Travel to ancient times and become rich women with your bestie

Yongding County is much farther away than Zhonghe Town, and it takes about two hours to get there by oxcart, so the oxcarts usually set out early. I remember that they had to set out at the hour of Mao, which is around five in the morning, otherwise they would miss the morning wave of people buying vegetables.

So Zheng Yuan and the others had to make the ice jelly tonight, and they had to get up at least three or four o'clock tomorrow morning to make ice. The ice jelly could be kept for about a day, but the ice couldn't be kept for too long. If they made it tomorrow morning, they had to consider how to preserve the ice for such a long time so that it could last until the market.

After a long discussion, we can only use physical insulation. We put more straw in the bucket to wrap the ice, and then find a lid to seal it. It should be able to hold up. I still remember when I was a child, there were no refrigerated trucks. The vendors who pulled popsicles around to sell them would wrap the ice in quilts, but they were still hard when they bought them.

If there is no quilt, use straw instead.

With an idea in mind, Zheng Yuan took a few girls to prepare ice jelly, while Duan Minmin took the boys to prepare the thermos bucket.

Duan Minmin instructed Dahe to pick up a bundle of straw from the firewood pile, wash it and put it away. There were no extra empty buckets here, so she asked Taoer and Erhe to go home and get the extra buckets at home, and bring over a few lids.

Zheng Yuan thought that the ice jelly seeds should be rubbed into three portions, so he called Tao'er and asked her to bring the gauze used for making tofu at home, and also bring a few basins.

Taoer and Erhe came back soon.

Zheng Yuan took the gauze, cut two more pieces and connected them to the piece used at noon. He divided the ice jelly seeds into three portions, wrapped them up and soaked them in water.

Duan Minmin directed Dashu and Erhe to spread thick straw in the bucket to make a simple insulated box.

After soaking for a while, Zheng Yuan called Xu Hui Niang and Tao Er to come over and start kneading the ice jelly together. With Zheng Yuan's guidance, and the fact that this thing was not difficult to make, three basins of ice jelly were soon ready.

Looking at the three full bowls of ice jelly, Zheng Yuan calculated that this must be at least 70 to 80 kilograms, and there must be more than 200 bowls. Usually, the ice jelly without sugar costs one cent a bowl, and the one with sugar costs two cents a bowl. It’s not too much for her to sell this one with both ice and sugar for three cents. Three cents a bowl, two hundred bowls is six hundred cents, this is not too much, isn’t it, the cost is recovered, and even a lot of profit.

Pour the ice jelly into two buckets and put them in a water tank to chill. It is getting late and we have to get up early tomorrow morning to make ice, so the whole family plans to go to bed.

"Amin, you can sleep here with me tonight, so you won't be cold tomorrow morning and have to get up and run over here," Zheng Yuan suggested.

They were finally able to sleep together openly, so Duan Minmin naturally agreed without hesitation, and the three girls went back.

"Erhe, you will come with us tomorrow morning. Get up at 4:45 in the morning to call us. Hui Niang and the others should also remember this. If you get up late, it will delay things."

Because there were too many things, they asked Erhe to help move them. Afraid that Erhe would not be able to get up, Zheng Yuan hurriedly asked Hui Niang to remember to get up and wake them up. Anyway, the ancients always had their own clocks, and they didn't have that ability.

The children agreed, and the two of them washed up and lay down on the bed.

Sanni washed her bedding at home these days, and it was much more comfortable to sleep on than before. Duan Minmin lay on it and sighed: "It's so comfortable. I never want to go back to my stinky pigsty again."

"Of course not, this was washed for me by my daughter." Zheng Yuan boasted.

"That's nothing special. I have three daughters. That's because our family is busy. If we weren't busy, my three daughters would rush to wash my clothes for me."

"Okay, okay, you have three. So will the kids wake us up this morning? I always feel uneasy without an alarm clock."

"Don't worry about it. How do the villagers get up without an alarm clock? They will listen to the crowing of the roosters. Don't worry." Duan Minmin replied.

"I'm just a little worried. Success or failure depends on this. Amin, do you think we can sell our ice jelly tomorrow? We won't lose everything, will we?" Zheng Yuan was still babble-ing. He didn't hear Duan Minmin's response for a long time. He turned around and saw that this guy had started to snore softly.

This guy is really heartless. Following Duan Minmin's cry, Zheng Yuan also felt sleepy and fell asleep.

I was sleeping soundly when I suddenly heard someone knocking on the door: "Mom! Get up! Mom?"

The two of them opened their eyes drowsily. It was still pitch dark outside. They were both groaning and didn't want to get up. Why did they get up just after waking up?

"Hey! You're up!" Zheng Yuan responded.

The two got up and washed up, but didn't see Erhe. Fortunately, they didn't rely on him, otherwise today would be a waste of time. The two were thankful. This morning, they only had to boil brown sugar juice and make ice. They didn't call him. Children sleep a lot anyway, so they let him sleep a little longer.

"Mom, I've lit the fire. Is there anything else I need to do?" Xu Hui Niang asked.

"No, it's nothing, go back to sleep."

Xu Hui Niang went back to sleep as she was told.

The two were now completely sober. They took the saltpeter to the kitchen. Zheng Yuan lit a bunch of saltpeter and used it to light up Duan Minmin to start making ice.

The two families produced a total of about three pounds of saltpeter, which is enough to make about four pounds of ice. Taking into account the possible loss due to melting, it is almost enough for today's ice jelly.

Soon, all the saltpeter melted and the basin began to freeze slowly.

"Amin, come and light the torch while I make the brown sugar juice."

Zheng Yuan handed the torch to Duan Minmin, poured all the brown sugar into the boiling water in the pot, stirred it until it dissolved, and it became viscous after a while.

Turn off the heat and scoop the sugar into the prepared jar, and it's done. The ice is completely solidified, so pour it out and put it into the thermos bucket I made yesterday, and cover it with a thick layer of straw, so I think there will be no problem.

The two picked out five relatively intact small ceramic bowls, a kitchen knife, and a spoon and put them in an empty bucket, which they had to use to fetch water to wash the dishes. There were only five bowls in total, so they had to reuse them.

After putting away the things he wanted to take away, Zheng Yuan estimated that the time was about right, so he went to knock on Erhe and Sizhu's doors. After a while, Erhe came out rubbing his eyes.

"Erhe, you carry this bucket."

"Hey, mom."

The sky was beginning to turn pale, and the three of them groped their way towards the village entrance using the torches they had just used for lighting.

When they arrived at the village entrance, there were not many people on the ox cart. Seeing the three of them, Zhao Youwang hurried over and took the things in their hands.

It costs two cents per person to go to Yongding County. Villagers usually don't go there unless they have something to do. There are only four or five people here on weekdays. Seeing the three of them today, Zhao Youwang can earn an extra six cents. Naturally, he is happy.

"Hey, Chen family, what are you carrying to sell? It's so heavy!" Zhao Youwang struggled to carry up two buckets of ice jelly.

"Nothing. I'm just out of money at home, so I made some ice jelly to sell." Zheng Yuan took out six cents from his pocket and handed it to him, responding calmly.

The women on the bus pricked up their ears when they heard Zhao Youwang ask them what they brought to sell. But when they heard she said it was ice jelly, they lost interest because it was worth only a few cents and was not easy to sell.

After waiting for a while and seeing that there was really no one around, Zhao Youwang picked up the whip and started to drive the cattle.

It was already early, and the swaying of the ox cart made it even more hypnotic. No one in the cart spoke, and they all dozed off with their heads nodding.

"We're here! Aunts and sisters, let's gather here at 3 p.m. this afternoon. If anyone needs anything, please let us know in advance. If you're late, we won't be able to wait for you."

Following Zhao Youwang's shout, Zheng Yuan and Duan Minmin opened their eyes.

At this time, the sky was already bright. Looking at the towering city wall in front of them, they couldn't help but sigh, it's worthy of being a county town, the city gate is really magnificent.

After picking up their belongings, the three of them hurried to line up behind the team heading into the city. The ox carts did not go into the city, and those who went into the city to sell things or pull animals had to pay two cents each, so Zhao Youwang waited for them outside.

After paying another six cents, the three of them entered the city and headed towards the market.

Wow! As expected of a county town, this big market is much more lively than Zhonghe Town. The two of them instantly became confident. More people means more rich people, and more rich people can sell more.