Xiao Qiao enters the farm gate

Lin Zheng was going to deliver firewood to the county today, and this was the third time he had given it to the teahouse since his last reply.

It was impossible for Lin Zheng to cut so much by himself, so Qiao Mo came up with an idea to let him collect firewood in the village, two bundles and three coins.It seems that he has doubled his income from it, but the horse needs to be fed and the car needs to be rented, including Lin Zheng's hard-earned running money. If Lin Zheng was not determined, Qiao Mo would not want him to earn this money at all.

He sold the five-spice powder and got 700 taels of silver, 46 taels of jewelry, and 11 taels from Lin Zheng's place. There was a total of 750 taels of silver.It took 89 taels to buy the land, and there is still a lot left.

Just before lunch, Lin Zheng came back.

Qiao Mo fried shredded radish with homemade cured meat and steamed rice.Originally, he didn't know how to steam rice in a firewood pot, but he learned it from Lin Zheng. After doing it a few times, he gradually mastered the technique, and he looks good now.

After dinner, the two of them gathered around the charcoal basin and talked about planting in spring.

Including the newly purchased land, the family has a total of ten acres of fertile land, two acres of paddy fields, and eight acres of sandy land.Even if you don't count the sandy land that everyone looks down on, twelve acres of land is quite a lot, which is definitely considered rich in the village, after all, most of the other families have a lot of land and they are basically undivided.

Qiao Mo asked, "What do you plan to plant in the field?"

"The previous five mu of land was planted with wheat, and when the wheat is harvested, corn will be planted." Lin Zheng turned on the charcoal fire, and said, "Now our family has added land, and those lands were not planted because they were going to be sold earlier. Things, so I plan to divide the five acres of land into two acres of sweet potatoes, two acres of soybeans, and one acre of sesame seeds in addition to the two acres of rice."

After the autumn harvest, the three crops are planted with wheat in rotation, just like the previous five mu of land.

Seeing that he didn't mention the sandy land, Qiao Mo said to himself, "Ah Zheng, am I too reckless in proposing to buy the sandy land?"

Lin Zheng raised his hand to touch his head, and comforted him: "Perhaps what you said makes sense, but we don't know it here. I also heard it when I was outside. It seems that watermelons grown in the sand are very sweet. Since watermelons can Peanuts should be able to grow too.”

Upon hearing the watermelon, Qiao Mo's eyes lit up: "Don't we grow watermelons here?"

"Very few. Most people don't know how to grow them, and the ones they grow are not as delicious as He County's. But even so, the selling price is very high." Seeing his expression change, Lin Zheng asked, "Ah Mo wants to grow?"

"Yeah! Melons grown in the sand are both sweet and sandy. I can guarantee that." Qiao Mo drooped his head just after he was excited, but unfortunately he didn't know how to grow melons.

"Plant peanuts." Lin Zheng could see his intentions at a glance, so he simply decided for him, so as not to entangle him any longer.

Qiao Mo sighed and stopped thinking about it, and instead asked about his trip to the county seat.

"The teahouse closed the day before Xiaoyao, so there is no need to send firewood. There seems to be no movement at the Ma's house, so they probably won't come to see us."

It's best not to come, otherwise it's really troublesome.

Lin Zheng said again: "The town will be very lively on New Year's Day, do you want to go shopping?"

Qiao Mo was not really interested in shopping, he just stayed at home all day and was unlucky, so he might as well go out for a walk, so he nodded.It's the Chinese New Year, and we have to exchange peach charms and buy some fruit to serve as a treat.

In the blink of an eye, the atmosphere in the village is obviously different, especially the children who are all very happy.

Early in the morning, those who had cars in the village drove their cars, and the cars were full of people, hoping to catch up in the town.Old man Yu naturally wanted to use a car today, so Lin Zheng directly led the horse and rode to town with Qiao Mo.

Qiao Mo was not afraid, but excited.You must know that he had only ridden horses in clubs before. Those horses were very tame and did not run fast, and there were people watching them all the time, which was not enjoyable at all.Recently, Tiangong has been very kind to me. It has been sunny for a few days, so it is very convenient to travel.

As soon as the two appeared on horseback, they immediately attracted the attention of the villagers, and everyone praised Lin Zheng for having a good horse.

It took only half an hour to ride the horse, but Lin Zheng was worried about his turning back, fearing that he would not be able to bear the speed of running, so he controlled his speed.

As Lin Zheng said, Baishui Town was extremely lively.

There is a cross street in the town, where there are cloth shops, rice shops, oil and sauce shops, iron shops, and noodle stalls and restaurants. There are also various small vendors on the side of the road, selling some gadgets, and there are also farm products sold by the villagers.The town is not big, and most of the people who go to the market in the countryside gather here. The bustling flow of people and all kinds of noisy voices gather together into a unique picture.

Qiao Mo felt that there was such a familiar scene in his distant memory. Before he was ten years old, he was at his grandmother's house in the countryside, and he often went to the market with his mother during the New Year's Eve.

Qiao Mo saw many people set up small stalls on the side of the road to do small business, so he couldn't help but reflect on it, since he got 700 taels of silver, he became a little lazy. 700 taels may seem like a lot, but it cannot be used for a lifetime, not to mention that doing things is not only for money.After all, Lin Zheng is down-to-earth, even if he has money, he still sells firewood diligently.

I saw those small stalls selling noodles, steamed buns and steamed buns, or selling flowers and plants dug from the mountains, or home-grown chickens and eggs, as well as various dried fruits such as red dates and peanuts.In addition, there are also simple pastries such as fragrant sesame cakes, scallion pancakes, and hair cakes, as well as maltose and candied haws that children love.

Qiao Mo was not interested in candied haws, but bought maltose for a penny.

This kind of maltose is all homemade. Stir it with a sorghum stick, and there will be a ball of golden yellow and sweet maltose on the stick.You can buy two balls for one penny, which seems a little expensive in normal times, but during festivals, most adults will buy them for their children to satisfy their cravings.

After walking around the street, Qiao Mo found that most of the convenience foods are rough processing.For example, dates and peanuts are directly dried for sale, and maltose is also sticky, which is not suitable for long-term storage and export.Children love to eat candy, but a catty of candy costs [-] Wen. Even during the Chinese New Year, adults have limited food for children.Qiao Mo even went into the shop to look at it, but any candy that is dipped in food is more expensive than others. Adults buy peanut candy by the number of pieces.

The peanut candy here is very rough, that is, the peanuts are wrapped in boiled syrup, and then cut into small pieces slightly larger than peanuts.Five for one penny, it’s really not cheap. Although maltose is two for one penny, it’s all sugar.

Qiao Mo's eyes lit up, and he felt that he could make some money a year ago, since he was idle anyway.

Immediately grabbed Lin Zheng and went shopping.

"Ah Mo?" Lin Zheng didn't understand why he was so happy all of a sudden.

"We'll talk about it when we go home." Qiao Mo planned to make something out, he was very confident that he would definitely not lose money this time.

Lin Zheng had no choice but to suspend his doubts, and led the horse to accompany him through various shops.Seeing that he first went to buy two catties of white granulated sugar, and then bought eight catties of shelled peanuts, he seemed to have thought of something, and then ran back to the place where he first bought maltose, and actually negotiated with that person to buy two catties of malt sugar!

"Ah Mo..." Lin Zheng couldn't help but want to ask.

Qiao Mo didn't bother to answer, he just heard from the maltose seller that there was enough at home, so he went to get it himself.In fact, maltose is not difficult to make, but it takes seven or eight days to make it once, and the time is too late.Buy it once first, and if it sells well, you can make it yourself in the future.

In the end, he bought two sheets of oiled paper, and Qiao Mo lost interest in shopping, so he proposed to go home.

Seeing his bright eyes, Lin Zheng couldn't help being amused in his heart, and didn't say that he spent money recklessly, and went home according to his idea.

Qiao Mo started to get busy as soon as he got home.

"Ah Zheng, help me peel the peanuts." Qiao Mo took an empty basin, sat there and started peeling the peanuts. Eight catties of peanuts would take some time.

Lin Zheng could see something, his hands and feet were nimble, and his movements were much faster than him.

After the peanuts are peeled, heat up the pan, pour the peanuts into it and stir fry.When stir-frying, the movement should not stop. Let the peanuts be heated evenly to avoid frying. When the peanuts are golden and fragrant, they can be cooked.Put the peanuts aside, clean the pot several times, try to ensure that there is no oily smell, then pour in the white sugar and maltose, add an appropriate amount of water, and cook over low heat while stirring.

After stirring for almost an hour, the color of the syrup gradually turned into a coffee color and was very viscous.Dip a little bit in cold water with chopsticks, and it quickly becomes a hard lump, indicating that the syrup is ready.

Qiao Mo hurriedly shouted: "Ah Zheng, the peanuts are cold, rub off the outer skin."

Lin Zheng did as he said.

Qiao Mo said again: "There are still eggs in the cupboard. Take four out and beat them in a clay pot. As long as the egg whites are not yolks. Stir the egg whites vigorously to form foam. I will use them."

When Lin Zheng was done, Qiao Mo scooped up the syrup with a large spoon, poured it into the meringue while it was still hot, and quickly stirred it evenly.Then add the peanut meat and continue to stir. When it was almost finished, I remembered that I forgot something.

"Ah Zheng, take out a piece of oiled paper I bought, cut it in half, and lay it out."

At this moment, Lin Zheng already knew what he was doing. Although he had never seen it before, it looked like he was making peanut candy.

Qiao Mo waited for the clay basin to cool down a bit, then poured all the contents on the big oiled paper, first spread it out with a wooden spatula, and then covered it with another piece of oiled paper.Take a rolling pin, roll out the peanut candy to a thickness of about one centimeter, and trim the four sides flat.

While it is hot, cut it into half-finger-long pieces. After cooling down, it tastes crispy and the peanut nougat is ready.

"Wipe off your sweat." Lin Zheng saw that he was sweating profusely, and his fair face was also flushed and dizzy. The cold wind catches a cold.