CH 6

These tube bones are delicious, especially the bone marrow in the hollow, which is fragrant and tender, absolutely not to be missed. This was why Ji Wei spent seven cents to buy this pile of bones. Although there was no meat, it is best used for stewing soup. It is a nutritious and calcium supplement, which was especially suitable for Liu Yimian who is growing.

After returning from the butcher, Ji Wei had already made up his mind that he would visit there often in the future. In his view, money cannot be made just by saving. To save money, an income source is also essential.

As he was chewing up his bones on his side, Liu Yimian had no idea what to do with it. He had never seen such a way of eating, who would pay for a bone without a shred of meat?

But this soup is really good.

Liu Yimian gulps the noodles into his mouth, the extravagant ramen noodles made with an egg were soft and elastic, the soup also contains a strong meat flavor. He neatly arranged the shredded pork aside and immersed himself in the noodles. He plans to slowly taste the shredded pork after eating all the noodles.

“Why aren’t you eating your bones?” Ji Wei pointed to the unmoved bones in his bowl and raised his eyebrows, “I know no one eats bones here, but give it a try, the bone marrow here is delicious. , it’s a waste not to eat it.”

Perhaps it was Ji Wei’s contented expression that convinced Liu Yimian. He imitated Ji Wei by grabbing a bone with his hand, hesitantly poking it with his chopsticks. He then places it in his mouth and sucks it.

Ji Wei smiled and pointed aside, “That’s it, suck harder, harder! Did you manage to eat it yet? How was it?”

Liu Yimian tried his best to suckle, and after a clear sound of air, he finally felt a mouthful of smooth and soft meat. He kept it in his mouth for a period before swallowing.

“Brother Ji, there is actually meat in this bone, this is the first time I’ve eaten it!” Liu Yimian looked at the cylinder bone curiously, the marrow inside was sucked out, and the long bones were empty.

Then Ji Wei taught Liu Yimian how to chew the bones and joints, which was completely different from pure meat. The new taste firmly attracted Liu Yimian. After learning the tricks, he no longer needed Ji Wei and turned the bones in his bowl into a pile of bone scum.

Ji Wei ate contentedly and finished his share. After Liu Yimian also finished eating, he put away the tableware and was about to wash the dishes when Liu Yimian stopped him.

“You did all the work this morning, so let me wash the bowls.” Those who are used to doing things can’t stand it when they had nothing to do all of a sudden. Liu Yimian had hardly touched the stove these days, so he took care of the laundry to make himself feel a little better.

Ji Wei didn’t refuse, wiped his hands, and went back to the house. He originally wanted to take a nap, but he slept for a quarter of an hour during the massage. Lying on the bed, he couldn’t help but keep thinking about the bread kiln. So he got up from the bed not long after, rummaging through boxes and cabinets to find paper and pens.

Liu Yimian came in after washing the bowls to see Ji Wei searching for something, “Brother Ji, what are you looking for? I am the one that packed everything in the house, let me find it for you.”

“Do you have pen and paper?”

“Ah?” This totally confused Liu Yimian. The original owner’s parents were illiterate, so they didn’t need it. The original owner didn’t like reading, let alone touching books, so there was no pen, ink, paper, or inkstone at home. If necessary, they would go to the street to pay someone to write for them. “We don’t have it at home, if you want to write, I will go to Lin Xiucai to borrow paper and pen. ”

Ji Wei pondered for a moment, waved his hand, and said, “No need, I’ll go out in the afternoon, you can rest at home.” After that, he ran out again in a hurry.

The four main streets of Changliu Town, east, west, north, and south were crisscrossed. The east and west streets consisted of small stalls. The north and south streets were more vibrant, In addition to many small restaurants, there were also bookstores, pawnshops, and so on. A few days ago, Ji Weihuo pawned the jade bracelet on South Street.

The original owner didn’t come to South Street often. Based on his impression, he found a stationery shop. After entering, he was immediately attracted by the many paintings and calligraphy hanging on the wall. The shopkeeper, who was standing behind the counter, saw Ji Wei and said, “Hello, what an honor to have Master Ji visiting our shop today!”

Ji Wei pretended not to hear the sarcasm in his words, turned around in the store, “Shopkeeper, how much is a set of stationery?”

“Do you want to buy it?” The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment, then immediately added, “A high-quality set is one tael of silver, and a medium-”

Ji Wei interrupted him impatiently, “How much is the cheapest set?”

The shopkeeper didn’t dare to say more, and immediately took a few things from the shelf and put them on the counter, “Master Ji, this is the best and cheapest set of stationery our shop sells, two hundred cents, can’t be less. ”

A stack of paper, about thirty to fifty sheets at a rough glance, the paper is thin but still smooth. The brush is an ordinary sheep’s hair, and it feels a little thorny to the touch. As for the ink and inkstone, the quality is ordinary, but it is cheaper.

He took out the money bag from his pocket, counted 150 coins, and patted it on the counter. In the spirit of bargaining, he stared straight at the shopkeeper, hoping that he could lower the price, but said a threatening tone: ” I only have so much, how about it?”

The shopkeeper had heard of Ji Wei’s notoriety, when he saw his looks, his face turned pale with fright. He only hoped that Ji Wei would leave his shop quickly. How would he dare to say more, he nodded again and again: “Master Ji wants to buy it, of course, it is enough, I’ll wrap it up for you right away.” After finished speaking, he drew a rope from under the cabinet, packed all the pen, ink, paper, inkstone, and handed it to Ji Wei. He was greatly relieved after he sent him out the door.

Next to the stationery shop is a bookstore, where many students were picking books on the shelves. When they saw Ji Wei walk in, they retreated and avoided him. Soon, with Ji Wei as the center, a small no man’s land was formed in the narrow bookstore.

Ji Wei pretended that he didn’t see it, because of limited funds, he picked the “Analects of Confucius” and “Book of Poem” and left South Street after paying the bill, humming a little tune along the way home.

In less than half an hour, he spent nearly two hundred pennies. Ji Wei sat on the stool and sighed while grinding the ink, “It’s really easy to spend money, but it’s hard to make money.”

Liu Yimian couldn’t help comforting: “Brother Ji, you are so capable, you will definitely make a lot of money soon.”

Ji Wei smiled bitterly, “I don’t know if I can do it, you have more confidence than me.”

Of course, for the concept of a lot of money, the two have slightly different perceptions.

After the ink was readied, Ji Wei spread out a piece of paper on the round table, dipped the ink in the sheep’s hair pen, and wrote a few words on the paper.

A sharp sword emerges from sharpening

The font is strong and powerful.

This is Ji Wei’s motto.

He was born into a Chinese pastry family. When he was young, his father forced him to practice calligraphy for an hour every morning in order to correct his playful temperament. At first, it was to satisfy his father. Later, when he went abroad to study, whenever he encountered difficulties or was irritable, he would write to improve his mood. After some practice, he was able to write quite well.

Ji Wei looked satisfied with the words he had just written, he then pushed the piece of paper away and spread out a new one. This time, however, it was not writing, but sketching patterns on the paper.

It started out as a boxy line, but soon, as Ji Wei continued, there was a square base, an arc-shaped dome with an opening on the front, and something peculiar in shape appeared on the paper.

Then Ji Wei wrote cement, bricks, bottles, straw, sand in the blank space next to it, took another piece of paper, wrote down the production process from his memory. He double-checked it before he finally felt relieved.

Thanks to Ji Wei’s inquisitive nature, he asked a middle-aged white couple about the production principle during his stay at their place. Or else he would know where to start and he would never be able to make pastry again.

Liu Yimian watched Ji Wei draw and write. Although he was puzzled, seeing his tired face, he didn’t dare ask any questions. Instead, he turned around, went to the kitchen to boil a basin of hot water. Soon, he came out with a hot towel for Ji Wei to wash his face.

…

Zhao Hu came back from West Street, threw the empty basket onto the floor, drank the herbal tea prepared on the table, and shouted loudly, “Mother, I’m back.”

Not long after, Aunt Zhou came out of the kitchen and said happily, “You sold everything?”

Zhao Hu nodded.

Every morning, he goes up the mountain to pick fresh mushrooms and sells them on West Street. Sometimes when the business is good, it will be sold out, but if it is not sold out, it will be brought back to supplement the food at home. Luckily today, a young lady bought all the remaining wild hawthorn and said she was going home to make hawthorn cake.

Aunt Zhou praised Zhao Hu and suddenly remembered that the kid from the Ji family next door seemed to be selling cakes on the street. She was a little curious and asked Zhao Hu about it. When she mentioned this, Zhao Hu couldn’t help but said he was amazed.

“If he hadn’t beaten Baozi Xishi in the street today, I would have thought he had turned over a new leaf.” Zhao Hu’s words aroused Aunt Zhou’s curiosity and hit him several times to make him speak more quickly, “When I reached West Street today, he had already sold out his pancake long ago. I heard that his business was so good in the morning that people keep coming to check whether there is anymore pancake available. He was arguing with Baozi Xi Shi, and he said something…”

After all, Zhao Hu was an honest person, he was too embarrassed to gossip about other people, so he scratched the back of his head and smiled at Aunt Zhou.

“You stupid boy, what do you have to be ashamed of with your mother, tell me quickly!” Aunt Zhou smirked and pinched Zhao Hu’s ear.

Zhao Hu rubbed his ears a few times and muttered, “Baozi Xishi is a girl after all. Ji Wei said that he had an affair with her, and it would not be good for her reputation…”

“What!”

Aunt Zhou shouted, startling Zhao Hu, “Mother, what’s wrong?”

“Stupid man, I thought he was having an affair with Lin Sanjie from West Second Lane? When did it become Baozi Xishi?” Aunt Zhou had heard about this gossip when she goes to the street When she thought of Liu Yimian again, her distress turned into anger.

That Zhao Hu understood his mother well and when he saw her face change, he couldn’t help but say: “Mother, after all, Ji Wei bought that brother, this is a family business, you are an outsider, why do you care so much?”

Aunt Zhou glanced at him, “I just can’t bear to see Mianmian being mistreated. If it wasn’t for my family’s lack of wealth, I would have bought him back to be your wife.” The latter half of the sentence was not loud, but Zhao Hu was standing beside her. , how could he not hear it, he suddenly felt embarrassed.

“Mother!”

“Okay, I’m only joking, you took it for real.” Aunt Zhou gave Zhao Hu a blank look and suddenly detected a burning smell. Then she remembered that she was cooking vegetables on the stove. She screamed and rushed into the kitchen.