The next day, Zhang San and his younger sister said goodbye to Master Miaoying. The master was afraid that Zhang San would have difficulty walking, so he sent a Taoist priest to drive the brother and sister home in an ox cart.
The village where Zhang San lives is not very far from Xuande Temple and is called Zhangjia Village. There are exactly 60 households in the whole village, with a population of 135. Zhang San's family is just outside the village.
…
Zhang San followed his little sister to the house on crutches. Looking at the simple furnishings in the house, Zhang San sighed in his heart: "Looking at this situation, the beginning is a bit difficult!"
The little girl brought a bowl of water and asked Zhang San to drink some water and take a rest. Then she asked, "Brother, you said there is a way to make money. Is that true? What is the way?"
Zhang San thought that the little girl was still very worried about the foreign debt, so he told his little sister the method he thought of last night: "I am going to make a kind of maltose to sell."
"Maltose? What is this?" The younger sister asked curiously as she had never heard of it.
In the Tang Dynasty at this time, sugar was a kind of thing called stone honey, which was brought from the Western Regions. It looked like stones, tasted sweet, and was very expensive. The little sister’s family could hardly afford to eat, so naturally they didn’t see it.
Pass.
"This maltose is a kind of sweet. It is made from wheat germ through several processes. It is like amber in color, very beautiful and delicious." Zhang San briefly described it to the girl.
Hearing Zhang San say this, the younger sister was very surprised: "Third brother, how do you know this? I haven't seen you do it before."
"Third brother knows a lot, you will know it in the future." Zhang San had already thought about the wording, and after hearing what the younger sister said, he explained, "Have you seen the two things I brought back? They are all mine.
I found it in a cave after falling off a cliff, and I learned this method from there."
"Then, are we asking good people to be rewarded?" The younger sister has no doubt that he is there. For her, as long as the third brother comes back well, it will be fine.
"Of course, good people are rewarded. This is called a blessing in disguise."
The two brothers and sisters were talking, and the man from the village came to see Zhang San carrying something.
"Sanlang, I heard that you were injured. I brought some eggs and wheat to see if you were seriously injured, right?" Muramasa walked into the house and said caringly.
The younger sister stood up and thanked Muramasa, took the wheat and eggs that Muramasa sent, put them on the table, and poured a bowl of water for Muramasa.
Seeing that the visitor was the village chief, who was also bringing something, Zhang San quickly stood up with a cane and expressed his gratitude to the village chief, "Thank you very much, Mr. Murama, for your concern. It's not serious. I'll just rest for a while."
Then he called to the little sister, "Little sister, please bring a chair to Muramasa."
"I won't sit down anymore," Muramasa smiled and waved his hand, "The cow at home has just given birth to a calf. I have to go back and watch it quickly. You are busy."
Muramasa came and went in a hurry, and the younger sister sent Muramasa to the intersection. When he came back, he seemed hesitant to speak.
"What's wrong?" Zhang San asked with a smile.
The younger sister grabbed the corner of her clothes and said timidly: "Third brother, I just heard that Muramasa's cow gave birth to a calf. I want to go and see it."
After all, he is still a child at heart. Seeing that Zhang San came back safely, he found support in his heart again, but he was still a little embarrassed to say it at this time. After all, Zhang San was still injured and needed someone to take care of him.
"I'll go with you to see if the calf is growing strong." Zhang Sangang heard that Muramasa said that a cow was giving birth at home, so he decided to go and have a look. Wouldn't it be great if he could borrow some milk and turn maltose into toffee?
Beautiful?
When the younger sister saw that Zhang San was also going, she was worried about Zhang San's leg injury. Zhang San said that the distance was not far and it would be fine with a cane. So the brother and sister went to Muramasa's house together.
Muramasa was a little surprised when he saw Zhang San and his sister following them. However, he heard that they were here to see the calf, so he didn’t think much about it. After all, in the early years of the Tang Dynasty, cattle were very valuable, and the whole village turned out to be like this.
A cow.
When Zhang San saw that the cow had given birth, he asked his younger sister to take a look first, and then he walked into the house to discuss with Muramasa: "Muramasa, I want to discuss something with you."
"Oh? What's the matter?"
Muramasa originally thought it was just another matter of borrowing money. He had already thought of an excuse in his mind and did not want Zhang San to get straight to the point: "I want to borrow some milk from you."
"What?" Muramasa was stunned at first, then waved his hands repeatedly, "This won't work, this won't work. What will you eat if I lend you the calf? Besides, what do you want the milk for?"
"That's it." Zhang Sanyuan didn't expect Muramasa to refuse so completely. After hesitating for a moment, he could only tell the truth about his plan, "I want to use milk to make some milk candies and sell them. I will pay back the money when the time comes.
you."
"Milk candy? What's that?"
"Milk candy is a kind of sweet, made from maltose and some milk. I went out to collect medicine this time and met an outsider. I saved his life and he gave me this recipe. According to him, this recipe
The food is sweet and delicious, and both children and adults in other areas like to eat it. I thought that if I sell it to a wealthy family in the county, I will definitely make a lot of money."
When Muramasa went to the county town with Muramasa from a neighboring village, he saw a group of businessmen from the Western Regions selling something called stone honey, which was also a sweet. The price was very high, but many big families were rushing to buy it.
Now when I heard what Zhang San said, I felt a little doubtful.
"Even if the milk candy you mentioned can make money, can you make it? If you want to make this thing, just having a recipe is not enough. We are from the same village, and I still understand your family's situation."
Seeing that Muramasa still didn't believe it, Zhang San took a strong dose and said, "Well, Muramasa, I'll go back and make some maltose first, and then I'll give it to you to try. If you think it's feasible, let's talk about other things. What happens later?
If the first step fails, I will lend you something and I will work for you to pay for it."
"Okay, if you can make the maltose you mentioned, I can lend you some milk," Muramasa said when he reached this point, he relaxed, "But not more, after all, the calf still has
You have to grow up on milk."
"Just wait!"
Having achieved his goal, Zhang San felt a lot more relaxed, and now he finally had his first pot of gold.
On the way home, the little girl heard about Zhang San borrowing milk and was very curious, "Brother San, why did you borrow the milk?"
"Make milk candy."
"Milk candy? What is it?"
"You will know when you get back, and I will teach you then."
The two came to their home. Zhang San brought the wheat sent by Muramasa and asked the younger sister to find a small wooden basin to soak in it.
"Is that enough?"
The little girl's curiosity could not be stopped, so Zhang San had to explain patiently.
"This is just the beginning. After soaking, we have to put it there to grow buds, then crush the buds, steam them in a pot, dry them in the sun, press them, and boil them..."
"Ah, is it so troublesome?" When the little girl heard so many steps, her enthusiasm was half extinguished.
"The trouble is a bit troublesome," Zhang San rubbed the little girl's head and smiled, "but we will make a fortune from it in the future."
After finishing their work, Zhang San asked the little sister to take out his backpack, take out the seven or eight potatoes inside, cut them into pieces, and plant them in the yard with the little sister.
The younger sister also knew earlier that this was the fairy baby that the third brother brought back from the cave, and she valued the thing called potatoes very much.
The evening was spent in the anticipation of Zhang San and his little sister.