dognovel Chapter 334 Who are you?
Chapter 334 Who are you?
"Hey, don't come any closer!" Uncle Hu couldn't help but block him, not wanting him to come over and ruin such good wine.
"Don't come any closer, or you'll spill it! Come on! Come on! Let's try it together." Uncle Hu finally couldn't resist telling him.
"Let's go, let's go!" Brother Nie quickly ran into the kitchen and brought out a plate of peanuts.
The two grown men sneaked into the warehouse and started drinking, taking turns sips. Chen Wenfang filled the bowl to the brim; it contained about two ounces.
"Hiss! This wine is really good. It's slightly sweet at first and smooth on the palate." Brother Nie popped a peanut into his mouth.
"Hehe, isn't that right? This wine is really good. This lady is truly clever." Uncle Hu said with pride.
"Come on, let me have another sip." Brother Nie didn't mind at all, and the two of them shared a bowl, drinking sip by sip.
"Slow down, drink less, leave some for me." Uncle Hu stared at him with his big, round eyes, as if afraid he would finish it all in one go.
Looking at him, Brother Nie handed him the bowl and laughed, "You know what, your eyes really are exactly the same as Madam Chen's. No wonder she said you look like her father."
"Hehe, that's my good fortune." Uncle Hu laughed smugly.
Brother Nie didn't say anything. He would be proud to have such a successful daughter. The two of them drank a cup of tea and a bowl of wine, and left the warehouse drunk and satisfied.
In one morning, Chen Wenfang purified four jars of wine and was robbed of five bowls. The four master craftsmen, taking advantage of their age, each took a bowl. Chen Wenfang carefully reminded Sister-in-law Nie of what to pay attention to and explained it to her step by step. From now on, this task should be handled by Sister-in-law Nie. Once she is proficient, she can teach others.
Sister-in-law Nie listened attentively because the landlady said that once she learned this, her wages would be ten taels a month—my goodness, that's doubled!
A few days later, Chen Wenfang, together with Sister-in-law Nie, brewed another batch of mixed wheat and rice wine. After purifying it, they brought out another jar and had everyone taste it that evening, where it received high praise.
Chen Wenfang was relieved and instructed Brother Nie to set up a small workshop specifically for distilling liquor. Sister-in-law Nie, Aunt Hu, and Aunt Li would take over the staff. If they couldn't handle it all, the men would help. The key to brewing liquor is quality, not quantity. The main thing is to distill and purify the liquor. Chen Wenfang planned to sell each jar of liquor for fifty taels of silver, with limited supply. At present, the main thing was to stock up and store some. The longer the liquor is stored, the better it becomes. She moved five jars to Chen's shop and sold them for five taels of silver per catty. She wanted to advertise, but there was no rush.
If only they had sorghum, then Chen Wenfang asked the rice shop owner. Chen Wenfang, who didn't know what sorghum was called, described it for a long time. The owner hesitated and said, "Red ears, very tall at the bottom, like sugarcane but not sweet, could it be millet?"
Chen Wenfang didn't know either; she just asked him to buy some. For a while, Chen's family had to make pastries, brew wine, and grow rice, keeping them extremely busy every day.
In Lijia Town, Zhong Chang held a letter in his hand and laughed heartily, "Madam Chen, Madam Chen, I wonder what your background is, that you come from such a family. You two go and do your thing, perfect, let's make a scene together, the more chaotic the better."
Zhao Yang took the letter, looked at it, and nodded.
Ah Xing leaned over and glanced at it, then clicked his tongue in surprise.
A-Yue didn't even look at him and just followed him.
At Chen's workshop, Uncle Hu looked at the three children kneeling on the ground and was at a loss. There were many merchants and farmers coming and going at the door. Wouldn't it be difficult to make them kneel like this?
“You kids, get up. I’ll give you some food. Go find work somewhere else. We don’t need children here,” Uncle Hu earnestly advised.
"Please, take us in, we're really desperate."
"Please take us in!" The two boys knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly. The ground was sandy, and their heads immediately bled.
"Uncle, please have pity on us!" The girl grabbed his clothes and knelt down to beg him.
"Oh dear, stop chewing! What if you get disfigured?" Uncle Hu, being kind-hearted, quickly helped them up, saying, "Don't worry, wait here. I'll go ask the host first. There's nothing I can do about it."
Seeing this, the three obediently waited, while a passing farmer, being nosy, took the goods but didn't leave, instead watching the gossip unfold.
"What's wrong with you three? How did you get here?"
"I heard they were hiring here, so I came."
"Oh, he's a bit young, but he's good at doing things. Keep up the good work," the farmer added.
"This!" The three of them looked at each other, at a loss. If they really hired someone to work, what would happen to their families?
A little while later, Aunt Liu came out with Uncle Hu. No one knew what he said, but Aunt Liu came over and said, "Come on, you kids, come with me and try out some work!"
"Aren't you going to ask that?"
"You agreed so quickly?"
"Didn't you just say you didn't want children?" The three of them looked puzzled.
Aunt Liu led the group into the workshop, explaining as she went, "This is where we make fried rice. If you'd like, you can come and start working tomorrow. We pay wages every three days, 25 coins a day. Do you have your household registration book? You need to bring it with you so we can see it. Otherwise, the government will take away the vagrants."
"Uh, no..."
"nothing?"
"No..." came the three unanimous replies.
"No problem, go home and find the household registration book first, or bring it over tomorrow, okay?" Aunt Liu didn't hesitate. Looking at these children, they didn't seem to be from wealthy families. Indeed, as Uncle Hu said, it wasn't right to make them kneel at the door all the time. Let them do it for a few days first, and if it doesn't work, then we'll get rid of them.
"Alright!" Fang Tong, the eldest of the three children, answered hesitantly. Although he hadn't seen Madam Chen, at least she had promised to let him come back to work tomorrow, so there was still a chance tomorrow.
Aunt Liu placed a basket of mixed grain steamed buns on the table, gave two to each of them, and saw them out.
There was nothing they could do; Chen Niangzi's family was quite kind. The three children nervously carried the fragrant steamed buns back home, reluctant to eat them, just smelling them in front of their noses.
Several men approached from a distance. The one in the lead, a plump man dressed in silk robes and wearing a turban, came over cursing.
"Don't go, there's a show to watch!" The girl stopped and watched with a smile as the group of men walked past her and went straight to the entrance of Chen's restaurant.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Uncle Hu didn't really want to talk to these people who didn't look like good people.
"Call your master out! Bah! That bitch Chen Wenfang dares to run away and hide from me! Go and call her out right now, do you hear me?" The fat man got angrier and angrier, and his mouth started to curse. He had a square head and big ears, and his eyes were long and narrow. His neck and head had become one, like a walking piece of pork belly.
As his words became increasingly offensive, the surrounding peddlers all stopped.
"Young man, please speak politely. Why are you being so rude?" someone couldn't help but remind him.