The skilled widow is busy farming

Chapter 40

Uncle Zhang reluctantly contracted thirty acres of wasteland from the Li family after the New Year. He was determined to work hard for a few years so that he could turn around. The contract money was not much in the first few years, and his family was too poor to come up with the money.

Grandpa liked that his family was kind and down-to-earth, and said that there was no need to pay, just work for my family, and I would give you food.

The children working in the shop are paid separately, and if they don't participate in it, they will get one yard.

Uncle Zhang's eyes were red and weeping, and he kowtowed to his grandfather with his children and grandchildren. This made it clear that taking care of his family would make them suffer a lot.

"Good boy, work hard and get ahead. Send one child to learn cooking and he will be successful in the future. The rest will be figured out by other means."

"Uncle, thank you. I, I... will do a good job for you."

The Zhang family did not pay for the wasteland, so the contract was based on a different algorithm. After the harvest was harvested, it would be divided in half, instead of all going to the Zhang family, the grain would be divided in half.

However, it is difficult for the wasteland to produce good output after five or six years. The Zhang family works in the fields of the Li family and has to take away food to eat. In fact, it means giving the wasteland to him for free.

But it’s not a loss for grandpa. The wasteland is not easy to cultivate and requires a lot of effort. Now there is no one to take care of it. The people in the village are also busy raising chickens and ducks. There is no one, so it is better to outsource it to the steadfast and reliable Zhang family to work on the land. Let’s raise it later.

In this way, the Zhang family can live a good life, have enough to eat and have a head of work, and the Li family's land does not have to worry about being wasted, killing two birds with one stone.

Grandpa acted as a guarantor for the Zhang family and sent Uncle Zhang’s third grandson to learn cooking skills. Uncle Zhang listened to grandpa’s suggestion. The third grandson is the second child. The eldest and eldest grandson can also share the money when they go to the shop to work. Although I have to hand it all in, at least I have a head start.

The next step is to deal with the second child's family, one by one. Based on the principle of fairness, Uncle Zhang has four sons and one daughter. If he has more children, he will also have more grandchildren.

Arrange a way out one by one to give the children hope. If the parents are unfair, the children will rebel and may not be willing to listen to you.

After listening to his grandfather's advice, Uncle Zhang chose his second son's child to learn cooking. He was just old enough to be sensible and able to work. He knew how to cherish it when he went there, and shared this with his family. After discussion, everyone agreed.

The shop is very prosperous in the new year. Brother Zhang is attentive and can work hard. He found that the pastries that customers like are mostly southern varieties, so he thought about it himself and let customers try it. If the customers are satisfied, he will introduce it and move forward steadily.

Now there are ten varieties of pastries. They are very beautiful in color and delicious in taste, ranging from salty to sweet to refreshing.

Seeing that the cakes were well made, Xiuniang immediately asked Li Mao to invite storytellers and singers to have tea and snacks in the afternoon.

His shop is large, open and bright, and you can do anything. The tables, chairs and screens can be arranged without affecting the lunch sales at all. This is the advantage of a large shop.

With the storyteller, there is an extra income, and Brother Zhang is more attentive. He must make the pastries well and not let anyone talk.

It’s a new year and a new atmosphere. Xiuniang will pay Brother Zhang monthly, while Fourth Grandpa and the Lin family will pay every three months. Considering that there will be rent in the New Year, I told you in advance that I will settle the money every three months. No. Change again.

Everyone agreed.

The waiter hired an extra child, a child of the Li family in the village. The family was in trouble, his studies were not very good, and he had no fame. This road was not going to work, so he simply went out to work.

Let's learn from the waiter first.

It’s not easy to be an apprentice. To be a sponsor, you have to give money to someone else. To send a child to learn a trade, the Zhang family has to give money to a master. Brother Zhang shared the money for the two months in winter two years ago, so there is no extra money.

They are all children of the Li family, and they work very carefully. Brother Rui and Brother Qun will come over to help when they have time. They are separated in the morning and afternoon, and there are enough people.

With storytellers regularly rapping in the store, the store became very popular. More merchants came to drink tea. They liked tea snacks and cakes, and some were willing to drink a pot of wine and listen to books. The environment here is relaxed.

Some teahouses do not allow drinking. Drinking is easy to cause trouble. People have their own rules. A teahouse is a teahouse and a restaurant is a restaurant. They are not the same thing.

Only here at Xiuniang, you can have tea and wine together, and the rules are not so strict.The main reason is that his family only sells refreshments in the afternoon and still sells wine in the evening. It does not affect the business of other people's teahouses and no one rushes into his family.

Xiu Niang is extremely smart. She keeps everything in moderation and won't cross the line and won't affect your money making. I'll just be a small part of it, but I won't be able to influence it enough. But just by moving here and there like this, his store has stabilized its footing.

The night market was booming, and Xiu Niang taught Fourth Grandpa and the others to make sugar water, which was a business for women and children. After drinking wine, they were thirsty, and it would be good to drink sugar water to relieve hangovers. The small income was troublesome, so she gave Fourth Grandpa a job and let him They earn.I chose several types of sugar water, both sweet and savory. The red bean and tangerine peel water and the red bean paste were sweet and delicious both hot and cold.

Xiankou has salted plum soup. The main ingredient is salted plum. This is pickled plum, which is salty. When used to boil sugar water, papaya pumpkin or glutinous rice flour can be added to it. The taste is refreshing and has a slight salty taste. , not greasy, and goes well with sweet snacks.

There are also fermented sweet-scented osmanthus glutinous rice balls, which are filled with osmanthus nectar. The nectar is made by the grandmothers in the village. There are more than a dozen osmanthus trees in the village. Xiuniang asked the grandmothers to contribute the nectar and she paid for it. Naturally, the grandmothers in the village were happy and made money. Give her the best nectar.

There are also more than ten types of sweet potato syrup, including sweet potato syrup, which Xiu Niang and her sister-in-law came up with by trying out the dishes. They have become very popular since they were launched and are cheap and thirst-quenching.

Sometimes the man wants a lot of food and drinks, and spends a lot of money, so the sister-in-law will give him a bowl of sugar water to quench his thirst. The business gradually becomes more and more prosperous. If everyone works together to surround the guests, things will be done well.

In the midst of the busy work, the weather is gradually getting warmer, Xiu Niang's brocade is more than half finished, and the shop is safe. Spring has begun, everyone is about to sow, and the fields are getting busy.

Xiu Niang didn't have time to take care of the shop and asked them to do it by themselves. She had to go to the fields to cook for the men. She also had to take care of her grandma and Brother Chun. She had to embroider the peony pictures as soon as possible. Time waits for no one. After autumn, Brother Heng and Brother Heng have to take care of the shop. I have to go to the capital to take the exam.

The main people who went to the capital this time were Brother Heng and five other people from the village to see if they could go further.

Brother Rui will also go to the provincial capital to take the imperial examination in the autumn. By autumn, his filial piety period has ended early and a year has passed.

Brother Qun can't go, it will take three years before he can go. He is young, so it would be good to suppress him just right.

After sowing the seeds, they only have a few days of rest, and then they have other work to do. Farmers only have a little leisure time in winter throughout the year.

"Brother Rui, you are going to the city tomorrow to help me sell this."

what is this? "

Li Rui glanced at his second aunt and didn't dare to open it immediately.

"open to take a look."

Xiu Niang smiled at everyone.

Li Rui opened the box. Inside was a set of exquisite palace flowers, with two floors, magnificent and exquisite.

"Gonghua, so beautiful."

"Take it and sell it."

"Second Aunt..."

Li Rui looked at his second aunt, feeling distressed and guilty.

"Sell it so that I can help your brother-in-law get some travel expenses to the capital. He will also need it when going out for entertainment."

"Grandpa, they gave some, it's almost enough."

Li Rui lowered his head and muttered.

"Silly boy, I hope to sell more money to build a wine shop for my family. I need to buy a piece of land. I'm still waiting for the wine shop to make money for me. Your eldest brother has to marry a wife and build a yard. It all costs money. It all depends on your father. , He will be exhausted to death."

Xiu Niang smiled gently at the child.

"it is good."

Li Rui nodded.

(End of this chapter)