It's hard for my elder sister. I rely on the mountains to farm and pay off my debts.

Song Youshan glanced at his wife and couldn't help but ask, "You can earn more than a hundred coins a day, and you think it's not enough?"

Yang also realized that she had said the wrong thing, and she hurriedly explained: "I'm not complaining that it's too little, I just want to ask if you can raise the price a little bit."

"Azhi's food isn't bad, and we put so much sugar in it. I just feel like we're losing money at this price!"

Song Zhi explained, "I set such a low price for my own reasons."

"The main reason is that apricots are seasonal fruits with a short shelf life and are extremely easy to spoil. We need to make a profit while also finding a way to sell them as quickly as possible. Therefore, the price cannot be set too high."

After hearing what her granddaughter said, Mrs. Wu thought about the large number of apricots she had ordered, and roughly calculated that it must be about three to four thousand kilograms.

She asked anxiously, "With so many apricots, how long will it take to sell them all just by making these sweet fruit peels?"

In fact, Song Zhi had already thought about the problem of apricots being difficult to preserve yesterday.

She comforted him, "Grandma, don't worry. Besides selling these sweet peels, we can also sell apricot jam."

"It's hot right now, and this apricot jam is sour and sweet, which is both appetizing and a heat reliever. I'll go to restaurants, eateries, and teahouses later to see if anyone wants some."

"In addition to the two methods above, we can also dry the apricots into dried apricots, which can be preserved for a longer time."

"If we seal the pot properly, it should be fine for two or three months, right? After all, the apricots are already dried!"

In fact, there is another way to make it, called canned apricots.

It is not difficult to make canned apricots, but it is not easy to preserve them. Song Zhi really does not have the energy to deal with this at the moment.

Let's put this idea aside for now.

Seeing that her granddaughter had considered every aspect, Mrs. Wu patted her hand comfortingly and said, "Okay, I'll do as you wish. If there's anything you need help with, just tell me or your uncle."

Song Zhi grinned and said, "I really have something to ask for your help."

"Uncle, could you please buy me some small ceramic jars for apricot jam? They don't need to be too big, just enough to hold a pound of apricot jam. It would be best if the price could be lowered."

The village where Song Youshan went to buy bricks and tiles had not only a brick factory, but also an earthen kiln for firing pottery jars.

Hearing his niece's request, he immediately agreed: "Okay, leave it to me. I'll find out the price and tell you later."

After solving the problem of the container for apricot jam, Song Zhi proposed to build an earthen oven in the backyard.

The reason is also ready. Whether it is making sweet fruit peel or dried apricots, simply relying on sun drying is too slow!

And there is not enough space to dry clothes.

If we make an earthen oven and dry it directly, wouldn’t it be faster and more convenient?

This is of course not a problem, and the cement and bricks are already available at home. We can just dig some yellow clay to make a stove.

They got to work right away. Except for Song Youshan who went to the kiln factory first, the whole family went to the backyard to work.

Song Zhi led them to build the foundation, and then found broken bricks, stones, sand and gravel to lay on top as an insulation layer. With many hands, there was strength, and soon the earthen oven took shape.

Just at this moment, a questioning voice came from the front yard.

Song Zhi patted the dirt in her hands, stood up and said, "It must be Grandma Liu who brought apricots. I'll go take a look."

Wu also stood up and said, "Come on, I'll go with you."

The grandfather and grandson led a group of curious little ones to the front yard.

Then I saw the grandfather and grandson standing by the door, looking a little embarrassed.

Seeing Song Zhi coming out, Granny Liu looked relieved and said with a big smile, "Sister-in-law, I brought you some apricots!"

Mrs. Wu hurriedly said, "You've worked hard. Come home and sit down, drink some water and take a rest." After that, she went straight to the kitchen to pour some water.

Grandma Liu led her granddaughter to carry the bamboo basket into the yard, and reminded Song Zhi:

"This batch of apricots is early, so the number isn't that large. In five or six days, the apricots will be ripe in large quantities. By then, we can deliver 400 to 500 kilograms a day. Look..."

Grandma Liu was also a little worried that Song Zhi wouldn't be able to sell so many apricots at once, so she wanted to remind Song Zhi.

Since Song Zhi dared to buy so many apricots, she was not worried about the problem of sales.

At most it's just a little troublesome.

She smiled and said comfortingly, "Grandma, just send it to me when the time comes. I promised to buy these apricots, so I won't break my promise."

Song Zhi's words were like a reassurance to her. Grandma Liu felt relieved and quickly took the basket from her granddaughter and handed it to her.

"Grandma, there's nothing to thank you for. These are peaches grown in my home. They taste pretty good. You can keep them and try them."

Song Zhi looked at the peaches in the basket. They were big and red, much better quality than the peaches she remembered seeing.

She subconsciously exclaimed: "This peach is really good."

Mrs. Wu brought out the water and was amazed at the peaches in the basket.

The few children who came out to watch the fun were drooling at the sight of such big red fruits.

They have grown up without ever tasting a peach.

Granny Liu said with some pride, "This peach tree is also a good variety that my old man saw outside. He brought it back and grafted it. The fruits are indeed bigger than the peaches we grow locally."

Moreover, the peaches from her family are obviously better in quality than those from other families, and they are easier to sell than apricots.

"It's a pity that out of the ten or so plants grafted, only two survived in the end." Grandma Liu said to herself with some regret.

After hearing this, Song Zhi was very moved.

She preferred peaches to apricots, so she asked, "Grandpa, could you grow some peach seedlings? I'd like to buy some too."

Not for anything else, just to be able to eat these big, sweet, fresh and juicy peaches every year.

Granny Liu smiled and said, "It's not difficult. I'll go back and talk to the old man."

"Then I would like to thank you, grandma." Song Zhi said happily.

After traveling through time and space to this poor and backward mountain village, all she could do was to create better material conditions and eat the food she liked before, so that she would not be wronged.

Song Zhi asked the children to take the basket of big, red peaches, and then asked Grandma Liu to sit down and rest while she went to the clan leader's house to borrow a beam scale.

Two bamboo baskets of apricots, a total of 120 jin, which is 240 coins.

Song Zhi immediately turned back to the house to get the money and handed it to the other party, "Grandma, please check the amount."

When Granny Liu received the money, she smiled so hard that her eyes narrowed into slits. After selling apricots for so many years, this year was the least worrying year for her!

After counting the number, Grandma Liu stood up and said goodbye. Song Zhi hurriedly took out a plate of millet cakes from the kitchen and put it in the little girl's basket.

"Home-cooked food is not something valuable. Grandma, take it back to try it."

Grandma Liu couldn't refuse, so she took her granddaughter's thanks and finally accepted it.