As soon as I opened the door, I could smell the sweet smell of fermented grain filling the air.
Hua Qingxue curiously walked to the kitchen and saw Aunt He working there. On the cutting board covered with a layer of white flour, there are large white steamed buns neatly placed one after another.
When Aunt He saw her coming in, she took a steamed bun and stuffed it into her, "Are you awake? Here, take it and eat it."
The steamed buns were warm and a little hot in the hand. Hua Qingxue blew on them and said, "It smells so good."
And they are white, soft, and round, and they look very appetizing.
Hua Qingxue was not polite and immediately took a bite - it was soft and chewy, and after chewing, the rice noodles fermented to produce a hint of sweetness from maltose. It was delicious!
Maybe it was because her stomach was empty, but the first white-flour steamed bun in the morning made Hua Qingxue feel like she was eating delicacies from the mountains and the sea.
"Auntie, these steamed buns are so delicious." Hua Qingxue praised sincerely.
Aunt He laughed loudly, "There will be more steamed buns later."
After she finished speaking, she went to lift the steamer on the stove. White steam was rising, and inside were indeed big white and fat buns.
Hua Qingxue opened her eyes wide and was so amazed that she couldn't help but ask: "Auntie, you have made so much, do you want to sell it?"
"Yeah, I have a breakfast stall on Fuxing Street, and I make some money to live on." Aunt He neatly packed the steamed buns into bamboo baskets covered with clean cotton cloth, and wrapped them in thick cotton pads. The top layer is covered with a thick large cotton pad.
Seeing that she was about to lift the bamboo basket, Hua Qingxue said hurriedly: "Auntie, let me help you."
The two of them carried the bamboo baskets filled with steamed buns and buns out of the kitchen and placed them on a two-wheeled cart in the yard. They carried two baskets in total.
It was still dark at this time, and Aunt He pulled the cart and went out to set up a stall.
Hua Qingxue stood at the door of the courtyard, yawned, closed the door, and returned to her room.
Seeing Aunt He go out to set up a stall, she couldn't help but start thinking about how she could make money in the future.
In fact, she has a lot of ideas in her head, but most of them are limited by the raw materials and cannot be made...
ah!
Hua Qingxue remembered!
When she was in Renqiu, she originally wanted to make tea by making tea, but then she had to give up because there was no sugar or a cooking pot at home. Now she can give it a try!
Making tea is easy and hassle-free. The most important thing is that the cost is very low. Even if you can't sell it in the end, you won't lose too much money.
The more Hua Qingxue thought about it, the more excited she became. She quickly ran through tea-making recipes in her mind, and decided to make four teas first: chrysanthemum snow pear tea, red dates, wolfberry and ginger tea, plum green tea, and winter melon tea.
The ingredients of these tea drinks are relatively common and the taste is very good.
In fact, Hua Qingxue thinks that drinking honey and grapefruit tea is the best during this season. However, grapefruit and honey are considered luxuries to ordinary people and are relatively expensive. If they make tea, the cost will be too high.
People can spend one penny to drink a bowl of tea on the roadside to quench their thirst, but two or three pennies is not necessarily the case, because people will think that three pennies is enough to eat a bowl of wontons, and only drinking tea is too expensive.
Hua Qingxue thought about it for a while, carefully tidied up her house, silently noted down the missing tools and materials needed for making tea, and decided to go shopping.
It was getting brighter and the shops on both sides of the street were opening one after another.
As Hua Qingxue walked, she paid attention to what the shops on both sides were selling and what the pedestrians on the road were buying.
Although she already knew that this was Da Qi, the clothes of the people on the street, the architectural furniture style and the small commodity production technology all felt like the ancient Song Dynasty in China.
For example, the production technology of cane sugar was very close to modern sugar production technology during the Song Dynasty. The sugar made from western cane was not pure white but slightly light in color, so the price was not high. The sugar cane is sweet and thick, and the sugar used to make it is white and frosty in color, and the price is the highest.
Hua Qingxue felt that this place should be branched off from history, similar to another world in the ancient Song Dynasty.
The Song Dynasty was great. The Song Dynasty had the most prosperous economy, the most developed science and technology, the most prosperous culture, the most profound art, and the richest people's living standards among all dynasties.
The most important thing is that this dynasty has the most inventions and creations, so it is very suitable for Hua Qingxue to settle here.
Hua Qingxue slowly picked and chose on the street.
Dried chrysanthemums, ginger, and wolfberry are very common and can be found in drug stores. Hua Qingxue had just started making it and didn't plan to buy too much, so she only bought a little of each item and didn't spend much money.
I just ran into a problem when buying plums.
Plums are the key to the taste of plum green tea. You must choose plums that are salty and sour enough to make the tea taste good.
However, Hua Qingxue wandered around for a long time and could not buy a suitable plum. In other words, the pickling techniques and taste of plums in this era were different from what she knew.
Plum green tea cannot be made.
Hua Qingxue couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. She was just thinking about whether there was any other tea that could be substituted, when she glanced at the shop selling rice in front and saw a lot of corn being brought out!
corn? !
Really corn? !
Hua Qingxue was shocked!
Isn’t corn supposed to be available only in the Ming Dynasty? … ah! She also forgot that this was not the history she knew!
Hua Qingxue curiously walked over to inquire. She mainly wanted to know whether the corn was produced locally or imported from other places.
There were not many people shopping at the moment, and the waiter was happy to chat with her.
It turns out that the corn here is not called corn, but jade wheat. It was brought back to Daqi by merchants from overseas and presented to the emperor as a rare item. When the emperor saw it, he was very happy and immediately asked the chief minister of the household department to go and get the corn. Planting crops was promoted.
However, it seems that this promotion has just started a few years ago, and not many people are planting it. People are gradually becoming familiar with this new crop. Although they know that fresh corn is sweet and tender after being steamed, dried corn has to be ground into flour. The aftertaste is rough and not very popular.
Hua Qingxue asked about the price and found that it was very cheap, so she happily bought two or three sticks.
After a shopping spree, Hua Qingxue returned to her residence with satisfaction. It was almost noon and she was hungry, but there was nothing to eat at home. Only then did she remember that she had just been shopping for tea-making materials, but had forgotten to buy rice, grains and oil for home use. Salt.
Sigh... what a hassle...
Just as he was about to go out again, he looked up and saw Aunt He coming back with a cart.
Hua Qingxue's eyes lit up, and she leaned over and asked, "Auntie, do you have any leftover buns? Can you sell them to me?"
Aunt He was stunned for a moment, then laughed, "Didn't you eat?"
Hua Qingxue smiled shyly, "Well, I haven't bothered to do it yet."
Aunt He turned around and took out two or three steamed buns from the basket and stuffed them into Hua Qingxue's hands, "The buns are sold out, you can take the remaining ones and eat them."
Hua Qingxue quickly took out the money, but Aunt He naturally refused to take it. The two of them pushed back and forth before Aunt He reluctantly accepted the money.
Aunt He went into the house and packed up the bamboo baskets, mattresses and other items. Hua Qingxue was eating steamed buns and followed Aunt He like a follower, asking: "Aunt, I plan to set up a stall on the street to sell tea. Do you have any?" What good advice do you have?"
Aunt He looked back at her with a somewhat hesitant expression, "You little girl, if you go out to set up a stall... I'm afraid you will suffer a loss."
Especially since Hua Qingxue is so delicate and weak, wouldn't it be bad if she met a ruffian who was not stingy
Hua Qingxue opened her eyes wide and asked, "Is there any danger? But I was on the street just now, and the security was pretty good..."
Aunt He thought for a while and said to her: "How about you try Dongzheng Street? The stalls there are designated by the yamen. As long as you pay the money, no one will occupy the place randomly, and there will be guards patrolling from time to time. The street is very safe."
Hua Qingxue asked: "How much do I have to pay?"
"I remember... it's about fifty cents a month." Aunt He thought for a while and told her seriously, "Spending some money is a small thing, the most important thing is safety. You are a little girl, not like bad bitches like us. , it’s better to be careful.”
Hua Qingxue nodded repeatedly.
Aunt He reminded her again: "But if you want to rent a stall, you have to go to the Yamen to go through the formalities first. I'm afraid it won't be done within ten days and a half. If you really want to rent, you have to go as early as possible."
It’s so troublesome…
Hua Qingxue remembered it in her heart, thanked Aunt He again, and went back to the house with the remaining steamed buns.
In the afternoon, Hua Qingxue went out with her household registration certificate and money.
But she was not going to the Yamen, but to the General's Mansion.
To be honest, as a woman, she was really scared to go to a place like a government office. Probably because the shadow at Liao Bing's last time was too deep...
Since the bearded man said that if anything happens, he can go to the general's mansion to find the butler, so of course such connections cannot be wasted.
Hua Qingxue followed the route given by the soldiers last time and kept walking, and sure enough she found the rumored General's Mansion.
The high wall has green tiles and a red lacquered gate. An imposing plaque with the name "General's Mansion" hangs directly above it. On both sides of the gate, there are two majestic lions.
Before Hua Qingxue had time to feel excited, the guard guarding the door waved at her with disgust, "Take the side door."
What side door
Hua Qingxue was stunned for a moment, and then thought that it seemed like this. In ancient times, for some high-ranking houses, the main entrance was rarely used, and they had to go through other doors to enter and exit.
But... where is the side entrance to the General's Mansion
Hua Qingxue glanced at the two guards at the gate with disappointment. Judging from the disdain and contempt in their eyes, she couldn't rely on anyone to lead the way. She should find it herself...
Hua Qingxue walked slowly along the courtyard wall outside the General's Mansion. After walking for a long time, she finally found the side door!
Although it is said to be a side door, it is actually larger than the courtyard door of ordinary people.
Hua Qingxue stepped forward and patted the door. Someone soon opened the door. It was a young servant. He seemed to have been taking a nap just now. He was holding half of the door with one hand and was still yawning.
Hua Qingxue said quickly: "Hello, is Butler Zhao here?"
The other party frowned and scanned her from head to toe, and asked, "What do you want from Butler Zhao? Who is he from his family?"
Hua Qingxue carefully replied: "It's not from Butler Zhao's family, it's me who wants to ask Butler Zhao for help..."
Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted impatiently by the other party: "You can see Butler Zhao whenever you want?! Go, go! Stay away! You don't even know where this place is, so you dare to come and climb around relation!"
After that, he closed the door with a bang!