Traveling through the mountains and farming

It was sunset again, and time for people to return home. On the village road, they could meet some villagers who were returning home after farm work. Since Lin Wan didn't know any of them, she didn't take the initiative to say hello. She just carried the wooden barrel and went straight to the Luo family.

At the gate of Luo's yard, they happened to meet Luo Dashan who was returning home. She expressed her gratitude again and handed him the ice jelly she brought. Luo Dashan was shocked when he saw that the ice jelly was in a wooden barrel and didn't dare to take it.

How much would so much ice jelly cost? He learned at the market this morning that a bowl of ice jelly cost three cents.

The two of them entered the yard after pushing and refusing each other.

At this time, Aunt Luo was also attracted by the noise outside, followed by her grandson Luo Xiaoxi and granddaughter Luo Xiaoya.

After entering the yard, Lin Wan gave up the fight with Luo Dashan, put the wooden barrel on the table in the Luo family yard, removed the lotus leaf on it, and said with a smile:

"Grandma, don't refuse like Uncle Dashan did. Try our crystal jelly first. If you like it, I have something else to discuss with you."

At noon, Aunt Luo heard Luo Dashan, who had just returned, talking about Lin Wan and his friends selling ice jelly at the market. He said that their ice jelly tasted very delicious and was a unique business.

She didn't expect that half a bucket of food would be delivered to their house. After hearing what Lin Wan said, she didn't refuse anymore. She went into the house, got a bowl and a spoon, scooped it out and shared it with the children first, and then tasted it herself.

It is indeed both beautiful and delicious, no wonder a bucket can be sold in less than an hour.

There are probably more than sixty bowls in a bucket, and each bowl costs three cents, so wouldn't you be able to make more than one hundred and eighty cents?

Seeing that Aunt Luo was satisfied with the ice jelly, Lin Wan told her the reason and asked directly: "Aunt Luo, do you want to sell ice jelly at Taohua Market?"

Aunt Luo thought she had misheard and her face was full of disbelief.

Why don't you take over such a good business by yourself, but let them join in?

She looked at Lin Wan in surprise, stunned for a moment, and then asked, "Are you saying that we should go to the market to sell ice jelly?"

"Yes, you can take the ice powder from me and sell it. The price is 108 coins per bucket, or you can take half a bucket, which is 54 coins."

After hearing Lin Wan's affirmative answer, Aunt Luo quickly calculated in her mind. After deducting the cost, she could earn more than 72 wen from selling one bucket. Going to the market six times a month would bring in at least 432 wen. It was heard that a bowl of rice could be sold for four wen if it was put in a bamboo tube to take out. Wouldn't that mean she could earn nearly half a tael of silver a month?

Lin Wan also knew that Aunt Luo was thinking silently, so she did not urge her to answer immediately, but just sat there quietly waiting.

After a while, Aunt Luo, who had already made up her mind, asked again: "You really don't want to sell it yourself, so that you can make all the money yourself."

"Grandma, you know there is only one adult and two children in my family, so we don't have enough manpower, and I also want to try going to the county town." Lin Wan explained.

Then she added, "You can discuss it with your family in the evening and tell me your decision later." She was not in a hurry and was prepared to give Aunt Luo time to consider.

Aunt Luo immediately said, "No need, I can make the decision right now, let's do it."

In fact, she had just made up her mind to do it after she had thought about it. She hesitated only because she thought it was not easy for Lin Wan to come up with a way to make money, and she couldn't rob her of her money.

"However, grandma, your family can only sell it at the Peach Blossom Market. I have other arrangements in the county town."

"That's no problem, don't worry." Aunt Luo agreed readily.

The reason why Lin Wan chose the Luo family was because she trusted their character, so she was relieved about what they promised.

Seeing that the matter was settled, she took the two siblings out of the Luo family's yard and walked towards Uncle Li's house.

~

As soon as the three of them entered Uncle Li's yard, they saw Aunt Li and her three children scraping hemp, and there were several bamboo poles of hemp drying in the yard.

This reminded Lin Wan of what she had learned before. The Li family and several other branches had some paddy fields, but all the dry land was planted with ramie.

The family had to rely on weaving linen and selling it to supplement the household income. The cloth they sold was the most primitive, so the price was relatively low, and they lived a very difficult life.

Seeing Lin Wan and the others coming, Aunt Li put down the work at hand, stood up and came over to greet them. She wanted to know how their stall business was going this morning.

After entering the door, the two siblings ran straight to talk to the three children of Uncle Li, and then helped to scrape the hemp together.

Lin Wanze put the things to be returned in the yard, then pulled Aunt Li into the house. She told her the details of their stall setting up in the morning and explained the purpose of her visit.

"Are you saying you want us to go to the county town to sell ice jelly?" Aunt Li asked in surprise. At this moment, she had the same disbelief and confusion as Aunt Luo.

Then Lin Wan explained in detail to Aunt Li the ice jelly business cooperation model that she had previously discussed with Aunt Luo.

The only difference is that setting up a stall in the city is that you need to pay an entry fee to enter the city, and you also need to pay a market fee to set up a stall.

"Great aunt, I will pay for the first three times of city entry fees and municipal fees, so you can have a buffer period." Seeing that Aunt Li looked a little embarrassed after being happy, Lin Wan added.

"No, I'm worried that most of us peasants can't even go to the city once a year, let alone set up stalls."

Seeing that Lin Wan had misunderstood, Aunt Li hurried to explain.

She knew that Lin Wan wanted to bring them to make money together. She was not worried about the entrance fee to the city, but was worried that these peasants could only farm and would never go to the county town to do business.

"Don't worry, I will also go to the county town to set up a stall for the first time, and I will take you to familiarize yourself with the entire regulations."

"According to my analysis, there are several places in the county where we can set up stalls, including the East and West Markets, the entrance to Xiaoshan Academy, and several concentrated residential areas." She continued to talk about her specific plan to set up a stall in the county.

After hearing Lin Wan's analysis, Aunt Li thought that if she arranged one person to take care of the place, five or six people would be needed. She also needed help with farm work and weaving at home, so she made a suggestion at the right time:

"Then I guess we don't have enough manpower. Can you call on the other three branches of the Li family?"

Lin Wan pursed her lips and did not answer. She was a little hesitant. She didn't want to have anything to do with the second house. Just talking about her stepmother Zhang, it would be troublesome to get involved with her.

"They are not called Zhang, but several branches of the side clan. They are all down-to-earth and reliable, and their character is absolutely fine." Aunt Li saw Lin Wan's concerns and explained.

After seeing Lin Wan nodded in agreement, she said she would communicate with the other rooms and tell Lin Wan after everything was confirmed.

Lin Wan also reminded Aunt Li that when they communicate, they should discuss the division of areas for setting up stalls to avoid vicious internal competition.

Finally, Aunt Li also told Lin Wan that the control of entering the city is now stricter.

She remembered that her eldest grandson Li Chonghao, who was studying in the county town, had said that a new regulation had been issued two months ago:

The validity period of the public certificate for citizens to enter the city was adjusted from six months to one month;

The city entrance fee was adjusted from one cent per person to two cents per person.

Therefore, after they have determined who will go into the city to set up stalls, they must all go to the village head to apply for a "public verification" of their city entry passes.

These public certificates were drafted and signed by the village head and submitted to the county government for approval and issuance, and a handling fee of three cents was charged per person.

Lin Wan also learned that in the past, one did not need to go through public verification to enter the city, one only needed to pay the city entry fee. If one went out of the county to another place, one would need to apply for a road permit.

It was because the King of Chu promulgated a new household registration control policy in his fiefdom five years ago that Xiaoshan County had a regulation requiring public verification when entering the city.

She couldn't help but wonder: Is this because the civil war has led to increasingly strict household registration controls?

After both parties reached a consensus, Lin Wan carried the empty wooden barrel and took the brother and sister home. They also went to the creek to get a fish basket.

Now Li Chongle would take time every morning to set up the fish baskets in a different place and bring them back before dark.

Their family has stored a lot of dried fish.