A tragic journey through ancient times, trying to make money

Just after the hour of You, Zhang's mother and Zhu washed some red peppers and put them aside, then went home to prepare dinner.

As soon as the two of them got home, Grandpa Zhang also came back from the small road with Zhang Xingfeng. After dropping Zhang Xingfeng off at the door of the house, Grandpa Zhang drove the ox cart to the workshop again. The cart also carried the salt and wine that Zhang Yunyue had asked him to buy in the morning.

As soon as Grandpa Zhang arrived at the workshop, Grandma Zhang at the door saw her old man and said, "You're back." Then she quickly opened the door of the workshop and let Grandpa Zhang drive the ox cart in.

Grandpa Zhang and Grandma Zhang nodded, drove the ox cart into the workshop, and then parked the cart in front of the warehouse door.

"Grandpa, you're back. Are the salt and wine in the car?"

"Yes, I did as you said. I bought two to three hundred kilograms each." After that, he turned to Zhang's father and Zhang Cheng who were chopping red peppers, "Big brother, second brother, come and take down the salt and wine from the car."

Father Zhang and Zhang Cheng helped Grandpa Zhang move the salt and wine off the ox cart and put them in the yard first. After all, they had been chopping red peppers for the whole afternoon and were waiting for the salt and wine, so they put them in the yard first for easy access.

Zhang Yunyue saw that the salt and wine had all been bought, and next to them was the red peppers that everyone had chopped up all afternoon.

Zhang Yunyue took it to the scale, and for every 10 kilograms of chopped red peppers, 10 kilograms of salt and kilograms of wine were added. Grandpa Zhang used a shovel to mix everything evenly in a large basin, and poured some wine into a ceramic jar for sterilization. Then he put the red peppers mixed with salt and wine into the ceramic jar and sealed it for preservation.

It was not until the middle of the Youshi period when all the workers in the workshop left that the Zhang family was busy for nearly half an hour before they chopped up all the red peppers they had bought that day, mixed them with salt and wine, and sealed them all in ceramic jars for preservation.

Zhang Yunyue counted and found that a total of 21 pottery jars were filled this afternoon. The red peppers collected in the workshop today should be all the red peppers in the village. It would take a few more days for the village to have more red peppers.

Tomorrow, in addition to Tianxianglou coming to pick up goods, I will see if my uncle will come to deliver chili peppers in the next two days. I can tell my uncle then. I didn’t expect that the pottery jars that Lu Tong just delivered the day before yesterday were almost used up today. I have to ask my uncle to send more pottery jars.

After Grandpa Zhang and Father Zhang moved all the ceramic jars filled with pickled peppers into the warehouse and marked them, Zhang Yunyue also wrote down the canning time. They can be used in about half a month.

Then they cleaned the yard again. Seeing that there were no problems, they closed the door of the workshop and drove the ox cart home.

On the way home, Zhang Yunyue thought about the salt and wine she had used today, and turned to look at Grandpa Zhang who was walking beside her: "Grandpa, when you come back tomorrow, bring back more salt and wine. We used more than 200 kilograms today."

Grandpa Zhang nodded: "Okay, I understand. I'll buy more when I come back tomorrow and ask the shopkeeper to give me a lower price. I'll need a lot of them later."

"Yeah, I have to bargain with the shopkeeper. This way I can save a lot of money."

After arriving home, Zhang's mother and Zhu saw that everyone had returned, so they hurriedly brought the food from the kitchen to the table, and called out Zhang Xingfeng who was doing his homework in the room.

"Xiaofeng, have you finished your homework? It's time to eat."

"Here I am, here I am, mother. I have finished writing. I was just reading the Three Character Classic that the teacher taught me today. The teacher said that I have to read and recite what I have taught every day. I have just memorized it all."

Mother Zhang touched Zhang Xingfeng's head and said with a smile, "Oh, you can recite the Three Character Classic we taught you today. That's great. Go wash your hands. It's time to eat."

"Okay." After saying that, he went to the well and washed his hands with the people who had just returned from the workshop.

After everyone had washed their hands and the food was served, they sat at the table and started eating.

Seeing that everyone was there, Grandpa Zhang recalled what he had said to Carpenter Li this morning. He felt a little scared and said solemnly, "Everyone put down your chopsticks first. I want to say a few words."

Seeing that everyone had stopped eating and was looking at him, Grandpa Zhang continued, "Everyone knows that our family's situation has changed so much in the past month. It was all Yueyue's idea. But what I want to say is,

Our family members cannot talk about it outside, nor can they reveal that these ideas were all thought up by Yueyue, because our family has no foundation, we are just ordinary people. Once Yueyue's ability is known by the so-called rich or high-ranking officials,

That would be a disaster for Yueyue and our family. I hope you can remember this. Be careful with your words and think twice before you speak. Do you understand?"

"I understand, Dad."

"Got it, Dad."

"I understand, Grandpa."

"I understand, Grandpa."

"Okay, we all know, as long as we understand, let's eat!"

The next day.

After breakfast and cleaning up, everyone in the Zhang family started to do their own work. Zhu and Zhang Cheng were still grinding soy milk at home.

Zhang Yunyue and Grandma Zhang went to the workshop to help. Grandma Zhang was still guarding the door of the workshop, and if anyone came to sell peppers, she would just take them in.

It's time.

Tianxianglou's carriage appeared at the door of the workshop. Grandma Zhang looked at the carriage parked at the door of the workshop and called Zhang Yunyue into the workshop.

"Yueyue, there are several carriages coming to the door of the workshop. Go and see if it's the people from Tianxianglou who are here again."

"Okay, got it, grandma. I'll go take a look right away." After saying that, Zhang Yunyue walked out of the workshop.

"Manager Dong, you are here. Manager Cao, why are you here too this time?" Zhang Yunyue bowed to the two of them.

Dong Sheng and Cao Shiyang clasped their fists to Zhang Yunyue.

"Last time, Manager Dong sent chili oil to the county town, and he mentioned that Miss Zhang's workshop was very impressive. So, I came to take a look this time. Haha, but your workshop is really well built."

"Thank you for the compliment, Manager Cao. Please come in." Zhang Yunyue raised his hand and motioned the two to enter the workshop.

Dong Sheng and Cao Shiyang followed Zhang Yunyue into the workshop and went to the reception room, where they were served a pot of tea.

Cao Shiyang took a sip of tea and said, "Miss Zhang, from now on, I will send people to Miss Zhang's workshop to get chili oil. If you need anything or if there are any new food varieties, you can directly tell the steward who comes and he will tell me."

"Okay, since Shopkeeper Cao mentioned new food varieties, I really do have them. Wait a moment, I'll get them for you and you two can try them."

Cao Shiyang and Dong Shenghe looked at each other and said in surprise, "Oh, it's ready so soon, then we have to try it carefully. If it tastes good, Tianxianglou will be happy to cooperate with you again."