Traveling through time and space to become a child, supporting the family by catching fish and shrim

Zhao Xiongwei pointed to a chair, asked Zhao Xiongying to sit down and talk, and also took the initiative to pour him a cup of tea.

This action made Zhao Xiongying very excited. This was a treatment he had never received before!

Zhao Xiongwei said: "Tell me in detail how you got it."

Zhao Xiongying took a sip of tea and carefully recounted the process of obtaining the tofu.

After listening to this, Zhao Xiongwei fell into deep thought.

Tofu has become the hottest ingredient in Nanhe County. The students in the county school not only gave it the flower name "white jade", but also composed various poems and couplets to praise it.

However, tofu is only available at Tianshangju and cannot be found in other restaurants. This means that if you want to eat a bite of tofu, you may have to queue for more than a day.

A similar grand occasion occurred when Tianshangju launched a new river fresh dish before, but as Zuixianju also launched the same type of river fresh dish, Tianshangju’s monopoly on river fresh dish was terminated.

However, due to the confidentiality of tofu production, Zuixianju cannot make tofu like it makes river dishes.

If he traded the secret recipe of tofu with Zuixianju, it would mean that he had obtained a stable source of income.

Zhao Xiongwei was unwilling to be a student on government stipend all his life; he wanted to move up.

Although students with excellent academic performance may go to the Imperial College for further studies.

But the word "possible" basically means impossible.

If you want to move forward, you still have to take the entrance exam.

However, at the level of the provincial examination, what is tested is not just the content in the books, but also interpersonal relationships and social reputation.

Both of these require money to support!

It is obviously impossible to rely solely on the monthly subsidy from the students on government stipend.

Zhao Xiongying dug out all the tea leaves and chewed them clean, and only then did Zhao Xiongwei come back to his senses from his thoughts.

"You said that this tofu was invented by Chen Lang, a boy from Hezhong Village?" Zhao Xiongwei asked.

"Yes, he shared this method with his brother-in-law Li Xiaohu, and we snatched it from Li Xiaohu."

"After Chen Lang found out, he threatened Dad to exempt Li Xiaohu from this year's corvee labor, otherwise he would go to the government office to file a complaint." Zhao Xiongying said cautiously, "Brother, Chen Lang said that if a student files a complaint, the county magistrate will definitely accept it. Is that true?"

Zhao Xiongwei snorted coldly: "Of course it's fake. He's just a student. What qualifications does he have to see the county magistrate?"

Zhao Xiongying was furious: "Fuck, he dared to cheat me?!"

"I'll beat him up when I get back!"

Zhao Xiongwei scolded him, "Don't do this recklessly. Although he is not qualified to see the county magistrate, he is still a student after all. If you hurt him, it will be very troublesome and may even affect me."

Zhao Xiongying thought for a moment and said, "Then I won't do it myself. I'll find some hooligans to beat him up."

Zhao Xiongwei was so angry that he wanted to beat his brother up first.

"Is all your brains filled with brawn? All you do all day is beat people up!"

Zhao Xiongying shrank his neck and said, "I just can't swallow this."

Zhao Xiongwei was so angry that he laughed: "You stole someone's secret recipe and broke his brother-in-law's leg. What's so hard to swallow?"

Zhao Xiongying muttered, "A document exempting from corvée labor costs twenty taels of silver."

Zhao Xiongwei poked Zhao Xiongying's shoulder several times with his finger: "You are so short-sighted! The tofu secret recipe is worth tens or hundreds of twenty taels, and this is all you can do?"

Zhao Xiongying's eyes widened: "Brother? Really?"

Zhao Xiongwei said coldly: "What do you have that is worthy of my deception?"

"In short, remember this: you are not allowed to be violent towards Chen Lang, nor bully the people around him."

"I have a way to deal with him."

Zhao Xiongying couldn't hide his curiosity: "Brother, what's the method?"

"He's a scholar after all. To deal with him, we have to use grammar." Zhao Xiongwei glanced at Zhao Xiongying, whose eyes were full of circles. "Forget it, you won't understand even if I tell you. Go back."

Zhao Xiongying said "oh" and left.

Zhao Xiongwei changed his clothes, took the secret recipe for tofu, and went straight to Zuixianju.

……

The next morning, the caravan from Tianshangju told Chen Lang the bad news.

Zuixianju launched two tofu dishes last night!

The number of customers at Tianshangju dropped by half in an instant.

Deputy Manager Qi was so angry that he couldn't sleep all night and sat in the lobby of the inn all night.

Chen Lang didn't expect the Zhao family to act so quickly. They sold the tofu secret recipe to Zuixianju in just a few hours.

"Mr. Chen, Deputy Manager Qi said that since tofu is no longer exclusive to Tianshangju, the purchase price needs to be renegotiated." The cook said this very carefully, and at the same time he felt that Deputy Manager Qi's decision was too unfair.

Chen Lang didn't feel anything. As long as the price didn't drop too much, he could accept it.

"I'll take your car to the county town and talk to Deputy Manager Qi in person."

The cook whispered, "Mr. Chen, I suggest you don't agree to any of Deputy Manager Qi's conditions yet. Wait until Manager Hong returns before making a decision."

Chen Lang nodded and said, "Thank you for the reminder."

After half an hour, the tofu was loaded onto the truck.

When the caravan was about to return, Liu Jun ran over panting.

"Chen Erlang, something big has happened...something bad has happened."

Chen Lang quickly asked Li Xiuzhi to pour a glass of water. After handing it to Liu Jun, he said, "Don't worry, talk slowly."

Liu Jun drank up the water, gasping for breath, and said, "Neither of the two grain stores in the county town will buy beans for me."

Before Chen Lang could react, the chef from Tianshangju next to him couldn't sit still anymore and asked in surprise, "How could this happen?"

Liu Jun said, "I don't know either. Yesterday evening, I went to buy soybeans as usual, but they told me that all the beans were sold out. From now on, except for individual sales, all bulk soybean transactions will be monopolized by Zuixianju."

The cook gnashed his teeth and said, "What a Zuixianju! They are trying to kill us all!"

Chen Lang's face also darkened.

After all, I underestimated the influence of the students in the imperial academy.

It is impossible for Zuixianju alone to make two grain shops give up another big customer at the same time.

There must be the shadow of Zhao's family students here.

People who have received education are indeed more meticulous in their thinking. With one move, they can directly pinch one's own weak spot.

Even without the secret recipe, I can still make tofu and sell it to Tianshangju.

But without raw materials, his source of income would be completely cut off.

Moreover, his every move is being watched by this student whom he has never met before. If he does something valuable in the future, he might be robbed again.

You can stop it for a while, but you can’t stop it for a lifetime.

So you must take the imperial examination!

Being a scholar is the most basic, and the best is to become a juren!

As long as you surpass the other party in terms of fame and fortune, the students of the Zhao family will not dare to act wildly, and may even take the initiative to curry favor with you.

Chen Lang took out two taels of silver and handed it to Liu Jun, saying, "Brother Liu, since we can't buy soybeans in the county town, I'll have to trouble you to go to the countryside to collect them."

"This is the fare, please accept it."

Liu Jun shook his head and refused to accept it. He said, "Chen Erlang, when we signed the contract, we agreed that in addition to the county town, I would also go to the villages to collect beans."

"This is what I should do. If I take your money, what will I become?"

"I'm not telling you this to ask for money. I just want to let you know that beans may not be delivered every day. It will take one or two days."

Chen Lang stuffed the money into Liu Jun's hand without hesitation: "Brother Liu, you must take this money. I will feel uneasy if you don't take it."

"Going to villages and rural areas is not only hard work, but also carries additional risks."

Liu Jun couldn't refuse and had to accept it.

"Then I'll go. I'll bring you the beans as early as tomorrow afternoon."

After Liu Jun left, Chen Lang got on Tianshangju’s ox cart and headed for the county town.