Mrs. Wang called everyone over and asked her children to take pens and papers to write down on paper.
The Duan family's scale consists of several thick weights and an old wooden scale engraved with rulers, and an iron hook is used to hang the items to be weighed.
Weighing is just a formality. Heavier firewood may not necessarily be resistant to burning. It is mainly fair.
Seeing that Mr. Wang had written this down on paper, the villagers were surprised and convinced. They put down the firewood one by one and went away with peace of mind.
-
On the afternoon of the next day, the door to Duan's backyard was crowded with people, all of whom came to exchange firewood for dried beans.
Some people send sticks of firewood, some people send dry straw mixed with branches, and some people send wooden stakes...
Duan Mingjing looked at the wooden pile and immediately stopped him: "What kind of firewood is this? Do you use wooden piles for cooking?"
The wooden stakes are heavy, but not easy to burn.
I don't know which tree the roots were pulled out, but the roots above are still neat.
The man who came over with the wooden stake immediately said with a flattering smile: "Mr. Duan, how about you give me half of the amount?"
Duan Mingjing shook his head: "No, how are you going to burn this thing? You can either go chop down the wooden piles for me, or replace them with something else! My house is not short of firewood!"
The man who brought the wooden pile here wanted to take advantage of it. He heard last night that the Duan family weighed firewood by weight, so he brought a wooden pile that was of sufficient weight.
Who would have thought that the Duan family wouldn’t want it!
With so many people rushing to deliver firewood to Duan's house, their family is indeed not short of firewood.
The man could only say with a flattering smile: "Master Duan, don't be angry, I'll go back and get some other firewood."
It took a lot of effort to chop the wooden piles into firewood, and it would be dark by the time he finished the work.
Duan Mingjing: "Take this wooden stake away from you."
"Okay, don't worry, Mr. Duan." The man said with a smile, and went to another place carrying dozens of kilograms of heavy objects.
Beijing does not pay attention to family separation. If parents still talk about family separation, they will definitely be scolded by the surrounding villagers. Although there are many people in Duanjia Village, there are less than twenty households together.
The Duan family's wives kept a count of the number of people in the village and made enough dried tofu overnight.
Counting the bowl given out yesterday and the one family that didn't come, the whole village came to change it.
The last person to arrive was a skinny old man carrying a basket of thorn strips.
Ms. Wang once heard from a woman in the village about her family's situation. The old man's surname was Duan. His son and daughter-in-law were gone. The old couple struggled to cultivate two acres of land to make a living for their only little granddaughter.
What a poor family!
The old man looked a little reserved, holding a bowl in his hand. He raised the broken pottery bowl in his hand and motioned to the firewood behind him.
Wang greeted him with a smile: "Is this old man here to exchange for dried beans?"
The old man nodded quickly and responded in a hoarse and old voice: "Yes, are there any dried beans?"
"Yes, just put the firewood here! I'll go back to the house to get you dried beans." Wang said enthusiastically and walked into the house.
When the old man saw this, he poured the dry firewood in the basket aside. He saw some slivers of firewood falling aside and helped sort them out.
Mrs. Wang came out with a bowl of slightly steaming dried tofu and held it up to the old man: "This dried tofu has been cooked for a long time, and some of it is broken. It doesn't look good, so I packed some more for you. Don't dislike it."
!”
As Wang said, she poured the dried beans into the old man's bowl. The bowl was full, but it was indeed a little broken.
A reserved smile appeared on the old man's face: "Thank you... thank you."
"You're welcome. You bought this for your own firewood. You have to eat these dried beans within two days. Don't leave them for too long. If you leave them for too long, you'll get a stomachache. If you get a stomachache and get sick, you'll have to spend money to see a doctor." Wang
Shi warned.
The old man nodded and thanked him again and again, "Thank you!" Gaoxing walked home holding the dried tofu in his hands.
Several children of the Duan family stood by the yard and watched, watching the old man leaving happily, and seemed to be able to understand a bit of his mood.
-
In the past two days, the most exciting thing among the villagers in Duanjia Village was not the fact that the descendants of the Du family were admitted to the scholar examination, but the braised dried beans exchanged from the Duan family.
No one who has tried it said it was not delicious!
"Have you tasted it?"
"I must have tasted it! It's very fragrant, more fragrant than meat, but it's just a little bit lacking. It's gone after one person splits it with chopsticks."
"Why don't the Duan family do more?"
"Just accept it when it's good! I heard from the Duan family's daughter-in-law that the food is cooked with spices and meat. The Duan family only collects the firewood if it's good for them. If it's transferred to the county town, it won't cost more than tens of coins per catty!"
As for what the spices were, the villagers didn't know much about it. Anyway, it was something they couldn't afford. The Duan family was wealthy, and they only had the opportunity to benefit from the Duan family's blessings because they were from the same village.
After hearing this, the people in the next village were even more envious, but it was a pity that they were not from Duanjia Village.
Then curious people came to ask about how to make this dried tofu and this spice recipe.
-
Wang opened a side door and looked at the men outside.
Several men in brocade clothes smiled and claimed to be from a certain family. They also carried gifts in their hands and came for their family's recipe for braised dried beans.
"This is our family's recipe. It's not convenient to tell outsiders." Wang refused and closed the door.
Several men were rejected and went back in despair.
Wang closed the door and turned around to tell Qiao Lan about the matter and her worries.
Compared with the neighbors, the Duan family has three men, plus Uncle Sun's son, which is a lot of people.
There are four young and strong men in total, which is more than enough for an ordinary family. But the Duan family has many children, a lot of property, and more than ten old and weak women and children. If they are targeted by some local tyrants and bandits, I am afraid that they will be killed.
Can't cope.
The Duan family's family fortune is not impressive in the capital, but this is Tongzhou, and the Duan family has no relatives. The Du family, the only one who is related to them, still looks like that.
If something happens to the family one day, I'm afraid it will be difficult to deal with it.
Qiao Lan's expression became serious after hearing Wang's words. She has a systematic monitoring function, but this function can only make safety judgments on the surrounding environment, not to protect them.
"Mom, why don't you buy two nursing homes? You can take care of the yard and help look after the house on weekdays. If some of the gentlemen in the family are admitted to the imperial examination, I can also help them." Mrs. Wang offered help.
"Buying people is difficult!" Qiao Lan sighed.
Previously, she asked Mrs. Wang to find a mother-in-law to come back to help with the housework. She searched around and couldn't find one. She wanted to buy a woman in the dental shop, but she didn't see any suitable ones, so the matter was shelved.
.
In Qiao Lan's view, they had returned to their hometown less than a year ago and lived in this village all day long. They didn't know much about the affairs of Lantian County, let alone whether the people they invited back to the house were good or bad.
What if there are some people who have ulterior motives and are thinking about other people’s things?
People in the dental shop can be bought out with a contract of sale, but they can't buy young and strong men who know boxing and kung fu in the dental shop.
Most of the people who can be bought and sold who are good at boxing and kicking are official slaves who have made mistakes, which are not available in the county.