The spring behind the school is a mountain spring, and the water is especially cold. In the summer, it's like a natural refrigerator. It's a pity that watermelons have just come into season and are too expensive, costing 1.5 yuan per jin (500 grams). If we wait until watermelons are in season and only cost a few cents per jin, we can buy one, put it in the spring to soak, and enjoy it while cooling off in the evening. That would be so much more satisfying.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Baichuan went out without a word and came back with a basket of cantaloupes!
"Who gave it to you?" Jiang Xiaoman asked excitedly as she hugged the melon.
This cantaloupe is different from the ones sold in fruit shops. It's a local variety. It's not very big, and it's round. Moreover, these melons are divided into male and female. The ones with only one dot on top are male, and the ones with a navel-shaped dot on top are female.
The females are sweet, the males are crisp, and Jiang Baichuan's entire basket is full of females!
"What do you mean, who gave it to me? I grew it myself!" Jiang Baichuan snatched the melon away, preparing to take it to the spring in the backyard to soak it.
"Uncle, when did you plant melons? I didn't know that. I should have asked you for some melon vines."
“When I planted the melons, you were still at school preparing for your thesis defense.” Jiang Baichuan smiled and pointed to the eaves of the kitchen. “Last year, a student said his melons were especially sweet, so he picked a few ripe ones for me to eat. I saved the seeds, and this year I tried planting about ten seedlings. There are still quite a few left. You can go and get them yourself.”
"Then I won't be polite! There's still some empty space behind the new house, so I'll plant some melons next year too." Jiang Xiaoman ran to the eaves and, without any politeness with his uncle, directly grabbed half of the melon seeds.
They ate lunch in the teachers' office, which had an electric fan. Jiang Xiaoman had prepared several large dishes, all served in large bowls, which couldn't fit on the small dining table in the kitchen.
In the very center was a large stainless steel basin, with a small rooster weighing over four pounds, plus half a basin of potato chunks, making a whole basin of braised chicken with potatoes.
Next to it was a large plate with steamed fish head with chopped chili peppers. The fish head was so big that the edges drooped off the plate. It was covered with a thick layer of chopped chili peppers and had a layer of sliced winter melon underneath.
The presentation of this dish is so good that no one would doubt it if you said it was made in a restaurant. Jiang Xiaoman definitely didn't have this skill before.
But who can blame them when short videos have become so popular in recent years? Many culinary masters have started making short videos, and Jiang Xiaoman has been happily taking advantage of the free New Oriental courses, and has indeed learned a lot of beautiful and delicious dishes.
There was also a large stainless steel bowl of the same type on the table, filled with braised fish chunks with konjac tofu. This dish looked a bit like a culinary disaster, but you only realized how delicious it was after taking a bite. Jiang Xiaoman added soybean paste to cook it, and the fish was flavorful. The konjac tofu soaked up the fish soup and tasted even better than the fish.
There was also a plate of stir-fried chicken giblets with green peppers and a plate of smashed cucumber. Jiang Xiaoman didn't make anything else, afraid that if she made too much, she wouldn't be able to finish it.
It turned out that he had seriously underestimated the appetite of several adults.
The five of them ate every last bit of the chopped chili peppers from the fish head!
It was still very hot at noon in the summer. The group rested for a while in the teachers' office with the electric fan on. Jiang Xiaoman took the opportunity to open the background of her phone. She was surprised to find that the video of pickling salted eggs that she filmed yesterday had nearly 800,000 views and more than 200,000 likes. Tens of thousands of fans in the comments section were asking when it would be uploaded.
Salted eggs are indeed not as delicious as salted duck eggs, but what's that saying again?
Those who haven't tried it before are sure to find something good. Many netizens, especially those born in the 2000s, have never eaten salted eggs. Nowadays, in the city, let alone pickling salted eggs, nobody pickles salted duck eggs anymore. If you want some, just buy a box online. They're all vacuum-packed, so you can open as many boxes as you want without any hassle. The price is about the same as buying duck eggs to pickle yourself, so why make things difficult for yourself?
Seeing that there were too many inquiries, Jiang Xiaoman didn't have time to reply to everyone, so she simply posted a comment and pinned it to the top, explaining that the salted eggs had just been pickled and would be available for sale in half a month. She said she would film a video and put it on the shopping cart, and everyone could just go and film it when they saw the video.
The platform's rule is to prioritize pushing content to accounts that you've already followed. So, if you want to buy salted eggs from them, you have to follow their video account first.
Sure enough, after posting the comment at noon, Jiang Xiaoman discovered by evening that his video account had quietly gained over 20,000 followers...
Although he can't compare to those big names who gain hundreds of thousands of followers overnight, Jiang Xiaoman has a very good attitude. Those who follow him after seeing his videos of salted eggs are at least willing to buy, and they could all become customers!
However, to his surprise, many of his existing followers sent him private messages asking if he sold konjac, not the finished konjac tofu, but the freshly dug konjac.
Jiang Xiaoman was both amused and exasperated. He had plenty of konjac, and it wasn't expensive to sell, but the shipping cost was exorbitant! A single large konjac weighed at least five pounds, with the largest weighing over ten pounds. To be honest, the shipping cost for selling konjac was probably more expensive than the konjac itself.
However, ignoring fans' private messages wasn't a solution. Jiang Xiaoman's eyes lit up, and she nudged Principal Jiang, who was dozing off beside her, awake: "Uncle, are you selling konjac at school this year?"
"Are you going to let me ruin this place if I don't sell it? Sell it! I'll dig it all up and sell it later!" Jiang Baichuan couldn't help but criticize his nephew even in his sleep.
Jiang Xiaoman: "..."
I only ate a few konjacs from you! Why are you being so stingy!
If Jiang Baichuan is willing to sell, that's good. Plus, with his own stock, it should be able to be put on the shelves and we can give it a try.
Jiang Xiaoman quickly opened his shopping app and searched for the online price of fresh konjac. He was shocked by what he found; he almost regretted it so much he vomited blood.
Holy crap! Konjac here costs a little over one yuan per kilogram, but it's selling for six yuan per kilogram online! That's a six-fold increase!
However, upon closer inspection, Jiang Xiaoman realized that the price increase for konjac included free shipping.
Does this mean the shipping cost is factored into the product price?
Thinking about it carefully, it makes sense. After all, that's how modern people are. Six yuan a pound of konjac isn't expensive, but if you charge me eight yuan for shipping, then sorry, I'll check with other stores to see if they offer free shipping...
If we calculate it that way, this fresh konjac might actually be able to be sold?
Most importantly, once the konjac is dug up and covered in mud, it won't spoil in a short time. Even if it arrives via postal express, which takes 2-3 days longer, there will be no complaints about the konjac rotting or spoiling.
Thinking of this, Jiang Xiaoman quickly woke up his father: "Dad! How much konjac do we have left? Are there many people growing konjac in our village? I want to sell konjac online!"
"What? That thing is super heavy and a hassle to eat, why would anyone buy it?"
Jiang Youliang felt he might not be fully awake yet. Let alone city people, even in their rural town, no one was willing to make konjac tofu anymore.
If you want some, just go to the market and buy a couple. It's not expensive; a piece of konjac tofu the size of a bowl only costs two yuan, the same price as regular tofu. It's very convenient!
"Oh, Dad, you don't understand. This is the fun of young people. Just like how city people grow vegetables on their balconies, it's not about how many vegetables they can harvest, they just enjoy the fun of growing vegetables."
Jiang Xiaoman urged her father to ask a few acquaintances how many konjac plants they had grown this year.
"Dad, don't tell me I'm going to sell konjac online yet. Just say that someone might buy it. Let's find out how much there is in our village first. If we can't sell it, I won't bother anymore. We still need to sell the school's konjac first."
“You’re right to think that way. Don’t promise things you can’t do. As a person, don’t make promises you can’t keep, and leave yourself some leeway when you do things.” Jiang Youliang muttered a few words to his son, then stood up with satisfaction, stretched, put a pack of cigarettes in his pocket, and planned to visit a few acquaintances in the village to find out more about his son.
It was much easier at the school. Jiang Baichuan didn't plant many trees; he just planted them along the inside and outside of the school wall, like a greening tree. He could just count how many konjac trees there were along the wall.
Every household here grows konjac, and they know the yield of a single tree. They roughly estimated that the area around the school alone could produce more than 5,000 kilograms of fresh konjac.
Jiang Baichuan gave him a round number: "You help me sell five thousand catties, and I'll keep the rest for the students' labor classes."
"No, Uncle, are we making konjac tofu in elementary school labor class now?" Jiang Xiaoman exclaimed in surprise.
"What? Didn't you study how to make konjac tofu when you were young? Do you all end up like you, making a fool of yourself in front of netizens all over the country?" Jiang Baichuan sneered.
He still remembers the time his nephew's video of making konjac tofu went wrong.
Jiang Xiaoman: "..." My uncle's words have really hurt me!
Chapter 78
Their lunch break was interrupted, and everyone was no longer sleepy. While continuing to pickle the eggs, they discussed how to find people to dig up konjac if they were to sell it.
Jiang Baichuan's idea was that the school could hire a few stay-at-home mothers to help out.
This way, they can still get a small daily wage. These left-behind mothers usually stay at home taking care of their children, farming, and looking after the elderly, and they can't find much work to earn money. Jiang Baichuan often visits their homes and is very clear about the difficulties these left-behind mothers face.
Jiang Xiaoman nodded: "Then Uncle, please compile the list and give it to me later. You can just give me the whole contract for this school area, so I don't have to go through the school's accounts, and then the higher-ups will give me a hard time."
They've already received a lot of special treatment from their superiors, so they shouldn't keep causing trouble for their leaders every few days.
Thinking about the annual audits, Jiang Baichuan nodded, thinking that his nephew wasn't entirely useless except for his gluttony.
Jiang Xiaoman: "..."
Thank you so much! You still remember the good things your nephew did for you!
There's an advantage to outsourcing it. Just like most school cafeterias are outsourced, Jiang Xiaoman pays Jiang Baichuan based on the actual yield per acre. The rest is used to pay workers' wages, online sales, and after-sales service, all of which don't require the school's involvement, thus avoiding the chaos in the school's accounts.
As for whether anyone will say that Jiang Baichuan is taking advantage of the situation to benefit his nephew?
Anyone who says something like that should be sent to Langshan Elementary School for three years of immersive teaching support; then they'll understand.
Not to mention getting benefits for his nephew, Principal Jiang often takes advantage of him. He's reluctant to buy meat for himself, but every time Jiang Xiaoman buys meat, he eats just as much as his nephew!
Now that the school already had a base of 5,000 jin of konjac, Jiang Xiaoman didn't delay any longer. After all, netizens didn't have much patience (including himself). There were so many things sold online these days; if his shop didn't have it listed, those who couldn't resist their curiosity could simply buy it from other shops first.
In the evening, taking advantage of the beautiful sunset, Jiang Xiaoman asked Fang Xingchen for help to film a video of digging konjac on the back wall of the school.
The backyard is close to the back mountain, and there is a large, lush vegetable garden next to it. The background has a very pastoral feel. Two sunny and handsome boys are digging konjac with hoes under the sunset. This scene alone is enough to win over fans.
Moreover, Jiang Xiaoman herself did not expect that the konjac in this area of the back mountain would be of such good quality!
I dug up two konjac trees in a row, and the konjac tubers I dug up were huge. One of them definitely weighed more than ten pounds!
"It's probably because pig manure was piled up nearby."
Looking up, Jiang Xiaoman nodded and decided to fertilize her konjac plantations with more pig manure next year.
Holding this enormous konjac flower, Jiang Xiaoman smiled broadly at the camera and began selling her product.
"I received a lot of private messages from fans a few days ago, asking if I sell the fresh konjac from my family, oh, the kind that's just been dug up and hasn't been made into tofu yet. We've almost finished eating it all at our housewarming party this year, but we still have several thousand kilograms of konjac left at the school in our village."
“Those who watch my videos often should know that our village primary school does not meet the standards for building its own canteen according to regulations. But there is no other way. Some students live too far from the school. If there is no canteen, they can only bring cold porridge and roasted potatoes from home for lunch. Children will suffer from malnutrition if they eat these often. So my uncle raised funds to set up a canteen.”
"These konjacs were grown by the school itself, and they plan to sell them to subsidize students' meal expenses."
"Everyone, take a look. The konjac at school is all freshly dug on the same day. We'll send you some mud along with it when we ship it. If you're not in a hurry to eat it after you receive it, you can wrap the konjac and mud together in two newspapers and put it in the top shelf of the refrigerator. It won't spoil for half a month."
"If you place an order today, we will also include a bag of baking soda for making konjac tofu, as well as a recipe for making konjac tofu and several konjac tofu recipes, all in electronic format. You can send a private message to the shop assistant to receive them after you receive the goods."
"Oh, the waiter is me too. Our shop is a small business and we can't afford to hire customer service staff."
Jiang Xiaoman tried to lift the large konjac in her arms, but found that she couldn't lift it at all. She could only put the konjac down with difficulty and then pointed to the lower left corner.
"We have prepared two types of packaging. One is a five-pound trial pack. If it's your first time making it, you can buy a small amount to try it out. Five pounds of fresh konjac can make quite a lot of konjac tofu."
"There's also a 10-pound family pack, which is great for families with many members. We offer free shipping nationwide, except for a few provinces. If you really want to buy it even though shipping isn't free, you can send a private message to the shop assistant (me). You'll pay for the shipping, and I'll send you extra konjac."
Jiang Xiaoman was a little unsure about filming a video that directly sold products for the first time.
After thinking about it, he earnestly explained to his fans at the end of the video that he wasn't selling these konjacs to make money for himself. It was mainly because the school's operating funds were limited, and if he wanted to improve the students' lives, he had to find a way to earn money himself.
"If new fans don't believe me, I'll post the comments section for the official video account of Aitlangshan Elementary School. You can check it out in the comments section of the official video."
"The local pigs and chickens raised at our school, the vegetables grown in the garden, the fruit trees planted on the back hill, the native bees we raise, and the konjac planted along the wall are all managed by the school's teachers and students during their regular labor classes. The money from selling these crops will all go towards the daily expenses of the school cafeteria."
"Of course, if there are any leftovers, the principal will buy some paper money or notebooks as rewards for the students after the final exams."
"I'm not saying all this to take advantage of everyone's kindness. I just want to tell everyone that all the vegetables here are grown by the teachers and students themselves, and we use only organic fertilizer. You can absolutely rest assured that the food is safe."
Jiang Xiaoman thought for a moment and added, "However, everyone must be careful when making konjac tofu, especially when peeling and grinding it. You must wear rubber gloves. Konjac juice can cause skin irritation if it gets on your skin, and some people may even have severe allergic reactions. If you are not sure about your cooking skills, I suggest you do not try it lightly."
What does it mean to be "unsure of your cooking skills"?
Upon hearing this, the fans immediately rebelled and placed orders!
Let this clumsy food blogger see what true culinary talent looks like!
Since it's all self-produced and self-sold, Jiang Xiaoman sets its prices based on the average online price. The trial price is 35.8 yuan for five jin and 58.8 yuan for ten jin. Free shipping to most parts of the country, plus free baking soda. Considering the costs of packaging and express delivery, the profit is actually not much compared to retail.
Jiang Xiaoman, as a "contractor," could only earn a meager living from her hard work. However, even Jiang Baichuan was surprised to see that more than two hundred people placed orders in just one night.
Are people these days so unafraid of trouble?
It's worth noting that even Jiang Baichuan himself would never have spent so much time making a pot of konjac tofu if he weren't teaching his students how to make this traditional delicacy.