"According to the laws of this country, private winemaking must buy koji from the official Qufang, and the total amount of rice, wheat, and sorghum used for making wine in a year must not exceed half a load."
Shen Ling spoke, and he keenly noticed the change in Zhuang Keqing's mood, and stretched out his right hand to cover the girl's slightly cool hand.
"If it exceeds the limit, it is considered a business operation. It needs to be reported to the government and 20 out of 100 tax dollars will be paid."
A 20% tax? That’s dark enough.
Zhuang Keqing couldn't help but complain in his heart.
But after Shen Ling's explanation, she no longer panicked.
First of all, what I use at home is not rice, wheat, and sorghum, but sweet potatoes. The yield of sweet potatoes can reach three to four thousand kilograms per mu, which is not at the same level as rice, wheat and other crops.
Secondly, the country has not banned folk brewing. The existence of government-run Qufang naturally shows that folk brewing is not a minority.
And although she brewed a lot, she did not sell it in her own name, but planned to transfer it to grocery stores or restaurants to be disposed of by merchants.
If that doesn't work, I'll just open a shop under the name of Erli Village. But I don't know if the family does business and becomes a merchant, whether it will have any impact on A Ling's studies.
Feeling that the little hand in his palm was getting warmer, Shen Ling let go of his hand.
Zhuang Keqing cleared up his doubts, relaxed and smiled gratefully at him.
"I understand, thank you very much, Aling."
In the flickering candlelight, the girl's crescent-shaped eyes were bright, and the warmth of the candlelight reflected in them made Shen Ling feel at ease in her heart.
Although she didn't do anything, she could always praise and thank herself, making him feel deeply needed.
The lines at the corners of Shen Ling's eyes also became softer, and his lips were slightly raised...
Qin Manzhi was happy to see the young couple's relationship warming up, but the atmosphere in front of her just now made her, an old mother, blush and heartbeat.
No, no, it's better to restrain yourself. If you have any private words, just go back to the house and talk.
With Qin Manzhi's comment, the pink bubbles that appeared between the two of them just "popped" and shattered cleanly.
Zhuang Keqing lowered his head and kept eating. Shen Ling's face was expressionless, but he didn't pick up chopsticks for a long time and drank porridge.
As a result, Qin Manzhi really didn't know whether she did the right thing or the wrong thing.
He shook his head helplessly and amusedly, and each gave his daughter and son-in-law a spoonful of minced meat side dishes, and then she continued to eat her own.
After dinner, several people took a shower and went back to their rooms to rest.
On the second day, the work at home was lighter, because there were no salesmen, so I made less tofu. I only set up a stall in the morning so that the villagers could come and buy it. At other times, I just dug out the sweet potato starch that had precipitated yesterday and dried it.
Zhuang Keqing rarely had any free time, so he got up early to make tofu and tidied up the inside and outside of his home.
When she was done, Qin Manzhi took Aman to the stall and Shen Ling practiced calligraphy and silently read while she wandered around the small kitchen.
Yesterday I bought pork ribs from Butcher Zhang, chopped them into small pieces on a chopping board, and the pig's trotters as well. Then I blanch them in a pot under cold water and let them dry. I put lard and sugar in the bottom of the pot and boiled them until they turn brown.
"Stab~"
The scalding hot oil collided fiercely with the meat, causing a crunching sound. Then, the meaty flavor mixed with the sweet aroma came out through the half-open kitchen door.
"Yeah, what are you doing at home this morning? It smells so good."
Qin Manzhi smiled, weighed Aman in her arms and said nothing.
Aunt He didn't mind either. Her nose was so good that she couldn't detect the smell of meat. It must have been sweetened with sugar.
She was sent to exchange for tofu early in the morning. Her son told her to bring a liter of beans to exchange for more, but she didn't want to part with it. She just took out a few sloppy-looking sweet potatoes from the warehouse, put them in a basket, and left.
Putting the sweet potatoes with some mud on the surface next to the tofu stall, she pointed at the soft tofu and said, "This piece, hey, can a piece like this be okay? A little bigger, I'm a little greedy at home."
Nowadays, the tofu stalls in the village are purely unprofitable and are just for the convenience of the villagers. Everyone brings different things, and Qin Manzhi usually gives as much as he can.
So she listened to Aunt He's request and didn't say much. She just smiled and cut off a larger piece as she said and put it in the bowl brought by the person and handed it over.
Aunt He took advantage and smiled brightly. The sweet potatoes were only three cents a pound. She brought these little ones today. They were all crooked, bumpy, thin and long. It was estimated that even half a pound of mud would not be worth. So she was replaced by the boss.
Kuai Tofu, I am very happy.
When she was happy, she even picked up a bowl and stood in front of the stall without leaving, and started chatting.
"Sister Qin, just tell me, did your family make the dried sweet potato first and then learn from it?"
Qin Manzhi lowered her head to comfort the child and said nothing, but Aunt He could understand her expression.
Isn't it because her mother-in-law took advantage of her that she was so miserable?
Feeling that her guess was accurate, Aunt He gave the other party a pitiful look, and then said gloatingly: "Sister Qin, do you want me to say that all evil people are rewarded with evil consequences?"
Qin Manzhi didn't understand what she was talking about and didn't say anything. He only looked at her excitement and learned everything she heard the day before.
"In the middle of the night, your third sister-in-law has gone to her mother-in-law's house and is clamoring for divorce! She has the nerve to use this to threaten people, and she is not afraid that the old lady will be angry and let her son send her home.
go."
"I gave birth to two babies, both girls. I heard that the little one was born with an imperfection. When the little one is older, it depends on the doctor to spend money. Now that you are older, the days of spending money are still to come!"
Aunt He was so excited that she thought she could make Qin Manzhi happy by talking about the scandal of the third room in front of him. After all, the whole village knew what Zhuang San did at the previous wedding.
But Qin Manzhi didn't feel comfortable. The third sister-in-law, Mrs. Wu, was just like her at that time. She was disliked by her husband's family just because she gave birth to a daughter, and she also let the man divorce her and change his temper. After all these years,
Now that she thinks about it, she still feels depressed.
Her children are so good, why can't they like girls?
Seeing that Qin Manzhi did not gloat as expected, Aunt He was annoyed. But her habit of gossiping can be changed in a day. If you don't want to hear this, just listen to other things. You will always be interested.
of.
"Hey, there's also that dried potato of yours. Didn't I tell you that the second and third houses made a lot of money from it?"
Aunt He paused and saw that Qin Manzhi's expression was a little relaxed, so she became interested and said, "Everyone was guessing that a pound would be sold for ten cents, but someone saw it at the previous big market, and six cents per pound were piled up on the street.
No one asked!"
"Those sweet potatoes are well gone, but the price of these dried potatoes is not much higher than fresh potatoes."
"Ha, he even thought about making money from this, but his dream was really ruined."
When Qin Manzhi heard this, his heart tightened.
Is it hard to sell dried potatoes?
These are just the things I make at home, but Ke'er also said before that she would teach the village how to make vermicelli and dried sweet potatoes, so that everyone can earn some extra income from these crops that are easy to produce and have high yields.
But if Auntie really said that, wouldn't this idea become invalid?
She was a little anxious and turned her head to call her daughter who was busy in the kitchen so that she could tell her the situation as soon as possible.
Aunt He didn't know Zhuang Keqing's plan. She was still joking about the second and third bedrooms, trying to make Qin Manzhi resonate. It would be best to answer her voice and talk to her together.
But Qin Manzhi hugged Aman and said, "Aunt He, I accepted the sweet potato. I have something to help with at home. I'll go in first and you'll be slower on the way back."
This is driving people away.
Aunt He was annoyed, but she wasn't angry either. She had taken advantage today and walked home much more briskly than usual.
As soon as Aunt He left, Qin Manzhi went into the kitchen and told her daughter what she had just heard.
"I know."
Zhuang Keqing was adding spices to the fried pork trotters and ribs. She thought her mother had something important to do when she came over in a hurry. Her expression was so solemn, but she didn't know it was this.
She calmly picked up the jar of brine, poured the brine into the pot, and added a lump of sugar and a spoonful of bean paste. She tasted the taste and thought it was OK, then she said with a smile, "Don't worry, I'll dry the potatoes."
We have already found a buyer, and if the other party is trustworthy, we can charge the dried potatoes for ten cents per pound."
"What?!"
It’s really the opposite of what I told Aunt He!
But listening to those words, many people in the village have met Zhuang Er and Zhuang San. Brother Zhuang couldn't sell the dried potatoes. Where did the daughter's business of ten cents a pound come from?
Zhuang Keqing slowly talked about meeting Zhuang San in the store that day.
"If I hadn't happened to go to the store, maybe they could have sold it for seven or eight cents a pound."
He winked playfully and said, "Who let Third Uncle meet me? I'm afraid he was guilty and embarrassed, so he let a good deal slip away from his hands..."