The worst time travel, surviving seven years of famine

When they arrived at the market, Gu Liang and his two companions had not yet put down their backpacks when they heard a passerby say to Li: "Gu's wife, I haven't seen you at the market for many days. It's frosty today. Do you still have crisp persimmons to sell?"

The one who said this was Li's old customer who bought crisp persimmons before. Seeing a familiar customer, Li hurried forward and said: "It's so cold, let alone crisp persimmons, you can't even find soft persimmons. But, Brother Qian, I'm still selling persimmons this time, but they are dried persimmon cakes."

Brother Qian saw the 'new variety' of crisp persimmons from Li, but he had never heard of persimmon cakes. His impression was the same as that of Old Lady Gu. They both thought that the persimmons were soft after ripening and would rot if exposed to the sun. How could they still be exposed to the sun? So he said in confusion: "Sister, this persimmon cake is a new thing. Let me see it quickly. Maybe I can take care of your business and buy a few."

"Okay." Li quickly took down the backpack and put it on the ground, took off the straw mat on it, and exposed the persimmon cake inside. In order to reduce the weight and keep it secret, they did not show the persimmon peel to others.

"This... Sister, I'm not saying that your persimmon cake is moldy, so don't sell it. If you eat a dead person, you will be hanged according to the law."

Li was amused by Brother Qian when she heard this, although she thought the same thing when she saw the persimmon cake covered with white frost more than an hour ago.

In order to dispel her doubts, Li picked up a persimmon cake and cut it into two. She ate half of it and gave the other half to Brother Qian in front of her.

Brother Qian was a very straightforward person. Seeing that Li dared to eat it, he thought that there should be nothing wrong with it, so he ate it too.

Brother Qian didn't have much expectation for this simple persimmon cake, thinking it was just an ordinary farmer's snack. But he was amazed when he put it into his mouth. The first thing he tasted was the white frost on the persimmon cake, which was the pure sweetness brought by glucose. In the ancient times when there was a lack of sweetness, this pure sweet thing was not easy to taste. Chewing it again, it was full of sweet and greasy taste.

Brother Qian, who was conquered by the persimmon cake, immediately started to pay for it, and then said, "Sister, your persimmon cake is too delicious. Could it be made of honey and syrup like candied dates!"

Of course, Li couldn't think that her persimmon cake was simply dried, so she didn't reply to Brother Qian's words, but just nodded in tacit agreement, indicating that you were right.

This Qian brother first took off his outer coat, untied his belt, and began to take things out of his crotch.

Seeing this scene, Old Lady Gu thought that this Qian was a hooligan in public, so she hurriedly pulled her daughter-in-law Li back and blocked Li's eyes, fearing that she would see this dirty scene.

Li smiled and said to Old Lady Gu: "Mom, this Qian brother is an old customer, he is not a hooligan. His purse is hidden in his crotch, if you don't believe me, just look."

Sure enough, after Qian brother searched his crotch for a while, he really took out a gray purse.

Gu Liang was stunned by the side. How could this purse be placed like this? Seeing that the purse is bulging, it should be full of copper coins. Wouldn't it be tight in the crotch?

Seeing the surprised expressions of Gu Liang and Old Lady Gu, Brother Qian also felt embarrassed to untie his belt in public. He smiled and said, "I'm sorry. My clothes are thick in winter, and I can't feel my wallet being stolen when I leave it outside. Sister, you haven't asked how much this persimmon cake costs yet?"

"Oh, look at my memory. I even forgot to quote the price when I sell things. This persimmon cake costs two cents each. Today is the first time I sell it. If you come to buy, you can get half the price, one cent each." Li answered fluently. She was already very familiar with buying and selling things, and she could make customers chat politely.

"This is too cheap. The candied dates sold in this town cost dozens of cents per pound. Give me five, no, ten, so that my wife can bring some back to her parents' home in a few days, and it will also be face-saving." Brother Qian said proudly, and changed the five fingers on one hand to ten fingers on both hands.

So the first order was sold smoothly. Today was destined to be a good day for selling things. Gu Liang and Li still used the method from last time, breaking the persimmon cakes into small pieces for passersby to taste. Some people were afraid of the white frost, so they took out the persimmon cakes that had not been covered with frost for them to taste.

With the experience of selling things and Li's repeat customers who sell crisp persimmons, after one morning, the 300 or so persimmon cakes that Gu Liang and his team brought for trial sale were sold out.

.

Gu held the full purse, unwilling to put it down as if she were holding her grandson. She was afraid that the purse would be targeted by bad guys, so she wanted to hide it in her crotch like the big brother Qian, but it was really indecent. In the end, she stuffed the purse into her inner clothes, and then protected her hands in front of her chest, so that she could be assured.

They were in a hurry to sell persimmon cakes this time, and there were many things they didn't consider. For example, if customers bought persimmon cakes and had nothing to put in them, it was okay to buy one or two, and they could eat them directly or hold them in their hands. But those who bought ten or even a dozen persimmon cakes were not easy to deal with. They couldn't hold them in their hands, and they couldn't put them directly in the backpack. The things in the backpack were mixed and easy to get dirty.

So Gu Liang thought of a way to make a "package" for his own persimmon cakes. The packaging doesn't need to be too delicate, just wrap it with straw paper.

Due to the improvement of productivity, ordinary straw paper is not too expensive here, but some rice paper for writing or painting is expensive. Gu Liang bought a large plate of straw paper and prepared to use it to wrap the dried persimmons. Two dried persimmons were stacked on top of each other, and four stacks were placed in one, which means eight dried persimmons.

Since there is packaging, how can there be no trademark? Gu Liang found a piece of fir wood and asked Old Man Gu to carve a "Gu Family Dried Persimmon" on it, so that it can be printed on the straw paper with ink.

The seal does not need to be made too delicate, as long as people who can read can recognize it. Even if the strokes are of different thicknesses, it doesn't matter, it can still be considered an anti-counterfeiting mark!

In the next few days, except for going to the mountains near the village to chop firewood for the winter, the Gu family stayed at home to make seals and wrap dried persimmons.

In the meantime, a small thing happened, that is, the Gu family started to transplant rapeseed again. The amount of transplanting this time was obviously greater than last year. Last year, only part of the dry land was planted. This year, the Gu family's paddy fields were also drained and dried to plant rapeseed.

Gu Liang was puzzled. Why didn't they plant rapeseed in the rice fields last year, but they did this year? If rapeseed can be grown in paddy fields in winter, why not grow it every year? This way, we won’t be so short of oil for cooking at home.