Chapter 58
Lin Zhen was squatting in the ancestral hall. When Ji Congzhe returned home alone, he began to dig out the corn flour and prepare to mix it to make tortillas.
He had made flatbreads before, so corn tortillas were a no-brainer. It's just that I have to do a little more today. It took me a long time just to knead the dough.
After rolling out dozens of cakes, his arms became weak from exhaustion.
Now that my belly is getting bigger and bigger, my movements are very cumbersome. Just lighting the fire and pouring water and making cakes on the stove is as slow as a snail.
It seemed that we couldn't cook lunch alone, and it would be troublesome for Lin Zhen to watch the eggs and come back to eat them, so they just had tortillas and tea eggs for lunch.
That day he was too choked to eat tortillas in the watermelon field. Today he went to the back mountain to pull out a piece of Chinese cabbage, chop it up and prepare to make cabbage soup.
Just when you are pasting the cake, just pour the chopped cabbage into the boiling water and wait until it is cooked.
Ji Congzhe put the lid on the pot, found a basket, and spread a piece of white gauze with nylon mesh on the bottom of the basket. This kind of white gauze is available in every household. It can be used for food and squeezing. After a while, the sweet potatoes are ground into After the dregs are removed, you have to squeeze out the juice with this piece of gauze to make sweet potato powder.
After tossing all morning, the hot tortillas were all ready. He took a basin, scooped out the vegetable soup in the pot, poured half of the pot of water into it again, and then put the cold tortillas on the table. Place the tortillas on the steam rack and cover them in the pot to keep them warm.
He had to eat lunch by himself first, and then go to deliver cakes to Lin Zhen.
The vegetable soup is eaten with tortillas, and the taste is a perfect match. He ate four cakes in a row and drank a bowl of soup. He didn't have time to wash the dishes, so he took a big teacup from the cupboard, filled the teacup with vegetable soup, opened the lid of the pot, and put the tortillas in. Just put it into the basket with chopsticks.
It was just before eleven o'clock, and there were already many people rushing to the ancestral hall along the way. Some of them were holding high stools in their hands. It was obvious that they would not stop watching all day long.
Ji Congzhe held a tea cup in his left hand and a basket in his right hand. Before he entered the ancestral hall, a group of children were screaming and playing inside. After a while, several children ran out of the ancestral hall and ran rampant.
"Damn it! You kids." He nervously held the basket in his hands to cover his stomach.
When I walked to the entrance of the ancestral hall, I found that there were already many vendors. Even in front of the two gates, there were stalls, selling dry goods, medicinal materials, melon seeds, children's toys, and colorful leather rings for little girls.
When I walked inside, I saw two or three candied haws sellers. The straw sticks were filled with hawthorns and apples wrapped in brown sugar. A group of children were surrounding them.
Lin Zhen was already busy. There were five or six people gathered in front of the coal stove. He was collecting money and changing while taking a spoon to fish out boiled tea eggs with mottled shells.
Ji Congzhe walked over, and Lin Zhen stood up from the chair and asked him to sit.
When the tea egg buyer saw this, he smiled and said, "Boss, you are so lucky. My wife has a big belly and even brought you lunch."
Lin Zhen glanced at Ji Congzhe, smiled and said "Yeah."
Ji Congzhe originally sat next to Lin Zhen and waited for the group of people to ask him to eat after selling out, but as soon as the group of people left, three or four more people came.
Later, Ji Congzhe was afraid that the vegetable soup would get cold, so he asked Lin Zhen to eat first and he would sell it.
The only chair was given to Ji Congzhe, so Lin Zhen had to stand and eat with a tea cup in hand.
Ji Congzhe placed the tortillas in the basket next to the coal stove again, and sold three of them at once for three cents each.
After this group of people left, Ji Congzhe hurriedly asked Lin Zhen, "How was the sales?"
Lin Zhen was holding a teacup in one hand and corn tortillas in the other. While eating, he said, "It's pretty good. I think I've sold more than 20 of them. I just laid another 20 eggs."
Ji Congzhe was pleasantly surprised, "Oh, hey, I haven't started singing yet, so won't the business be better later?"
"Yeah." Lin Zhen asked, "Have you eaten it?"
"After eating, I just took these tortillas first. I still have them at home. If they are not enough by then, I will go back and post dozens more." Ji Congzhe glanced at the basket on the ground. "I will go back and get some more corn tortillas later." Come over here, or else no one can see the tortillas on the floor."
"Okay." Lin Zhen finished eating and put the teacup on the ground.
Ji Congzhe stood up from his chair, walked under the stage, raised his neck and asked, "Brother, our tortillas are ready, how many of you want to eat?"
When the actor on the stage saw it was him, he smiled and replied, "Bring us seven corn cakes and seven tea eggs! We didn't even eat much for lunch, so we're just waiting for your cakes."
"Okay! Get it for you right away."
Ji Congzhe took the cakes and tea eggs, stretched out his hand and handed them to the people on the stage, and collected the money.
Lin Zhen saw that there was not enough water in the soup pot and the lead bucket was empty again, so he asked Ji Congzhe to watch here while he carried the bucket to the well to fetch water.
By the time he came back with a bucket full of water, Ji Congzhe had made several deals.
Lin Zhen took out the messy banknotes and coins in his pocket and handed them to Ji Congzhe, "I'll keep some change, and you can take the rest home."
"OK."
"Are you coming to the show later?"
Ji Congzhe: "I really haven't seen a drama in the countryside. I'll come over and take a look later. I'll go back and get the stool first."
After saying that, he went back with the tea cup.
After arriving home, he first went to the second floor to put the pile of crumpled banknotes given by Lin Zhen into the drawer, washed the dishes and fed the chickens.
By the time he carried the stool back to the ancestral hall, there was already a crowd of people. It was so crowded inside that it was almost like the tea market in Shuangcai Town. Just like that, there were still groups of people outside. Go inside.
The ancestral hall was even more noisy with gongs and drums. Ji Congzhe carried a stool and followed the crowd to squeeze in. In the morning, he could still distinguish the location of his own stall. If he was crowded, he could only stretch his neck to find it through the dense crowd of people.
When he saw Lin Zhen, Lin Zhen happened to see him. He saw Ji Congzhe carrying a stool with a big belly. Lin Zhen was frightened just by squeezing out of the crowd. He quickly went up to take the stool. .
"Damn it, why are there so many people!" Ji Congzhe lamented, "Huh? Why did you move the place?"
The aisle that was still close to the door in the morning is now close to the pillar under the stairs.
Lin Zhen asked him to sit on a chair, and then placed the basket of tortillas on a high stool, "Near the door to prevent someone from knocking the stove over. If you put it here, someone upstairs can see our tea eggs when they come down." "
Ji Congzhe raised his head and saw that the two corridors on the second floor were full of people. Now not only the open space in the middle was full of people, but there were even many children playing under the stage.
Lin Zhen said, "I think our three hundred eggs may not be enough to sell."
Ji Congzhe looked down at the basket and saw that more than half of it was missing, and a lot of tortillas in the basket were also sold.
At this time, another adult came with a child to buy eggs, and Lin Zhen quickly scooped one up with a spoon.
Ji Congzhe looked at the situation in front of him and murmured, "There are already so many people at this point, so we can still do it that night."
He originally planned to leave Lin Zhen alone to sell eggs in the ancestral hall. He would come over from time to time to take a look and go back to make corn cakes if there were not enough.
But now, I'm afraid he has to keep an eye on it. According to this sales method, if he is not careful, he will have to get up and go home to make cakes.
So he said to Lin Zhen, "I'll bring a chair later."
Lin Zhen asked, "Do you want to stay here too?"
"Well, otherwise, if there is a shortage of cake, it will be too late to make up for it."
Lin Zhen frowned and looked at the crowds, the stuffy air and the noisy sounds here, feeling worried. But he had no choice but to make some money. He really couldn't take care of it by himself. If he left in the middle to go to the toilet or something, he would need someone to keep an eye on him.
But now that Ji Congzhe is here, he doesn't want him to go in and out with his stomach bulging anymore. If he bumps into him, it will be troublesome.
So he lowered his head and leaned into Ji Congzhe's ear, "Then you sell it first, and I'll go back to get a chair and use the toilet."
"You go ahead, I'll watch."
After Lin Zhen returned home, he washed his face to feel refreshed. After staying in the ancestral hall for several hours, his body was filled with the smell of coal cakes.
After washing his face, he put part of the money he just collected into the drawer, then filled the big tea cup with water, took a chair and continued to the ancestral hall.
Lin Zhen handed the cup to Ji Congzhe and said, "Drink some water."
After Ji Congzhe took a few sips, he put the lid on the tea cup and placed it under the high stool.
"I'd better drink less water."
After Lin Zhen found out that his belly was getting bigger, his bladder was squeezed and he had to run to the toilet several times a day. No, as soon as he finished speaking, he had to get up and go to the toilet.
"Then be careful when you go out, don't let anyone squeeze your belly."
"knew."
The two of them stayed in the ancestral hall all afternoon. In the meantime, Lin Zhen went back to paste dozens of cakes and poured water twice. They thought that just seeing the business in the afternoon was good enough, but at five o'clock in the evening, the first half of the play stopped, and they saw what it meant to be busy.
People in Gaoshan Village can go home to eat, but the opera actors and those from neighboring villages basically stay in the ancestral hall.
So the young couple and other vendors were very busy.
Lin Zhen had already handed all the money to Ji Congzhe, who was busy fishing for tea eggs and selling corn cakes.
Although it was just a small amount of money, Ji Congzhe was still reluctant to put it away.
The two of them were too busy to have dinner. Even before the newly boiled eggs had time to taste, another group of people gathered around the coal stove.
At half past six, after the second half of the play started, they took some time to eat corn cakes.
Lin Zhen can still eat corn tortillas and eggs together, but Ji Congzhe can't touch tea now, so he can only eat corn tortillas with boiled water.
When it gets dark, except for the stage, which is brightly lit, all other corners in the ancestral hall are dark, with only a little bit of light showing through.
But it was even more lively than during the day.
Ji Congzhe originally wanted to watch a play in the countryside, but after working all day, he lost all interest in watching the play. Instead, his mind was buzzing with noisy sounds.
But now he not only couldn't leave, he couldn't even get out, because he had to squeeze hard to get out, and he had to squeeze even more to get in.
With his current body structure, Lin Zhen wouldn't let him move around at will.
So he sat with a sore back and insisted on holding on until the end of the show.
As the gongs and drums fell, today's play was finished, and the crowd immediately surged towards the door.
The young couple waited for the noisy crowd to disperse and the whole ancestral hall to become deserted before they started to pack up and go home.
After being bored in the ancestral hall for a day, Ji Congzhe went outside to take a breath of fresh air and felt like he was coming back to life.
After returning home, the two of them dragged their exhausted bodies and took a hasty shower before going to bed.
I'm a little tired today, but it's still worth it to look at the empty baskets and soup pots and a drawer of messy banknotes.
Ji Congzhe fell on the bed and started yawning repeatedly. Lin Zhen still insisted on sitting at the table to settle accounts.
"How many did you sell today?"
Lin Zhen finished counting the banknotes and calculated them in his notebook. He then replied, "I sold more than two baskets of eggs today. There are sixty eggs in each basket. I just counted the remaining baskets of eggs downstairs. There are still some eggs left." Twenty-seven, so we sold one hundred and fifty-three today, which cost 50 cents a pound... The profit was almost more than 40 cents, which is 66. I can't remember how many tortillas we sold, anyway, I just sold them. I counted the money and found a total of eighty-two dollars."
When Ji Congzhe heard this, he was so excited that he almost fell asleep. "So many!"
Lin Zhen smiled bitterly, "You don't even know that we have been staying in the ancestral hall all day."
He put down his pen, took off his shoes and went to bed. He hugged Ji Congzhe and asked, "Are you exhausted today?"
Ji Congzhe stretched and sighed, "I feel more tired than selling tea in the first half of the year."
In fact, there is no reason to be tired from picking and selling tea. It's just that Ji Congzhe's stomach will be heavy for six months now and it makes him uncomfortable, especially after sitting in the ancestral hall all day today.
Lin Zhen felt guilty and distressed when he thought about it.
"Today is the first day of singing. There are a lot of people. Maybe it will be better tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Otherwise, don't accompany me to the ancestral hall tomorrow."
"Let's see tomorrow. If there aren't many people, I'll go over there occasionally." If it's still the same tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, to be honest, Ji Congzhe really can't bear it.
Lin Zhen looked at his tired face and felt sad, "You didn't even eat well today."
"Sigh... Let's wait until the busy days are over. We can't eat well now."
"Well..." Lin Zhen hugged him tightly.
On the second day, everyone joined in the fun. There were obviously fewer people than on the first day, but the young couple's business was still busy. Just like this, after two days in a row, by the third day, Ji Congzhe's hands and legs were sore. I can't even get out of bed.
The key point is that it's raining today, the temperature dropped suddenly, and I was freezing to death as soon as I got out of bed.
Lin Zhen had no choice but to bring breakfast to his bed.
There was no corn tortillas and vegetable soup this morning. After eating the tortillas for two days in a row, both of us were about to vomit.
Lin Zhen cooked rice and stir-fried spicy and sour Chinese cabbage. Ji Congzhe's appetite was so great that he sat on the bed and ate it all.
There are probably fewer people today than yesterday during the day. No one wants to go out on a rainy day. Apart from people from this village, there are probably not many people from neighboring villages coming.
But they still had to hurry up on their business on the last day. There was still a basket of eggs left at home, so they tried to sell them all if they could. But you don't need to stick so many tortillas.
"It's a bit cold today." Lin Zhen said, finding a coat from the cabinet under the bed.
Ji Congzhe slowly dressed and got up to wash up. Sure enough, when he was brushing his teeth, there was a cold breeze outside.
Lin Zhen was wearing thin clothes, so Ji Congzhe hurriedly went upstairs to finish off the sweater he had knitted for him, took it down and asked him to change into it.
This is a sweater for senior citizens, dark blue in color. Although Lin Zhen himself has a good temperament, he has been in the countryside for a long time and was wearing old clothes before. His temperament has been somewhat compromised. Today he put on a new sweater. Although Ji Congzhe woven It's not that great, but it's still eye-catching.
Ji Congzhe looked around him twice and said, "Well, not bad, not bad. It seems that his worth has improved several levels."
Lin Zhen laughed and said, "What does it mean that your social status has increased? You are talking nonsense again."
"How are you? Are you comfortable? Are you warm?"
"Yeah, very warm."
"As long as it's warm." Ji Congzhe found that since he became pregnant, he has been overflowing with maternal love. Seeing Lin Zhen wearing comfortable clothes, he felt satisfied and had a sense of accomplishment.
In order to allow Ji Congzhe to rest more, Lin Zhen made cakes alone in the morning, carried coal stove buckets to the ancestral hall, and was very busy.
At around ten o'clock, the young couple had brunch and then went to the ancestral hall.
It rained a bit today, although it was just drizzle. But the ancestral hall was much deserted, and there was no need to rub shoulders while watching a play. Basically everyone in the village can see the stage, and they no longer have to step on the bench or look up and stretch their necks.
In this way, the air in the ancestral hall can be circulated, and Ji Congzhe can stay there.
They had one basket of eggs left, and after selling them all day, they only sold about twenty eggs. Whether it can be sold out today is very uncertain.
Because on the last night of the opera, except for the old people in the village who were really keen to watch the opera, the other young people and children had joined in the fun in the previous two days and basically would not come.
But the young couple still planned to persist until the end.
It's cold today and business is low. After selling until about ten o'clock in the evening, Ji Congzhe felt sleepy.
Qi Qi's eyelids started to twitch up and down when he was sitting next to the warm coal stove.
But the chair was narrow and low, making it uncomfortable for him to take a nap, so he could only place his hands on his knees and lower his head.
Seeing his posture, Lin Zhen pressed his entire stomach, so he asked him to stand up, then moved the chair behind him, with the back of the chair close to the stairs.
"You sleep next to me."
Ji Congzhe yawned and said "Yeah." and sat on the chair so that the side of his face could rest on Lin Zhen's broad back.
After three days in a row, he was exhausted. At this time, the ping-pong-pong-pang-pong opera sound on the stage was like a lullaby to his ears.
Lin Zhen was worried that he would catch a cold, so he moved to take off his coat, but the movement woke up Ji Congzhe, causing him to frown dissatisfied.
"You raise your face and I'll put some clothes on you." Lin Zhen turned his face and whispered.
Ji Congzhe raised his face slightly, and after Lin Zhen quickly took off his clothes, he leaned forward again.
Lin Zhen didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so she could only turn sideways and clasp his shoulders, and put the clothes on him. "If you are so sleepy, why don't you go home and go to bed?"
Ji Congzhe said vaguely, "Waiting for you."
Their location was relatively dark and there was no business now. Lin Zhen felt warm in her heart when she heard this. She couldn't help but kiss his eyelashes and put her clothes on his bulging belly.
The three-day drama ended at midnight, and the villagers carried their stools home in scattered pieces.
Lin Zhen patted the person leaning behind him, and when he saw him opening his sleepy eyes, he said softly, "Wake up, we are going home."
"Is the song finished?" Ji Congzhe asked confusedly.
"Finished singing."
"Ouch." He stretched and Lin Zhen helped him stand up.
Although the eggs were not sold out, there were only eighteen left, and Lin Zhen was quite satisfied. He picked up the soup pot and poured the tea and residue into the ditch outside the ancestral hall door.
Then he put out the coal stove, and asked Ji Congzhe to carry the empty bucket and a chair, while he carried a chair and the coal stove.
He could only come back later to pick up the remaining half basket of eggs and coal cakes.
A large group of people were cleaning the ancestral hall, and when they saw that Lin Zhen hadn't finished picking up his things, they asked him to come over later, otherwise they would have to close the door.
Their house was in a remote location, ten minutes away from the ancestral hall. Ji Congzhe was worried that Lin Zhen would waste time by accompanying him, so he asked him to go back first.
"You should take your things home quickly before going to the ancestral hall, otherwise it will be closed later."
Lin Zhen looked at the dim road and said, "Can you walk alone?"
Ji Congzhe complained, "I'm just pregnant, not blind or lame. Don't be nagging. If the ancestral hall is closed, it will be troublesome to find them to open the door. We still have a dozen eggs and coal cakes inside."
Lin Zhen really felt that he was being too cautious, so he said, "Okay, I'll go back first."
After saying that, he walked quickly towards home with his long legs.
Ji Congzhe walked slowly, but before he got halfway, he saw Lin Zhen running towards him from the front again.
He said to Ji Congzhe, "You walk slowly. I will go to the ancestral hall to get the things and come back, and I can still accompany you."
As soon as he finished speaking, no one was around again.
Seeing him move quickly, Ji Congzhe was so envious that his teeth itched. He couldn't remember how long it had been since he walked as stridingly as Lin Zhen. It felt like it was a lifetime ago.
After giving birth, he must run around the village several times to relieve his anger.
It was still drizzling outside. The two of them were not very wet when they came back, but their faces were very cold. Ji Congzhe was too lazy to take a shower today and just wanted to get into bed quickly.
So he washed his face, soaked his feet in hot water and went up to the second floor.
Lin Zhen also thought it was cold, so he simply sat under the quilt with a pen and notebook to settle accounts.
After finishing the calculation, Ji Congzhe put a pillow on the head of the bed and listened to him say, "We sold a total of 282 eggs and earned 124 yuan."
After hearing this, Ji Congzhe counted the wad of money in his hand, counted one hundred and twenty-four yuan and put it on the quilt, and then counted the remaining money again.
Lin Zhen said to the account, "Last time, I remember that the last payment was ten yuan for the processing fee of rice milling and flour milling. At that time, there were still three hundred and eleven yuan left. Later, I went to the town to wholesale eggs and three hundred yuan for coal cakes." Yuan, two hundred and eighty-nine left."
He raised his head and said to Ji Cong, "Count how much money you still have in your hand?"
Ji Congzhe counted the money and said, "Three hundred and twenty-three."
"Then we sold tortillas for thirty-four yuan, and we made a total of one hundred and fifty-eight yuan in these three days."
"Okay, okay!" Ji Congzhe happily put away the 447 yuan. "We finally broke through the 400 yuan mark! It's not in vain that I had a sore back and squatted in that poor place for three days."
"Here, let me rub it for you." Lin Zhen took the money from his hand and put it in the drawer, then put the notebook and pen back on the table, preparing to give Ji Congzhe a massage.
Ji Congzhe lifted up the quilt and got in. "Forget it today, it's too cold."
Lin Zhen also covered himself with the quilt, looked at him and smiled and said, "Then I will get under the quilt and press it for you."
Ji Congzhe raised his eyebrows with a playful smile on his lips, "Young man, it's easy for people to think wrong when you say this."
Lin Zhen was startled. When he realized what he was doing, he immediately hugged Ji Congzhe into his arms, leaned close to his ear and said ambiguously with a blushing face, "Ji Congzhe, you are really such a restless person with a big belly."
The two of them laughed and joked for a while.
Suddenly Ji Congzhe frowned and hissed, and Lin Zhen hurriedly touched his stomach and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Fuck! My stomach hurts!"