Jiang Xiaoman squeezed through to greet the older sister and learned that piglets were too expensive in the first half of the year, and many families couldn't afford them. So, everyone started raising chickens, which caused the price of broiler chickens to drop. The older sister had no choice but to transport a truckload of broiler chickens to the market to try her luck. Otherwise, she would lose money if she sold them to chicken vendors at the wholesale price!
"Six yuan and fifty cents a pound? Sister, save twenty for me, I'll come to your house to get them myself later, live ones!" Jiang Xiaoman looked at the size of the broiler chickens, estimated that she would buy twenty to raise at home, slaughter two a day, and that should be enough to eat until the day the roof beam was raised. By then, they could also eat the ducks here, and water ducks weren't expensive.
There wasn't much else to buy, so Jiang Xiaoman queued up and bought four hot sesame seed cakes before heading to find Jiang Baichuan. When she got there, she saw that Principal Jiang still had half of his free-range eggs left unsold.
Sure enough, the woman at the chicken farm wasn't lying to him; everyone had raised a lot of chickens this year, and chicken meat and eggs were hard to sell.
"I think these free-range eggs of yours are destined to be saved for me to eat, haha~" Jiang Xiaoman put down his basket, casually found an empty spot next to Jiang Baichuan and sat down, giving him two sesame seed cakes. The uncle and nephew finished the sesame seed cakes, but still couldn't sell the remaining free-range eggs. Jiang Baichuan gave up, glared at his nephew, picked up the eggs and wandered to the general store, selling them to the shop owner for six cents each, and exchanging them for two large bags of broken noodles.
Jiang Xiaoman was speechless.
However, to his relief, Jiang Baichuan, like him, didn't buy lard after selling the eggs.
Because if pork prices rise, lard prices will inevitably follow suit!
"Hmph~ Nine yuan a pound of lard, I might as well buy two pounds of soybean oil~" Jiang Baichuan said resentfully, "When we slaughter the pig this year, I won't sell a single one! I'll render all the lard and keep it for myself!"
"You said it yourself! Don't regret it when pork prices go up!"
This wasn't the first time Jiang Baichuan had done this. The year before last, the school was raising four pigs to make cured meat, but at the end of that year, pork prices skyrocketed, with the purchase price reaching seventeen yuan per jin (500 grams). The penny-pincher Jiang Baichuan went crazy and sold three of the school's four pigs, keeping only one.
Jiang Xiaoman remembered this incident because his family didn't cure any pork that year either—his father, like Jiang Baichuan, felt that using pork costing seventeen yuan a pound for curing was simply a luxury! So they sold both of their pigs. As a result, that year for the Spring Festival, his family ate only aged ham, along with salted chicken and duck that he had cured himself…
These two are truly from the same family; they're practically brothers!
Jiang Baichuan really couldn't guarantee that.
After all, he was a man who couldn't resist the temptation of money. Every day, he was tirelessly thinking about how to fill the school's treasury. Even if pork was only 15 yuan, let alone 17 yuan, he would sell it all!
Wouldn't it be better to use the money earned to buy broiler chickens?
Since they couldn't buy lard, and considering that the two intern teachers hadn't eaten meat for several days, Jiang Baichuan, being frugal, went to the chicken farm and bought two chickens. Potato and chicken stew is quite delicious (and cheap) too!
Chapter 39
Instead of the lard they were craving, they only saw two plough-fed chickens with barely any feathers left. The two intern teachers were on the verge of a breakdown. Fang Xingchen mustered his courage and muttered under his breath, "Doesn't the school raise a lot of free-range chickens? Why do we still have to buy chickens from outside?"
"You said it yourself, those are free-range chickens, how expensive are they? My uncle would be willing to kill one and eat it himself? Be grateful! It's good enough that he has feed chickens to eat~" Jiang Xiaoman is just like a scumbag, he gets the person he wants and then starts to be perfunctory.
However, while he might be perfunctory in his speech, he was never perfunctory when it came to cooking.
Jiang Baichuan helped catch and slaughter the chicken. The chicken blood was kept to make blood pudding. The chicken meat was chopped into pieces, and half a basin of potato chunks were also chopped and braised together. When the soup was bubbling, Fang Xingchen, who was standing in the kitchen helping to film the video, couldn't help but wipe his drool.
Surprisingly, these feed-farmed chickens, which looked rather unappetizing, actually looked quite good after being cooked.
It doesn't just look good; it's also incredibly delicious when mixed with rice!
Fang Xingchen and Chu Mengluan immediately found it delicious and ate with great relish, holding bowls of rice that were as big as their heads. In addition to the potato and chicken stew, Jiang Xiaoman also stir-fried chicken blood curd and chicken giblets with pickled cabbage. The chives from the garden were also ready to eat, so she cut a couple of bunches and stir-fried them with eggs. The chives she grew herself tasted better than those sold in the market. She didn't know if it was just her imagination, but even Chu Mengluan, who used to hate chives, couldn't help but take several bites of the stir-fried eggs with chives.
"I also marinated a pot of fish pieces for you. These can't be eaten directly; they need to marinate until tomorrow. When you want to eat them, take them out and wash them to remove the salt. Then, spread them directly on a plate, add some shredded ginger and chopped green onions, drizzle with rapeseed oil, and steam them. If you like a stronger flavor, you can add two spoonfuls of fermented black beans to make steamed fish pieces with fermented black beans. It's up to you."
After explaining what to cook for tomorrow, Jiang Xiaoman carried the things he had bought and a chicken in each hand up the mountain—he would temporarily leave the rest of the chickens at the school, and his father would bring the cages and carry them all up the mountain when he had time.
Living in the mountains has this one inconvenience. Jiang Xiaoman thought that when they have money, they should learn from Banligou and build a zipline up the mountain, which would make it much more convenient to transport things.
Jiang Xiaoman had arranged to meet Aunt Chen after 2 p.m. After delivering the things home, he carried a jar of lard and a large bag of wild vegetables from the mountain to the school. The lard was rendered by his family when they slaughtered a pig last year, and there was still quite a bit left. Life in the mountains was hard, and when making vegetable and egg soup, it was a blessing to be able to add a spoonful of lard. He was giving it to the two student teachers as a treat.
The wild vegetables were dug up while weeding his family's tea garden. They hadn't been picked yet and were mixed with weeds. It would be a waste to throw them away, so he brought them to school. Those who wanted to eat them could pick some fresh ones, and the rest could be chopped up and fed to the pigs without feeling bad.
Seeing Jiang Xiaoman dump a large bag of wild vegetables mixed with weeds on the ground like she was dumping pig feed, Jiang Baichuan's lips twitched a few times. Fang Xingchen had already run to the office to get a tripod.
"You're going to ruin my flour by cutting so much purslane? Are you going to make steamed buns or vegetable dumplings? You didn't buy any meat, are you just going to use purslane?" Jiang Baichuan said sarcastically.
He used to buy two bags of flour, enough to feed the entire school for two months. But since Jiang Xiaoman came back, two bags of flour aren't even enough for half a month. What a spendthrift!
"Hehe~ I'll borrow your big steamer to steam some vegetable dumplings." Jiang Xiaoman chuckled, taking out the lard he had brought and a large piece of marinated wild boar meat from his basket. He hadn't brought any flour, but Jiang Baichuan and the others would eat it anyway. Who would eat for free without contributing anything? He had to squeeze a lot of money out of Principal Jiang!
Jiang Baichuan clutched his chest in distress as he returned to his office. Recently, he had developed a new ailment: he couldn't bear to watch his nephew, Jiang Xiaoman, cook. He always felt that this spendthrift son would squander all of his family's wealth at any moment...
They set up a tripod and aimed the lens at the wild vegetables on the ground. Two student teachers also squatted down to help pick the wild vegetables. This task was very novel for these children who grew up in the city. Especially when they listened to Jiang Xiaoman talking about how to eat this wild vegetable and how to eat that wild vegetable, their mouths were practically watering.
"Alright, I've taught you all the edible parts. You can start picking them, and then wash them clean at the sink. I'll go cut up the salted meat." Jiang Xiaoman stood up.
They said they would "try their best not to harm Principal Jiang's flour sacks," but how could that be?
Jiang Xiaoman estimated the number of vegetable dumplings she needed to make today, scooped out half a basin of flour, and couldn't help but smile when she thought of her uncle's pained expression.
I forgot to tell his uncle earlier that although their video account's revenue hasn't increased dramatically these past few days, they're still making two or three hundred yuan a day. In other words, as long as they keep going and people continue to watch their videos, they'll have enough money to buy meat, let alone flour.
I skinned the marinated wild boar meat I brought from home and cut it into cubes. Since it was marinated, I didn't need to add any extra salt. I just sprinkled some pepper and chili powder on it for seasoning and added half a bowl of minced garlic.
By this time, the wild vegetables had been washed, and Jiang Xiaoman boiled half a pot of water and put the wild vegetables in to blanch them.
Wild vegetables in this season, before they get infested with insects, usually have a special smell. They need to be blanched first, then repeatedly rubbed and washed in cold water, and squeezed dry. Only wild vegetables treated in this way will taste good.
Seeing that Chu Mengluan was eager to try, Jiang Xiaoman smiled and asked her to come over and help chop the wild vegetables. The chopped wild vegetables and diced salted meat were mixed together and then wrapped in dough. Unlike making steamed buns, vegetable dumplings are very simple. Just wrap the filling in dough and roll it into a fist-sized dumpling.
"You two give it a try. I'll go out and pick some mulberry leaves. You can't make this stuff without mulberry leaves." Jiang Xiaoman went out with a bamboo basket and returned with a large basket of fresh mulberry leaves in no time. She washed them and put them aside to drain.
The prepared vegetable dumplings should be placed one by one on mulberry leaves and then steamed in a steamer. This makes the vegetable dumplings easy to hold and eat, and also prevents them from falling out.
Just as I finished washing the mulberry leaves, Aunt Chen came over.
"Oh my! You're steaming vegetable dumplings? I also brought some tofu cakes." Aunt Chen smiled and lifted the basket in her hand. Inside was a steamer cloth wrapped around the dumplings. When the cloth was opened, there were rows of neatly arranged dark green round cakes.
This kind of cake is called "baba" here. The outer skin is made of glutinous rice, and the dough is made by mixing the juice squeezed from fresh mugwort leaves with glutinous rice flour. There are also many kinds of fillings, with different varieties in each season. Today, Aunt Chen made one with minced meat and tofu filling, and also added diced bamboo shoots.
“I brought a lot of rice cakes. Xiaoman, you can take half back with your dad and try them. Give the rest to the principal and the two teachers.” Like most people in the mountains, Aunt Chen has great respect for the teachers at the school. She often makes sure to bring some of the delicious food she makes for them as well.
Jiang Xiaoman didn't stand on ceremony with her, thanked her with a smile, wiped her hands with a rag, and took Aunt Chen to find her uncle.
Uncle Baichuan knew that Aunt Chen's son would be starting first grade next semester, and when he heard that she wanted to send him to an extracurricular class early, he thought about it and explained the situation to her.
“You can come, but the school doesn’t have a life skills teacher right now, and you’ve never been to first grade. We can manage discipline, but you’ll have to go back and teach him how to do things yourself, like going to the toilet, getting food, washing dishes, tidying up the desks and chairs, and not disturbing others during nap time. If you can do that, then bring him over.”
"Let's make this clear first: if it affects the learning progress of other students, they'll have to go home and wait. Actually, there's no need to rush into early education; we also have arts and sports courses in the first grade."
Jiang Baichuan could really understand these parents' feelings, especially those whose birthdays were close to September 1st, making them almost a year younger than their peers. This meant their children might struggle to keep up mentally and in terms of lifestyle. In the city, this wouldn't be difficult; they could simply pay for a preschool-to-primary transition program to help them adapt in advance. But where could they find such a program in their remote mountain village?
However, judging from what Mrs. Chen said, she wanted to send her son here because of their new PE teacher? Did she want to learn ball skills from him?
Aunt Chen didn't care about any of that. Anyway, Jiang Baichuan had already agreed. As for his living habits, her son could even feed pigs and could do things like washing dishes and picking vegetables at home. What was there to worry about?
The only worry is that the child has too much energy. He never takes a nap at home, and I don't know if he can sit still at school. Mrs. Chen decided that when she got home, she would scare him by saying that children who don't take a nap are not allowed to play football. Let's see if he dares to move then.
After Aunt Chen finished dealing with the children's schooling, Jiang Xiaoman couldn't wait to look at the handmade embroidered shoes he had ordered. He had never studied embroidery and didn't know how to make shoes at all, but that didn't stop him from having basic aesthetic sense. These embroidered shoes, just by looking at the stitches, showed that a lot of thought had been put into them. The soles, made of many layers, were also very sturdy, completely different from the rubber or tendon-soled antique-style embroidered shoes sold in the market.
"Embroidery is quick, but sewing the soles of these shoes, stitch by stitch, is so slow and exhausting. I've had to ask around several times if we could buy ready-made rubber soles," Aunt Chen said, glancing at him with a hint of trepidation.
It was her first time doing business and she had to negotiate terms with people, which was quite difficult for her. But what they said made sense. The soles of these shoes were all hand-sewn, and the labor alone was worth a lot of money. If they were sold at the current price, it would be like everyone was working for free.
"How about this, I'll ask around and then reprice the shoes based on everyone's working hours. For those who want to buy these multi-layered handmade cloth shoes, I'll try my best to get a reasonable price. For those who don't mind using rubber soles, we can also make small profits but sell in large quantities." Jiang Xiaoman also felt that this problem had to be solved. After all, he wasn't the one who actually made the shoes with needle and thread, and he couldn't step on the villagers' hard work to open up the market.
This time, Aunt Chen brought more than thirty pairs of embroidered shoes with multi-layered soles, as well as two red veils, which were specially made for two young ladies who are getting married in the second half of the year. They were both embroidered with auspicious dragon and phoenix patterns in gold thread and were very exquisite.
Jiang Xiaoman took out her phone and took detailed pictures and videos of the finished products. She planned to make a special video about the delivery process, with the focus on expanding into the "high-end customization" market. For example, her handmade cloth shoes with layered soles were exquisite and durable. Nowadays, girls don't wear Hanfu often. If you order a pair and take good care of them, they can last for ten years or more without breaking. That works out to only a few dozen yuan a year. For the price of two cups of milk tea, you can get a pair of exquisite and high-end handmade embroidered shoes. Jiang Xiaoman thought it was a good deal.
Despite his family's poverty, he quite likes buying discounted brand-name shoes and clothes from shopping malls. The prices aren't much higher than those of off-brand items on the market, but a pair of shoes can last for several years. Unlike the cheap ones he used to buy at night markets, which only lasted a few months before the soles broke or the seams came undone and the leather peeled off. In the end, he realized that buying discounted brand-name shoes was actually more economical.
If even a guy like him thinks this way, then girls who are even more frugal than them must think.
Regardless, this is a path he has to try. In terms of cost-effectiveness alone, he definitely can't compete with those who make factory assembly lines.
"If all else fails, we'll have to take everyone beekeeping." Jiang Xiaoman had already planned out her backup plan, and suddenly felt that there was nothing to be afraid of. To put it another way, there was Tang Xinlan's Zen meditation homestay project as a safety net.
So people just can't stand being nagged. He had just thought of Tang Xinlan when he received her call that evening.
Chapter 40
"Xiaoman! Can you help me collect another batch of red potatoes? I'll take as many as you have!"
What?
Jiang Xiaoman was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed: "Sister Lan, is this something the tourists want to buy?"
"He's not a tourist, he's your brother-in-law, haha." Tang Xinlan laughed and revealed President Su's identity.
Su Peng has a classmate whose family is also very wealthy. For four generations, his family had only had boys. Finally, in his generation, they had a precious daughter. The whole family was overjoyed and wanted to cherish her. She was pampered from a young age and became a very picky eater.
The picky little princess came to Shangtang Village with her parents and ate mashed potatoes for three days in a row, still clamoring for more.
“The red potatoes from your area are perfect for making mashed potatoes. Your brother-in-law and the company’s product department got together and decided to develop an instant mashed potato product for children.”
“If this product can be successfully sold, I think you should stop growing corn on your land and start growing potatoes instead. Just selling two crops of potatoes a year would be enough for your father to support himself in his old age.”
"That's enough! Sis, you wait, I'll contact the seller for you right now!" After hanging up the phone, Jiang Xiaoman held her phone and jumped around several times in her makeshift shack, almost bumping into the bamboo on top.
Jiang Youliang was exhausted after a long day. When he came back from taking a bath, he saw his son jumping around excitedly like a squirrel in a tree. He couldn't help but smile and asked, "Did you sell those embroidered shoes again?"
"No, Dad, it's our local potatoes! Sister Lan said her husband's company plans to develop a mashed potato product specifically for children using our red-fleshed potatoes, and they're going to buy a large quantity of our potatoes!"
"Dad! How about we dig up the corn and plant potatoes instead?"
The little money-grubber has been captivated by the profits right before his eyes.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Our corn is almost tasseling! If you want to grow potatoes, go clear the land yourself!" Jiang Youliang hates nothing more than people wasting food. When his mother named him, it was during the Cultural Revolution, and seven members of his family starved to death. Their greatest wish was to have an endless supply of food. Now that they finally have more than enough to eat, these brats dare to dig up his perfectly growing corn?
Jiang Xiaoman sheepishly grabbed her phone and went outside to make a call.
When he told Tang Xinlan that he would contact the seller immediately, he wasn't just saying it casually. When he asked Aunt Chen to help him find someone to make embroidered shoes, he casually made a table and wrote down the names and phone numbers of people who were willing to do handicrafts with them to earn some pocket money. He originally thought that this would make it easier to contact them, and if any master craftsman was skilled, he could contact them separately to take on some high-priced custom work in the future.
Unexpectedly, before they even started doing high-end customization, they began leading everyone to sell potatoes. These aunties and sisters-in-law who stayed in the countryside were the pillars of their families when their husbands were away. They handled both farming and selling grain. If you wanted to buy potatoes, you could definitely go to them!
However, since they were old acquaintances, Jiang Xiaoman called Aunt Chen first.
Sure enough, as soon as Aunt Chen heard that he wanted to buy potatoes, she immediately perked up: "Yes! Who in our village doesn't have potatoes? How many do you want?"
Remembering what Tang Xinlan had told him before, Jiang Xiaoman cautiously gave her a conservative figure: "Let's buy five thousand catties first, but I only want this year's new potatoes, not last year's!"
Are you kidding me?! Sister Lan already said that these potatoes are meant to be made into mashed potatoes for the baby. Kids these days are so precious! Would you dare feed them last year's stale potatoes? That would bankrupt her!
"How much is it per pound?" Aunt Chen asked cautiously on the other end of the phone.
Jiang Xiaoman did ask about the price, but since it was for the factory to make mashed potatoes, the appearance didn't need to be as nice as the potatoes that vendors were buying at the market. As long as they were new potatoes from this year, the size didn't matter too much. However, the price wasn't as high as the potatoes that vendors were buying, only three cents a pound.
"You want both big and small? Okay! My family harvested over two thousand catties this year. After deducting the ones that got damaged, we estimate we can make over a thousand catties of good potatoes. What about the remaining families?"
Jiang Xiaoman smiled. He had gotten to know Chen Sao a little better after dealing with her for a while. She was a kind-hearted person, but sometimes she liked to favor relatives and friends. That wasn't a big problem. That's how it is in the countryside. And to be fair, most people in Langshan have the surnames Jiang, Lang, and Shan. Their ancestors might have been from the same family, so it couldn't be called favoritism. Chen Sao probably meant that she wanted to help her relatives sell some potatoes.
"Sister Chen, could you please ask around the village to gather enough for 5,000 jin? I have two requirements. First, it must be this year's new potatoes. When the time comes, please write the name of the family that bought them on the bag. I need to check each bag. If I find any potatoes from last year mixed in, I won't buy from that family next time."