Siheyuan: Walking the Path of Qin Huairu

In the evening, the tavern added a new dish to go with wine, which was cold shredded kelp. It was two cents a small dish, cheap and affordable for everyone. Xu Huizhen gave everyone a brief introduction to the effects of kelp.

She said: "Kelp is both a food and a medicine. It is rich in iodine, which can promote the normal function of the thyroid gland and prevent goiter. It can also lower blood pressure and prevent anemia. I suggest everyone buy some dried kelp and take it home for your family, especially the children. It is not expensive, six cents per pound of dried kelp, and one pound of kelp can make five pounds of wet kelp. If you want it, go to Cai Quanwu to buy it."

Cai Quanwu also nodded and said, "Yes, my relatives in Tianjin gave me some kelp. I can't finish it. If you want it, you can ask me to exchange it."

Niu Ye said, "Shopkeeper Xu knows a lot! He speaks very clearly and logically."

Xu Huizhen: "What I said is true. You can go ask the doctor. Different foods contain different nutrients. If we want to be strong, we need to have a balanced diet and eat a variety of foods. Especially for children, a comprehensive diet can help them grow taller and smarter."

Everyone looked at Xu Huizhen with starry eyes while she talked. They thought to themselves, "This young wife seems to be very impressive. How can she know so much at such a young age? We should come to this tavern more often in the future."

At this time someone said, "Cai Quanwu, give me five pounds of kelp. Anyway, in winter, there are only radishes and cabbages. Just consider it as a new vegetable for the family." Where there is a leader, there will be people who follow the crowd. For a while, Cai Quanwu was busy collecting money and selling goods, and small amounts of money flew into his pocket.

The feeling of making money is so good that a rare smile appeared on Cai Quanwu's usually expressionless face.

Just like that, after three or four days, most of the seafood that Xu Huizhen brought back was sold out, leaving only some dried fish, shrimp skin, and a little kelp.

Unexpectedly, the sales were so good that Xu Hui really regretted not buying enough. She discussed with Cai Quanwu, "Cai Quanwu, today is only the 17th day of the twelfth lunar month, and the goods are already sold out. Do you think I should go to Tianjin again?"

Cai Quanwu said: "If you don't feel tired, go again. You can still sell some before the New Year. Even if you can't sell all of them, they won't go bad in the cold weather. You can continue to sell them in the first month of next year."

Are you kidding? If you don't do such a good business, you'd be a fool. Xu Huizhen said that she would give him 10% of the profit as a bonus, and his salary would be paid as usual. He calculated that after selling this batch of goods, he could get a bonus of more than 50 yuan, which was equivalent to his previous two months' salary. Of course, such a good thing should continue.

Xu Huizhen nodded and said, "They are short of food on the coast. Tomorrow you can take the remaining kelp, dried fish and dried shrimps and go to the rural areas in the suburbs to exchange for some cornmeal and sweet potatoes. White flour is even better! You can also buy it with money. Last time, their village chief said that they charge 30 cents for white flour. I didn't ask how much the cornmeal cost. It's up to you to make a little profit."

Cai Quanwu said: "The cornmeal in the grain store is eight cents a pound, but you need a grain book. It would probably cost a little over ten cents to go to the village to buy cornmeal, right?"

Xu Huizhen thought for a moment and said, "Don't spend more than 5 yuan on cornmeal and cents on sweet potatoes."

Xu Huizhen then instructed, "You may be worried that it's not safe to go to the suburbs. Ask Qiangzi to go with you so that you two can keep each other company. We'll pay him."

After returning, Xu Huizhen began to write letters to Shawang Village. She wanted the village chief to prepare the seafood in advance, and she could just pay the money, pick up the goods and leave.

The general meaning of the letter is: Aunt and uncle, my family really liked the seafood you gave us last time. Chinese New Year is coming soon, and I want to go see you and bring some seafood back for the New Year.

What you brought me last time was not enough, please prepare twice as much for me. In addition, if you have mantis shrimp and razor clams, please give me 10 kilograms each.

I would bring Peking duck and White Rabbit milk candy to my cousins.

I expect to arrive in the afternoon of the 21st day of the twelfth lunar month.

The next morning, after Xu Huizhen got up and opened the door, she found that it had snowed heavily the night before. The snow fell silently and she didn't feel it at all. The snow on the ground was estimated to be half a foot thick.

Looking up, I saw a vast expanse of snow, and the trees in the yard were also covered with snowflakes, just like the poem by Zheng Banqiao: When I opened the door in the morning, the yard was covered with snow, and the snow cleared and the clouds were light, the sun was cold.

Snow is the scenery of winter in the north and the soul of winter.

Xu Huizhen took a deep breath of fresh air to feel the northern scenery of this era. She didn't go back to the house until she was shivering with cold, poked the stove, lit the fire, and cooked porridge. Then, she quickly picked up the broom to sweep the snow, at least to clear a path.

When they arrived at the tavern, Cai Quanwu was already there, and he had already cleared the snow from the front door. Xu Huizhen said, "Forget it, I guess we can't go to the suburbs today."

Cai Quanwu said: "Then wait a while, until the road is paved before going. One or two days won't matter."

Xu Huizhen asked: "Have you had breakfast? If not, eat something here."

Cai Quanwu: "Don't bother, I'll go to the street corner to eat a bowl of noodles with soybean paste later."

Xu Huizhen: "I have already cooked the porridge. I will just heat up some steamed buns with the dough. A couple of bites will be enough."

As they were a single man and a single woman, Xu Hui really didn't want to let Cai Quanwu go to the backyard to eat, so after the meal was ready, she brought it to him in the tavern and let him eat alone.

Cai Quanwu saw a white egg in the porridge. His heart warmed up. It was such a blessing to be able to eat eggs in such a cold weather. Chickens don't like to lay eggs in winter, so it's hard to buy this thing even if you have money. I don't know where the shopkeeper got it from.

Xu Huizhen's eggs naturally came from the space. The hens in her space laid eggs every day, and she couldn't eat them all by herself, so they were all stored in the space.

After dinner, Cai Quanwu saw that there was no work in the tavern, and he was bored, so he wanted to ride his tricycle out to do some work to earn money. Xu Huizhen stopped him and said, "Forget it, it's snowing, a lazy day. You've been working hard these past few days, so take a rest today. When the weather gets better, you can make up for today's losses by working harder." Cai Quanwu didn't insist after hearing this.

After tidying up the house, Xu Huizhen walked out of the tavern and wanted to see the street scene on a snowy day.