A tragic journey through ancient times, trying to make money

"Okay, got it, I'll be right out."

Zhang Lei's father Zhang Yi came out from the inner room.

Zhang Yi asked: "Uncle Zhang, how come you have time to come and sit here today?"

After greeting Grandpa Zhang, Zhang Yi sat on a stool nearby.

Grandpa Zhang: "Didn't you say a few days ago that you still had dozens of kilograms of mung beans at home? Now that we've run out of them, I came here."

Zhang Yi touched the back of his head and said, "Hey, Uncle Zhang, you want mung beans? I thought it would take several days, but it's so fast. It's only been two days. OK, I have 60 to 70 kilograms. Can you take all of them?"

"I want both. The price is the same as in town, 4 cents per pound."

"Okay, okay, I'll take you home now, or in a little while."

"Maybe later. I need to go to another store to ask if I can buy more. By the way, do you have any peanuts and dried chilies?"

Zhang Yi shook his head: "We don't have peanuts or dried chilies at home."

"Okay, then I'll go ask around and you can just deliver the green beans to my house later."

Grandpa Zhang and Zhang Xingyun came out of Zhang Lei's house and walked towards Lao Qi's house at the village entrance.

Grandpa Zhang stood at the gate of the old Qi family's courtyard, knocked on the door and shouted into the courtyard.

"Old Qi, are you home?"

Old Qi heard Grandpa Zhang's voice in the yard and got up to open the door.

"Lao Zhang, it's you, come in quickly, Xiaoyun is here too, come in and sit down."

"Lao Qi, didn't I hear you say a few days ago that you still have one or two hundred kilograms of mung beans at home? I'm here to buy some."

"Yes, yes, yes. When do you want it?"

"Please send it to my house in a while, and I'll pay you when the time comes. The price is the same as in town, 4 cents per pound. By the way, do you have any peanuts or dried chilies at home?"

"Okay, I'll send you the mung beans in a bit. We don't have any peanuts at home, but we have more than 20 kilograms of dried chilies. If you want them, I'll send them over as well."

"Yes, please send it over. I charge 7 cents per pound of dried chili peppers in town."

"Hey, it's okay."

"Okay, that's a deal. I'll go to the village and ask what else is available."

After leaving Lao Qi’s house, Grandpa Zhang and Zhang Xingyun went to the center of the village and walked under the big banyan tree.

There were some grandfathers sitting under the tree playing chess, and some aunts and grandmothers were also chatting under the tree.

Grandpa Zhang: "Fifth Uncle, you are here too. Oh, and you old guys are playing chess. How is it going? Who won?"

Fifth uncle: "Dafu, come and sit down. Do you want to play a game with me? I haven't played chess with you for a long time."

"Fifth Uncle, I won't come to play chess. I just want to ask if you have green beans, peanuts, and dried chilies at home. I want to buy some."

When Zhao Laosan from the village heard what Grandpa Zhang said, he looked up and said hurriedly:

"Lao Zhang, Lao Zhang, I have them all at home, how many do you want?"

The others who were playing chess or watching chess also stopped and looked at Grandpa Zhang.

"I have some at home, how much do you want?"

"I have it at home too."

......

The aunties and grandmas who were chatting nearby also heard what Grandpa Zhang said. They all looked at him, with similar expressions in their eyes. They all wanted to ask Grandpa Zhang how much he needed, fearing that they would not buy it if he bought too much.

Everyone hopes that Grandpa Zhang can harvest all his own crops and save some money. After all, it is almost the harvest season for mung beans and dried chilies.

These will be old goods by then, so now that Grandpa Zhang is asking, everyone wants to sell them for cash.

Grandpa Zhang looked at everyone and said, "I need a lot of mung beans at home. You can send some to my house later. They are 4 cents a pound, the same as in town. I also want peanuts. The best ones are shelled, 10 cents a pound. Dried chilies are 7 cents a pound. We will charge the town price so that the villagers will not suffer any loss."

Grandpa Zhang continued, "But they have to be good, no bad ones. After all, I'm going to make food out of it and sell it to others, and I can't let bad things have a bad impact on the food."

Zhao Laosan: "Of course, they are all villagers. We see each other everywhere. There must be no bad ones. I will go home and select them first. I will send them to you after I have made my selection."

After Zhao Laosan finished speaking, he stood up and walked home, fearing that if he was a step slower, he would not be able to sell his things.

When the others saw what Zhao Laosan was doing, they all stood up and said as they walked:

"I'll go home and screen it first, and I'll send it to Uncle Zhang's house in a while."

"Uncle Zhang, don't worry, I will definitely select the best ones and send them to you cleanly. Wait for me!"

......

All the people sitting under the banyan tree ran home soon, leaving only Grandpa Zhang and his grandson Zhang Xingyun under the tree.

Some villagers walking in the village saw the people sitting under the big banyan tree and went home. Some villagers stopped them and asked what happened.

Upon asking, we found out that Old Zhang's family at the end of the village wanted to sell mung beans, peanuts, and dried chilies, and they needed a lot.

When many villagers heard this, they also went home to sort the mung beans and dried chilies, and peel and clean the peanuts, remembering that they had supplies at home.

Seeing this, Grandpa Zhang and Zhang Xingyun decided not to go anywhere else. The two grandfather and grandson prepared to go home and wait for the villagers to deliver the things to their home.

"Grandpa, big brother, you are back. Did you go to the village to buy mung beans?"

Zhang Yunyue, Zhang's mother and Zhu were sorting cowpeas and peppers in the yard. The cowpeas in the backyard had grown wildly during this period, so Zhang Yunyue picked all the tender cowpeas and prepared to make them into soaked cowpeas, which could be stir-fried with minced meat or eaten with porridge.

By the way, you can soak the chili peppers. Then you can eat them with porridge, or stir-fry them and they will be very fragrant.

After listening to Zhang Yunyue's explanation of how to eat pickled cowpeas and pickled peppers, Zhang's mother and Zhu already felt hungry, so when Zhang Yunyue woke up in the afternoon and said she wanted to make pickled cowpeas and pickled peppers, the two of them started busying themselves picking cowpeas and peppers in the backyard.

"Well, I just walked around the village and found that many of the products that people have for sale are being screened at home and delivered to my house after they are screened."

Zhang Yunyue, Zhang's mother and Zhu washed all the cowpeas and peppers and drained them.

Zhang Yunyue: "Mother, are there any used pottery jars in the kitchen? Or pottery jars that have not been stained with oil."

Zhang's mother: "Yes, wait, I'll go to the kitchen and bring one out for you."

Zhang's mother moved a used, oil-free pottery jar from the kitchen, cleaned it inside and out in the yard, and then turned it upside down in the yard.

"Yueyue, the pottery jar has been cleaned, you can come over and make pickled cowpeas and pickled peppers."

"Okay, mother, I'm boiling water here, I'll be there in a moment."

Zhang Yunyue put some ginger and peppercorns in the water. After the water boiled, she scooped it out and placed it in a basin to cool.

After the water has cooled down, pour it into a ceramic jar, then add wine, salt, garlic slices, and then put the cowpeas and chilies in. Seal it in a cool place in the kitchen and it can be eaten after half a month.