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

Chapter 68 Completion
Shen Zhao was silent for a moment, then asked, "Whose neighbor are you from?"

In this dynasty, five households formed a neighborhood, ten neighborhoods formed a li, ten li formed a pavilion, ten pavilions formed a township, and the township was under the jurisdiction of the county.

The five families living next to the Shen family all started the tofu business, and the children in the family also bought cotton clothes on credit from Shen Zhao to sell, and basically escaped poverty.

She was a little uncomfortable when she first saw the villagers in such a miserable state.

The ragged boy pointed to the south and said, "My home is over there on the sand hill."

Shen Zhao looked in the direction of his finger and nodded: "You wait."

Then he went home, took out a pair of children's cotton pants and handed them to the girl: "Put on the pants. It's so cold outside. Don't catch a cold."

The girl took the cotton pants and her chapped face slowly turned red with embarrassment.

It turns out that she also knows how to be shy. Shen Zhao sighed and watched the girl put on her cotton pants.

"What's your name?" Shen Zhao asked.

The girl answered quietly, "My name is Song Qiao, and my brother's name is Song Yuan."

Shen Zhao turned his gaze towards the young man: "Where is your mother? How many brothers and sisters do you have at home?"

"She passed away last year." Song Yuan lowered his head and said, "She also has a seven-year-old brother and a five-year-old sister at home."

Shen Zhao was silent for a moment, then said softly, "Then are you willing to go into business with my second brother?"

This is all I can do to help. As for whether he can do the job, it depends on his ability.

"I do!" The boy's eyes suddenly shone brightly, and he pulled his sister to kneel down in front of Shen Zhao and bowed deeply: "Thank you, girl, I will work hard."

Song Yuan thought that Shen Zhao wanted to hire him as a helper. After all, the whole Anle Township knew that the Shen family not only opened a tofu workshop, but also bought cotton clothes from Hu merchants and sold them, making a lot of money. It was natural for them to spend money to hire a worker now.

He didn't care how much money the Shen family gave him, as long as he could have a big bowl of rice every day like he did now.

In this way, my younger brothers and sisters will not starve to death.

"Hurry up." Shen Zhao helped Song Qiao up, and then pulled up Song Yuan: "When my housework is done, you can follow Ah Zhu and the others and sell tofu and clothes as you like."

"Yes!" Song Yuan agreed readily and happily picked up the bowl to eat.

Shen Zhao asked him to go to the kitchen again and filled two large spoonfuls of tofu vermicelli for him.

After a few more days, the Shen family's large courtyard was finally built, and two tofu workshops were built on the east side of the courtyard, next to the kitchen.

The walls of the workshop and the courtyard walls are made of plywood and rammed earth, which are strong and durable. The roof is made of newly purchased millet and wood.

As for the doors and windows, Shen Zhao bought the drawings from the mall and asked Uncle Qin to make them according to them, so the windows were very large, with two half-person-high sashes.

Shen Zhao also nailed transparent windproof plastic film on the window sashes, so the workshop would be bright as long as it was daytime.

Then he asked someone to build two large stoves, which were bigger than the stove in his own kitchen, specifically for cooking soy milk.

After the two large iron pots were installed and the stone mill was carried in, Shen Heng went to the market to buy a few large water vats.

With one mouth for hanging bean dregs, two mouths for storing water, and a few wooden barrels made by Uncle Qin, the workshop is considered complete.

"Hey? Where did you buy this window paper? I also want to buy one to cover the windows." Someone touched the plastic sheet curiously with a look of surprise.

Shen Heng: "There is only one copy, you can't buy it anymore."

He also wanted to open a big window in his room, but his mother and sister refused.

"It's time to eat! It's time to eat!" Ah Zhu brought out bowls of white rice from the kitchen and placed them on the large square table. There were stews piled on the rice, and two pieces of fat were vaguely visible. "Today is the completion meal. After you finish eating, Ah Zhao will distribute cotton clothes and trousers to you." Ah Zhu said proudly.

Everyone laughed when they heard this: "Do you have any cotton shoes? The pair I'm wearing are all torn, why not give me another pair to wear."

Ah Zhu snorted, "We agreed on a cotton coat and cotton pants before, don't push your luck. Do you know how much a cotton coat costs now? Five hundred coins each, it's really a big loss to give it to you as a living wage."

Another teenager also said: "If you really want shoes, just exchange them for cotton clothes."

Everyone stopped talking immediately, finished their meal quickly, drank a big bowl of hot seaweed and radish soup, and all looked towards the room.

After a while, Shen Zhao dragged out a large bag and a list of names to be hired, and handed them to Ah Zhu and the others: "Help me distribute them. Ask them to put their fingerprints on their names after they receive the things. If they are older or younger, they can be exchanged."

"Okay! A Zhao, you go and do your work, we are here." A Zhu called a few young men to come over to help, and soon thirty cotton coats and thirty pairs of cotton trousers were shining.

Everyone took their cotton clothes and quickly said goodbye and went home. Before leaving, someone asked Shen Heng: "Shen Erlang, how do you make tofu? Can you teach us?"

Shen Heng glanced at him sideways: "Haven't you seen it all these days? How else do you want me to teach you?"

During the days of building the wall, my family did not stop making tofu, but the quantity was much less.

Some people came to watch intentionally or unintentionally, and even went home to try it secretly. It turned out that grinding soy milk was a big problem, and making tofu was even more confusing.

Without exception, all the sneaky attempts failed, so everyone turned their attention to the white powder used by the Shen family to make tofu.

Someone secretly told Shen Heng about these things.

"Then can you tell us what the tofu is every time you order it?" someone asked shamelessly.

Shen Heng bared his big white teeth: "This is the Shen family's ancestral secret recipe, it is not to be passed on to anyone else."

Everyone who was still listening with their ears pricked up:
Shen Heng added, "There is one more thing. We are planning to build an inn near Tingyi. If you have nothing to do, you can come and help. As usual, we will provide a meal. After the construction is completed, each person will receive a cotton coat and a pair of cotton pants, as well as a quilt."

"You haven't seen a quilt before, have you? You can go to my room and take a look. It's very thick and warm. It sells for more than a thousand dollars a quilt outside."

The inn is large and no one would do the job if the wages were too low, so my sister decided to give out quilts after the work was completed.

When everyone heard this, they became excited and rushed into Shen Heng's room. They saw two thick quilts on the kang.

Just as they were about to reach out and touch it, they were stopped by Shen Heng: "You can only look but not touch. Just tell me whether you want to go or not. If you don't want to go, I will find someone else. Anyway, there are many people free right now."

"Go! Who says not to go?" Everyone nodded quickly.

Shen Heng: "Okay, let's make a deal and meet at the post station the day after tomorrow. By the way, does anyone have wood to sell? I'll buy it. We also want tendon grass, as well as millet and water chestnut for the roof."

Everyone: "We'll go back and ask for you."

"I have water chestnuts and millet at home, but I can't sell them all to you."

“I have wood at home”

"I have a few straw mats. Do you want them?"

Shen Heng: "I'll take any if the price is right, but there's one thing I want. Please ship them all to Tingyi."

Everyone:.
As twenty or thirty people were discussing, they suddenly saw a group of garrison troops coming on horseback.

The leader shouted, "Is Shen Xun here?"

(End of this chapter)