North and South groceries

Luo Yong first heated up a pot of hot oil, and then took a jar of stinky tofu from the donkey cart. After draining the water stains slightly, he fried the pieces of stinky tofu in an iron kettle.

The stinky tofu used for frying is a bit different from the stinky fermented bean curd. The step of fermentation is omitted, because the fermented tofu is crispy, and it cannot be fried into stinky tofu. Just put the tofu directly in the old marinade and soak it. Can.

The hot oil in the iron cauldron was rolling and bubbling, frying the pieces of stinky tofu sizzling, and at the same time, bursts of stinky fragrance wafted through the streets in this winter.

"What's the smell?" The people living nearby and merchants from other places quickly asked about the smell.

"Oh, it stinks!" Someone shouted there.

"I think it smells weird." Some people naturally like this smell.

"Why do I smell like someone's cooking shit?" It's imaginative.

"Should we burn soil and dung?" someone asked.

"What soil dung, your soil dung is fried with lard?"

"Let's go, don't argue, let's take a look."

It's only February now, and it's still snowing in many places on Hedong Road. Although it hasn't snowed in Lishi County these days, the weather is still very cold.

In the afternoon, the street was deserted. Luo Yong and Tian Chonghu set up a stall on the side of the street to fry stinky tofu. After frying for a while, many people came out from the alleys on both sides of the street to watch the excitement. , Not long after, people from various guest houses also came to see what happened.

"Sanlang, what are you doing?" Many people in the city felt it was a pity that a good pot of oil was used to fry that stinky thing.

"This thing is called stinky tofu. It smells stinky and tastes delicious." Luo Yong said, using bamboo chopsticks to pick up a piece of stinky tofu just out of the pan, took out a pair of scissors that he had prepared in advance, and cut the stinky tofu with a few scissors. A piece of stinky tofu was cut into several small pieces, served in a rough clay bowl, and then a spoonful of the sauce prepared yesterday was poured on it from the clay pot next to it. look?"

A young man standing closest to Luo Yong took the pottery bowl, holding a determination to save Luo Sanlang some face, no matter how unpalatable he would swallow it, he picked up a small piece of stinky tofu and put it in his mouth...

"How does it feel?" Many people around him stared at him, with different expressions on their faces, some were curious, some were frowning, some were forbearing, and some were showing sympathy.

"Delicious!" The man nodded after eating a small piece of stinky tofu, and handed the pottery bowl to the person beside him.

"..." At this time, many people did not believe his words.

"Let me taste it." Some people were attracted by the smell and couldn't wait to taste it.

The stinky tofu smells stinky, but it is actually just the smell produced after a long period of full fermentation with specific materials. Some people naturally like this smell.

"Delicious! How do you sell your stinky tofu?" After tasting a small piece of stinky fermented bean curd, the bearded man stretched out his hand to touch his chin, with an expression of unsatisfactory expression.

"Two yuan for one penny, five yuan for two pennies." Luo Yong didn't expect that the stinky tofu business would open so soon. After all, the taste of this food is quite strong, and many people can't accept it.

"Give me five pennies." This guy is rich, and for five pennies, although you can't buy a bushel of corn at this time of year, you can still buy eight or nine liters.

"Okay." Five cents was 12 yuan, and Luo Yong gave him an extra piece of stinky tofu, which was just out of the pan, for 13 yuan. He filled a large bowl with a large rough pottery bowl, and poured a lot of sauce on it. Go up, sell a bowl of stinky tofu, and get five cents.

Once someone starts the business, it will be much easier to do business later on. Many people want to try it after hearing the guy say it's delicious. Some people will go for the free tasting, and some people simply Spend one or two pennies to buy a copy to taste.

That kid Tian Chonghu got started pretty quickly, he learned how to fry tofu in a few strokes, and took over the job, and then Luo Yong just sold tofu to collect money, and when no one bought it, he chatted with the onlookers , Tell them about the big and small things that happened in the city these days.

Luo Yong had sold a batch of fermented bean curd to Chang'an City before, probably because the taste was more exotic and the audience was narrower, so it failed to catch on.

Recently, the Luo family killed several pigs and saved a lot of lard. Luo Yong began to think about getting some stinky tofu to sell.After all, fried stinky tofu is more fragrant, and it looks better than stinky fermented bean curd. It is also full of flavor when topped with sauce, so there should be a market for it.

I heard that in the fall and winter of this year, in their Lishi County area, there are quite a lot of people who raise pigs. They all follow the example of the Luo family. They bought male piglets and brought them back, and then fed them with hot food twice a day. Using this method Raising pigs does grow faster than before.

When these pigs are ready to be slaughtered, the local pork supply in Lishi County will suddenly increase. In order to prevent the price of pork from falling too much, it is natural to try hard to find a market. If the sales problem is not solved well, many Pig farmers will suffer.

In any case, with lard, stinky tofu can be fried and sold, and there should be no need to worry about not being able to buy oil in the future.

It was the first time I opened the stall today, the scene was not very popular, there were many people watching the excitement, and there were more free tastings, but not many people actually paid for it. After getting the taste of stinky tofu, not many people are willing to spend a penny to buy the small two squares of stinky tofu to eat and play.

When it was getting dark, Luo Yong and the others were going to close the stalls, those who should try new things had also tasted something new, and those who watched the excitement had almost seen it, and seeing that it was time for dinner, everyone naturally It's all gone.

There were only a few children in ragged clothes, who were still looking at the entrance of the alley not far away.In the afternoon, when Luo Yong and the others had just opened the stall, they gathered around the side of the stall. Later, some people who lived nearby told them not to delay Luo Sanlang's business, and then they They all hid in that alley.

It stands to reason that Lishi County is developing well now, with merchants coming and going every day. Compared with the surrounding towns, it is considered prosperous, but there are still many poor and dilapidated families in the city.

Just like in their Xipo Village, even if Luo Yong taught them the craft of making tofu, there would still be some families who couldn’t help them. Those who are insane, and some who have no adults at home.In this county, the situation should be similar.

"Come here." Before closing the stall, Luo Yong waved to the entrance of the alley.

"..." As soon as the children saw Luo Yong and waved at them, some of them were so clever that they rushed over immediately, and the children behind hurriedly followed, for fear that they would not be able to distinguish things if they ran too slowly.

"Go home and get a pottery bowl." Luo Yong said to them.

"Oh." Let them go back to get the pottery bowls, it must be to give them something, these children immediately rushed forward, and ran home.

After the children ran away, Luo Yong added a fire to the stove under the iron kettle, and then brought a jar of miso from the donkey cart.

There was about two or three centimeters of lard left in the iron kettle. Luo used the lard left over from frying the stinky tofu, poured some bean paste into it and fried it, and added the unused stinky tofu sauce today. Juice was also poured in as needed, and a pot of fragrant fried sauce came out.

When the children came over with stoneware bowls, Luo Yong shared a spoonful of sauce for each of them.

The lard in the iron cauldron has been burned for half a day, and the sauce made from it can't be said to be very healthy. It's just that the children of these poor families can't even taste the smell of lard all year round, so it doesn't matter what they do Healthy or not, I am so happy that I can get this spoonful of fragrant lard fried sauce.

So in the evening of this day, in Lishi County, many children walked through the streets and alleys to go home with a small bowl of sauce.

When some people see it, they have to ask them: "Where did you come from?"

"Given by Luo Sanlang." These children were very happy.

"Hey, this Luo Sanlang even sells and gives away, is he still earning money?" Many people are worried for Luo Yong. Luo Jiasanlang has no character, but he is still too young after all. After a while, I don’t know how to calculate carefully when I live my life. If you are doing a small business and even sell and give away, don’t lose money.

"Grandmother, try this sauce, it's delicious." A child came home with the half bowl of sauce and shouted as soon as he entered the door.

"Why are there so many?" A woman with yellowish face and loose skin came out of the room, and she was surprised when she saw the half bowl of oily sauce.

"I was the fastest runner, so Saburo called me more, and those who went slower behind me must not have as many as I do." The boy proudly said: "Ma'am, let's dip it in pancakes, this sauce is very good Eat it, and I will go tomorrow."

"It's not good to go every day. Your sister and the others are all working at home, so don't run around all the time." The woman said, took the small bowl of sauce into the house, and took some mixed noodles. The bread came out and shared with the children. This was their supper today.

This is also the fact that their wives have already found a way to earn money, and they can only eat two dry meals a day, which was not possible in the past.

Her husband used to be a porter for others. One winter, he left and never came back. He didn't know if he died outside or because he didn't want to be dragged down by this dilapidated family anymore, so he went to find another way of life by himself.

When her husband left, there were two frail old people in this family, and five children, plus herself, there were a total of eight mouths to fill.

What can she do as a woman, she is forced to a desperate situation, isn't it just...

No matter how difficult the life is, she can only support herself, not only to support her three children and the old woman at home, but also to support the two children of the uncle's family.

The child's uncle passed away a few years ago, and not long after, his uncle's mother remarried, leaving a pair of children by Weng Po's side. Weng Po is old and can't support herself. Where can she support their siblings? We have to rely on her as an aunt.

These days are so hard that the Weng Po in the family has passed away.

Two years ago, when life was most difficult, she sold the oldest girl in the family, and now she wants to come...

"Aniang, why don't you eat?" an older girl asked her.

"Aniang is not hungry, you should eat more." However, she remembered the sad things again. The child is now lost. I am afraid that I will never see him again in this life. If she had gritted her teeth and endured it, two years later , maybe she can find a decent and good family for her.

"Mother, eat it, this sauce is delicious."

"Don't worry, Ma'am, take these wheel pads and exchange them for money tomorrow, and the family will have food again."

"Aniang, when I get older, I will also go to Taiyuan City to give people a kang. Those who went to Taiyuan a year ago to give a kang to people have come back in the past two days. Everyone said they made a lot of money and came back. "

"I heard that Luo Sanlang's disciples even went to Chang'an City to lay a kang for others."

"Chang'an City is too far away, it's not worth it."

"Do you know if it's worth it?"

"How come I don't know?"

"Aniang, why don't you eat anymore, you should eat more."