In the kitchen of Li Xiu's house, a stove was burning vigorously, making the room warm, Li Xiu laboriously came in with a large wooden basin, the basin was filled with half a basin of well water, and then he took off the kettle on the stove, poured the hot water into the basin, and stirred it with his hands from time to time, until he felt that the water temperature and room temperature were about the same, then he put down the kettle, picked up the water scoop and carefully sprinkled the warm water in the basin into a water tank on the ground.

It is a very common thing to have a water tank in the kitchen, but this water tank in Li Xiu's kitchen is a little special, there is no water in the water tank, but it is full of sand, there seems to be something under the sand, but it can't be seen for the time being, and the whole water tank is set up on two benches, and there is a basin below, when Li Xiu pours water on it, the water flows to the bottom of the tank through the heavy sand, and then flows down a hole at the bottom to the basin below.

Li Xiu was very careful when pouring water, trying to pour all the places in the water tank, and after a basin of water was poured, he poured out the water in the basin below, and carefully checked a water tank and stove, and then left with confidence, and in the next few days, Li Xiu came in from time to time to add fuel to the stove, so that the room has been kept at a relatively high temperature.

After four days, the surface of the sand of the tank had risen one after another, and when he stroked off the sand above, he revealed the white and tender buds below, and the yellow and tender cotyledons on the top were still covered with green buds, which were very common mung bean sprouts in later generations.

"Haha, it worked!" Li Xiu looked at the mung bean sprouts under the sand, and couldn't help laughing loudly. A few days ago, when he was in Liu Lao's house, he saw the soybeans scattered on the ground with a flash of inspiration, and finally thought of a way to make money with small investment and quick results, that is, to make bean sprouts, originally he was worried that bean sprouts had appeared in the Tang Dynasty, but after asking Boss Liu, he knew that there were no bean sprouts in the vegetable market in winter, at least not in Chang'an City, which also strengthened Li Xiu's determination.

In fact, what Li Xiu didn't know was that bean sprouts appeared very early, but like the fate of many foods, they were only used as a medicinal herb at the beginning, and it was not until the Song Dynasty that they began to be used as a food, especially winter vegetables appeared in the vegetable market, and no one thought of using bean sprouts to cook in the early Tang Dynasty.

Bean sprouts are not difficult to do, the key is to maintain the temperature and regular watering, in the previous life, because of the "poisonous bean sprouts" thing, Li Xiu's wife was worried that the bean sprouts bought on the market were not safe, so she made her own bean sprouts at home, anyway, the heating at home in winter, the temperature does not have to worry, you only need to water every four or five hours, Li Xiu has seen it a few times and remembered it.

At that moment, Li Xiu took out the bean sprouts in the sand, when he made bean sprouts before, he sprinkled a layer of beans to cover a layer of sand, so the yield of bean sprouts in the entire water tank was very high, and finally it was filled with several large bamboo baskets, but he found that the container of the water tank was not easy to take out the bean sprouts, and it would be much simpler if it was replaced with a wooden barrel that could be removed at the bottom, which was a method that could be improved, and it could be said later.

After the bean sprouts were taken out, Li Xiu found that there were some unsatisfactory places, such as the upper bean sprouts were relatively long, and the middle and lower bean sprouts were relatively short, which looked a little uneven, but this did not affect the consumption of the bean sprouts.

In addition, the reason why Li Xiu chose to make mung bean sprouts is that the mung bean sprouts taste fresh, unlike soybean sprouts with a smell of beans, which is easier to accept from the taste, after all, the emergence of a new food must need the recognition of others, and secondly, he also prefers to eat mung bean sprouts. Anyway, the beans fed to the cattle are very miscellaneous, including soybeans, mung beans, and black beans.

At this time, it was already night, but Li Xiu still rushed out of the door, holding a big bowl of mung bean sprouts in his hand, he wanted to bring his invention to Boss Liu to see, it was best to let them take the bean sprouts to Chang'an City to try it out, to see if they could sell it at a high price, although he felt that for the Chang'an nobles who rarely saw vegetables all winter, bean sprouts would definitely be sought after by them, but after all, they also needed to be tested by facts, so he was also a little apprehensive at this time.

Walking through the uneven field road by the dim candlelight of the lantern, it was only about seven or eight o'clock in the evening, but there was no means of entertainment at night in this era, and the poor family was unwilling to consume lamp oil, so most people went to bed early, when Li Xiu came to the Li family Zhuangzi, the whole Zhuangzi was already quiet, only the local dog that watched the house barked a few times from time to time.

Li Xiu patted the doorpost of Mr. Liu's family and shouted a few times, it is estimated that Mr. Liu inside did not fall asleep, and quickly ran out of the door with his clothes on, and when he saw Li Xiu outside, he was also very surprised: "Why are you here so late, master?" ”

"Uncle Liu, I succeeded!" Li Xiu finally had the opportunity to share his joy with others.

"What worked?" Boss Liu hadn't figured out the situation at this time, but he still opened the door and invited Li Xiu in.

"Look at this!" Li Xiu handed the big bowl in his hand to Boss Liu, and brought the lantern close so that he could see the bean sprouts clearly.

"This ...... This is a sprout? Boss Liu was also very surprised when he saw the bean sprouts in the bowl, he had planted the land for so many years, and he naturally recognized the bean sprouts at a glance, and he remembered that Li Xiu had also asked him about the bean sprouts before, which made him vaguely seem to understand something?

"That's right, it's bean sprouts, and this is also a vegetable, if we take it to the vegetable market to sell, there should be a lot of people to buy it, with this business, we won't have to worry about the lack of food in the winter!" Li Xiu said excitedly again.

"But...... But can bean sprouts really be eaten? Boss Liu still couldn't believe it, although he had planted beans for many years, but he had never eaten bean sprouts, after all, for the villagers, a bean sprout is a crop, even if it dies, it will make him feel distressed for a long time, let alone take it to the kitchen to cook.

"Of course you can eat it, and it tastes very good, Uncle Liu, you go to the other masters in Zhuangzi and call them, let's discuss how to do this bean sprouts business!" Li Xiu showed a confident look at this time, although he was not sure whether the bean sprouts were popular at the beginning, but if even he didn't have confidence, Boss Liu and they might not be even less confident.

Boss Liu has a lot of respect for Li Xiu, so he agreed without thinking about his words, turned around and went out to call others, and after a while, the men of the other four families also came with clothes, and the five families in the Zhuangzi are actually a family, two of which are Boss Liu's younger brothers, and the other two are Boss Liu's brother-in-law, surnamed Zhang, one is called Zhang Feng, and the other is called Zhang Shu, and you will know the Zhuanghu family by listening to the name.

In fact, Li Xiu's mother handed over the Zhuangzi to Liu Boss to take care of, and the tenants also asked him to find it himself, so Liu Lao naturally had to give preferential treatment to his relatives, and whether it was his two younger brothers or his two brothers-in-law, they were all honest Zhuanghu people, and these people were the oldest and most prestigious with Liu Lao, and it was convenient for him to manage at ordinary times.

Several Zhuang men all gathered in the courtyard of Mr. Liu's family, because it was dark and cold, so Mr. Liu lit a fire in the yard, Li Xiu sat in the middle, took the bean sprouts and explained, and then let them circulate it, and everyone also tasted the taste of the bean sprouts, although they were raw, but they were not unpalatable.

"Master, this bean sprouts taste quite refreshing, but I just don't know if people are willing to buy it, after all, no one has ever eaten this thing before." At this time, a middle-aged man sitting on Li Xiu's right hand side spoke, this person looks very distinctive, the most eye-catching thing is that the eyes are big and small, which looks a little funny, this person is the second brother of Boss Liu, and he is nicknamed Liu Dayan, because his smaller eye looks quite normal, but the other eye is a few circles bigger than ordinary people, so he has the nickname of Big Eye, and even the younger generations call him "Uncle Big Eye".

"Uncle Big Eyes is thoughtful, our bean sprouts are a new vegetable, and if you want others to open the market quickly, you naturally need a means of promotion......" Li Xiu was suddenly stunned when he said this, he actually committed an occupational disease, and told all the rhetoric of holding a meeting for employees in later generations, completely forgetting that this was the early Tang Dynasty, and the people in front of Liu Boss were not his own employees, and now they all looked at him blankly, because they couldn't understand what Li Xiu's words meant by "marketing, promotion" and so on.

Seeing this, Li Xiu couldn't help but laugh at himself, he originally decided to let his work go to hell after the crossing, but he didn't expect that in order to survive, he would do the same thing again, and he no longer explained at the moment, but turned his head to Liu Laodao: "Uncle Liu, you go and call Aunt Liu out, I have something to explain to her!" ”