noffsinger Chapter 259: News about "Salt"!
Chapter 259: News about "Salt"!
Day two.
Each person received a lace apron and a pair of bright red arm sleeves.
This left Hei Yi and the others looking at each other in bewilderment.
Lin Xi cleared her throat: "Stop looking, hurry up and put it on and start learning to cook with me!"
Hei Yi looked at the brightly colored apron and liked it very much. After all, he wore black all year round, and it was rare to see other colors on his body!
They all happily put them on.
After Gao Mengli got up, she looked at the gaudy apron and glared at her Xixi.
Without a doubt, this is indeed her daughter Xixi's aesthetic.
Wearing a flowery jacket that resembles a black snake, she stands out from the crowd and makes people feel very happy!
Lin Xi thought it would be difficult to teach these dozen or so men to cook, but who knew that their knife skills were better than his.
His control over the slicing size and speed was something he could never match!
Those heavy kitchen knives felt as light as paper in their hands.
After all, what assassins have in abundance is speed, ruthlessness, and accuracy—the perfect kitchen "workers"!
She has a great memory and remembers every single cooking step perfectly.
The timing of the heat and the simmering time must be perfect, and it's done exceptionally well!
Lin Xi was overjoyed. It was truly rare that the inn had managed to find all the chefs!
He taught with dedication, and they learned with heart. For the more complex lessons, they would even write them down with pen and paper.
Lin Xi was even more delighted to discover that this group of people could all read!
That day, Lin Xi took them to the cafeteria to help out.
With these newcomers joining, the communal meals were cooked quickly and well. Within a few days, they had also become familiar with the other villagers and the bandits.
That day, Xue Ling came to the courtyard with a happy face.
"Sister Xue, come and sit down!"
Gao Mengli tugged at her coat and waved to Xue Ling by the fireplace.
Xue Ling quickly walked forward and sat down next to Gao Mengli, her cheeks flushed red from the firelight.
His eyes sparkled with excitement: "Girl, I've got some amazing news today, I ran all the way here to tell you!"
Gao Mengli was overjoyed: "But there's a follow-up to that?!"
Xue Ling stretched out her hand and warmed it on the fire ring: "Yes, but not much, only about six thousand catties."
It's estimated that it will be another month before the toothless father returns, and they'll be escorted back together!
Gao Mengli nodded, "Six thousand jin is quite a lot!"
Little did she know that Xue Ling would say something even more exciting: "Because the controls are very strict, we can't transport too much at once; we can only transport it in batches."
However, a batch can be shipped every three months, so you don't need to worry about salt shortages!
"real?!"
Gao Mengli stood up abruptly from her chair, her eyes sparkling with surprise. She gripped Xue Ling's hands tightly, clearly overjoyed.
"That's great! If that's the case, then I'll have to go to Xingyu Village to order pigs!"
A live pig sells for twelve coins per catty. A pig that eats only pig feed and grass without any feed will only weigh about two hundred catties.
It costs two ounces and four hundred coins for a pig, and seven or eight catties of salt are enough to make cured meat from each pig.
This batch of salt is enough to cure 750 pigs!
The two restaurants and inns also need salt. We set aside some for the shops, and the rest can be used to salt three or four hundred pigs.
When Yang Qing's younger sister, Yang Qiao'er, got married last time, she visited Xingyu Village. Almost every household there raised more than ten pigs.
That village is different from Wangyue Village. It's a big village with more than 300 households, so there's no problem with the supply of pigs.
Just thinking about cured pork, sausage, and blood tofu made Gao Mengli feel incredibly hungry!
After seeing Xue Ling off, Gao Mengli went to the village entrance to tell Lin Xi about it. Lin Xi was overjoyed and immediately took off her apron to go to Xingyu Village to order pigs.
When Mengze saw there was work to be done at home, he quickly stepped forward to take it on. After all, he was Da Niu's martial arts instructor, and Da Niu spent his days studying, leaving him with the most free time.
How could we let his "brother-in-law" do this kind of errand-running work?
So he and Lin Xi went home to get the silver, got into a carriage and went to Xingyu Village to order three hundred pigs.
Lin Xi and Gao Mengli went to the site where the inn was being built to discuss with the village chief the construction of three baking rooms.
They weren't worried about firewood, since there was a large mountain to go around, plus plenty of pine and cypress trees, which they could prune to make perfect for smoking cured meat!
Upon hearing their plan, the village chief's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly: "That's a great idea! Let's build the baking room on that open space behind the inn. It's close to the kitchen, making it convenient to get ingredients, and the ventilation is also good, which is good for smoke removal."
Most importantly, another major construction project is underway in the village!
In the future, gathering firewood for smoking cured meat will also require manpower!
He was quite lucky to become the village head, since at the beginning of the year, every family was destitute.
There was no time to spare in the year, and every household had surplus grain and money, which made him work even harder!
In addition to receiving 600 cash a month from the village chief, he also received one tael of silver as wages from the two men!
He didn't know what this cured meat was, but that didn't stop him from getting things done!
The work of these two is always impeccable.
The village immediately selected people to work, and this time they also selected some followers of the Lotus Sect, which made them so happy that they held hands and wept together!
The village chief said that if they performed well, they could participate in village work, and he was right.
They were able to bring home one or two hundred coins every month, something they never dared to dream of before.
The two guardians were getting impatient and also wanted to participate in the village's construction.
However, the village chief is not considering these two for the time being because of their poor past performance.
Meanwhile, Zhou Gonggong, the old man in the riverbed, looked indignant.
He used to live a life of luxury in the palace; he had never suffered such "humiliation".
They dug mud in the river every day, never having enough to eat or wear.
The grain supplies were stolen, and the blame was placed on him for "embezzlement."
He was already a wanted criminal.
Filled with indignation, Eunuch Zhou stood by the river, gazing at the murky water, his eyes reddening.
He recalled his glorious days in the palace, when he was waited on hand and foot.
He was surrounded by a group of sycophants, but now he's ended up in this state.
He became a wanted criminal, hated by everyone, and spent his days surrounded by mud. The dramatic change in his life was like a series of heavy blows to his heart.
"I'm a respectable figure in the palace, and with a few tricks, I can make those brats obedient."
Now they've been captured by this tiny village and can't even get a job building houses!
He gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath, his knuckles turning white from clenching his fists so tightly.
"What are you looking at? Get to work and stop slacking off."
The bandits beside him loudly rebuked the stunned Eunuch Zhou.
Startled by the roar, Zhou Gonggong snapped out of his daze, a flash of annoyance crossing his face.
But when his gaze fell upon the gleaming broadsword at the other man's waist and the intimidating look on the bandit's face, he forcefully suppressed his anger.
He pursed his lips, reluctantly picked up the shovel, and plunged it back into the stinking mud.
He was as arrogant as he used to be, and now he is just as humble.
The difference was too great, so he had no choice but to work while crying.