Erlipu is full of people, and the bank of the Qinghui River is even more noisy. From a distance, stone steps climb up the embankment from the river, and there are one such steps at intervals.

From time to time, people jumped from the boats below and climbed up the steps to the shore, from which the villagers who had risen early to catch the market kept flocking to the market town; There are also people who go down from the shore to the river and put their goods on large and small ships.

The embankment is also very flat, but there are no other shops except for a few stalls selling steamed buns and noodles – for safety reasons, no houses can be built in this area. If the tide comes, it will be too late to run.

Xiatangji is really not big - few rich families and big businessmen are willing to live here; It's not small - farmers from all over the country are pointing to buy things from here!

It is really relatively remote here, neither close to Qinghui County in the upstream, nor near Linhu Prefecture in the downstream, and there is no special culture, so it is destined not to become an important commercial town. If it weren't for Qinghuijiang passing here, I don't know how to be forgotten. However, the big ships going to Linhuzhou through the Qinghui River will not stop here, and even if they stop occasionally, they will only buy some daily necessities that are missing on the ship, and will not buy goods in a big way.

However, with the Qinghui River, it still makes life much easier for people here. Those rustic, hurried and weather-covered countrymen took some of their home-grown things to the market and sold them for daily necessities needed back home.

There was tiredness on their faces, but instead of sorrow and despair, they walked aloud about this year's harvest, what they had added to their homes, what they would plant in the coming year, and so on.

In such an environment, as soon as the burden of selling vegetables was put down, men who were munching on steamed buns and wowotou came around, some of them still holding bowls in their hands, which they didn't have in their hands before.

Yang turned the fire of the wood stove and added a few sticks of firewood; Laixi put the pot in the bamboo basket on the stove, took out a wooden spoon wrapped in cloth from the basket, and scooped the pig water from the clay pot into the pot.

The fragrance immediately wafted around, attracting the eyes of people who were still working. But at this time, many people have not finished their work, there are still few people who eat breakfast, and the villagers who rushed to the market have not turned back, so only a few people have bought water.

A thin black man bought three pennies of pigs to go into the water, and two of them were put in a small jar to take home.

He squatted on the ground while eating the vegetables, nibbling on the corn nest in his hand from time to time, and said to Yang: "Sister-in-law, the taste of your dish is really good." Yesterday I bought a penny of food to take home, and my mother-in-law and son like to eat it. said that it was a good deal, for a penny, you can't even buy a white-flour steamed bun! My mother-in-law asked me to buy two pennies today, take it home to satisfy my son's hunger, and save money! ”

An old man next to him said: "No, this dish is full of energy after eating and working." This girl is also sincere, and she scoops a lot every time, not at all like those treacherous businessmen. ”

Yang smiled: "This is a small business, and it all depends on care!" It must be washed clean, so that the pig will not smell strange when it goes into the water; It also has to be burned finely, so that it tastes fragrant. I want to do Changyuan's business, and I don't want to sell it for a while. Even in the future, someone will also cook this to sell, and you see that my food is cheap and delicious, and you keep buying mine, then it will be done. What's the use of selling it so expensive, no one can afford to eat it? ”

The black and thin man smiled: "I don't know about others, but I will definitely buy you." Yesterday, I was stunned to see that this was delicious, so I also bought a pair and went back to the water, spending four cents. His mother-in-law washed for a long time, but it was burned out and smelly, no one ate it, and it all poured out. You said that you can buy two big bowls of burnt for four pennies, not counting the work of washing and burning, and my sister-in-law also pasted sauce and green vegetables! ”

The old man said disdainfully: "He is angry that people make money, but he can't see the work that people spend." This dish doesn't need to be said by the girl, it must be labor-intensive to wash, and it also costs ingredients, and it is not cheap to burn. ”

Yang smiled: "That's." You see, the pig water in my jar is still hot, and that's because I boiled it in the pot all night last night, and it was only served early this morning. Sometimes they will get up at night and add a fire, so that the slow fire can only be flavored, crispy, and fragrant. The taste of burning in one go can't be so good. ”

The black and thin man and the people around him all changed color when they heard it, and sighed that it was not easy to make money.

As he spoke, the number of people eating breakfast gradually increased. In the past, most of the working country men bought a few wowotou or steamed buns for breakfast, but now they occasionally add a penny of pigs to the water.

Come to laugh and giggle and shout enthusiastically to everyone: "Bah! Big brother, the penny pig went into the water and picked it up. Uncle, you also want a penny, do you want more intestines? Okay! Uncle, come for two pennies, okay. What do you want? More fragrant sauce? Okay, just give you a little more, not too much. I'm not stingy, the smell of this pig is strong enough, you eat some more sauce, drink a stomach of water later, and go to the thatched house. ”

The crowd burst into laughter.

Yang kept collecting money next to him, and his eyes narrowed with joy.

Those men bought vegetables, held steamed buns and wowotou in their hands, and went to the river to squat or sit, eating and chatting!

The spicy taste, the slippery large intestine, the thick pork belly, the biting pig heart, and the soft pig lungs, these men sweat on their heads one by one, and they are happy!

The sun was a little higher, and the villagers who had rushed to the market came back one after another.

Along the way, they talked and laughed loudly, asking each other about the price of the goods in their hands, the quality of the things, where to buy them, etc.; Those who bought a lot of goods also called porters on the docks to follow behind them with their burdens or wheelbarrows; There are also many people who drag their daughters-in-law to the market with their babies, and the babies have some small foods in their hands, such as fried fruits.

When the group arrived at Erlipu, Yang's stall was immediately surrounded by a new round of customers.

The first to shout about buying were those little babies, they were hooked by the fragrance and didn't want to leave.

When the adults heard that they only wanted a penny, they were moved, but they were still not sure—they were worried that it would not taste good, and usually few people ate these dirty things.

However, all those who had bought the pig two days before did not hesitate to come forward and buy it for a penny or two.

So the people who hadn't bought it asked them, and they heard that the taste was very good, so they asked for a bamboo skewer to taste it.

I tasted it and immediately paid for it.

It's just that the one who has no bowl suffers. There was a person who refused to leave, so he had to borrow a bowl from the people working on the dock, buy it and eat it on the spot, and then return the bowl to others.

There were also those who had slightly better conditions, but they were greedy and felt that it was not expensive, so they went to the Fuxi grocery store under the guidance of Laixi, bought a coarse porcelain bowl or casserole, and came back to fill the pig into the water.

The babies ate with relish, and the adults looked at it kindly, smelling the fragrance, and wanted to taste it; But the first time the little baby ate this thing, she was naturally very greedy, and she ate the bowl to the bottom, and after eating, she licked her lips with her tongue; The adult took the empty bowl, saw that there was still some soup, and poured it into his mouth, only to feel that it was salty and fragrant, and it was indeed delicious!

If you can, you will buy another penny; The moneyless one reluctantly looked at the pig in the pot and went into the water, while pulling the baby to turn his head and leave, and the baby looked back from time to time.

That's it, Yang and Laixi quickly sold out the dishes, and they couldn't wait for noon at all. The people who didn't buy it because they came late stamped their feet and sighed.

Some of the men told Yang that they wanted her to do more in the future—they wanted to eat at noon.

Yang said that the family was too busy, and there were not so many water sales miles on the set! In such a small market town, at most three or four pigs can be killed in a day, and it cannot be sold if there are too many. But she also said that in the spring, she would burn some fish and shrimp to sell, and it would be a penny and a spoonful. Everyone listened to her words and looked forward to it.

Laixi quickly packed all the things into the bamboo basket, carried them by himself, and returned to the Fuxi grocery store with Yang.

After he entered the door, he happily said to Yang De: "Dad, someone came to buy bowls and casseroles before? They wanted to buy pigs to go into the water, and they didn't bring anything to put them in, so I pointed them here. After saying that, he smiled smugly.

Yang Defa smiled and glanced at him, and said to Yang: "I heard them say the reason for it. It's unthinkable that you sold pigs to water and brought my business, but they also bought baskets and sieves or something. ”

Yang said with a smile: "Big brother, the goods here are good and cheap, but the location is a little off, and there are not many people who know it. ”

Yang nodded smugly.

Yang poured a glass of water into the kitchen behind him and drank it, and said to Yang Defa: "Big brother, pick me two big pots today, and then six larger clay pots." In the evening, Lao Cheng, who was driving a car in our village, came to help me bring it back. Big brother, look at how much it costs! ”

As she spoke, she pulled out her purse.

Yang Defa was about to open his mouth to refuse, but Yang interrupted him and said, "Brother, settle the account, I'm buying something!" If I go to someone else's house to buy it, can I still pay for it? You don't need money this time, I'm embarrassed to buy things again next time. ”

Yang Defa had no choice but to say: "Then give a capital!" You see, since you came to the market to sell vegetables, I don't have to cook vegetables with Laixi, this is not money? I'll just help you bring the goods. Two large vats, one for forty wen, a total of eighty wen; A large clay pot, eight cents, a total of forty-eight cents, a total of one hundred and twenty-eight cents. ”

Yang couldn't do it, so he had to count out one hundred and twenty-eight dollars to give him.

Lai Xi ran over to Yang and said, "Auntie, can I send these things over for you at night?" I haven't been to my aunt's house for a long time, so I happened to talk to Aoki and Chrysanthemum! ”

Yang Defa didn't wait for Yang's consent, so he looked at him angrily and said, "Looking for Aoki? I see what you want to eat, right? ”

Yang hurriedly stopped the eldest brother from talking about him, and said to Laixi: "Then the aunt is waiting for you at home." Today, Chrysanthemum also asked me to buy some pig's trotters and pig's head to go back to burn, just so that you can taste the new. ”

Lai Xi Daxi, scratched the back of his head and smiled, and saw that his father's face was not good, and hurriedly said: "I will accompany my aunt to buy water!" He quickly pulled Yang out.

Leaving Yang Defa in the store and looking at his back angrily - this little son is not very clever, but sometimes he is like a little baby, not old!