North and South groceries

Luo Yong refused to take the red dates brought by Wang Dang's wife. He measured the number of these dates with a square bucket, and took the corresponding corn from home to give to him.

It's a good idea to help him bring jujubes over such a long journey. How can we let them pay for it themselves? It's not a wealthy family, and those Dinghu men earn hard money.

That Wang's daughter-in-law is a quick worker, and within two days of coming to Xipo Village, she cleaned up the yard inside and out.

Walking to and from the Luo family's courtyard, I saw that the Luo family brothers and sisters were dressed warmly, but the clothes on their bodies looked a bit sloppy.Needless to say, she can tell that the cashmere sweater and trousers worn inside are good, but the ones worn outside are messy.

When Siniang and the others were in the house, they put on two or three layers of cross-collared short brown coats of different sizes, new and old, over the woolen coats, and put on sheepskin jackets when they were going out of the house. Also ask her to wear that rabbit fur jacket.

What makes Wang Dang's wife dislike the most are those loose and dusty cloth shoes. On weekdays, I see Siniang Wulang and the others running around the village with their feet shaking. Those shoes are old and worn out. When it was dropped, I had to go back to pick it up again, seeing where it looked like a child from a wealthy family.

The socks worn inside the shoes are also good things. Although they are not dyed, they are still made of cashmere. Wang Shao also has a pair of such socks, which are given by Mr. Lang. When I touch them with my hands, they are really soft and warm. No wonder those people The nobles from Chang'an are vying to buy it.

"Er Niang, if you have those worn-out clothes, give them to me, and I'll make some pairs of shoes for you." On this day, Wang's daughter-in-law came to Luo's yard after finishing the work in the yard over there. He helped his siblings sweep the snow in the yard together, and Fu said so again.

"Why bother Ah He any more." Er Niang declined.

At that time people called women, besides XX, A was also a relatively common form. The surname of Wang Dang's wife was He, and everyone called her Ahe. Only those who had worshiped Wang Dang called her. sister in law.

"What's bothering me, I'm just idle anyway." Wang Dang's daughter-in-law said with a smile.

"Then I'll go get some old clothes. If Ahe has time, I'll make a few, and if I'm not free, I'll put them away first." Luo Erniang also knew that Wang Dang's wife was good at needlework, and the dolls in his family wore clothes Although it is not very good, it is also very tidy, not as sloppy as their Luo family.

Wang Dang's daughter-in-law took the old clothes and went back to the yard over there. It's not that she doesn't like to sit around in the Luo family's yard, it's just that the brothers and sisters of the Luo family eat three or four meals a day.

In her opinion, there was no rest throughout the day. After breakfast and lunch, after lunch and dinner, after dinner, there was often another supper. Every time Wang's daughter-in-law went to their place Side, for fear of meeting them again when eating.Even Wang Shao didn't tell him to run to the Luo's yard, the paperwork was done, and now Wang Shao was no longer a servant of the Luo's family, so why would he eat at his house all day long.

Taking those old clothes back to the courtyard, and entering the temporary room where her family lived, she saw that her eldest son was teaching the two younger siblings to count. During the few days he was in Luo's house, he also learned something from Na Luo Sanlang. Although he is not very good, he can barely count to one hundred.

The children stayed in the kang for a while. At the top of the kang, there were a row of cloth shoes and socks. They were the shoes of Wang Dang and his brothers. Since Wang Dang's wife came, they could wear dry and warm clothes. feet out of shoes.

Since December, the weather has become colder and freezing everywhere, but the road surface is not so muddy, but the shoes will still get wet after walking on the snow for a long time.

These days, Wang’s wife asked them to bring an extra pair of shoes and socks when they went out. When they got wet in the city, they removed the wet shoes and socks and put on dry ones. When they came back to Xipo Village, The two pairs of shoes and socks were given to Wang as his daughter-in-law. She took them to the well the next day, sprinkled some plant ash, hammered them, cleaned them, and then took them home and baked them on the kang. Perfectly dry.

After straightening out the shoes and socks on the kang, and turning over the eggs that were hatching next to her, Wang Dang's wife wiped her hands, took out the tools, and sat on the kang to start cutting the soles of the shoes.

The method of incubating chickens on the heated kang was learned from Siniang Wulang and the others, and they also have the feed for the chickens.A few days ago, the head of her family helped someone clean up two pigpens, and the family gave him a bucket of bean dregs as wages. Later, other villagers asked them to help clean up the pigpens, and they all paid the price of a bucket of bean dregs for two pigpens. .

For such a small job, she was willing to give a bucket of bean dregs. For the daughter-in-law of the Wang family who was used to being poor since she was a child, this place is almost as rich as oil.So even though they can only live in this yard next spring, she is not planning to leave, and if the yard can no longer live, she will find another place.Although you are in a foreign land, life is always easier if you stay in a wealthy place.

The arrival of these people also brought a lot of convenience to Xipo Village.

Luo Yong is now also asking them to help clean up the pigsty. There are so many pigsty in his house, Wang Dang and the others would only accept a bucket of bean dregs once they cleaned them up. Afterwards, I asked Goro to fill them up with half a liter of soy sauce.

This time this batch of soy sauce is in time for the season. The sauce blocks made in the spring, after being put into the vat, have been fermented in the vat for more than half a year. Those big vats are placed in the backyard of Luo’s house. After a whole day, the mouth of the tank should be covered for fear of being exposed to dew at night.Luo Yong ordered a batch of lids from that pottery workshop, and those lids were placed on the vat, like large upside-down saucers, even if it was raining, there was no fear of rainwater flowing into the sauce vat.

People in the village want to eat soy sauce, miso, fermented bean curd, etc., so they take bean dregs from their own homes to Luo's yard to change them, because they are just some bean dregs that they can't use up, so it is not a pity to change them.

Luo Yong can now earn a lot of bean dregs every day. He cooks pig food and mixes it with chicken food every day.

After the beginning of spring, the villagers have to be busy with the work in the fields again, and the weather gets hotter and it is not easy to store tofu. At that time, every household makes less tofu, and they have to feed chickens and pigs, so there is no extra bean dregs to take Come to Luo to use this place to exchange things, and when the time comes, Luo will take out the dried bean dregs stored in his warehouse to feed pigs and chickens.

Due to the pressure brought by the purchase price of the [-] eucommia seedlings, Luo Yong has been living a more careful life recently. Apart from doing work and settling accounts every day, he seldom buys meat from the city.

No matter how he calculated, the money was still not enough. Besides the payment for the saplings, he still had to buy cattle. If he couldn't buy healthy cattle before the spring, how would he proceed with spring plowing next year?

Wang Dang's goatee think tank learned that Luo Yong was worrying about money recently, so he gave him an idea: "Since Mr. Lang has no money, why don't you kill these pigs and sell them for cash first, and then you can get cash first." Let’s talk about it after passing this hurdle.”

"You're right." The reasoning is the same, but the pigs in the house are just growing in size, and Luo Yong is not willing to kill them at this time.

"If you want to slaughter at this time, you should first choose those with small skeletons and round faces to slaughter first." The other party said again.

"Then tell me, which one is the right one to choose first?" He was reluctant to give up, but when the matter came to an end, there must be a decision. This person seemed to be able to figure it out, so Luo Yong asked his opinion. .

"Let's choose this one." The other party seemed to have already made up his mind, and pointed to a pigsty beside them.

That pig was really round. Looking closely, Luo Yong also felt that the skeleton of this pig was a little smaller than other pigs, so he also decided to start with it.

"Yang Dalang knows how to butcher pigs?" Luo Yong saw that the goatee could feel the pigs in his family so clearly, so he guessed that he might deliberately want to take the business of butchering pigs.

This goatee is thicker than the king, and he is more shrewd, but I heard that he is also very righteous to his brothers. Among that group of people, he is like a military adviser.

"Of course I will." Seeing that Luo Yong asked something, the other party replied with a smile.

"How do you calculate the wages?" Luo Yong was not a thin-skinned person either.

"Clean up from the beginning to the end, and pay for the three liters of water." Of course, he had already thought about the wages before.

"Okay." Luo Yong nodded readily. Butchering pigs is a hassle for him. If he asks the villagers to come over to help, there must be more things distributed.

That Yang Dalang didn't go to work today, so he took over the job, drove the pig to the yard where he lived, called Wang Dang's wife to help him prepare some boiling water, and then started to work in the yard on his own. Wang Shao ran out and said he wanted to help, but he also sent him back. It is better for children not to see blood.

This Yang Dalang is a widower. His mother-in-law and aunt had an accident during childbirth, and neither the adults nor the children were kept.He has always been kind to Wang Shao. He heard that this kid sold himself earlier, so he went out with Wang Dang to find someone without saying a word.

Over there, Yang Dalang was busy killing pigs, while Luo Yong was still making wool felt in his backyard. When the other party finished packing up the pig, he brought the load to him and shouted in the yard outside. Luo Yong hurried out to inspect the goods.

"Look, is this pig well-groomed?" Nayang Dalang said with a smile.

"It's all right." Luo Yong inspected it briefly, and the work was done very carefully, the pig hair was shaved clean, and the sewage was cleaned up.

After the pigs were slaughtered, it was time to pay the wages. Luo Yong took rice from his grocery store, put a kidney in it, and then put a section of large intestine, and asked again. He said, "What do you want?"

"Hey." Yang Dalang looked straight at the pig's tail.

"Okay." Luo Yong smiled, and gave him the pig's tail, and then cut him a fat and thin piece the size of a child's palm on the pig's buttocks: "I'm afraid it's not enough for three liters, let's use some pig's blood to make up the number." .”

"Enough is enough!" Yang Dalang said quickly, he didn't expect that this Luo Sanlang could still cut such a good piece of meat for him.

"Take some, it's good to cook pig's blood and pickles together." It's not easy to kill a pig, Luo Yong thinks that something is still a little short, and there are quite a few people in their yard, so this thing is not enough for teeth. sewn.

"Enough is enough, if you can't finish eating those pig's blood, I'll help you go to the village and tell them to exchange bean dregs." Yang Dalang helped Luo Yong put things back together, carrying baskets and poles Then he went out of Luo's yard, and in the basket was the wages he earned from killing a pig this time. It was much easier to get these things from killing a pig than delivering goods for others.

"That's troublesome." Luo Yong shouted from behind.With so much pig's blood, they really couldn't finish it by themselves.

"Don't bother, don't bother."

Yang Dalang can also see now that the people in Xipo Village are the most generous when they exchange bean dregs for things.

Back in the courtyard over there, he gave Wang Dang-in-law the reward for killing the pig this time, and he wandered around the village by himself. The brothers of them all ate in a big pot now, and Wang Dang-in-law was in charge.

When Yang Dalang left the yard, Luo Yong took a closer look at his pig, and saw that the fat was as thick as two fingers. Because of the cold weather, within a short while, the fat was frozen into milk. White, with the red and white contrasting with the lean meat, it is so attractive, it looks like a high-quality local pork, but when you smell it carefully, it doesn't have much fishy smell.

When he was working as a peddler in the 21st century, he also saw a lot of pork of all kinds. He only saw pork like this once when he was staying at a certain farmer’s house and bought some from the owner’s house. , I keep it for myself to try something new, but I am reluctant to sell it.

Luo cut a piece of rib pork belly with a kitchen knife, took it to the stove, cut it into small cubes, soaked it in cold water with ginger slices for half an hour, then blanched it in boiling water, and then mixed it with ginger and shallots. The wine, soy sauce, and salt were put into the pottery pot, and the fire was simmering slowly. Because the turbid wine itself had a sweet taste, he didn't add any more sugar.

To make this Dongpo meat, you need to add more wine and less water, and simmer slowly over a low fire. After simmering for an hour or two, the aroma will be very strong.

Those few children who were ordered by the adults in the family to bring bean dregs to exchange for pig blood, could not walk when they smelled this smell.

"What's the matter, do you want to eat?" Seeing those girls and boys poking their heads outside the kitchen, Luo asked with a smile.

"I want to eat!" That's needless to say.

"If you want to eat, ask your mother to come here with ten cents." Luo Yong was dividing up the pot of Dongpo meat at this time, and he used the same kind of earthenware pot that he used for fermented bean curd. Pouring the meat with another half spoonful of thick soup, let it cool, then seal it with oil paper and tie it with string.

He would sell such a jar of Dongpo meat for ten cents, so naturally he would not be targeting the village market, but those noble merchants in the county town.

Tomorrow, let Wang Dang and others help him send this batch of Dongpo meat to Xu Erlang, and ask him to send a copy to each of the Eucommia seedling suppliers. It should also be able to make him earn some money and food to come back.

·

In just one or two days, the reputation of this Dongpo meat spread in Lishi County. When it comes to Dongpo meat in Xipo Village, everyone praises it no matter whether they have eaten it or not.

Someone who was quick, went to Xipo village with his servants to grab a jar of Dongpo meat, shared it with all his friends in the wine shop, and slowly baked the jar of meat on a charcoal fire until the meat in the jar was fully baked. The incense floats out from the edge of the mouth of the can that is tied with oil paper, and the can can be opened to share food.

Na Luo Sanlang is really unique in this matter of raising pigs and cooking meat. His Dongpo meat is really delicious, the meat is sweet and soft, fat but not greasy.Those who don't like pork and say it's fishy, ​​after eating this Dongpo pork, are also scrambling to advertise for Na Luosanlang.

As for why it is called Dongpo Meat, which is obviously from Xipo Village, no one knows.

A few days later, Du Qilang from Chang'an City was annoyed by his cousins ​​at home. After thinking about it, there seemed to be nothing interesting in other places, so he rode his horse and came to Lishi County again.

In the afternoon of this day, Du Xi and his servant Xie Kui had just entered Lishi County when they heard someone calling him Du Qilang. When he turned around, he saw a strange face, and he thought that there are those who love and follow everywhere. This is what troubles him as a romantic person because of his friendship.

"Could it be that Qilang doesn't remember me?" The man cupped his hands and smiled.There is quite a bit of coquettish demeanor between his gestures.

"..." The voice sounded familiar. Du Qilang took a closer look, and immediately burst out laughing: "I don't know who it is, it's Yan Liulang. Why haven't you seen me for more than a month, and you are so plump?"