"Hey, big guy, tomorrow I, Aye and the others are going to Jinchang to sell tofu. You can go with me."

One noon in late February of the lunar calendar, the weather was very clear and there was no wind. The first batch of bean dregs cakes on this day were also made in the official tofu workshop. Many elderly orphans and some poor people in the county came here to eat cakes.

Recently, many people from surrounding towns have come to Changle County. Some come to the tofu workshop to find work, some come to sell tofu, and some people just come to buy this money-free bean dregs cake. It only takes a few months. The people coming and going in Changle County are much more lively than before.

"Hey, big guy, you're talking." A little kid of seven or eight years old claimed that he wanted to carry tofu out and sell it, pestering the young man from other places who eats cakes here every day.

"..." The tall and strong young man ignored him.

"I'll pay for the capital. I have a basket and shoulder pole at home. Let's go together. We will earn half of the money we earned. What do you think?"

“…”

"I can't carry the burden, but I can sell it. When I get to Jinchang, don't worry, and teach me all the work of selling tofu."

“…”

"I said, "Big, when will you eat bean dregs cakes?" Don't you want to go to the food shop to have some good food? The new Luo County Magistrate teaches the food shops in our county so you can't get hungry if you smell it all day long?"

“…”

"Look, go out with me to sell tofu a few times, and you will have the capital by then."

“…”

The tall and strong young man called a big man didn't say anything at all. After eating a few cakes, he drank a large bowl of soup, put his soup bowl into his arms, got up and left. When the bean dregs here were ready tomorrow, he would come over again.

The child curled his lips and did not seem very disappointed. This was not the first time. He had been pestering this foreigner several days ago, wanting him to go out to sell tofu with him, but unfortunately he ignored him.

There were many people eating cakes and drinking soup near this straw shed. There were two large pottery pots burning there. A woman was standing next to the pottery pot, holding a spoon to share the soup with others. Three or five skinny and skinny foreigners were lined up at the front of the line, and there were many people behind.

Not far from the two pottery pots, there was a simple beard bed woven with branches of red willows. The bean dregs made this morning were piled on the head of the beard bed, and another woman stood next to the bean bed and divided the cakes with others.

The child turned his eyes and looked around and saw that no one noticed him. He put the unfinished bean dregs cake in his hand into his arms.

The bean dregs here are all eaten immediately and are not taken home. There was no such rule before. It was just a few days ago, the new county magistrate heard that someone had brought the bean dregs from him and took them home to feed the animals. This was the only way to add this one.

The child ate and prepared. In a short while, he finished gnawing a few cakes in front of him. After drinking a few sips of sheep bone soup that was already a little cold at the bottom of the bowl, licked the bottom of the bowl, put the coarse pottery bowl into his arms, and got up and left.

Recently, more and more people have come to their place to eat bean dough cakes. After so many people have received one, today's bean dough cakes should probably be divided. Even if you go queuing up at this time, I'm afraid you won't get the second time. Unlike when this tofu workshop was just opened, he can get two times a day.

Although their small town is dilapidated, the streets are still quite spacious. It is facing the main street at the gate of the city, and three carriages can walk side by side.

The houses on both sides of the street are mostly one-story adobe houses, yellow mud walls, thatched roofs, and there are many shops along the street. Some shops have done a good job in business these days. They can earn hundreds of cents in a day when they receive a caravan of twenty or thirty people. When this child hears these things, he is very envious. It’s a pity that their family doesn’t even have two decent laborers, let alone shops.

From time to time, people walked past him with tofu loads and walked briskly. The tender tofu made from the official tofu workshop is tender and tender. It will be broken after a few bumps on the car. It is best to use a basket of shoulder poles and carry them out to sell them one by one.

It is not difficult to carry this tender tofu to Jinchang, Dunhuang and earn 10 or 20 yuan at will. If some people find a good buyer, they will earn more.

The child touched the cloth strips tied around his waist, and there were a few copper plates hidden there. This was not his entire wealth. Some were hidden in his family, some of which he had saved before and some had just earned it in recent days.

In the past, he helped those food shops grab business at the city gate and brought customers to shops that had been negotiated in advance. He could get a few cents at a time. Unfortunately, he can't go now. A few days ago, two shops started fighting at the city gate to grab customers. Then the county did not allow them to go to the city gate to attract customers, and they could only attract business in front of their own shop.

There were three or five Hu merchants leading their horses over from the city gate. It seemed that their clothes and equipment didn't seem to be going into the desert, and they were planning to purchase goods from Dunhuang.

After arriving in Dunhuang, some of the caravans who came from the Western Regions would choose to continue to go deep into the Hexi Corridor and go all the way to Liangzhou City to trade with merchants there. Some of them would sell goods locally after they arrived in Dunhuang. Many Hu merchants and Central Plains merchants who lived in the Tang Dynasty would come here to buy goods every year, and then sell them to Liangzhou City, even Chang'an, Luoyang, Yangzhou and other places.

"Customers, but I have to stay in the hotel. The shop has hot water, and the guest rooms are clean and spacious..."

"Do you want to have a meal? We have all kinds of dishes in the store."

"Do you want to taste the tofu dishes we have here?"

“…”

These Hu people walked along the street, and shops on both sides of the street came out to solicit business.

The twenty or thirty Hu people lived in their county for a long time last time, and they still had no intention of leaving. The store that received them earned money every day, and they were so happy that they couldn't stop talking about it every day, which made the shops next to them very jealous.

In the past few days, some merchants have passed by their Changle County. Although they have never seen a large caravan again, no matter how small the mosquitoes are, they are still meat. People now believe that as long as the food is cooked and the relatively low price is relatively low, their Changle County can also retain customers.

Especially during the off-season, there is great potential, because no one is in a hurry to rush through this season. If those Hu merchants live here comfortably and there is no financial pressure, they will naturally think about staying for a few more days.

"How much does lamb cost?"

There was a shop at the end of the street and built a earthen stove at the door of its own shop. At this time, a pot of braised mutton was being gushed on the stove. The Hu people ignored the greetings of the people in front and went straight to the shop.

"Two cents, one big bowl!"

The shop owner is a thin man in his forties. His shop is not well located at the end of the street and is at a disadvantage, so he thought of this trick and build a stove at the door of the shop.

At this moment, he watched the guests smell the fragrance and came all the way to this side. He felt so happy that he quickly took the big stoneware bowl next to the stove to show them: "A big bowl, full."

When the Hu people saw each other, they looked at each other, and then they heard the person who led the leader say the word "good", and several people entered the shop one after another.

After the livestock were placed, several Hu people sat down one after another, and bowls of fragrant and hot braised mutton were served on the table. Each bowl was so sharp that it was filled. Even if the price of the mutton here was cheap, according to this method of selling, it would definitely be impossible to make a profit. It would be considered good to be able to make a profit.

"What do you want for a few customers? Do you want some cold dishes, tofu dishes?" County Magistrate Luo told them that there is one or two dishes in this shop without making money. As long as you can earn money from other places, it will be fine.

"How much does a cold dish cost?" Because I was really satisfied with the braised mutton before, those Hu people seemed easier to talk to at this time.

"The cold dishes are shredded tofu, scallions, and bean sprouts. We sell them cheaply here, and you can mix a basin for ten cents. It's enough for several customers to eat." The shop owner said.

"Okay, let's have a cold dish, a pot of corn porridge, and three pounds of cooked cakes."

"Hey, wait, the old man went to get the food."

This store is not very big, and it is the off-season now. It may not be possible to have business at home all day long. His two sons sold them with tofu. The eldest daughter-in-law just gave birth to a baby for the family. She has not been able to get up in bed these days. The second son has not yet gotten married. His old woman left early again, so the only old man is left in the family.

The old man came out of the main hall and walked to the street to look at it. When the child saw him not far away, he came over happily.

"They asked for a 100-cent cold dish. You go and help me get it for three kilograms of pancakes. But remember, take the pancakes first, and the guests are waiting for it to eat." The old man said, stuffing a penny into the child's hand.

"Oh." The child collected the money, and ran away.

First, I went to the official shop and shouted, saying that someone ordered a 10 cent cold dish at the Liujia Food Shop at the end of the street, and then went to the street pancake shop to ask for three kilograms of pancakes.

The restaurant of the cooked cake shop has been watching them all the way since they entered the city. They watched them enter the Liu family's shop, and then watched the child come to buy cooked cakes and three kilograms of cooked cakes. After weighing it, he asked him to take it over first. As for the money, he naturally waited for the Liu family to settle the settlement later.

At the Liu family shop, Old Man Liu had already cooked corn porridge at this time. After a while, the cakes arrived, so he took them to give them to several guests and ate them with braised lamb.

Not long after, the cold dishes were served and the corn porridge was served slowly. Fortunately, these guests were happy today and didn't complain. They just ate some cold dishes left at the bottom of the basin and ate them happily.

After eating and drinking, I sat there and rested. Outside the door, there was a line of officials walking past the street in a row, each with straight and energetic postures.

"Are they patrolling?" asked a Hu man.

"No, I have to patrol several times a day. The guests walk in Changle County in the future. If something happens, they can ask them for help." Old Man Liu said.

"Can they manage?" In the impression of these Hu people, officials are not easy to provoke. It is best to stay away from them if you have any problems.

"Yes, just a few days ago, there was a shop in front of me. I told someone ten cents when ordering food. When I was checking out, I insisted on fifteen cents. Someone went to call the official and came over. In the end, the shop was ordered to close for three days." Old Man Liu slowly packed up in the house, talking to these Hu people while cleaning up.

"That's really good." To be honest, those who are in layman businessmen are most afraid of the unreasonable black shops. A few of them are out-of-towners who face the locals with many powerful people and power, and in the end they have to admit that they are unlucky.

"Okay, I'm talking kindly." Old Man Liu said again.

"Is that good?" Those officials can still be kind to others? Those Hu people didn't believe it, thinking that this old man was bragging.

"Why isn't that good?" Old Man Liu said immediately: "How much money do they earn in a month?"

"How many?" asked the leader Hu.

"I have 300 pm in a month. I eat well and dress well. If I do well, County Magistrate Luo will give them bonuses. I have such a lot of salary every month, but I am not a relative of the county magistrate's family. If I don't do it well, I will sort it out. Who dares to be careless?"

Speaking of this, Old Man Luo also regretted it. When the magistrate of the Luo County was recruiting people, his youngest son wanted to go, but he stopped him. Yan wanted to see the situation first, but he was afraid that the county magistrate and others would start to make trouble. As a result, there was nothing wrong. Before the magistrate of the Luo County magistrate could do anything, the people ran away and disappeared.

Their family was hesitant at that time and was taken first by others. After recruiting enough people from the Duke Mansion, they no longer wanted it. Now, no matter what they think about, it is useless.

These Hu people were obviously very interested in Changle County, the new Luo County Magistrate, and sat there and chatted with Old Man Liu for a long time. Until everyone was a little sleepy, they remembered the matter of staying in.

“Do you have a guest room here?”

"My shop is not big, and there is a house behind it, and there is no guest room. However, my house also has a small courtyard, which is not far from here, and it can be arrived in half a moment. If the guests are willing to live there, it will be fine with me for five cents a day. If it is a monthly rent, it will only cost one hundred cents a month."

"Take us over and have a look first."

"Why."

It is located on the south side of Changle County. Every year when spring comes, when the snow on the mountain melts, gurgling streams flow down the mountain streams, so the south of the city is expensive and the north of the city is relatively cheap.

However, the city of Changle County is really small, and the division between the rich and the poor is not as clear as that of the places in Chang'an City.

Old Man Liu was also a thoughtful person. After leading these people out of the shop, he saw that they were interested in the official tofu workshop, so he took them over to take a look.

It was late at this time, but because the business of the tofu workshop was good, it would not stop until late at night every day. The workers working here also worked in two shifts. One group of people came over in the early morning, after lunch and working for a while, they could go home to rest. At noon, another group of people changed until late at night.

The tofu workshop is full of labor. On the other side of the county government not far away, there are smoke rising from the cooking stove, and the fragrance of food is wafting.

Luo Yong and they don’t cook at the moment, and they eat the same food every day.

There are only 30 or 40 people in the county government for dinner, and they adopt a separate meal system. Each person has a small wooden table with some food on it. They don’t eat or sleep or talk. There are basically no one talking during the meal.

On the evening of that day, while waiting for supper, Qiao Junlin told Luo Yong that several Hu people appeared in the crowd of people eating bean dregs in the tofu workshop these days.

"As long as there is no trouble, he will go. Be careful, don't ask them to make trouble." The people in the county are more protective of food and are mostly repulsive of the behavior of outsiders coming to them to eat free bean dregs cakes.

"Cicada." Qiao Junlin responded.

After the meal that night was ready, someone helped Luo Yong and Qiao Junlin to bring their portion to the backyard. There was an office space in front of the county government office, and the backyard was the living area.

Luo Yong and Qiao Junlin often eat and chat while eating, and don’t talk or say anything. Just pay attention to this when going to the sun gallery to eat.

"You're going out tonight?" Qiao Junlin spoke while slicing rice, but she no longer had the majesty she had with those servants on weekdays.
To be continued...