I bought some sheep bones, added secret seasonings, and boiled them for three hours. The bones turned white and the soup was mellow and fragrant. Then I added water and kneaded the noodles into dough. I kept adding water and kneading them to wash out the gluten. I poured the washed water into the bone soup, and added radish, bean curd, vermicelli, spinach, etc. in turn. Finally, I put the kneaded gluten into the pot, boiled it over high heat, and used low heat to make the soup thicker. A big pot of spicy soup was ready.
That Deputy General Zhao reminded Jiang Yunzhu that it was late autumn and they were in the mountains, so it was just right to drink this. It was hot and spicy, and after drinking a bowl of it, all the seven orifices would be unblocked and all the ailments would be gone.
Jiang Yunzhu scooped out a bowl with a spoon, added chopped green onions and coriander, and handed it to Grandpa Chen first, "Grandfather, have a taste."
The Jiang family had already been aroused by the aroma of the mutton head soup. Upon hearing this, Old Man Chen fumbled to take the bowl and scooped a spoonful of the contents with a spoon.
It's like soup but not entirely soup, and a rich aroma wafts over you.
When you put it in your mouth, the taste of pepper immediately explodes in your mouth, followed by the freshness of mutton soup, the sweetness of radish, the fragrance of bean skin and other flavors that come in layer by layer and wrap around each other, spicy and sour, mellow and fragrant, as if your soul has been awakened.
Mr. Chen took a sip and couldn't help but take a second and third sip.
He waited until he had finished the whole bowl of soup before he put the bowl down in satisfaction. At this moment, beads of sweat oozed out of the tip of his nose.
"How is it?" Jiang Yunzhu asked anxiously.
"Comfortable." Grandpa Chen could only use these two words to describe it. It was really comfortable to drink this bowl of soup.
This was exactly the effect Jiang Yunzhu wanted, so she immediately asked with a smile, "So what do you think, Grandfather? How about me selling this soup?"
She wanted to sell Huo La Tang, but Chen disagreed. The family only had so much money now. If they used the money to do business and lost money, would their family have nothing to eat for a month
There was no other way, Jiang Yunzhu could only ask for help from Mr. Chen, whose words still carried weight.
Mr. Chen didn't answer immediately. He lowered his head and pondered for a while before asking, "How much does this pot of soup cost?"
Jiang Yunzhu had figured it out, and said immediately, "Originally, this soup would taste better if cooked with mutton, but it's cheaper to cook with mutton bones. These mutton bones only cost nine cents, and it'll be cheaper if you buy more. The rest is flour, four ounces of flour, three cents.
This soup is called Eight Treasures Soup, which contains eight kinds of vegetables. These vegetables can be mixed according to the season. I use the cheapest and most delicious vegetables, which cost three cents in total.
Finally, the seasoning, firewood, etc. cost three cents, and the total cost of this pot of soup is eighteen cents. "
Old Master Chen was surprised to hear this. How could the cost of such a big pot of broth be so low
"How much do you plan to sell a bowl for?" He smelled something different and asked immediately.
"Two cents a bowl. This pot of soup should have twenty bowls, which means it can be sold for about forty cents."
Old Master Chen was stunned again. Such a delicious soup with rich ingredients only costs two cents a bowl? But even so, the profit is nearly doubled. Good business, this is indeed a good business.
He stroked his cane twice and suddenly said, "This soup should be paired with something else."
Jiang Yunzhu had thought about this before. She wanted to make some white cakes and stew meat. The white cakes could be soaked in soup and eaten alone with meat. The main reason was that it was convenient. She could make it at home and sell it wherever she went.
When selling food at the market at the foot of the mountain, speed is the key.
Old Master Chen discovered that his granddaughter wanted to do business, and she was not just fooling around, she had already thought of everything.
"I think so!" he said solemnly.
Chen had just tasted Jiang Yunzhu's soup, and after listening to her talk, she began to hesitate. Now, after hearing what Old Man Chen said, she hesitated, how about letting Jiang Yunzhu try
"If you're going to do it, do it well. I tasted your soup, and it doesn't seem to go well with white pancakes. It's good with meat pancakes, but meat pancakes are too expensive." Old Man Chen suddenly said.
Jiang Yunzhu wanted to give him a thumbs up after hearing this. As expected, the old man had a sharp eye. This spicy soup should not be paired with white cakes, but with oil-fried buns. Oil-fried buns are similar to fried dough sticks, but are smaller than fried dough sticks and are only as long and thick as a finger.
The freshly fried steamed buns are soft and crispy, and when rolled in the spicy soup, the two complement each other and the taste is doubled!
But making fried steamed buns is too troublesome. It’s just a small piece, and you have to knead the dough and fry it, so she gave up.
"How can I be afraid of trouble?" Chen said quickly. She was not afraid of trouble, she was just afraid that the money she invested would be wasted.
"Okay, then let's make oil-fried steamed buns. Well, we also have to make meat pancakes." Jiang Yunzhu had her own considerations.
This matter seemed to be settled.
This pot of soup couldn't be wasted today, so Chen first filled a large pot and asked Jiang Yunzhu to send it to the village chief and Old Man Xu, and then filled another pot and sent it to Old Lady Feng. Old Lady Feng was the old woman who rented the house to them. She had sent cakes and hot soup to the Jiang family before, and Chen had always remembered it in her heart. Naturally, she would return the favor when she had the chance.
The rest will be saved for drinking at night to nourish Jiang Cheng.
The two men came out of the house and went to the left and right.
Needless to say, when Mrs. Chen saw her delivering something, Mrs. Feng immediately invited her in warmly. Knowing that she had a hard time, and that she was just steaming buns at home, she gave her five or six buns before she left, which made Mrs. Chen feel very embarrassed.
At the village chief's house, Xu Qingshan was standing anxiously in the yard. Jiang Cheng had already gone to the mine today, and he wanted to go too, but his uncle wouldn't let him go...
At this moment, he raised his eyes and saw a man standing there holding a clay jar.
"Yunzhu." Xu Qingshan hurried forward and took the earthen jar from her hand.
"I made some soup, and my mother said to give it to the village chief and Uncle Xu to try." Jiang Yunzhu explained her purpose with a smile.
Her voice was clear and she smiled slightly as she spoke. Xu Qingshan almost forgot to respond.
"I'll take it to my aunt." Xu Qingshan hurriedly carried the clay jar into the house.
After a while, a kind-faced woman came out and greeted Jiang Yunzhu enthusiastically.
She is Gu Yongde’s wife, Lin.
Jiang Yunzhu answered all the questions one by one and then said goodbye.
Xu Qingshan walked her to the door.
Jiang Yunzhu turned her head. Wasn’t he going to give her the empty earthen jar in his hand
Xu Qingshan held the earthen jar in his arms, reluctant to let go.
"My cousin said that my family has a donkey. Although I can't earn as much as working in the mines, it's easier and freer." He said this, afraid that Jiang Yunzhu might misunderstand him, and hurriedly added, "Actually, I'm not afraid of hard work. I want to work in the mines."
He wanted to make some money quickly, build his own house, and then... He didn't dare to look at Jiang Yunzhu.
Jiang Yunzhu was still wondering, he had said before that he wanted to go to the mine with her father, so why did he stop talking after that? So this is the case.
"The village chief is doing this for your own good. I think he is right." Jiang Yunzhu immediately affirmed. It was a pity that her family was poor and could not afford a donkey, otherwise she would not have let her father go to the mine.
"Do you really think pulling feet is good?" Xu Qingshan's eyes sparkled.
Jiang Yunzhu nodded.
"But pulling rickshaws doesn't make much money." Xu Qingshan said nervously.
Is it too little? Jiang Yunzhu felt that this business had great prospects. There were so many miners in Wuling County, so if she picked a few crowded roads to pull a rickshaw, she would not have to worry about a lack of customers.
If there are more people, we can set the price a little cheaper, or subscribe to a monthly package. It only costs 40 cents to take the bus a month, and 30 cents to live in the mountains. Only a fool would suffer that in the mountains!
A donkey cart can carry seven or eight people. If they all rent it for a month, it would cost three coins of silver. If you make two trips a day, you can earn as much as working in the mine.
This is only morning and evening, you can make money at other times as well.
When the business gets bigger, she can buy a few more donkey carts, run more roads, and do part-time delivery, or even...Okay, Jiang Yunzhu was thinking too far ahead, but she really thought this was a good business. Otherwise, when she had the capital in the future, she could just let Jiang Cheng and Xu Qingshan do this business together.
She briefly told Xu Qingshan one or two things that she had thought of, as a way of repaying him and Old Man Xu for taking care of her during the journey of fleeing famine.
Xu Qingshan was speechless. Is this possible? But what she said seemed to make sense.
Suddenly, he was full of confidence, "Yunzhu." He felt that Jiang Yunzhu was really good, beautiful and smart.
He was about to say something else when a man came over on the road. He had a slender figure, long eyebrows and bright eyes, and was elegant and handsome. The autumn sunshine lingered on him, like a smudge of ink, or a halo of jade.
Jiang Yunzhu thought she had seen many outstanding people, but she couldn't help but look at the young man twice. She didn't expect that there was such a person in this mountain village.
Xu Qingshan also saw the young man and immediately greeted him, "Cousin."
The young man smiled warmly, like dew among bamboos and wind under pines.
Xu Qingshan quickly introduced the two to each other: Jiang Yunzhu, who had fled with him, and Gu Yanzhou, his cousin.
"Yanzhou is different from me. He is a scholar. He passed the examination for a scholar two years ago and is just waiting for the court to hold the imperial examination next year..." Speaking of Gu Yanzhou, Xu Qingshan felt proud.
When Jiang Yunzhu listened to him, she felt that the name Gu Yanzhou sounded a little familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere before.