Chapter 47 Chapter 47
Xu He washed the pig offal that was to be marinated at night. The brine used yesterday had already condensed into ice and was soft, softer than a baby's face when pressed.
As long as the pot is heated up, it will slowly melt and turn into fragrant brine again. If the meat was brine yesterday, the brine today will be more fragrant and more usable.
It is said that the famous old brine is boiled all the year round, it has a strong fragrance and will not be spoiled by the heat.
But they don’t have this condition at home, so they can use the brine twice more while it hasn’t deteriorated, and when it gets hotter and let it go bad, they can boil the brine again.
Today I originally said to go to the villagers' fields to pick some stewed cowpeas, but I couldn't go because of the tax payment, so I had to give up and took some bracken stew.
Just as he was about to ask Zhang Fangyuan if he could start cooking the fire to marinate the meat, he suddenly heard someone coming from outside.
In fact, people don't come to their house very often, and the couple's reputation is not good. Except for the two neighbors and relatives who walk around, almost no one comes.
Just about to go out to have a look, Zhang Fangyuan had already gone one step ahead of him.
Put it away, haven't you stopped yet?
Standing at the door of the kitchen, Xu He saw an unusual face coming in from the yard, but he recognized it, it seemed to be the wife of the Wu family. They are cousins with Zhang Fangyuan's father, and in Zhang Fangyuan's life, the relationship is even more distant.
The genius is dark, so there shouldn't be many people resting. Besides, the yamen servants came to our village today to urge taxes, and I'm afraid not many people can sleep.
Zhang Fangyuan was sticking to the gate of the courtyard. He didn't go into the house, and the women who came here were too embarrassed to go in.
Yes.
Zhang Fangyuan said, Auntie, what's the matter?
After saying that, the woman began to wipe her eyes, and the tears came quickly: It's just because of the tax. You know that your cousin didn't make a good marriage at the beginning of this year, so you have to pay two bills this year. It’s a tax. Uncle caught up with the soldiers again. This calculation is really terrible. The family really can’t afford that much money...
It would have been nice if my aunt had come earlier. I just bought the livestock and got the money out. No, I paid my own tax in the afternoon. I can't get it out even if I want to.
That Lady Wu remained silent, as if trying to figure out whether Zhang Fangyuan's words were true or false, she was reluctant to let go: Then Fangyuan, when will you get the money back?
No matter what, it will take three to five days. It's okay to get the money back. It's just that I bought some horses and borrowed some money from Baoli Bank. They know that my stall is in the city, and they go to collect and repay the debt on time every day.
...
Zhang Fangyuan said again: Auntie, why don't you take my car to the city tomorrow. I often borrow money from Baoli Bank. The interest rate of their bank is not high, so you can borrow it.
The woman heard that every day she came to collect the money she owed, so how could she dare to borrow it? Wouldn't it be better to borrow money from the villagers without paying interest? I also heard from Zhang Fangyuan that he often borrowed it, so he couldn't help but be disappointed. He should go directly to Zhang Da or Zhang Si's house.
Although Zhang Fangyuan is doing business, but buying a horse and marrying to do business, he spends a lot of money and doesn't have parents, so it's no wonder he has money.
Then I'll think about it.
Zhang Fangyuan said: If my aunt goes to the city tomorrow, she must come here earlier.
When the woman walked out of the yard, Zhang Fangyuan's voice should not have been answered.
Xu He didn't go up until they were far away: I remember you didn't have much contact with Miss Wu.
Do you think that when you borrow money, you will choose whether you have any contacts? If you have no contacts, it will be even more difficult to collect debts in the future.
Zhang Fangyuan pulled Xu He in and walked in: As long as I can remember, many distant relatives will appear every time the tax is collected, a nephew and a good brother and brother, the enthusiasm makes people dizzy. I Father has a bad temper, and when others came to beg and cry, he borrowed it, and when he died, he didn't even come to the funeral, let alone pay back the money.
My fourth uncle is a little bit better. He is in charge of the current loan, but he is also a bad debt, and he will never come back. When you go to raise the debt, people still put on a face, saying that they are all relatives. Do you believe it? relative.
I have done a lot of debt collection. It is really more troublesome than borrowing money. In short, whether to borrow money or not is to hurt feelings and offend people. You might as well cut it off at the root, so as to save night and dream. Son.
Xu He also understood the ways of the world, but he was still not as experienced as Zhang Fangyuan, so he nodded seriously.
Today, Zhang Fangyuan spoke very kindly. In the past, if anyone came to borrow money from him, he would bluntly refuse to lend and let him go. Left and right, he has a bad temper, and he is not afraid that the villagers will say that he is heartless and ungrateful. In short, a piece of meat is indispensable.
Don't help the poor if you don't save the emergency, and you can't even pay the most basic taxes every year, so what else can you be if you are not poor. And after borrowing this time, when the land rent is called for in the second half of the year, maybe the money borrowed in the first half of the year has not been repaid before I borrow it again. Anyway, I think you have money so you can ask,
But after having Xu He, his temper seems to have improved a lot unconsciously, and he no longer just scolds and leaves. Although it took some effort, it was good.
Three waves of borrowers came in one night, but Zhang Fangyuan stopped them all. After the people's appointment, we waited for another hour, as no one would come to the door this morning, and the couple lit a fire to make lo mei.
This is also done to make the villagers who come to borrow money less talkative, otherwise the person who borrowed money would be: ah, your family eats fish and meat, so there must be a lot of money left over, and my family does not have enough to eat. If you don't borrow some, then I will definitely not leave.
As they spoke, they cried sadly, and some even dragged their children to bring their daughters, and cried together when they cried. In short, they were not afraid of embarrassing the children, and only made a big fuss.
After stewing the meat and vegetables, it was already midnight, and the couple supported the meat to dry in the Shau Kei before going to sleep.
I couldn't sleep for two hours, and I got up early in the morning and went to the city with my things, but I was able to avoid a lot of time, so that the borrower couldn't find anyone at home.
All the money earned yesterday was spent, and another payment was made. Knowing the heavy taxation, Xu He became even more anxious about earning money.
He didn't get enough sleep at night, and his eyes were a little swollen and sore. He didn't sleep much at Xu's house before, but he didn't feel too uncomfortable. When he went to Zhang's house, he slept comfortably, but suddenly he didn't get enough sleep. He didn't get used to it for a while.
But he didn't indulge in discomfort, and soon threw himself into selling braised pork.
This stewed pig's trotter is really fragrant and chewy. Chop it into pieces and send it to Zuifanglou in front.
Okay, just wait a moment.
The customers Xu He met today were all buying a lot, and all of them were selling at half a catty, that is, the restaurant in the east and the teahouse and theater in the west.
It was inconvenient for him to leave the stall too far, and he didn't want to go in and out of those places, so he had to lower the income and called an errand runner. He would look for him whenever he had time, so Xiaosheng agreed to pay for every penny.
Xu He felt that as long as he worked hard in the city, he could earn a little money for anything he did, but relatively everything cost money. If he was not frugal, he could spend a lot of money in a day, and he didn't blame Zhang Fang. Those who can earn money will never be able to save money.
The pig's trotters and pig's tail are marinated very fragrant, more delicious than pig's head meat, not at all greasy, and they are all good things to go with wine and chatter.
In addition, he cut the spare ribs one by one, put them in oil paper bags, and chew them. The more you chew, the more delicious they become.
However, Xu He found that most of the people who came to buy pig's trotters and ribs were men, and girls and brothers would not eat them on the street even if they bought them, and felt that they were not elegant enough.
What's interesting is that the young lady of Fugui parked the carriage far away while sitting in the sedan chair, and sent a maid and servant to buy it back, and hid in the sedan chair to eat a mouthful of oil.
At noon, Xu He's braised pork was still sold out, even earlier than yesterday.
In fact, the weight of the prepared items is about the same as yesterday, but the varieties are different. These are more like snacks for loose sale, rather than something to take home for dinner, which seems to be more liked by the customers here.
Xu He felt that since it was so easy to sell, the next time the family went to buy livestock and slaughtered pigs, he would just marinate all the pigs in the water at once, and sell some in the afternoon.
He still didn't plan to go to other stalls to buy pig offal, firstly, the cost was high, and secondly, it was not practical for two people to come to the city every day to do business.
Things at home still have to be handled by someone, like melons, fruits and vegetables in the fields, firewood collection in the mountains... In short, there are a lot of things in the village.
The life of the couple is good, but after all, there are not many people. Now this is very good, since I can go to the city to make money, and I can manage it in the village while I sell the pigs and wait for the next time to buy livestock.
Sold three hundred and eighty cash today. Xu Hewo was counting the money on the chair behind Zhang Fangyuan's stall. The big man stood and cut the meat for the customers who ordered the meat, just blocking him, so no one could see him counting. Qian: It's eighty cash more than yesterday!
Spareribs, pig's trotters, and pig's tongue are all expensive, so they are naturally more expensive than yesterday.
In order to sell the pork tongue, I specially made the spicy noodles, which is not in vain. Xu He said: In addition to the oil paper at the stall, I also gave the errands at least 12 cents. He is making money.
After Zhang Fangyuan cut the meat and put it away, he also sat down beside Xu He. Xu He suddenly felt a large hot stone sticking to him, and he flinched: You are too hot.
You still hate me for occupying my position. Zhang Fangyuan raised the hem of his clothes, took a cattail leaf fan made of zong leaves and fanned it in, and leaned on the chair: I feel that every time you are here, the business at the stall It gets worse.
Hearing that Xu He had put the money away, he gave Zhang Fangyuan a sideways glance: Always lie here like an old man, like a serious businessman? Sometimes it's windy, sometimes it's raining, and now the business is not good. I'm coming!
Zhang Fangyuan laughed, and said after a while: I'm serious.
He turned sideways and covered his mouth with his big hands and whispered in Xu He's ear: Those little widows and husbands are here to buy things.
You don't want to be ashamed! Xu He pushed him, but he didn't move at all: Then I'll go back, and it won't hinder your business.
Don't... Zhang Fang couldn't help laughing, and hurriedly pulled Xu He who was about to get up: I'll give you a cool breeze, you didn't sleep well last night, squint for a while, and the eyes are black and blue.
Where can you see the bruises, nonsense. Xu He turned his face away, he was dark, how could he see the bruises in his eyes after a good night's sleep.
I'm serious, go home and look in the mirror.
I'm not that smug. Xu He got up from his chair suddenly: It's Lixia, I'll go pull two pieces of cloth and make you two jackets.
You also do two.
Xu He was about to open his mouth to say something, when Zhang Fangyuan said first, I will have my birthday in a while, I will make two decent clothes, and I will take you to Dongli to eat at a restaurant.
Xu He immediately swallowed back the words that he still had clothes to wear: Okay.