Back in the 1980s, hiking in the mountains was also a way of life

Chapter 501 Buying Millet

When they were about three or four miles away from the county town, Wang An saw from afar a ragged old man walking in front of him carrying a cloth bag.

The cloth bag is not big and looks like a bag of grain, weighing about forty or fifty kilograms.

Wang An drove the carriage forward and called out from a distance:

"Old man, are you taking a two-step car?"

In the countryside, if you come across a horse-drawn carriage while walking, you can take the initiative to ask the other party to give you a ride. If the other party's vehicle is not heavy, the other party will definitely not refuse to give you a ride.

When a horse-drawn carriage encounters a pedestrian, the carriage owner will usually take the initiative to ask the pedestrian to get on the carriage and sit for a while.

Things like these are extremely normal and have nothing to do with knowing each other or not, and there is no such thing as favors.

So, when the old man heard Wang An's shout, he stopped, turned around and smiled at Wang An who was approaching, and said:
"Then sit for a while? Hahaha. Thanks, young man."

When he came up to the old man, Wang An stopped his eldest son's horse and said with a smile:

"Are you going to the county town too, sir?"

After the old man put the cloth bag on the carriage and got on, he smiled and replied to Wang Andao:
"Well, I'm thinking of selling this little bit of millet and exchanging it for some candy for my grandson, hahahaha."

In this era, in the northern region including the Northeast, glutinous rice is yellow rice.

To make rice dumplings, rice cakes, and bean buns, yellow rice or flour ground from yellow rice is basically used. Before yellow rice is husked, it is millet.

Just like rice is called rice before it is husked, and millet is called millet before it is husked, they are the same.

In the south, sticky rice is glutinous rice, also known as glutinous rice, which is also the raw material for making rice dumplings, rice cakes, and tofu.

This situation is just like the difference between sugar beets in the north and sugarcane in the south, which is completely the difference between the north and the south.

When Wang An heard that there was millet in the flour bag and that it was millet to be sold, his eyes immediately lit up.

In order to increase grain production, or to be more precise, weight, most brigades in this era planted corn.

Although corn has a high yield, it is not very tasty when used as a staple food and people in rural areas these days do not peel the corn husk.

However, the production of fine grains such as rice and flour was not high in those days, so even people in the city could not eat them every day.

It is also because of this that yellow rice has become people's favorite.

Whether it is rice cake bean buns or rice cake pancakes, they are absolutely delicious.

Although Wang An was not short of money and could afford yellow rice, he didn't eat it all the time, so every time he went to the county town, he never thought of buying it.

Wang An asked the old man with a smile:

"Grandpa, how much do you plan to sell this millet for per pound?"

Hearing Wang An's question, the old man frowned and said:

"I went to the grain station yesterday to ask, they sell yellow rice for 9 cents a pound, millet for 5 cents, and the purchase price of corn is only 1 cents. Young man, you said that my millet is in very good condition, not worse than what they sell. I'm thinking of selling it at cents a pound, which is cheaper than what the grain station sells. Young man, do you think it will sell well?"

It can be seen that although the old man was very angry about the difference of 1 cents between the purchase price and the selling price of the grain station, he was still quite nervous, as if he was worried that he would not be able to sell his millet.

Wang An thought for a while before saying:

"Old man, why don't you sell me these millets? Have you weighed them before you came? How many kilograms are there in total?" The old man said doubtfully:

"You want it? This is a big one, at least 50 kilograms, can you take this old one?"

Wang An smiled and said, "I'm thinking of planting some millet this year, so I don't have to buy seeds."

When the old man heard that Wang An wanted to use the millet as seeds, he immediately smiled and said:

"It's great as a seed. I can harvest 400 to 500 kilograms of millet every year."

What the old man meant by the four or five hundred kilograms of grain was one acre of land, but the locals sometimes speak more concisely.

Wang An agreed and said as he took out the money:

"A dou of millet is only about 50 jins without weighing it. If you use the tip of the pole, it should be about 5 jins. Anyway, it's just the amount. I can't let you suffer a loss. I'll just give you yuan and that's it. What do you think, old man?"

The reason why Wang An said so much was that he wanted to make things clear in advance.

In the Northeast at that time, if the settlers traded grain with each other, in addition to using scales, that is, "jin" as a unit of measurement, they would also use "sheng" and "dou", as well as "shi (dan)".

One shi is equal to ten dou, and one dou is equal to ten liters. These three units are all volume units.

But it should be noted that this "sheng", "dou" and "shi" are different from the ancient "sheng", "dou" and "shi".

In ancient times, one liter of grain was about 1.25 kilograms, and one dou was about 12.5 kilograms.

But in Northeast China at that time, one liter of grain was about 5 jin, and one dou of grain was about 50 jin.

However, the one dou mentioned here is about 50 jin, which refers to rice and flour.

If it is with shell, such as sorghum, millet, rice, wheat, and millet, one dou is about 40 kilograms.

The reason why it is said to be "approximately" is that the weight of the same bushel of grain will be completely different if the type of grain is different.

For example, a bushel of millet is heavier than a bushel of rice, and a bushel of rice is heavier than a bushel of corn kernels.

The reason why Wang An emphasized that it was "almost 50 jin" was that even if the grain with shells was filled to the top in the bucket, the extra "top" would definitely not reach 10 jin.
Moreover, millet is different from other grains. The surface of millet is extremely smooth, so slippery that it can be slippery. Even if it pops out after being put into the bucket, it will not be much higher, and the excess will slide down.

So after hearing Wang An's words, the old man immediately blushed and said:
"It must be 50 kilograms. I know this thing is a bag. I put another liter into the bag."

"Bag" means large in size but light in weight.

Seeing the changes in the old man, Wang An was stunned for a moment. Mainly because although Wang An was reborn, sometimes he would really look at the people of this era with the eyes of future generations.

You have to know that most people of this era still value honesty and integrity, and they rarely do things that are short of money.

So Wang An handed over the 5 yuan and said with a smile:

"Well, anyway, I believe you, old man."

Seeing the money, the old man immediately said happily:

"This is the surplus food I stored away from home. When you get home, weigh it and I guarantee it's only a little more."

After Wang An handed over the money, he took out some cigarettes, gave one to the old man, held one in his own mouth, and started chatting with the old man.

(End of this chapter)