North and South groceries

In order to meet the growing demand for fried snails in Chang'an City, Nanbei Groceries has launched a fried snail seasoning.

This seasoning is available in simple packs and boutique packs.

The so-called simple packaging is to use a piece of oil paper to wrap a small packet of seasoning, and then paste the name of the product, and then sell it.

On this package of seasonings, there is often a boxy light blue paper with the method of frying snails printed on it, from the processing of snails to the subsequent frying, the process is very detailed.

According to the above, to fry a plate of delicious snails, in addition to the seasoning for fried snails, you also need to buy some soy sauce.North and South groceries also sell soy sauce, and I brought clay pots to fill them in. I can buy three for one penny, ten for one liter, and if I buy one liter at a time, they only charge three pennies.

This simple package of stir-fried snail seasoning is divided into three sizes: large, medium, and small. A small bag can only fry three or five plates of snails.

As for the high-quality goods, that is to say, it is packed in a special porcelain bottle. Oil paper is pasted on the outside of the porcelain bottle.

The boutique package only has one size, and the fried snail seasoning inside is about the same weight as the simple package, but the price is twice that of the simple package. Although it is not very cost-effective, there are still many people who buy it.

"Lang Jun, do you want to buy seasoning?"

A customer stood for a long time in front of the seasoning shelf.At this time, a half-year-old boy wearing a uniform uniform for groceries from the north and the south came over and asked.

He was just transferred from upstairs in the past two days. A few days ago, Luo Sanlang hired eight more children from Xing Er. The children who just arrived were all working on the second floor, and then they transferred a few more from the second floor. The older children work as shopping guides on the first floor.

These children have been working in North and South groceries for so long, and they know what they should know. They are very familiar with where to put things. Most of the food sold on the first floor have been eaten.

The customer in front of him was young, tall and strong, with a clean shaven beard and fairly well-dressed clothes, but the smell of sweat was not pleasant.

The young man had just sent an old lady to the cashier to check out. When he came back, he saw this person standing in front of the shelf and hesitated, so he went to greet her.

"It's so written on it, I can't understand it." The tall young man pointed to the porcelain bottle on the shelf and said.

"I don't understand either." The young man grinned and said to him, "But I have seen this method of frying snails with my own eyes."

The two moved a little to a place where there were fewer people, and the boy in the shop told the tall and strong young man about the process of frying the snails, and said again:

"In addition to the spices, this seasoning also adds some chili powder, but not much. If you want to make the stir-fry more spicy, you need to buy some chili powder. We have all kinds of thick and fine chili powder in this shop. Well, they are all here. On the counter over there, you can weigh whatever you want.”

"How expensive is it?" The tall and strong young man thought for a while and asked.

"Not too expensive." The boy said to him, "It's a little cheaper than the seasoning powder sold on this shelf."

"Hey, thank you." The tall and strong young man thanked him.

This is the first time for him to come to this North-South Grocery Store. He used to feel that this is not the place he should come to, and he was afraid that he would be despised and humiliated himself after entering the shop. It was only because he wanted to buy the seasoning for fried snails today that he came here. When I came in, I didn't expect that the shopping process would be so smooth and enjoyable.

"Hi, it's all right." The boy also looked very happy: "You need some soy sauce for frying snails, do you have it at home?"

"No." The young man shook his head.

So the two went to see the soy sauce again, because the young man didn't bring the clay pot, and he didn't want to make another trip tomorrow, so they had to buy the canned soy sauce on the shelf.

The simplest package in a stoneware jar, with a liter of soy sauce in the jar, costs only four Wen, which is not too expensive, but it is not as cost-effective as the bulk one.

When the tall and strong young man left the North and South Groceries, he held in his arms a medium package of fried escargot seasoning, a can of soy sauce, and a medium-thick chili powder weighing five cents.

After leaving the shop, he walked to the entrance of the alley next to him, looked for his wooden cart, carefully placed these things on the cart, and pushed the cart all the way to the south of the city.

The sun was shining on the way, from the north-south groceries to his house, it was almost the time when the drums sounded behind closed doors.

The weather has been extremely hot recently. To be honest, he is not afraid of the hotter weather. He earns a living by carrying and selling water. The hotter the weather, the easier it is for him to do business. Throughout the year, only these two months in midsummer make the most money. .

He can earn two or three Wen a day recently, and those who can use copper coins to buy water are relatively generous people. Usually, they give some corn and beans, and often receive some miscellaneous noodles, pancakes and coarse salt.

This tall and strong man looks simple and straightforward, but he has a lot of care in his heart. Otherwise, the competition in the industry of selling water is fierce, and it will be difficult for him to gain a foothold. He, a water seller, cannot marry such a good wife.

It's just that with the improvement of road conditions, the water price in Chang'an City is also falling. Many people get their own carts and go to the well to push water, and they don't want to spend money on it.

I heard that in some places, the neighbors also contributed money and effort to jointly build a canal, which directly brought clean water to their homes, so that they would no longer need to carry water to buy water.

Many water sellers have left their carts and poles and changed their professions. It’s just that these people have no skills and capital, and they don’t carry water with others, so they have to carry goods with others. Most of them have changed their professions to become porters.

It's not easy to be a porter. There are many villages beside the official roads from Chang'an City. Many villagers in those villages come out to be porters. Those people are strong and strong. The asking price is also low, and people from some places like to form cliques, which is very exclusive.

Recently, there are also several Hu people caravans, which are quite famous in Chang'an City. They sometimes buy and sell goods by themselves, and sometimes help others to transport the goods. Because of the relatively low shipping costs, many merchants are willing to cooperate with them.

For a team like this, they only accept Hu people, and they have to be Hu people from tribes that are familiar with them and have a good relationship with them. Han people generally don't trust them, and only a very small number of Han people can gain their trust.

This tall and strong young man met a caravan of Hu people who had just come to Chang'an City in the city before, and he led them across the road, and even gave them the water from his car to drink, which won the favor of these Hu people.

Those barbarians now often travel to and from Chang'an City. Although it is not a well-known large team, it has a good reputation. Those people once invited him to join the caravan.

The young man was also a little moved. After all, the job of selling water was not going to last. He had to make a plan early and find another way out for himself.

But if he goes out with the caravan and runs all over the world, only his wife and young son will be left at home. The security of the square where they live is not very good, so he is a little worried.

Thinking about things in my heart, the pace of my feet quickened and quickened, and before the sound of the closed door drum sounded this day, my small courtyard was already close in front of me.

The courtyard wall of yellow mud, the house of yellow mud, the thatched roof, the mud floor.The yard is simple, but fortunately it is tidy.

"Aye! Aye!"

"Hey."

"Look at your sweaty body, go take a bath."

"Hey."

"Have you bought something?"

"Bought it back."

"I talked to my brother and sister-in-law about borrowing the iron pot today."

"What did they say?"

"I'm a little reluctant."

"Don't go tomorrow, I'll go get it myself."

"Just now I went to weigh half a catty of caramel, you and them will bring it over tomorrow."

"Oh……"

It is always not easy for the poor to do something. This young man wanted to make a living by frying snails, but he didn't have an iron pot at home, so he had to ask his brother and sister-in-law to borrow it.

His brother and sister-in-law's family is not very rich, and the iron pot is also very precious. Although the relationship between the two families is not bad, they are reluctant to borrow valuables.

"If this fried escargot is successful, then we will buy an iron pot ourselves."

"There is not enough money and silk at home."

"I'll borrow some from someone."

"..."

"Don't worry about this, I have my own opinion in my heart."

"..."

Having said that, the pressure in his heart is actually very great. If the work of selling water stops, he will be replaced by others within a day or two.

All the money in the family was accumulated penny after penny on weekdays, and this time, I don't know how much it will cost.

This time, if the business of frying snails fails, he has no choice but to go out and work as a porter.

Early the next morning, he went out to fish for snails. There were people selling them in the city, but he was reluctant to buy them. He spent a whole day in the sun outside, and it rained again. At dusk, he carried half a basket of snails. return.

According to the instructions of the guy in the shop, some coarse salt was sprinkled in the water basin, some snails were raised in it, the water was changed several times, the snails were cleaned, and the tails of the snails were tapped one by one, and then they could be put into the pot for frying. up.

According to what the guy said, add a spoonful of lard to the hot iron pan, then pour the onion, ginger, and garlic into the pan, and then put the snails and stir fry...

At the beginning, they were still very nervous, for fear that they would not cook well, but after one and two fryings, the aroma in the pot wafted out, and it looked like the same thing. The more frying, the happier they were.

"The North and South groceries didn't lie to us! According to what they said, they can make fried snails!"

"This taste is really delicious!"

"You try it."

"hiss!"

"Don't burn it."

"Hey, delicious!"

"Aniang, I want to eat too! I want to eat too!"

"Take it, don't burn it."

"Wait for me to cook another pot, and I will sell it today."

"What do you wear?"

"Just use the bucket at home."

"Then I'll go and wash those two buckets."

Speaking of which, after Nanbei Groceries launched fried escargot seasoning in the past two days, restaurants and guest houses in the city also bought them and fried them by themselves, but like this young man, he fried them at home and went out to sell them in the streets, but still First time.

After selling water for so many years, he is also very familiar with the streets and alleys of Chang'an City. They are very clear about which family is mean, which family is kind, which family is thrifty, and which family is willing to eat and drink. Yes, where to sell the snails, I naturally have a good idea.

"Snails! Fried snails! A scoop costs a penny!"

"Hey, what's your fried snail like, bring it over and let us have a look."

"The fried escargot just out of the pan tastes good."

"First you need a penny to try it."

"Hey."

"Don't say it, it's really good."

"Eat one with me too."

"Wait, I'll go home and get a bowl."

"I want two pennies, you can call me a few more."

"Hey."

"Are you coming back tomorrow?"

"To come."

"..."

After an unlucky half a day, the load of snails was sold out. When they went home to count the copper coins, the husband and wife were delighted and shocked.

A spoonful of snails costs a penny, and a load of snails has dozens of scoops. After deducting the cost, if you do the math, you can earn more than 20 pennies. Compared with their previous daily income of two or three pennies, it is simply unbearable. Call it a huge sum of money.

The husband and wife fried and sold snails. After a few days of misbehavior, they bought an iron pot and came back.

Their brother and sister-in-law also followed suit to start this business. The two brothers collected snails to buy seasonings, and they helped each other out, so they had to rely on themselves for everything.

Some took the lead, and others followed suit. Soon, there were many hawkers selling fried snails in Chang'an City. A spoonful of snails cost one penny. The price was affordable, and the taste was quite good.

I heard that many of these hawkers who sell fried snails come from water sellers.

Originally, Luo Yong was not popular among these water sellers, but after that, many people said he was good.

There are more and more hawkers selling fried snails in this city, and the competition is naturally becoming more and more fierce.

Some people’s stir-fried snails are delicious, and if they are famous for selling fried snails, they will not worry about selling them. Every day in the streets where they come and go, there will be many servants from rich families waiting there, waiting to buy a piece of snail. Go back with fried snails.

In order to avoid the fierce competition in the city, some people simply took the burden to sell on the official roads outside the city. It is said that it is indeed easier to do business than in this city.

There are also those who are more courageous and aggressive, leaving their hometowns to start a business of frying snails elsewhere, but they have to ask their relatives and friends in Chang'an City to buy some seasonings from North and South Groceries, and ask someone to bring them over.