I am Fugui

Chapter 42
"Lo-mei, lo-mei, the time-honored lo-mei, delicious lo-mei."

Xu Fugui was wearing a black coat and a melon skin hat he got from a pickpocket. He rubbed his hands and yelled at the top of his voice, but most of the passers-by shrank their necks, put their hands into their sleeves, and walked in a hurry. Occasionally, someone came to ask. one time.

"How do you sell pig's ears?" A man walked over in a cold breath and asked.

Xu Fugui hesitated, and said, "Usually the price is 150 copper coins a catty, but it's cold today, so I want to close the stall early and go home, 140 fifty copper coins, is it possible?"

The man looked troubled, "140, it's a bit expensive, can I steam it and eat it when I take it back?"

"Of course it's okay, but the taste is not as good as eating cold, it depends on personal preference."

"In such a cold day, if you don't eat something warm, your heart will warm up, and you can't eat something cold."

Seeing that he was leaving, Xu Fugui hurriedly said, "140 copper coins per catty is acceptable? The lowest cost price. If it gets colder, I might not sell it."

The man stopped in his tracks, and took out a stack of legal currency from his hand, "Is legal currency okay?"

Xu Fugui was a little bit reluctant, but still nodded, "Okay, I accept all kinds of money here, except military tickets, but the price in French currency is indispensable."

"Hey, you guys, why do you still despise legal currency? It's peaceful now. We belong to the south. Maybe one day legal currency will replace copper coins and silver dollars."

Although this person said so, he still bought a catty of pig ears with French currency, which cost nearly [-] French currency.

There is no way, the depreciation of legal currency is too fast, and people are becoming more and more distrustful.

It is easy to get legal currency, but it is difficult to spend it. Many places do not accept legal currency.

Xu Fugui didn't want to collect legal currency, even if he did, he would have to spend it on the same day.

Otherwise, maybe after two days in the county, if the legal currency depreciates again, he will lose a sum of money out of thin air.

"Haha, Fugui, why has your business failed these two days?" said Master Kang from the steamed stuffed bun shop next door.

Xu Fugui smacked his lips, "Brother Kang, this is how my business is. I just need to make a little gas money, and I don't ask for much. Unlike your bun, business is good all year round."

"That's, Fugui, Kangbaozi has been selling steamed buns for generations. It's a real time-honored brand. Unlike you, it hasn't been a month since it opened, and it's a time-honored brand."

On the other side, a short and strong man said with a smile that he is in the tofu business, and the three houses are almost adjacent to each other, and they are familiar with each other after coming and going.

"Li Tofu, you are talking as if you are not an ancestral handicraft. Who in this county doesn't know that your tofu is the best?" Master Kang said.

Xu Fugui took out a bench and sat behind the stall, heaving a long sigh, "No, I have to pass on this stall to my son, and then let my son pass it on to his grandson, who will not be a time-honored brand in the future."

Master Kang laughed out loud, Li Tofu lit a dry cigarette, and jokingly said, "Fugui, you remember that you are only a daughter, where did you get your son?"

"What's in Jiazhen's stomach?"

"How do you know it's a son? What if it's a girl?"

"It must be a son, why don't we have a bet?"

Master Kang pointed at him, "Fugui, you kid is still stubborn, I thought you really didn't gamble anymore."

Xu Fugui was dumbfounded, and waved his hands, "Forget it, anyway, Jiazhen's womb must be a son, and he will come out in a few days."

Now it's the end of October, and it will be the winter moon in two days. If nothing else happens, Jiazhen's day of giving birth will be around the middle of the winter moon.

"Okay, okay, it's my son, right?" Li Tofu said, and handed over a dry cigarette.

Xu Fugui waved his hand, "I'm not used to smoking this stuff."

Li Tofu was about to say something when he was suddenly attracted by the noise not far away.

"Tax collection! From now on, everyone who does business will have to collect tax, and pay it every half a month." The officers and soldiers of the county magistrate appeared on the street and yelled loudly, still wearing yellow leather clothes.

"Why do we have to collect taxes again? The county magistrate collects a share, the gangs collect a share, and now the army also collects a share. How can we live in these days."

Li Doufu complained in a low voice, and when the officers and soldiers arrived, he quickly put on a smile again, "Master."

The officers and soldiers carried a rifle on their shoulders, glanced at him, and said indifferently: "How much profit does your business make every day? Let me tell you, you must not underreport, or you will be jailed, so don't blame me for not reminding you."

Li Tofu sneered, and said honestly: "I'm just a tofu stall, and the business is not big. I can earn three hundred copper coins a day is the limit."

When the officers and soldiers heard the words, their eyes were even more disdainful, "Pay two silver dollars every half a month, do you understand?"

Li Doufu gasped, and was about to complain, but when he saw the impatient expressions of the officers and soldiers, he shut his mouth wisely.

The officers and soldiers stretched out their hands, "Take the money."

Li Tofu showed a smile that was uglier than crying, "Master, I don't have two silver dollars on me, can I make up for it tomorrow?"

The officers and soldiers kicked him, and Li Doufu was kicked to the ground, "Ma Dan, what the hell, you dare to owe the army money? Remember, tomorrow, if there is not enough money, you will have a place in the county cell .”

After finishing speaking, he went straight to Xu Fugui's stall and jokingly said, "Master Xu, have you been doing well recently?"

Xu Fugui didn't know this person, but he was well-known in the county, and it was normal for him to know him. He rubbed his hands and said respectfully, "Hi, sir."

The officers and soldiers laughed loudly, "I'm a bullshit officer, that's fine, since you were a young master before, I don't make things difficult for you, how much does your business make every day?"

Xu Fugui's face was not flushed, his heart was not beating, and he lowered his head slightly, "It's not much more than a tofu stall, about five hundred copper coins per day."

The officer and soldier murmured, and when he was about to speak, the shopkeeper of Wang's restaurant suddenly came out, greeted him a few times, and said, "Fugui is my young master's former friend, and now he is often invited to eat in the restaurant."

The officers and soldiers looked at him in surprise, and immediately said: "Okay, I will pay two silver dollars in the next half a month, won't it be embarrassing?"

"No embarrassment, no embarrassment." Xu Fugui said quickly.

After the officers and soldiers left, Xu Fugui thanked the shopkeeper and sent half a pig's ear out. The shopkeeper took a look at the cold Wang's restaurant and sighed, "The business is getting harder and harder now."

"Shopkeeper, what kind of world do you think this is? Didn't you mean that it's already peaceful? Why do you still charge so much tax?" Li Tofu said painfully, rubbing his chest.

Anecdotes shook his head, "Who knows."

Xu Fugui remained silent. The South is probably preparing for war. They are the targets of exploitation.

Back in the village in the afternoon, Father Xu said that when people from the army came to collect food, each household had to give at least [-] catties of rice, and the larger households gave more. This kind of situation would definitely not only happen in Yunxi County.

The people complained
(End of this chapter)