Reborn in Dunhuang, I am farming and doing business in the desert

Chapter 43: Building a Kang
Shen Zhao didn't answer, but kept dragging the big bag into his room.

Then he smiled at the head of the village and the others and said, "I'm so sorry, I have to count these goods before I can show them to you."

After saying that, he closed the door and let his parents deal with them outside.

Qin Yi frowned and looked at Shen Zhao. He always felt that this girl was becoming more and more bold in her words and actions. She didn't look like a 14-year-old unmarried girl at all.

Shen Ang bowed to the head of the village and the others: "How come you guys have time to come to my house? What's the matter?"

The head of the village stroked his beard and said, "It's nothing serious. It's just that Qin Xiaolang wanted to buy some winter clothes from your family. He was shy and embarrassed to come to negotiate, so he asked me to come and negotiate."

Shen Ang glanced at Qin Yi meaningfully, then extended his hand to invite the village head and several others to come into his main house and sit down.

Qin Yi also followed and sat quietly at the bottom.

Seeing this, Zhang Shanyue had no choice but to scoop out boiling water from the ear pot to make a pot of Luoye tea and bring it to the guest. The second basket of buns was just coming out of the pot, so he picked up twenty more plump white buns and put them on the sieve and served them to the guest.

"Please try some steamed buns first, they are fresh out of the pan." She placed the sieve on the mat between everyone and went back to the kitchen to continue wrapping buns and steaming them.

With Shen Ang's humility, Zhang, the village head who was in his fifties, picked up a bun, put it in his mouth, took a bite, and immediately found it extremely delicious.

"Eh? What kind of filling is this? Why have I never seen it before?"

Shen Ang asked everyone to take one, and then explained: "The filling is made of radish from the Western Regions. I guess my wife also added ointment and soybean paste."

"Western radish? What is that?" one of them asked.

Shen Ang smiled apologetically: "Hu Shang only said it was called carrot, and I don't know the rest."

Another person asked, "Does Shen Tingjun have any seeds at home? I don't know how to plant them."

Shen Ang bit into the bun and said, "There are no seeds for now."

Qin Yi also took a bun and ate it, thinking about his own things silently.

In his previous life, he had never heard anyone talk about Western radishes, and the Shen family had never done business with foreign merchants.

But ever since Shen Zhao broke off the engagement with me, many things in my life have changed.

What annoyed him the most was that this change did not bring him any benefit at all, but instead the Shen family's life became better and better.

In just a dozen days, the Shen family suddenly became prosperous. They not only sold winter clothes, but also started a tofu business.

According to Azhi's neighbors, the tofu recipe was thought up by Azhao, and the tofu business was very popular, earning nearly a thousand dollars per market.

When Qin Yi thought of this, he felt a little annoyed.

Since Shen Zhao knew how to make tofu, why didn't she make it for the Qin family in her previous life? Did she keep it in reserve to guard against the Qin family?

What a vicious and selfish woman! Just to get angry with me, she resorted to such despicable means, causing my mother and younger sister to live a hard life for many years!
He took a bite of the bun angrily and looked at Shen Ang with a sinister look in his eyes.

Shen Ang seemed to sense something and raised his eyes to look at him.

Qin Yi shuddered and quickly lowered his eyelids.

After finishing a basket of buns, everyone still felt a little unsatisfied.

But the host didn't give me any more food, and I didn't feel comfortable asking for it.

So a few of them started chatting, talking about everything from taxes to next year's sowing.

The head of the village asked Shen Ang, "Erlang, when will your Ah Xun come back?"

"Soon, probably in the next few days." Shen Ang picked up the tea bowl and took a sip.

Yumen Pass where the eldest son is located is about 200 miles away from here. If he walks home, it will take more than ten days.

If you are lucky, you can take a caravan carriage or have your comrades to see you off, and you will probably be home in four or five days. The head of the village glanced at Qin Yi and asked in a low voice: "I heard that you want to give A Xun more labor, is it true?"

Shen Ang put down the tea bowl: "I have this plan."

"Tsk! That's a lot of money." The village head stroked his beard and said, "Even if Axun has served for half a year, he still can't be exempted without ten thousand coins."

Another person also said: "Ten thousand coins is not a small amount. Why should Tingjun spend this extra money? Why not wait until the term is over?"

Shen Ang laughed and said, "We'll talk about it later. I just have this plan. I'll make all the decisions after Ah Xun comes back."

"Yes, yes! We should listen to A Xun's opinion." Everyone knew that Shen Xun was coming back to get married, but before he got home, his bride suddenly remarried someone else. Anyone would make a big fuss if this happened.

I wonder if Shen Xun will fight the Cao family when he comes back? Maybe Shen Ang is afraid that his son will cause trouble, so he is preparing to give him more servitude?
At this time, Shen Zhao had already bought two large bags of old cotton-padded clothes. He unpacked them and took out a few pieces before going out.

She brought a few of the shortest cotton coats to the main hall and then went back to the kitchen to make dumplings.

After a while, the head of the village and several others came out of the main hall and bowed to Shen Ang, "I will take my leave now. You can discuss Qin Xiaolang's purchase. I hope that Chief Shen will put aside the past grudges and get along with Qin Xiaolang. We are all neighbors. It doesn't matter if we can't be relatives. We will see each other every day in the future."

Shen Ang smiled falsely and said, "Sure, sure!"

After the head of the village and his men left, he turned to look at Qin Yi, and said with a half-smile, "Qin Xiaolang, if you want to buy a few winter clothes, just tell me the number. As long as my family has them, I will definitely sell them to you. But I have to say this in advance. Those things are my daughter's private property, so I will not sell them on credit."

Qin Yi's expression froze slightly, and he clasped his fists and saluted: "Thank you, Uncle Shen, for letting bygones be bygones. I will go back and discuss this with my mother."

"Yes! Let's go back and discuss it." Shen Ang didn't want to even look at this guy, hoping that he would fail in the discussion.

Qin Yi bowed to Shen Ang again before leaving the courtyard.

Shen Zhao poked his head out of the kitchen and said, "Dad, another batch of buns is ready. Come and unload the steamer."

Shen Ang strode into the kitchen and asked in a low voice, "A Zhao, why is the cotton coat so small this time?"

Shen Zhao whispered, "I picked up the small one on purpose to show them."

Although he didn't mind selling the cotton clothes to Qin Yi, he could not let him use it to make money and let him climb to a high position by stepping on the Shen family again.

As expected, when Qin Yi saw those children's cotton-padded jackets, he hesitated. He probably felt that it was a bit of a loss to spend 250 yuan to buy one of these.

Shen Ang smiled and reached out to take the steamer.

He said, why would his daughter buy a bunch of children's cotton clothes?
Pour the buns in the steamer into a plate, and when the heat dissipates a little, Shen Zhao turns them over one by one.

The fragrance wafted everywhere, attracting several children to linger outside the fenced yard.

Shen Zhao took a few and walked out of the yard, calling out to the ragged children: "Come, take some and try them."

Among these children there is a girl about eight or nine years old. She is Azhu’s sister, and she came here to look for her father and brother who have never returned.

The children were very shy, but they still ran over to take the buns, took small bites, and smiled at Shen Zhao: "Thank you, sister."

Shen Zhao waved to them and returned home.

After steaming the buns, Shen Zhao and his parents dug the ground and built the kang wall in the side room.

The weather is getting colder day by day. It might snow someday.

Shen Zhao followed the process of building a kang in the bronze mirror world and built the kang enclosure and a small stove in just half a day.

I also bought several large kang bricks, and while my dad was at home, I asked him to help me put it on.

Then use yellow mud to carefully smear the kang surface, and a beautiful big kang is freshly baked.

"Isn't it too high?" Zhang Shanyue asked her daughter as she filled the hole in the kang with grass: "What if she falls down in the middle of the night?"

(End of this chapter)