Lao Zhou glanced at the time and said to Feng, "Go to Zhou Hu's house and ask your mother if she's coming back for dinner."
Feng responded.
Qian had given birth to many children. Although she was not a midwife, anyone in the village who gave birth to a baby would like to let her sit in the yard. Even if she did nothing, she could just talk to the mother.
Mrs. Feng came back soon and said: "It's not that fast, it's just started. It would be good to give birth at night."
So everyone stopped waiting for her and started to take the dishes and chopsticks to eat. After finishing the meal, Mrs. Feng and others helped to put the dishes and chopsticks into the kitchen. Today it was Zhou Xi's turn to wash the dishes and chopsticks.
Then the adults all moved chairs and stools to the yard to sit and summarize today's work. The children ran around and played in the yard, and the older ones took burned sticks and wrote in the yard.
When writing and drawing, they are all memorizing the calligraphy Man Bao taught them.
Manbao taught them another piece of "The Analects of Confucius". It was not long, only three sentences. She wrote the words clearly on the ground with a wooden stick. After teaching them to read it twice, she dropped the wooden stick and leaned in to listen.
Brother speaks.
Zhou Erlang took out all the earnings from this trip to the city. Everyone's eyes couldn't help but stare, because there were four strings of copper plates inside, and a lot of unstrung copper plates. It was estimated by visual inspection that there were fifty or sixty copper coins.
Tuesday Lang said happily: "Dad, although tofu and vegetables are cheap, a little adds up to a big gain. The wild mushrooms we brought are also selling well. There are fewer people selling wild mushrooms this year. Those rich people are willing to spend money."
."
Old Zhou was impatient. He had sold these things before and knew the price. This was not what he wanted to know the most, so he said directly: "Just tell me how much the Poria cocos sold for."
The smile on Zhou Zhoulang's face couldn't be suppressed, "You must have never imagined that the Poria cocos are still covered in mud. Shopkeeper Zheng collected them all and weighed them with the skin. They weighed eighty cents per catty. I took them with me.
The two pieces weighed three and a half kilograms, so they sold for 280 wen."
Just two pieces of Poria cocos, and the money they sold was as much as the baskets of wild mushrooms, two baskets of vegetables and two buckets of tofu he brought.
If it weren't for the basket of wild mushrooms, I'd probably have to add another basket of vegetables and a bucket of tofu to compare with the two pieces of Poria.
Lao Zhoutou was also surprised and asked: "This thing is so expensive? Is it even more expensive than Ligustrum lucidum?"
"No, I heard from shopkeeper Zheng that some old ladies and young ladies like to use Poria cocos to make snacks and desserts. They say it is a holy product of beauty, no worse than bird's nest, so a box of Poria cocos can be sold for 20 taels to 10 taels.
s price."
Zhou Zhoulang still felt a little regretful, "Our Poria cocos are big and white in texture. They are said to be of the best quality. After they are cooked, a box can be sold for at least five taels. I have seen the boxes they put Poria cocos in, and it must not be able to hold a pound."
I guess it’s about seven or eight taels.”
Lao Zhoutou began to think in his mind, "Should we cut it and dry it in the sun? Then our family will dry it ourselves..."
"Dad, don't think about it, it's not that simple," Zhou Zuorang said: "It has to be cooked. This Poria cocos is not Ligustrum lucidum. Just boil it with hot water and take it out to dry. I heard there are several ways to do it.
, and the Poria cocos obtained by each method is different, and the diseases treated are also different. One of them is called cinnabar, which is difficult, I can't remember it anyway."
Lao Zhoutou looked at Man Bao.
Everyone's eyes followed.
Man Bao was listening with great interest. When she saw everyone looking at her, she blinked and asked, "What's wrong?"
Lao Zhoutou asked expectantly, "Manbao, did you see any books on preparing medicinal materials at Mr. Zhuang and Shanbao's house?"
Man Bao thought for a while and said, "It seems that Mr. Zhuang has a thin volume."
Lao Zhoutou's eyes were shining brightly and he asked: "Can you read it clearly?"
Man Bao knew what his father had planned and said: "Dad, don't think about it. Concocting medicinal materials can easily fail. Do we have any experienced hands at home? We have to buy cinnabar. If we don't control the heat well, we can bake it."
If the processing is not good, then not only the cinnabar will be wasted, but the Poria cocos will also be wasted. What a waste."
This thing is so hard to find, how can we just waste it?
When Man Bao said this, Zhou Erlang immediately came to his senses and said: "Dad, this pound of Poria cocos costs eighty cents, with the skin and mud attached."
Man Bao couldn't help but said: "
Second brother, Poria cocos peel is also a medicinal material, so of course it must be taken with the skin on."
"Oh, even the skin is a medicinal material."
That day Zhou Lang couldn't bear to part with it anymore and said: "Dad, even the skin has to be processed. Even if Man Bao can teach you, we probably won't be able to learn it."
Zhou Lang nodded sharply, "Dad, this thing is not easy to find."
Lao Zhoutou sighed in disappointment, "Okay, then let's find Poria cocos to sell."
But having lost so much money for nothing, Old Zhou was still a little heartbroken, so he glared at his sons with hatred and said: "Look at all of you, Bai Chang is so big, and you can't even concoct a medicinal ingredient.
"
Brothers: ...If you know how, you should do it.
In fact, Zhou Dalang and the others think they are already very powerful. When they were young, among the things they do now, which one did their father do?
In the past, their father could only work in the fields, as long as they were not hungry all year round. The clothes the brothers wore were all picked up from their uncle's house, and then passed down one by one.
Manbao is as easily satisfied as her brothers. Her husband has taught her and Bai Shanbao more than once that they should slow down and not run forward as soon as they learn to walk, let alone think about flying to the sky as soon as they can run.
The former will fall hard, while the latter may fall from the sky to the ground.
The former may only be very painful and will be fine after a while, but the latter can cause death. Of course, this consequence is the result of in-depth discussions between Manbao and Keke.
So although she is always confident, to a certain extent, she feels that she is still very humble and self-aware.
Keke: That’s weird!
Old Zhoutou asked Manbao to take out the account book and write down all the money that Zhou Lang brought back today. Then he started to take all the money. After thinking about it, he counted out ten coins from the scattered copper plates.
He gave him the money and said: "Since vegetables and tofu can be sold at a high price, then you can continue to the county town tomorrow. Didn't you say that the vegetables in Xiaowan are edible?"
"It's okay, but it's too tender. It's delicious. It's a bit of a loss for us to sell it at this time."
"Then we will continue to sell vegetables from the vegetable garden tomorrow. In two or three days, the vegetables from the small bay will be suitable. My boss, you can soak the beans now and get up early tomorrow morning to make tofu."
Xiao Qian agreed.
Zhou Erlang took the ten cents and sighed sadly. It would be great if his mother was at home. You know, all the income he earns when he goes to the city is handed over to the public, and he doesn't get a share of it, so every time he goes to the city, his mother
They will all give him fifteen cents.
In addition to the entry fee and protection fee, he can still have about five cents left, which can be used to buy a bowl of hot soup and dry food in the county town, or occasionally have a luxurious bun.
But his father gave him ten cents today.
Manbao also felt that her father was being stingy. She looked at her second brother sympathetically and then patted her butt and went to see her nieces and nephews writing. She had taken a shower and changed clothes and couldn't go out to play today.