Traveling through ancient times, storing supplies and not fleeing famine

"Okay!"

Fresh peppers will definitely lose weight after being dried. If you buy dried peppers at the price of fresh peppers, it would not be cost-effective.

A pound of fresh chili peppers can produce about three ounces of dried chili peppers, and Xia Shengsheng bought them for 180 wen.

The peppers sold to Tao Wuji were naturally sold at three times the price of fresh peppers.

In the past, when the villagers brought freshly picked peppers to sell, the least was 40 to 50 kilograms, and the most was 60 to 70 kilograms.

This time, almost every household has 20 to 30 kilograms of dried chili peppers.

The harvest from these few days alone, when distributed to each person, amounted to seven or eight taels of silver.

This amount of money is enough to form a family’s income for two or three years.

Village chief Ma’s family not only cultivated more than one acre of wasteland, but also planted peppers in the vacant land and some corners of their own vegetable garden.

Overall, there are more than those of the villagers.

"A total of 42 kilograms of dried chili peppers, 7560 wen, Brother Ma, did you count correctly?"

Xia Shengsheng handed the counted silver to Ma Da.

Ma laughed so hard that his face was wrinkled, and he put it in his arms. "No need to count, who doesn't trust Sister Xia?"

"Let's just count them. This is not a matter of trust or distrust. If there are too many or too few, let's count them in person to save the trouble later."

When it comes to money, it is definitely necessary to count it clearly in person. Otherwise, once the matter is over, if there is really more or less, not only will you suffer a loss, but the other party will also feel uncomfortable when you look back.

Ma Da scratched his head, suddenly reacted, and said, "Okay, then I'll count it, and we'll all count it later, and then leave after we've counted the silver, otherwise it will be hard to say what will happen later!"

Many people queuing behind were envious.

"If I had known earlier, I would have planted peppers in every corner of the vegetable garden, and I would have been able to produce a few more pounds. Look at the village chief Ma's family, they not only sell a lot of fresh peppers, but also a lot of dried peppers."

"If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have planted vegetables in my garden. I plant so many every year and often can't eat them all. If I had known that peppers are so valuable, I would have planted them all."

"Why don't you just stop growing food and grow peppers? What's the point of saying so much? Isn't it good enough now? This is just the first harvest, and every household has earned a few taels of silver. Anyway, I am quite content."

"Too……"

There is a saying that goes, "Contentment is the greatest happiness."

When people have no food to eat, their greatest wish is to have enough food to eat.

But after being full, I just want to eat a few more meals of greasy and fatty meat.

When life gets better, we have more hopes.

Nowadays, almost every household in the village has someone working for Xia Shengsheng.

There is a lot of income every month.

Because of this vegetable called pepper, every household suddenly gained several years' extra income.

This is already pretty good.

Ma Da and Li Da both weighed the silver, counted it, and carefully put it in their arms.

The two men then helped Xia Shengsheng weigh other people in the village.

"At Aunt Liu's house, 28 jin 2 liang."

"Magui's family is exactly 30 kilograms!"

"Zheng Guoqu's family, 35 jin 8 liang."

"Widow Wei's house, 26 jin 7 liang."

Widow Wei works in a vermicelli factory, and the ones who come to sell chili peppers are her children.

Xia Shengsheng asked Sicheng to follow her. Every time Ma Da or Li Da reported the weight of the peppers, Xia Shengsheng would calculate the money in his mind.

Then wait for Sicheng to finish his calculation and then check whether his calculation is correct.

"Grandma Liu's house, 5076 wen."

"Uncle Ma Kui's family has 5400 wen."

……

Xia Shengsheng really admires Sicheng, who usually doesn't like to read or do math.

I often stutter when reading.

All I do every day is eat and play.

But when it comes to the real thing, the calculation is quite accurate.

"Sidan is so amazing! He can even calculate such a complicated weight. I just calculated in my mind for a long time, but still couldn't figure out how much silver it was!" Aunt Liu San couldn't help but tease him.

Although it was a joke, it was also a sincere compliment, even though Sicheng was not as talented in studying as his brothers and sisters.

But they are indeed much better than the average village kids.

"Third grandma, my name is Sicheng, not Sidan." Sicheng really disliked the name Sidan. When villagers occasionally called him the wrong name, Sicheng would correct them.

"Okay, okay, Sicheng, Sicheng, I'll remember. I won't call you Sidan anymore in the future." Grandma Liu San replied with a smile.

The whole afternoon was spent either weighing the people in the village or counting silver.

Finally, before the sun set, the last portion of chili peppers was weighed and the money was calculated.

"One basket is 30 jin, one basket is 32 jin 2 liang, a total of 62 jin 2 liang, Wen.

Hunter Han, this belongs to you and Doctor Zhao, right?"

The last person to be weighed was Han Liehu.

The last time when selling fresh peppers, Hunter Han also helped Doctor Zhao sell them.

It's the same this time.

"Yes, ours. After we sell them, I will send the money to Doctor Zhao."

After hearing this, Xia Shengsheng packed the silver separately so that it would be easier for them to share.

After Han the Hunter left, Ma Da and Li Da helped Xia Shengsheng move all the dried chilies to the warehouse.

Xia Shengsheng and Sicheng cleaned the yard together.

When Martha was about to leave, she quickly called him back.

"Brother Ma, take this brown sugar and jujube back to Second Sister Ma. Pregnant women should drink more brown sugar water and eat more jujube to replenish their qi and blood, which is good for their health."

Ma Erjia has been pregnant for four months. She was found out to be pregnant when Xia Shengsheng first recruited workers.

Therefore, among the vermicelli factories with more than 60 people, there is no one from Ma Erjia.

At that time, Xia Shengsheng thought that Village Chief Ma still wanted to avoid suspicion, so neither of his two daughters-in-law came to work in the vermicelli factory.

Xia Shengsheng only found out about this two days ago when Ma Er's baby seemed to be firmly in place.

I've been so busy these days that I don't have time to go to the village.

Mr. Ma didn't have to work today, so it was a good opportunity to ask Ma Da to help take it back.

After these busy days, Xia Shengsheng went to visit Ma Er's family again.

"Okay, I won't be polite then, I'll let my second son thank you later.

My sister-in-law just looks a little off these days! My dad even said that after he is done with his work these days, he will go to town to buy some brown sugar for her!

This time it’s fine, thank you Sister Xia! "

After Ma Da and Li Da left, Sicheng finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"What's wrong? Are you tired? If you are tired, go and take a rest. Mom will go to the factory first and will be back to cook in a while."

"Mom, I'm not tired, I just feel dry mouth from talking.

Mom, can you give me some more of that cool sweet water I drank last time?"

Xia Shengsheng scratched Sicheng's nose and said, "It turns out that you are not tired, but greedy.

"Okay, but I'll get it done for you when my brothers come back. Mom has to go to the factory first, so you should go inside and cool down first."

Sicheng nodded happily. His goal was achieved. He no longer felt dizzy and his throat didn't hurt anymore.

I'm full of energy now.