woman laughed.

"Hurry up and get in the house to warm up, it's so cold..." the three of them entered the yard while talking.

Not long after, many people in this village heard that there were people coming from Xipo Village again, and hurriedly brought beans from home to exchange for tofu.

There are only a few kinds of food in winter, and there are not many tricks. They have eaten the tofu in Xipo Village several times. It is something they have never eaten before. It is not only fresh, but also delicious and inexpensive. One piece is also quite thick. If it’s just a side dish, usually the population of the family is not very large, a piece of tofu is enough for one or two meals, and it’s really frugal. You can eat it for three to five days. Give it a fresh taste.

The baskets of tofu were divided among people in no time. Another neighbor brought over a bucket of beans and took away most of the basket of tofu in one go. relatives here.

Now the reputation of the tofu in Xipo Village has spread to the city, but there are no shops in the city to sell it. At this time, taking this tofu to the city as a gift is not expensive, but it is better than freshness. After all, it has just been bought. Start something trendy.

·

On the Luo's side, ten days later, the courtyard of the Luo's house has changed. The sparse fence walls have been pulled down, and a circle of earthen walls taller than a person has been built around the yard. Didn't move, just set up a grass shed as a place to make tofu.

This thatched hut was built on the open space between the courtyard wall and the room where Erniang and the others slept. The large stove for cooking tofu was directly attached to the wall of the house. When these large stoves were burning, the room next to them was very warm.

In the first two days, because the market hadn’t opened up yet, and there were not many beans in the house, so there were not many tofu made every day. The dozen or so people who came to Luo’s house to help were basically engaged in basic engineering construction every day. Repairing fences, setting up sheds, building stoves, and so on. Those who are skilled can get some light work, such as making tools such as tofu baskets.

When these basic projects were almost completed, more people came to buy tofu. After the accumulation of the previous few days, Luo Yong had more beans in his hand, so he threw off his arms and started making tofu. The yard smells of bean fragrance every day, snowflakes are flying outside the thatched shed, and steam is steaming inside the thatched shed.

Luo Sanlang is only fourteen years old and recovering from a serious illness. He looks young and frail, but in fact he has a lot of ideas. Before he said that he would teach everyone how to make tofu, many villagers were shocked. These days, I see him every day. The arrangements are well-organized, and no one will feel careless just because he is young.

In the past few days, Luo Yong asked the people in the yard to throw off their arms to make tofu. How much tofu they made that day would be sold out if they could be sold out. It's frozen in the cold, just enough to make a batch of frozen tofu.

After a few days and a month, all these people have left. With just a few people in their family, it is estimated that they will not be able to make a few pieces of tofu. Of course, if they can save enough money to buy a donkey, the tofu business can continue. Do it for a while.

I heard that recently some villagers have begun to worry that there will be too many people making tofu after one month, and the tofu they make will not be sold. Luo Yong is not worried. In his opinion, the reason why the villagers are worried is because they have not yet See the large blank market in front of you.

"Sanlang, why don't you stay indoors in this cold weather?"

This morning, Aunt Luo and Lin Wulang came to Luo's yard together. Seeing Luo Sanlang wandering in the yard, she couldn't help but say a few more words to him. heart of.

"I just finished eating, so I walked around." Luo Yong said, looking behind Aunt Luo and the others, and found that it was not Lin Liulang who followed them this time.

Speaking of Lin Liulang, since Da Luoyong woke up, he has seen him a few times, and he doesn't seem to be as arrogant as he remembered. I don't know if he hasn't seen him for more than half a year, but that guy has changed.

Ever since I started making tofu at home, the brothers from the Lin family have come to watch the excitement. Lin Dalang even gave him a big millstone. Luo Yong didn’t have anything to sell for the time being, so he returned a basket of dried tofu. Rolling it to him is barely considered a relationship.

"Let's go into the house and talk."

After entering the house, Aunt Luo and Lin Wulang explained the purpose of coming this time. The child who came with them this time was named Qiao Junlin, a child of a relative's family from Aunt Luo's mother-in-law's family.

Mother Lin's natal family was a wealthy family in the county, and her father's arrangement for marrying to Xipo Village was also arranged by her father. The world was a bit chaotic at that time, and his father made such a decision in order to ensure more protection for the family. Later, Lin When my mother married to Xipo Village, she did help her natal family. She gave them food, rice and noodles. Later, when the world was peaceful, someone from her natal family passed the imperial examination and became a small official. Just now, the future of the whole family is bright, and now the Lin family also vaguely regards that side as a backer.

The boy who came here today is the grandson of Mother Lin's younger brother's family. This boy's mother left early. His father found a stepmother for him, and he also got a few younger brothers and sisters. I can't wait to lift the roof off.

A few days ago, Lin's mother took Lin Liulang back to her natal family to visit relatives, and she didn't know how to do it. The kid's stepmother said that this kid and Lin Liulang didn't really hit it off. Let Liu Lang go to the countryside to play for a while, and then assign him like this.

In the words, Aunt Luo spoke more implicitly, but Luo used her own brain to make up her mind, and basically she could get a relatively complete story.

The story is not over here. After this kid lived in the Lin family, for some reason, he fell in love with Lin Liulang, who was said to be very close to him. Lin Liulang was spoiled by his family since he was a child, and he didn't fight much. Wouldn't it be sad to meet such a person who has been tempered into steel.

Lin Liulang was devastated for several days, and Lin Mu saw it in his eyes and felt pain in his heart. Then, the second generation ancestor named Qiao Junlin suddenly told them yesterday that he wanted to learn how to make tofu from Luo Jiasanlang. Lin Mu was very happy, and immediately So I said, let Mrs. Luo and Lin Wulang take him here to see what's new.

Luo Yong has basically figured it out when he heard this. This man named Qiao Junlin is a down-and-out young man who had a stepmother first and then a stepfather, and was rejected by others even when he lost his relatives. You have to rely on yourself, determined to learn a craft of making tofu to support yourself?

14 years old... Tsk, it's the age when I should be in the second grade of junior high school.

"Sanlang, tell me..." Mrs. Luo felt a little guilty. Sanlang had been ill for so long, and it was so hard to get better. Just when she was about to do something at home, she asked someone to come over to make trouble for him. How inappropriate, but what? Now that the grandmother in charge had already spoken, it was really hard for the couple to shirk.

"It's okay, let him stay with me." Luo Yong didn't feel embarrassed at all.

After they finished speaking, they went outside to have a look. The kid named Qiao Junlin, no matter how they discussed it, he ran over there to push the millstone.

Maybe it's because he was born in a wealthy family, he never lacked food and drink, and fought and exercised a lot since he was a child, so he still has some strength in his small body, and his skill at pushing the millstone is no worse than those adults in the yard.

"..." Luo Sanlang stood in the yard and scratched his chin. It seemed that the donkey could not be bought for the time being.