A tragic journey through ancient times, trying to make money

Arrived at the workshop.

"Boom, bang, bang."

Zhang Yunyue was in the workshop yard, picking out bad peppers with two aunts. Hearing a knock on the door, Zhang Yunyue got up and went to the gate.

Opening the door, "Grandma, why are you here?" Zhang Yunyue made way to let Grandma Zhang enter the workshop.

After Grandma Zhang came in, Zhang Yunyue closed the door again.

Zhang Yunyue quickly stepped forward, took Grandma Zhang's arm, and walked in together: "Grandma, why are you here at this time? Why are you carrying a basket? What's in it? It's covered with a cloth."

“I just happened to have nothing to do, and my family told me yesterday that the workshop was going to collect red peppers, so I went for a walk around the village.

I have told the villagers that if they have fresh red peppers to sell, they can send them to the workshop. Now I guess many villagers are calling their family members to go to the fields to pick red peppers.

I thought I had already notified the village, so I came to tell you. I also thought you didn't have any copper coins, but I would need quite a few to pay the villagers, so I brought a few taels with me. It will be convenient for me to pay them later. I guess it won't be long before some villagers come to visit, so I'm here to help."

After saying that, Grandma Zhang handed the basket of copper coins to Zhang Yunyue. Zhang Yunyue took it and put it in the reception room, and closed the door.

"Okay, then I'll find a clean, cool place so I can pile up the red peppers later."

Fortunately, blue bricks were used to pave the floor when the workshop was built, so now we just need to find a cool place where the sun doesn't shine, sweep the floor clean, and put it on the ground first. Anyway, the red peppers will have to be washed again before use.

When Zhang Yunyue finished sweeping the floor, there were knocks on the door again.

Zhang Yunyue thought it was a villager selling red peppers, so she quickly put down the broom in her hand and went to open the door.

When he opened the door, he unexpectedly saw the owner of the oil mill coming to deliver vegetable oil. Zhang Yunyue hurriedly opened the door completely.

"Uncle Chen, please come in, please come in." During this period, because Chen Youcai delivered cooking oil to the workshop every other day, everyone became familiar with each other, and then they addressed each other as elders and juniors.

Chen Youcai smiled and said, "Yueyue, I'm here to deliver cooking oil to the workshop. Aunt Li is here too. I rarely see you here." Then he led the ox cart into the yard.

"I have something to discuss with Yueyue today, so I came to the workshop to look for her. Come in and sit down. Yueyue, go call your two cousins to help unload the vegetable oil."

Zhang Yunyue then called Zhang Xingzhong and Zhang Xinglin from the noodle pounding room to help carry the vegetable oil off the ox cart, weigh it, and finally carry the vegetable oil into the big kitchen.

The vegetable oil was still 500 kilograms. Zhang Yunyue paid the money to Chen Youcai. Chen Youcai took the money without hesitation, waved to Zhang Yunyue and Grandma Zhang, and drove away in the ox cart.

As soon as Chen Youcai left, Zhang Yunyue did not close the gate this time. Thinking that the villagers would probably arrive soon, she moved a stool for Grandma Zhang to sit on at the gate to avoid having to knock on the door when the villagers came.

Not long after Grandma Zhang sat at the gate, some villagers came to the workshop carrying their own red peppers.

"Aunt Zhang, I brought some red peppers here. I just picked them from the pepper field. I immediately broke the stems and checked them one by one. They are all good."

After saying that, he put down the backpack and let Grandma Zhang check it.

Grandma Zhang took the backpack and checked it, and found that the items he said were indeed the best ones.

"Okay, that's it. If there's more next time, you can send it over." Then he turned around and called Zhang Yunyue who was selecting dried chili peppers in the yard: "Yueyue, bring out the scale. Someone is here to sell red chili peppers."

"Okay, grandma, tell him to wait a moment, I'll be right out."

Zhang Yunyue got up and went to the warehouse to get a scale, and called Zhang Xingzhong and Zhang Xinglin to help at the workshop gate.

Zhang Yunyue took the scale to the gate and said, "Grandma, I'm here. Grandma, you are responsible for checking. Cousin Lin and Cousin Zhong, you two are responsible for weighing. Then you have to carry it into the yard and pour it on the ground that has just been cleaned. I will be responsible for paying."

After listening to Zhang Yunyue's arrangements, several people nodded to indicate that they understood.

Grandma Zhang: "Xiao Zhong, Xiao Lin, I've picked out your Aunt Zhang's red peppers. Please weigh them."

Zhang Xingzhong and Zhang Xinglin took the scale from Zhang Yunyue and started to weigh it. After telling Zhang Yunyue the weight, they took it to the yard and poured it on the ground. They also weighed the backpack. By subtracting the two weights, Zhang Yunyue calculated the weight of the red peppers.

"Aunt Zhang, you have 35 kilograms of red peppers. This is 70 cents. Please count them and see if there is any missing."

Aunt Zhang took the 70 coins handed over by Zhang Yunyue, counted the coins, and said, "Thank you, Yueyue. I'll send more red ones in a few days."

In the past, when the pepper harvest season came, the town was full of vendors selling peppers, so the villagers couldn't get the price for their peppers when they went to town. They only paid one penny per pound, and some even paid one penny for two pounds.

Unexpectedly, the Zhang family would pay two cents per pound to buy it. This month, I sold a lot of things to the Zhang family and made several hundred cents. Aunt Zhang was very happy.

After talking to Zhang Yunyue and Grandma Zhang, Aunt Zhang took the money given by Zhang Yunyue and went home in high spirits.

"Mrs. Zhang, you are carrying an empty basket. Have you sold all the red peppers you just picked?"

Aunt Zhang responded happily, "Yes, Xiufen, I sold 35 kilograms and got 70 coins, which can buy several kilograms of salt. You are carrying red peppers to the workshop, right? It looks like more than mine, so you can make a lot more money."

"Hahaha, I didn't weigh it at home, but any money I can make is good. I'm happy. I won't talk to you anymore. I'm going first. I guess there will be more people there in a while."

"Go quickly, go quickly." Aunt Zhang said, waved her hand, and then went home.

"Xiu Fen, have you picked your red peppers?"

"Yes, Aunt Zhang, didn't you say that under the big tree in the center of the village? My mother-in-law immediately went home and took us to pick red peppers. After picking them, she took them home and picked the peppers again. Now she is carrying them here."

After Zhao Xiufen finished speaking, she placed the backpack in front of Grandma Zhang for her to check.

"Yes, it was handled very cleanly. Xiaozhong Xiaolin, weigh it."

The two listened to Grandma Zhang's words, took a scale to weigh the basket of red peppers, then lifted the basket and dumped the peppers in the yard, and weighed the basket again.

After weighing, she told Zhang Yunyue the weight and returned the backpack to Zhao Xiufen.

"Aunt Zhao, your 46 kilograms of red peppers cost a total of 92 cents. Please count it." Zhang Yunyue handed the money to Zhao Xiufen.