In the years of ancient traders

After a rain, Cui Wuniang walked through a mountain depression with a basket on her back. She trudged hard with one foot deep and one shallow foot. The wet mud invaded every gap in the straw sandals. Her feet seemed to be soaked in muddy water. Her skin became tender, and the pain from the rough straw sandals rubbing against her feet became clearer.

Her basket was stuffed with thick hay, and a three-compartment steamer was placed on it, and a catkin quilt was wrapped around the steamer.Because of the rain, the quilt and hay were saturated with water and weighed heavily on her shoulders.

She had just returned from the village where Ajie lived, which was to the north of Xianghe Village, next to a market.

When her aunt married her eldest daughter, she made a lot of planning and finally chose a prosperous family with a much better location than Xianghe Village. Now that she came out to sell steamed buns, she didn't go in the direction of the west county town. Instead go there.

Because the road is difficult to walk, people in Xianghe Village don't go there often, and Cui Wuniang's steamed buns outshine the others there, selling a lot of copper coins.She shrugged her shoulders vigorously, and then lifted the basket up a bit, already thinking about tomorrow's business in her mind.

Today she carried [-] steamed buns over there. Because the insulation is well done, they will still be warm when they get there, so the price will naturally be higher.Just to hold the steamer and the quilt, the steamed buns were carried a lot less, otherwise there would be a whole hundred of them on the back, and I don’t know how much more they could sell.

Hey, it would be different if we could go together in two or three like other people's homes.

The Cui family was originally well-populated, but after the elder sister got married, there was a famine year, Yeniang passed away one after another, and the two older brothers were conscripted into the army. Originally there were sister-in-law and two nephews, but the famine brought They took them away, and Cui Wuniang was the only one left in the family.

She is an orphan who doesn't even have a dowry, but no good family is willing to marry her, and she doesn't want to marry any widower casually as a continuation.

Now she goes to exchange steamed buns every morning and sell them on her back. After a few days, she has made quite a bit of money. She is also very courageous, and the money she earned is immediately exchanged for steamed buns. Day after day, the money is getting more and more many.

I don't know how long the Song family's steamed bun workshop will be open. She must take advantage of the present to sell as many steamed buns as possible, so as to save some dowry for herself.

When the sun was about to end, most of the people who went out to sell steamed buns had already returned.We go a lot, mostly to the villages scattered around the west and south roads, the roads are not difficult to walk, and they are also close.

More than a dozen years ago, everyone was worried about what to do with the harvested winter wheat. Now many of them have replaced steamed buns, and steamed buns have become more wheat or cash.After some people tasted the sweetness, more people who were on the sidelines also joined the ranks of buying and selling. The steamed bun business became more and more prosperous, and even people in several surrounding villages started second-hand trading.

There are also wealthy households who make reservations with them, a dozen or twenty at a time, but they are very happy.

Some of the Song family's helpers have already prepared their tools, and they just need to learn the craft before they can do it themselves.Some people say that everyone is making steamed buns, but what if no one comes to buy them?

Joke, you can't eat rice every day?With so many villages around, as well as markets and county towns, the prospects are bright!

The business of selling steamed buns has driven these farmers who face the land every day to go out. Although they only circle around, they have also firmly realized the benefits of a large land and a large number of people.

In recent days, Song Shu has also instilled in the villagers who come to buy steamed buns the idea of ​​going out bravely.There are neighboring villages outside the village, there are prefectures outside the county seat, there are north and south, inside and outside the customs, as long as you put in the effort and time, the business will never be finished.

"Sister Song, I want a steamed bun."

When work was about to end, a young lady from a neighboring village came and carried a bucket of plant ash on her back.Most of the ash is exchanged for their own food.

Although wheat is cheap, it is still food, and most people are not willing to exchange it for steamed buns to eat by themselves. Sometimes the children in the family are very greedy, or they want to give strength to the men who are working, so they will exchange it with a bucket of plant ash.

There happened to be two left in the steamer, because it was near the end, and there was no firewood to warm them up, so I planned to eat them myself.The steamed buns sold here in Song Shu are all warm, and it’s really embarrassing for people to get cold, so they just buy one and get one free.

The little lady who accidentally got two steamed buns was so happy that when she ran out, she almost forgot to take the bamboo basket.

The little lady looked as old as Liu Niang, and when she first had steamed buns, Liu Niang was so happy that she couldn't find her.But recently she has been spoiled by Song Shu, and so are Wuniang Qilang and Anan. They have given up bean soup for a long time. They only eat white steamed buns and pickles every day, and sometimes they even make a bowl of soy milk.

This was more than ten days ago. Soy milk, which is both hungry and consumes a lot of beans, is simply unthinkable.Sanniang saw it, and felt nervous. Their business of making steamed buns had only just begun, and now it seemed that they had a bright future, but who knows what will happen in two months?It's too wasteful to eat like this.

But Song Shu was still dissatisfied with the current food, so he gave Song Anan the money early in the morning, and told him to bring two laying hens with him when he went to the county town to buy a steamer.It is said that in the future, a few small ones will be given eggs every day, and Sanniang is no exception, otherwise the nutrition will not keep up.

Sanniang doesn't know what nutrition is, she only knows that eating so much is not the way to manage a family.

For this reason, Song Shu talked to her for a long time, but in the end it didn't make any sense, so he had to adopt the posture of the head of the family.

Although Song Sanniang is not a little girl without opinions, but after all, she is traditional, so I won't say much.It's just that she insisted on not touching the soy milk.

Song Shu had no choice but to know why she was uneasy, so he didn't force it, but his mind turned actively again, what other ways to make money?

Datu County is located on a major traffic road, and merchants come and go every day, and even the business in the county is booming.Going west for half a day from here is the largest city in this area, Hengzhou City.

The west gate of the county seat is the busiest, so Zhou Dalang parked his cart here.

Now his steamed buns are well-known in the Ximen area. Every morning, his mother would carry a hundred of them. Often the steamed buns were sold out just as the sun was setting in the west.

Because the county seat is too far away, there are no stalls in other houses, neither Xianghe Village nor the few nearby have come here to sell steamed buns.

His mother said that when she learned how to make steamed buns in the future, she would ask him to go back, and they would also make steamed buns and sell them in the village, so they wouldn't have to suffer all this traveling.

Zhou Dalang had other ideas.

A little further into the city where he set up his cart, there is a shop with steamed cakes painted on the sign, which is Liu's steamed cake shop. The steamed cakes are sold for a penny each, and there are endless customers.

"Zhou Dalang, here are two steamed buns."

"I want four."

"Is it okay to exchange wheat? For half a bucket."

When Zhou Dalang was distracted, several customers gathered in front of the stall, buying with cash or bartering for wheat.Because it is more troublesome to change the wheat, the quality of the wheat must always be checked, so Zhou Dalang has a rule, and the wheat is changed in half a bucket.Of course, he doesn't accept plant ash, and what he asks Zhou's wife to bring back is the ashes burned from his stall.

"Okay." Zhou Dalang lifted the lid of the steamer, and steam came out.He was born tall, although he was only 13 years old, he was not much shorter than the guests around him, but his face was still a little childish.

Behind the two vegetable stalls not far away, several people looked at Zhou Dalang's steamed bun stall from afar.

"Still selling."

"I'm afraid it won't stop for a while."

"The boy surnamed Song invented it. It's called Fusang steamed buns. It is said that overseas yeast is added, and it is bigger than our steamed cakes."

"Bah, what kind of hibiscus yeast is a fucking lie."

"Shaodong's family is right. Anyone with the surname Song is not a good thing. Our Saburo is such a good person. His wife sent her to marry her without saying a word. She doesn't know what is good or bad."

"If you don't know good and bad things, you have to learn a lesson." The leader spit out a mouthful of phlegm, and rushed towards Zhou Dalang's stall with a few big-armed men.

Zhou Dalang was serving steamed buns for someone, but he rushed out of nowhere, his steamer flew out with a swish, and the wheat standing beside him was kicked over, and scattered all over the ground.

There were still steamed buns in the steamer that flew out, five or six of them fell to the ground at this moment, Zhou Dalang's heart was about to bleed, he had no time to find out what happened, so he wanted to pick it up immediately.

But before he could reach the steamed buns, the hot steamed buns, which were still steaming white, were trampled down by a black cloth shoe and turned into a black, flat mess.The other steamed buns also quickly suffered from this bad luck.

Only then did Zhou Dalang remember to look at the face of the perpetrator.

"What are you doing? Give me buns!"

Zhou Dalang was born and raised in Xianghe Village, and the neighbors in the village have a harmonious relationship. He has never encountered such a bully since he grew up, and his eyes immediately became red, and he wanted to rush to fight with others.

"Ask us? You sell steamed buns here, but did you ask me what I mean?" Liu Fei put his hands on his hips. He brought all the gangsters from the neighborhood today. That was a breeze.

The people who bought the steamed buns were also annoyed when they encountered this incident, but someone immediately recognized that the leader was Mr. Da Lang from the Liu Family Steamed Cake Shop, and that he was bringing a well-known hooligan nearby.These good people usually don't think it's enough to hide and walk, so how dare they step forward to provoke them now, they all shrank back like quails.

Their Datu County looks lively and prosperous, but in fact the county magistrate is a good old man who dare not take care of things. The fists between the big households in the city are all determined by whose fist is strong. Fortunately, they are all similar, and the order in Datu County is delicately maintained. down.

Of course, Liu's steamed cake shop is not a big family, but his daughter married the young man of Wanghailou Fu's family.The Fu family is a big tree. It is said that they are related to the Yin family of Yicheng Jiedu envoy who governs Hengzhou and other seven states.This Jiedu envoy is firmly in control of the military power, even the emperor is afraid of him, let alone ordinary people like them.

Relying on this relationship, the Fu family's Wanghailou business is booming, and it is the largest restaurant in Datu County, and no one at Liu's steamed cake shop dares to offend at will.

I only heard the sound of Zhou Dalang's fists and feet hitting the flesh, and the screams sounded again and again, and the few people who shrank behind like quails heard it, and their bodies ached.

Da Lang was in a terrible situation this week, but who told him that his business was so good that he cut off the Liu family's wealth.

"Spare your life, spare your life! A strong man, spare your life!"

Hey, it's a crime to have too much business. The few people who shrank sighed, and when they were about to slip away, they felt something was wrong.Why is there laughter?As soon as they looked up, there were indeed many passers-by watching with smiles on their faces.

That fat aunt over there, you just bought steamed buns from Zhou Dalang yesterday, and you laughed so happily when you saw him being beaten?

Quail is also somewhat temperamental, why watch Zhou Dalang being beaten and laughed at again?They plucked up their courage and took two steps forward, just about to beg for Zhou Dalang's mercy, but they were dumbfounded.

I saw those big-armed hooligans fell to the ground, all of them with bruised noses and swollen faces, and one was rolling and howling with his calf in his arms, probably broken.

And Liu Fei, the leader, was twisted by someone's arm and landed on the ground, gnawed his mouth full of mud, and shouted for the strong man to spare his life. They couldn't help laughing at this scene.Relying on the strength of his background, Liu Fei often bullied them small people. Seeing him being beaten, many people stopped even doing business, and booed and applauded.

Look at the one who twisted Liu Fei's arm, that's not a strong man, he's clearly a young man of undersized stature, thin and thin, he looks smaller than Zhou Dalang.

Song Anan was instructed by Song Shu to come here early in the morning to buy a steamer. By the way, he brought back two hens that could lay eggs. After he bought the steamer, he passed by Zhou Dalang and saw Liu Fei and others who were looking for trouble.

He knew Zhou Dalang and knew that he was from his own village, so he beat up the person who found fault without saying a word.

"Losing money." Song Anan increased his strength, and Liu Fei yelled for mercy.He didn't want his life, but he had to lose money, or he wouldn't mind giving him a ride.

"Pay, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah!" Liu Fei shouted.

"How much?" Song Anan asked Zhou Dalang.

Zhou Dalang's legs gave way, he didn't know whether it was fear or something, he hurriedly went to check the stalls, and then the sown wheat, but his heart was beating wildly, his mind was in a mess, and he couldn't figure it out at all.

Song Anan waited for a while, Zhou Dalang was still in a mess, so he simply weighed himself.

Zhou’s daughter-in-law comes to carry a hundred steamed buns every day, and it’s 25 renminbi in cash. He doesn’t know how much Zhou Dalang sells for, so let’s double it and count as [-] renminbi. The steamer was also broken just now. There were seven, seven, eighty-eight other things that were broken and scattered, and finally Song Anan pressed Liu Fei's head and said, "Sixty cash for him."

Liu Fei: "Hey, hey... Take it easy, take it easy... Sorry, sorry, sorry!"

Liu Fei took out sixty Wen, covered his beaten eyes and ran away amidst laughter, followed by a few hooligans who were limping.

Zhou Dalang took the money from Song Anan, and expressed his gratitude hundreds of times, but he didn't dare to say it.Song Anan, who beat someone up just now, is completely different from his usual silent and honest look. This punch-to-flesh, clean style seems to have been practiced.

"Okay, little brother, eliminate harm for the people!"

"It's a good beating."

"It's not pleasing to my eyes."

"Hey, the two elders of the Liu family are all dutiful people, but this Liu Dalang is not like a person."

The people around praised and praised, and some people came up to talk, saying that they wanted Song Anan to be a nursing home.Song Anan didn't even look at it, picked up the steamer on the ground, and left.

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