Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 23 Hidden Danger

After all the villagers were sent away, Ms. Liu was very excited and wanted to count the money, but she felt it was inconvenient for Zeng Chuan to be here.

"Aunt, Li An, I'm going back first."

Zeng Chuan also knew that it was inappropriate for him to stay here, and it was getting late, so he had to go back to the academy for dinner.

"You wait."

Li An said as he walked into the kitchen and came out after a while carrying a half bowl of pig water.

"You take this home and eat it."

"Aren't they all sold out?" Zeng Chuan said in surprise.

"I deliberately kept some." Li An said with a smile.

"Then why are you so embarrassed?" Zeng Chuan scratched his head in embarrassment.

"You're welcome. You've worked so hard to help me for so long. You did it yourself. It's not worth it." Mrs. Liu took the bowl and stuffed it into Zeng Chuan's hand.

"Then you're welcome, Auntie, I'm going back first." Zeng Chuan said.

"Well, go quickly and take your time on the road." Mrs. Liu said.

After the little fat man left, Ms. Liu pulled Li An into the house and said excitedly: "Son, how much did it cost?"

"I don't know. I think I sold about twenty copies, which should be about a hundred coins. I'll count," Li An said with a smile.

"That's it? Then aren't we at a loss?" Mrs. Liu's joy instantly disappeared when she heard this.

She thought it was too expensive before, but now she saw that she was actually losing money.

"Mom, that's not how the account is calculated. It cost more than a hundred yuan to buy ingredients, but not all of them were used, only one-third was used. And the stewed soup can be recycled. Next time, it will be the same as today's stewed soup. There are more ingredients, just half of today's ingredients are enough. In addition, the things we buy contain rice to eat, which cannot be included in the cost." Li An explained.

According to his estimate, the remaining ingredients can be marinated about four times, and all he needs to do is buy pigs.

And this time they ate a lot themselves, plus the samplers and some he left behind, so there were two or three bowls.

Overall, the business of braised pig sewerage is very profitable.

Mrs. Liu thought about it carefully and counted the money happily.

"Son, there are one hundred and five coins in total."

Mrs. Liu tied the money on a rope, counted it three times, and said excitedly.

He estimated that the weight of the two pigs in the water was about thirty kilograms.

One hundred and five cents means that it was sold for twenty-one cents. If one bowl is counted as one catty, it is twenty-one catties.

Including what they ate themselves and those who stayed and tasted it, it was almost twenty-five pounds.

The shrinkage rate is about one-third.

"Mom, can you rest assured now? Just ask dad to stop working at the dock and let dad go buy more pigs with you and bring them back, otherwise you won't be able to get them back even if you buy too many pigs by yourself." Li An said.

Mrs. Liu hesitated when she heard this and said, "People from Zhuangzi bought it today. They don't buy it every day. What should I do if I buy too much and can't sell it?"

"Mom, you forgot, we originally planned to go to the pier to sell it. The people moving and unloading the meat at the pier are all manual labor. For five cents for such a big bowl of meat, there must be a lot of people willing to buy it." Li An said.

He had considered what Liu said, but he had no intention of selling it on Zhuangzi from the beginning.

After all, all the workers in Zhuangzi are ordinary people with limited incomes, but those working at the dock are different. Although they are tired, they also earn a lot, with a daily income of thirty or fifty cash.

They would not be willing to buy a pound of meat for twenty or thirty cents, and there would definitely be many people who would be willing to buy a large bowl of pig sesame for five cents.

Find someone to buy a bowl together and buy a bowl every day, which is not stressful for them.

"We have to wait until your father comes back to discuss this matter with him." Mrs. Liu felt that what her son said made sense, but she was still a little undecided.

The mother and son were talking when there was a noise outside. At first they thought it was other villagers who heard the news and came to buy pigs for water. When they went out, they saw that it was Li Nan who had returned.

Li Nan was relieved to see the mother and son, and complained, "Didn't you say you were going to sell the prepared pig offal? Why didn't you go?"

When they discussed it last night, they agreed that after Li An finished school this afternoon, the mother and son would take the braised pork offal to the dock to sell it.

As a result, he waited and saw no one, so he was still looking around the dock.

"Come in first and then talk."

Mrs. Liu pulled Li Nan into the room and told her what happened this afternoon.

Li Nan was surprised after hearing this and asked how much it was sold for.

When he learned from Mr. Liu that he had sold it for 105 cents, his first reaction was to lose the money.

Mr. Liu learned what he was doing now and retold Li Nan what Li An had said before.

After listening to this, Li Nan calculated in his mind that he only used one-third of the seasonings he bought for more than one hundred Wen. Calculated this way, the cost was about fifty Wen, which meant that he made at least fifty Wen this afternoon.

Li Nan felt a little complicated when he thought that he had only earned forty coins after working so hard today.

"Dad, you and Mom can go into business together. Mom can't buy many pigs for sale alone, and she can make more with your help."

Li An took the opportunity to persuade his father and let him do business with his mother.

"Yeah, I was exhausted when I came back today, and my arms are still sore."

Mrs. Liu also knows how hard the unloading work is. She couldn't help it before, but now that she has better ways to make money, she doesn't want her man to be so tired.

Li Nan hesitated for a while and said, "Okay, let's try it first. If it doesn't work, I'll go to the dock to work."

Anyway, you can do dock work at any time, so there’s nothing to worry about.

During dinner in the evening, Li An took out the braised pig sesame left in the water.

Liu and Li Nan complained for a while. In their opinion, what can be sold for money is naturally used for selling, and it doesn't matter if they don't eat it.

Li An smiled and said nothing. In his opinion, making money is to improve his life. He couldn't bear to eat, so what's the use of making more money.

But he understood his parents' thoughts, so he didn't argue.

……

When Li An came to the academy the next day, Zeng Chuan quietly called him aside.

"What's wrong, did you not eat enough?" Li An joked: "But my family is in business, if you still want to eat, you have to pay for it."

"That's not it."

Zeng Chuan shook his head and said, "I came back yesterday and thought about it carefully. If your family is doing business, it is not suitable to live in Xujiazhuang."

"What's wrong?" Li An asked doubtfully.

"Everyone in Zhuangzi has the surname Xu. If someone is jealous, it will be troublesome." Zeng Chuan reminded: "Go back and talk to your parents. It's best to go to the city or a nearby town."

Li An frowned slightly. If Zeng Chuan hadn't reminded him, he would have ignored this.

Even in later generations, it would be very troublesome for an outsider to do business in other people's villages and to cause mischief.

Not to mention the ancient times when imperial power did not go to the countryside.

The government has very strong control over the villages. After taking office, officials will even pay special visits to some local squires.

Li An thought about going back to talk to his parents and renting a house at Yangzhou Pier.

After all, Xujiazhuang is full of people with the surname Xu. If something happens, no one will help their family.

"Thank you Zeng Chuan." Li An said gratefully.

If Zeng Chuan hadn't reminded him, he would have almost ignored this hidden danger.