On the Road
This time, Jian Qingqing was not the only one in the cart. There were also two women from Jian Village and four people from Da Wan Village who knew Jian Qingqing.
“Wow, Qingqing, is your family making a fortune?” one of the women asked. This Jian Qingqing was called Aunt Cai, and her husband was called Jian Cai.
Jian Qingqing knew that she would not be able to hide this business from the people in the village, and she did not intend to hide it. She said honestly, “This is the stewed meat that I cooked. I’m going to sell it.”
“Oh, that’s great. Then won’t your family be able to eat meat every day in the future? It will also make money. How nice.” It was another woman.
“No, we don’t dare to eat it casually. We are going to sell it. We are only making hard money. See, this small bag of spices costs more than one tael of silver. This stewed meat will only taste good if you put these in it.”
Jian Qingqing showed them a bag of spices. She had just bought some of everything in the spice shop. She wanted to see if she could make some useful ingredients. Otherwise, when the spices in her kitchen were used up, she would not be able to continue her business.
“Oh!” The women in the car were shocked. They were initially envious that Jian Qingqing’s family could do this business, but the cost was too high. They could not afford it.
“Then you have to be careful. These things are so expensive. If you can’t sell them, you’ll lose money.”
Jian Qingqing nodded. “Aunty, I understand. We only do a little and sell a little. If we don’t dare to do too much, we can only earn hard money.”
“Aiyo, your family is really bold. It would be better if you planted crops on the land honestly. It’s not reliable to just mess around.”
Jian Qingqing did not know the woman who spoke. She was from Da Wan Village.
Uncle Ox did not agree with what she said. He retorted, “Even though you say that, what can you do if you dig for food every day? It’s also good to go out and make a living.”
“Sigh, our family is not as capable as Uncle Ox’s family. Our family can only plant on our land. Your eldest son has already gone out to work as a carpenter. Why don’t you help my son, Ergou? When Ergou was young, he had a good relationship with your eldest son.”
“Hmph! Who would want Ergou? He’s so lazy. You might as well plant on a few acres of land for him!”
Jian Qingqing quietly sat at the back of the cart as she listened to the few people who were quarreling.
It was too scary! She was still a child. What did an adult’s quarrel have to do with her? She crossed her legs and lowered her sense of presence.
…
When she returned home, Jian Qingqing began to make stewed pork. The 20 catties of meat had to be divided into four pots to be cooked. It might take a day to be done.
Actually, she still wanted to make stewed pig offal. The restaurant could not sell it, so she could set up a stall outside. However, now, she did not have a pot, and she did not have time.
Spring was the busy season for farming, so it was not easy to find someone to help.
Jian Qingqing thought about the refugees in the county and thought that she might be able to find something reliable, but these could all be worked out slowly.
After Xiao Hu returned, Jian Qingqing pointed out 130 wen and asked him to give it to Little Rong.
The mushroom cost 25 wen per catty. She planned to take 20 wen per catty from Jian Rong.
Xiao Hu returned very quickly with Jian Rong following behind him.
“What’s wrong?”
Jian Rong returned the money bag to Jian Qingqing. “Sister Qingqing, I can’t take this. It’s too much. You can take the mushrooms. It isn’t difficult to find.”
Jian Qingqing curled her lips into a smile and said, “If I give it to you, then just take it. I won’t lose out. The restaurant in the county will give me 25 wen a catty. Besides, although mushroom mushrooms aren’t hard to find, it will take you a lot of effort. If you don’t accept it, I will feel embarrassed to take your mushrooms.”
After thinking for a while, she continued, “If you don’t want to sell it to me, you can also take it to the county to sell it. At this time, vegetables aren’t in harvest yet, and there are many people who like to eat mushroom mushrooms.”