A tragic journey through ancient times, trying to make money

Second Grandpa got up and went out with Grandpa Zhang, walking towards Great Grandpa's house. Fortunately, the two houses were next to each other and were only a few steps away.

The eldest grandfather had already sat down in his yard when he saw the second and third sons come in together.

"Second brother, third brother, come in and sit down."

Grandpa Zhang and Second Grandpa went into Great Grandpa's house, took two chairs and sat under the tree in the yard.

"Third brother, you called me and the second brother together because you need help with something. Just tell us and we'll go over here to help you."

Grandpa Zhang: "Big brother, second brother, you also know that my family bought mung bean jelly in town these days."

"I know, what's wrong?"

"I came here to say that my family has been buying green bean jelly in town these days, and the business is pretty good. Everyone likes it very much, and it's perfect for this weather."

"It just so happened that a person from Xinghua Town came to eat mung bean jelly today. He said that there was no mung bean jelly in their town and that they couldn't have it even if they wanted to. This was true. The mung bean jelly was actually the idea of Yueyue. It's a one-of-a-kind business."

"I just discussed with Zhang Qian and Zhang Cheng at home. There are two other towns next to our town: Xinghua Town and Sifang Town. Do you two want to go to these two towns to sell mung bean jelly?"

Great grandfather: "You mean, my second brother and I also go to town to sell mung bean jelly like you, but we don't know how to make it."

Grandpa Zhang: "Big brother, second brother, since I'm asking you to go to these two towns to sell, I must have thought of a solution for you. My family will make the mung bean jelly and sell it to you wholesale. We will also make the chili oil for you. You can bring some tables, chairs, bowls, chopsticks, and seasonings and go and sell them directly."

"Although Xinghua Town and Sifang Town are not as lively as Sanhe Town, they are only slightly worse. After deducting the cost, it is not a problem to make hundreds of coins a day. However, the two towns are far from our Zhangjia Village, and we have to get up early in the morning to rush there. Think about it and see if you are willing to do it."

The great grandfather and the second grandfather looked at each other and saw the idea of doing it in each other's eyes.

Great grandfather: "Third brother, your second brother and I are willing. This is equivalent to giving us money for free, and we still don't want to do it. What do you want to do? Although the two towns are far away, we can just get up early and go early when the time comes."

Second Grandfather: "Yes, Third Brother, I am willing. I know you asked us to join you because we are a family and you want to take care of our two families. Don't worry, we will do a good job when we go to the next town to sell."

Grandpa Zhang: "Okay, then let's do this. Tomorrow at 11:00 a.m., two people from each of your two families will come to the town with Yueyue to see how to sell it. The main thing is to learn how to make seasonings. There are many people who can make delicious seasonings. You can watch for a day or two, and then prepare the things you need to sell mung bean jelly in the next town."

"Okay, big brother, second brother, then it's settled. I will go to the village chief's house first and borrow a donkey cart to go to town tomorrow."

Great grandfather: "Okay, you go find the village chief first. I will discuss with your second brother and the family and see who should go to the town to study tomorrow."

After Grandpa Zhang waved goodbye to his great grandfather and second grandfather, he walked towards the village chief's house.

Grandpa Zhang walked to the door of the village chief's house and saw the village chief sitting in the yard.

"Village chief, sit down and enjoy the cool air."

"Uncle Zhang, come in and sit down. What's the matter with you today?"

"Village chief, I don't want to take the ride anymore. I came here to rent your donkey cart for a day to go to town tomorrow."

"Okay, my family won't need it tomorrow, just come over early tomorrow morning."

"Thank you, village chief," Grandpa Zhang handed 30 copper coins to the village chief.

The village chief didn't act pretentiously and just took the copper coin and put it away.

Grandpa Zhang and the village chief agreed to come and pull the donkey cart early tomorrow morning and then go home. Everyone at home should be cooking by now.

When Grandpa Zhang returned home, Mother Zhang and Mrs. Zhu had almost finished preparing the meal.

The two of them were in the kitchen, shouting for everyone to set up the table and chairs for dinner.

At the dinner table, Grandpa Zhang told everyone that two people from each of the great grandfather's and the second grandfather's families would come in the next two days to go to the town to set up stalls and learn. He also talked about going to the village chief's house to pull a donkey cart early tomorrow morning.

After dinner, Grandma Zhang and Zhang Yunxue cleaned up the dishes and the kitchen, while the rest of the people prepared to start making mung bean jelly early today. There were 60 kilograms of ice crystals, and the two stoves in the thatched shed in the backyard had to make three pots each.

Zhang's father and Zhang Cheng poured out the water on the surface of the mung bean milk that had settled in the yard, and then mixed the settled mung bean starch with water in a ratio of one to four and put it into a bucket.

Because there were only two pots in the straw shed, I could fill two buckets of starch water at a time and then go to the backyard to make mung bean jelly.

Wait until one pot is finished before preparing the next pot of mung bean starch water.

After all the mung bean jelly was made, a total of 12 pots of mung bean jelly were made. The shelf built by Zhang's father and others was just big enough to hold the mung bean jelly made tonight, and they also scooped out two small pots of mung bean jelly.

Zhang Yunyue packed these two small bowls separately and prepared them for her great grandfather and second grandfather to take back and eat tomorrow. After all, if she wanted to sell mung bean jelly, she had to try it herself first to know the taste so that she could tell the customers about it.

After making the mung bean jelly and cleaning up the shed, everyone returned to the front yard to enjoy the cool air.

Father Zhang and Zhang Cheng continued to make folding stools. In the afternoon, Father Zhang and his team had made two folding tables.

After Zhang's father and Zhang Cheng finished making eight folding stools and soaked 8 kilograms of mung beans in the yard, everyone quickly packed up, washed up, and went to bed.

Early the next morning.

Zhang Xingzhong and his wife came from my great grandfather's house, and Zhang Xinglin and his wife came from my second grandfather's house. When the four of them arrived, Zhang Cheng and his wife had just finished making the cold noodles. Everyone else had also just gotten up, and Grandma Zhang and Mrs. Zhu were preparing to make breakfast.

Zhang's father went to the village chief's house to pull the donkey cart, and the others moved the mung bean jelly from the straw shed to the yard.

Zhang Xingzhong and his wife, and Zhang Xinglin and his wife saw everyone moving the mung bean jelly, so they joined in to help.

With four people helping, Zhang's mother and Zhang Yunyue went to prepare onion, cilantro, cucumber, ginger and garlic water.

When Zhang's father pulled the donkey cart to the door of Old Zhang's house, everyone worked together to move all the things onto the donkey cart. Today, with the help of the donkey cart, everyone could walk empty-handed and save a lot of physical energy.

By the time everyone's belongings were loaded onto the donkey cart, Grandma Zhang and Mrs. Zhu's breakfast was ready.

Grandma Zhang invited everyone, as well as Zhang Xingzhong and his wife, and Zhang Xinglin and his wife, to have dinner together, but the four of them quickly said that they had already eaten at home.

The people in Lao Zhang’s family knew that they were not being polite and really wanted to eat at home, so they ignored them and started eating.

After dinner, Zhang's family of four, along with Zhang Xingzhong and his wife, and Zhang Xinglin and his wife, a group of eight people pulled the donkey towards the town.

Today, because there is a market in the town, you can see groups of three or four people walking towards the town together every once in a while on the road.