The fake daughter married into the mountains and had meat to eat every day during the famine

"If you don't go down to the pond and dig it yourself, do you have any good way to make the lotus roots come up by themselves?" Xu Erniu asked hurriedly.

He knew that Song Yuntang was doing business in the town and had made a lot of money. Her knowledge was definitely better than theirs.

Song Yuntang looked at them and said, "Instead of spending a lot of time digging lotus roots in the lotus pond and delaying the sale, it is better to collect them by stone."

Xu Erniu frowned.

"Collect by stone?"

Xu Wencheng was the first to understand Song Yuntang's meaning, and he slapped his thigh.

"Yes, if we collect it by the stone, we don't even have to go out into the water, and someone will deliver lotus roots to our home every day." Then he began to worry, "But what price should we sell it to He's?"

"The lotus pond is so big, overflowing with lotus roots, and the water around the edges isn't as deep as in previous years. An experienced lotus root digger could easily dig three or four hundred kilograms a day. At a price of one hundred coins per stone, you could make three or four hundred coins a day. I think a lot of people would be willing to dig and sell them to you."

Changgen was shocked.

"But there are so many lotus roots, how can we sell them all?"

Song Yuntang tapped his head with his index finger, "We definitely won't be able to sell them all if we sell them retail. Can't you think of another way?"

"What method?"

Looking at the three eager faces in front of him, Song Yuntang coughed lightly and sat up straight.

"There are so many grocery stores, pepper shops, grain and oil shops in this town, as well as restaurants, taverns, restaurants, and teahouses. Aren't these all ready-made channels? At worst, we can still expand our business to the surrounding towns and counties."

The two young men in front of her were indeed of the same kind as Xu Wencheng. Since they were ambitious, she was willing to give them some pointers. As for whether they could succeed, it depended on themselves.

"Right! How could we not have thought of this!" Xu Erniu excitedly gave Song Yuntang a thumbs up, "Sister-in-law is really smart. When we make money, we will definitely repay you well."

Song Yuntang smiled and said, "Just because of what you said, I will order a stone of lotus root from you. I will give you one day to prepare it and send it to Huajianzui, the street across from the academy, the day after tomorrow."

Erniu looked at her with great interest, "Is your sister-in-law's shop near the academy?"

Song Yuntang nodded, "Yes, but don't tell the villagers."

Erniu patted his chest and assured, "Sister-in-law, although we appear carefree on weekdays, we are still very strict about our words and will definitely not tell anyone about this."

Song Yuntang reached into his wallet.

"I wonder how much you charge for this stone of lotus root?"

The three of them looked at each other, and Changgen, who had been silent the whole time, said, "Sister-in-law is willing to support us, and she knows our bottom line. We don't dare to ask for more from her. How about giving her a hundred coins as the cost? We also have to thank her for giving us advice."

"That won't work. You'll need manpower and resources to deliver the goods. Since I'm supporting your business, I definitely won't let you lose money." She pulled out two hundred coins from her purse and said, "This is the price for a stone of lotus root. Take it and I'll deliver the goods the day after tomorrow."

Erniu took it from Song Yuntang.

"Thank you, sister-in-law."

Song Yuntang waved his hand, "Go and do your thing."

As for the dishes she could make with lotus root, she had already thought of braised lotus root slices, glutinous rice lotus root, fried lotus root boxes...

Thinking of this, she felt a little greedy.

However, I don’t have all the ingredients at home, so I have to go to Huajianzui the day after tomorrow to make it.

……

Xu Wencheng and the other two were quite fast.

After a while, they notified the whole village about harvesting lotus roots.

The people in Lushan Village were skeptical at first, until Erzhu, who came from the village entrance, drove a bullock cart to the lotus pond and dug two stones of lotus roots, which were collected by Xu Erniu and Xu Changgen. Then everyone believed what they said.

So, after a few men met, they went home to prepare their tools for digging lotus roots, planning to go to the lotus pond together to dig lotus roots tomorrow.

The next day, Song Yuntang felt a little more relaxed than the day before.

Because she was thinking about the pan-fried dumplings, and Xu Wencheng and Xu Erniu were going to the town to visit restaurants with the 200 kilograms of lotus roots they had harvested yesterday, she picked a handful of leeks from the yard and went with them.

Yesterday, Xu Erniu and the other two each collected 500 coins from their families, plus what they earned from selling lotus roots yesterday, totaling 2 taels and 2 qian of silver. Xu Changgen was relatively cautious in his work, so he kept him at home to harvest lotus roots.

When they arrived in the town, Xu Wencheng first sent Song Yuntang to Huajianzui, and also unloaded the stone of lotus roots she bought yesterday.

Fang Tianci looked at the pile of lotus roots in the yard with a confused look on his face.

"Girl, are we going to have a new dish?"

"It's time to serve a new dish." She looked at Tao Xia, "Sister Xia, wash thirty pounds of lotus roots and put them in the brine. After it's done, prepare a small piece for each customer to try. The price of braised lotus root slices is fifteen cents per pound, and eight cents for half a pound."

"Hey, good."

Tao Xia responded, took a scale, weighed thirty pounds of lotus roots, washed them, cut off the lotus root nodes with a knife, put them in a pot and started to stew them.

As for the lotus root nodes, Song Yuntang asked her to collect them all.

Yesterday, Xu Wencheng and his friends came to the town to sell lotus roots and lotus root nodes. They took all of them back, washed them clean, and hung them there to dry. Later, they could make some of them into lotus root node charcoal and sell it to the medicine shop.

Raw lotus root nodes can cool blood, stop bleeding and remove blood stasis, and are often used for sudden bleeding.

The charcoal of lotus root nodes has enhanced astringency, can astringe and stop bleeding, and is mostly used for chronic bleeding.

These two types are relatively commonly used in daily life and are consumed in large quantities, so there should be pharmacies willing to buy them.

Song Yuntang then ordered, "Sister Xier, go get two hundred coins from Brother Tianci and buy some meat and honey. I'll need them later."

Song Yuntang cut ten sections of lotus root, cut one end in half, poured in the glutinous rice that had been washed and soaked there at the beginning, covered the cut end, inserted it with a bamboo stick and put it into the pot, added water to cover the lotus root, put in brown sugar and started to cook.

After a while, Chen came with the things she bought.

Three pounds of meat, a small bottle of honey less than the size of a fist, and eighty cents in change.

She carefully handed the honey to Song Yuntang, "Miss Song, this honey is really expensive. Such a small bottle cost sixty coins."

Sun on the side gasped.

"Sixty cents for just one bite?"

Chen Xier nodded. "Yes, Auntie, if Miss Song hadn't told me to buy them, I would never have dared to buy these things myself."

Song Yuntang looked at the small bottle in her hand. She had never bought honey before, and she didn't expect it to be so expensive.

It seems that I have to use it sparingly.

Afterwards, she asked Chen to cut a pound of meat into minced meat, adjust the flavor, and put it between thin lotus root slices. She rolled it in batter and fried it in a pan to make a small plate and shared it with everyone to taste.

"It's delicious. It tastes quite fragrant after being fried like this." Tao Xia said.

"Miss, what is this called?" Fang Tianci asked Song Yuntang while eating.

Song Yuntang also took a bite. "This is called fried lotus root box. What do you think about adding this dish to the shop? It's just seasonal. When the weather gets cooler, I'm afraid no one will go into the water to dig lotus roots."

Fang Tianci nodded and said, "The more this is the case, the more diners will cherish it."

Song Yuntang smiled, "It hasn't been long, but you seem to have more and more potential to be a shopkeeper."

……