The happy little days of the Ye family

After the winter solstice, the weather will get colder and colder. Father Ye came out of the medicine shop and planned to buy a batch of items to keep out the cold.

Ye's father came to Chenjia Cloth Store by familiar means, and bought 30 kilograms of cotton and 5 pieces of thick burlap on the enthusiastic recommendation of shopkeeper Chen.

After the autumn harvest, every household in the village had some spare money. Father Ye thought for a while and took 3 pieces of thick linen cloth and 2 pieces of thick cheesecloth.

There is less farm work at the end of the year, and every household has time to start the cat winter. Many people choose to get married at the end of the year, so Father Ye brought two more pieces of red linen.

Now that the fabrics are available, needles and threads must be indispensable. The people in the town are not rich. Father Ye only bought some medium-sized needles and threads from Chenjia Cloth Store. The cheaper needles and threads will be purchased from West Street later.

Father Ye took 30 kilograms of cotton and 12 bolts of fabric at once. Shopkeeper Chen was so happy that he showed his eight teeth and became more and more enthusiastic about Father Ye.

At the end of the year, there were many people cutting cloth to make clothes, so the cloth store accumulated a lot of rags, including some large pieces of cloth. Shopkeeper Chen generously gave all these rags to Father Ye.

These scraps of fabric are not worth much in the first place, but giving them to Father Ye can still be a favor. What a shrewd person the shopkeeper is!

In fact, shopkeeper Chen was also very curious as to what Father Ye wanted to use so many rags for, but Shopkeeper Chen didn't ask Father Ye too much.

The main items used to keep out the cold on West Street include pottery stoves, carbon basins and charcoal.

The earthenware stove is the kind of stove that Ye's father usually brings to the dock to cook braised meat. It can be moved into the house to light a fire. A small pot can be placed on the stove, which can be used to stew soup or boil hot water. It is both warm and convenient.

Charcoal is very expensive. Ordinary charcoal costs 20 yuan per pound, let alone good charcoal. Most people in the town cannot afford it.

The winter in the south is not particularly cold, and charcoal is not used much. Father Ye has no plans to buy charcoal.

In fact, when it comes to charcoal, many people in the village can make it.

When cooking, take out the red-hot charcoal, douse it with water, and then dry the charcoal in the sun. The dry charcoal can be kept for heating in winter.

The charcoal made in such a simple and crude way is definitely not as good as the charcoal bought from outside.

Not only does it take a short time to burn, but it also produces a lot of smoke, but it doesn't cost much. Every household in the village will make some charcoal and save it for heating in winter.

The charcoal is not good and burns quickly. Just add charcoal frequently. It doesn't cost anything anyway.

The smoke is not a big problem. The houses in the countryside are relatively spacious. Just open the windows a crack before going to bed to let some air in.

Father Ye took a few pottery stoves and a few charcoal basins, but not the charcoal.

After buying things to keep out the cold, Father Ye picked up a large number of groceries on West Street.

On the way back, Father Ye was still thinking about whether to collect some charcoal from the village and sell it in the town or county.

The charcoal made by the villagers burns quickly and smokes a lot, but it is cheap.

There are still more poor people in the world, and if it is cheaper, there will still be people who will buy it.

The firewood on the mountain is free of charge, and the charcoal made by oneself has basically no cost except labor. The villagers should be very happy to make money from charcoal.

When passing by Fujia Village, Ye's father went to Blacksmith Fang's shop and ordered a few large iron pots and two small iron pots, preparing to sell them at the market during the twelfth lunar month.

After Ye's father returned home, he discussed with Mr. Ye about collecting charcoal.

"Every household in the village is not short of firewood. Making some charcoal to make money will help you live a good year. This is a good thing." Mr. Ye said happily, patting his thigh.

Father Ye looked at Mr. Ye and said: "Every household in the village has some charcoal saved for the winter. I want to collect all the charcoal from everyone and sell it in the county. It's not too cold yet. The firewood on the mountain It’s too much, and there’s still time to burn some charcoal again for heating in the winter.”

"Okay, I will tell the village chief later to collect a batch of charcoal in the village." The old man also thinks it is feasible.

Father Ye: "Ordinary charcoal in the county is purchased for 20 Wen per catty and sold for 22 Wen per catty. Our charcoal takes a short time to burn and the smoke is high. I plan to sell it for 16 Wen per catty."

Mr. Ye: "This charcoal is a little worse. 16 Wen per pound is reasonable. How about charging charcoal in the village at 14 Wen per pound?"

Father Ye thought it was good, "Just collect charcoal at 14 cents per catty, and you can make two cents per catty."

Although firewood is free, it is not easy to chop it down and carry it home. It is hard money.

Moreover, charcoal is much lighter than firewood, and a basket of charcoal only weighs three to four kilograms.

Mr. Ye collects charcoal at home, and Father Ye goes to sell goods early in the morning with a cart full of things.

The first village Ye's father went to was Dashan Village.

Dashan Village is surrounded by mountains. The villagers rarely go out. Except for Ye’s father, no other sellers go in to sell goods. During this time, Ye’s father is busy selling bacon and dried vegetables. It has been a long time since he went to Dashan Village to sell goods. The villagers They are all in short supply of winter supplies.

There is another more important reason, which is that the villagers have money.

Dashan Village is surrounded by mountains, the temperature is lower than that of Taohua Village, and the demand for cotton is relatively high.

By selling mountain products and bacon, every household has some spare money. You have three pounds, I have five pounds, and 30 pounds of cotton is not enough.

I will go to the county tomorrow to sell charcoal and buy another batch of cotton. Then I can come back to Dashan Village the day after tomorrow. Father Ye agreed with the villagers that he would bring another batch of cotton over the day after tomorrow.

With cotton, cloth and needlework are indispensable. The five pieces of burlap were quickly sold out, and a lot of cheap needlework was also sold.

Two earthenware stoves and two charcoal basins were also sold.

The villagers gathered around Father Ye's stall to pick and choose. In less than half an hour, half of the items on the stall were sold.

Orion Li stuffed a handful of coins into Father Ye's hand, "Brother Ye, I want 20 kilograms of cotton. This is the deposit."

Li Orion made a lot of money this year from bacon and honeysuckle. He plans to make two more 6-pound thick quilts and arrange thick cotton clothes.

"Okay, okay, I'll write it down for you and bring it over the day after tomorrow." Father Ye took out the small notebook he had with him and wrote it down.

"Brother Ye, I want 10 pounds of cotton."

"And me, I want 12 pounds of cotton."

"My daughter is getting married in the spring. I want this piece of red fabric and 12 pounds of cotton."

A group of hunters headed by Li Lihu hunted wild boars and sold bacon this year. Each of them had at least seven or eight taels of silver in their hands, and it was a pleasure to spend the money.

Father Ye cheerfully wrote down the amount of cotton needed in his notebook, "I also have some exquisite wooden hairpins and wooden combs here. Do you want to bring one or two for your sisters-in-law?"

Father Ye dug out a pack of wooden hairpins and wooden combs made by Uncle Tang. Although they were just ordinary wood, the workmanship was pretty good.

Wooden combs and wooden hairpins were not expensive. Several hunters generously picked two pieces each and planned to take them back to coax their wives.

Li Orion blushed and took two more boxes of face cream, one for his wife and one for his daughter.