Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
“Boss, give me ten pounds of Jujube and five pounds of Peach Dried Fruit…”
“Coming right up!” The Boss drawled, quickly weighing the items. “Miss, do you need anything else? Our preserved fruits are delicious, but our pastries are also a specialty of Biqi Town. I’m not just boasting…”
After a moment, Liu Qingxi didn’t respond much, and the Boss didn’t feel awkward. “Miss, why are you buying so many preserved fruits?”
To be honest, very few people buy this much at once. After all, the shop is right here; whenever someone wants to eat, they can just buy fresh ones. These items don’t fluctuate in price like fruits or grains.
“I’m making some pastries; there are many people at home!” The real reason was that Liu Qingxi wanted to give each family in the Construction Team a small reward within her means.
The villagers were used to hard lives; being able to enjoy some meat during festivals was already quite good. They couldn’t just eat whatever they wanted.
Even now that life had improved, it was rare for them to make mooncakes individually. Thinking about it, with so many people in the village and dozens of households working together, even one for each person would add up to over a thousand.
“Boss, let’s increase the quantity of these Jujube dried fruits; make it ten pounds of each type and twenty pounds of Jujube.” Making a last-minute decision, Liu Qingxi immediately increased her order.
The Boss instantly beamed with joy; no one ever complained about customers buying too much.
“Also ten pounds of walnuts, sunflower seeds, and almonds!”
With a wave of her delicate white hand, Liu Qingxi ordered dozens of pounds of preserved fruits without batting an eye.
“Boss, since I’m buying so much from you, you have to give me a discount!”
The Boss smiled widely: “Don’t worry, Miss; I’ll definitely give you the best price.”
Everyone understood the principle of thin profits from high sales. A customer this big had to be treated well: “Get another person to help out quickly and weigh these for this young lady.”
A girl rushed out from behind in quick steps: “Dad, is this young lady really going to eat all this?”
The Boss almost wanted to slap his daughter for questioning a customer’s order.
Liu Qingxi actually liked the girl’s straightforward personality.
In just two minutes, the father and daughter finally finished weighing everything Liu Qingxi needed.
After that, he took out the black, smooth abacus from behind the counter and quickly calculated the final amount: "Miss, it comes to eighteen taels and six coins. If we round off the change, how about I charge you eighteen taels?"
Liu Qingxi nodded; saving six hundred wen was not a small amount, and the price offered by the Boss was quite reasonable.
After paying, she loaded the items onto the cart. Liu Qingxi did not end her shopping spree there; she also bought rice, flour, white sugar, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea. Additionally, she made a special trip to the pharmacy to buy some spices. Only then did her shopping come to an end.
However, that was not all. Upon returning to the village, Liu Qingxi headed straight to Uncle Zhang San's house, who was known for his carpentry skills: "Uncle Zhang San, I heard you can do carpentry work."
Zhang San was a man in his forties with a scruffy beard that made him look rather unkempt, but he was known to be a good person. He scratched his beard and replied, "I only know the basics. What does Miss Liu need?"
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Zhang San admitted that he had only learned carpentry halfway before being inexplicably sent back by his master. Thus, over the years, he could only make simple stools and chairs; anything too complex was beyond his capability.
As for Liu Qingxi, she was a well-known figure in Ten Li Pu, recognized by everyone from eighty-year-old elders to two-year-old children. Since she had a request, he naturally wanted to do his best to fulfill it.
"Uncle Zhang San, don't worry; it's very simple. I just want you to make a few molds about this big." Liu Qingxi gestured with her hands to indicate a round disk approximately six or seven centimeters in diameter: "Make it one and a half fingers high and carve some patterns inside. Here are some simple sketches I've drawn."
The drawings Liu Qingxi presented were quite basic: one featured the character for fortune, while others included simple sketches of peonies symbolizing wealth and sunflowers surrounded by petals, as well as orchids outlined with just a few strokes.
Since they were simple sketches, they weren't complicated at all. After looking them over for a moment, Zhang San nodded: "These aren't difficult; I can do them. When do you need them? How many do you want?"
"Uncle Zhang San, please make three of each type for me. I'll pay you three wen per piece."
To her surprise, he quickly waved his hand: "What money? It's just a bit of help. If it weren't for you, my eldest and second sons wouldn't have such good work opportunities. Consider this my way of thanking you."
At this point, Zhang San couldn't help but feel emotional. If it weren't for his poor health and lack of strength, working alongside Liu Qingxi to build houses would have been a wonderful experience—his monthly income alone could support an entire family.
Fortunately, his two sons had done well and were chosen by Liu Qingxi to stay on; he felt quite satisfied with that.
Thinking of this brought an unnoticeable smile to his scruffy face; only his slightly trembling beard revealed his happiness.
It seemed that only through such contributions could he find his sense of existence and value rather than just waiting around doing nothing.
"Uncle Zhang San, I can't let you work for free. Please help me finish these molds first; if I need more later, I'll come find you."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure it's done beautifully."
In the following time, Liu Qingxi was busy looking for helpers. With so many mooncakes to make, relying solely on a few people at home was a huge task. Excluding the twenty or so women from the Construction Team responsible for cooking, there were still quite a few people left in the Village.
First, she found a few familiar women, who then brought along some others. "Qingxi, are you making so many?"
"Of course! In previous years, we had a hard time, but this year is much better. I just thought we should make some mooncakes for the kids to taste."
As the Mid-Autumn Festival approached, Liu Qingxi reflected on the past year. From waking up until now, it had been just over a year, and most of that time had been spent struggling and living on the edge of hunger.
After the New Year, there was work to build houses, and life was supposed to get better. But then came a massive earthquake that destroyed everything and erased years of hard work. It felt like starting over.
Thus, the Mid-Autumn Festival, a time for reunion, needed to reflect new hopes and new goals.
When the women who came to help heard this, they were stunned for quite a while before their hearts blossomed with joy. "Qingxi is really generous! With so many people in the Village, if everyone gets some, that's quite an expense!"
However, thinking about their own share made the women work even faster.
"Aunt, let's first remove the pits from these dried fruits and keep only the flesh. We'll make fruit-filled mooncakes, five-nut mooncakes, and some savory ones," Liu Qingxi thought about the different flavors and couldn't help but salivate.
As for the women helping out?
Comment 0 Comment Count