sbdcsierra Chapter 539 You've Been Tricked
Chapter 539 You've Been Tricked
Two fires started in the yard, one for the soldiers and one for them.
Zhou Guo and Zhou Suli sliced the roe deer meat they brought back into slices, put them on skewers and roasted them on an iron rack.
Old Zheng looked at the familiar iron rack, became interested, rolled up his sleeves, and started grilling meat.
The aroma of barbecue soon wafted through the yard, and more than a dozen men smelled the food and started scrambling for pieces.
How could you get to eat such delicious food in the military camp on ordinary days? The North is vast, sparsely populated and poor, and not much tax is collected every year. The court hasn't given any food or wages for several years, so you can just barely get by without going hungry.
As for how good the food is, that is absolutely impossible to achieve.
Halfway through the baking, the old man came back.
Zhou Guo said with a smile: "Master, come quickly, there is roe deer meat to eat. I went into the mountains and hunted a roe deer today."
The old man already knew that Zhou Dacang was fine, and said, "Wait, I'll go into the house and get a pot of wine."
They have already grilled two large plates and haven't eaten a single skewer yet.
Asked Lao Zheng to eat, he waved his hand and refused.
The old man came out of the house with a pot of wine and a few wine glasses and poured a glass for each person.
Zhou Gu also came. Zhou Mai and Zhou Mi were doing their homework in the room with the doors and windows closed.
Several people gathered together.
Zhou Guo saw them grilling meat, and he started to cut pine mushrooms. As he cut, he said, "Uncle Zheng, the last time you came to our house, you only had dried pine mushrooms. Now we happen to have fresh ones at home. Although they can't compare to the ones just picked, they are definitely more tender than the dried ones. I'll grill them for you to try."
Old Zheng was very happy. "That's great. I'm in for a treat today. When I get back, I'll definitely show off to your Uncle Hei and Uncle Liu."
By the time the fragrance of the pine mushrooms rose, the yard was already filled with the sound of people slurping their saliva.
The soldiers kept glancing over here.
Zhou Gu brought a pot of mushrooms over and said with a smile, "I'll roast the mushrooms for you."
More than a dozen people cheered, they had to try something so delicious.
Zhou Guo baked a whole plate full of food, which was piled up to the brim.
Zhou Su couldn't help but say, "If this is placed in Baoyue Tower, it will probably cost more than ten taels of silver."
"What do you mean that Baoyue Tower costs more than ten taels of silver?" Old Zheng didn't understand for a moment.
Zhou Guo said, "Nothing, Baoyue Tower also sells this dish. A plate of eight or nine slices can be sold for one tael of silver. When the stock is in short supply, it can even be sold for one and a half taels of silver."
Old Zheng looked at the mushroom and was incredulous. "Can this thing be sold for one and a half taels in the north?"
This is not bad in Beijing, but can it be sold at this price in the North? Are there so many rich people in the North?
Zhou Guo nodded, "Yes, so, Uncle Zheng, you have to eat more."
Old Zheng nodded, looking at the plate of mushrooms and thinking something was wrong, "Where did the pine mushrooms in Baoyue Tower come from?"
Zhou Guo said: "Of course someone else sold it to them."
"Of course I know it was sold to them by someone else, and that someone else..."
Zhou Su raised his head and smiled, proudly saying: "This other person is my sister. The pine mushrooms in Baoyue Tower were sold to them by my sister."
Old Zheng was startled, really surprised. He looked at Zhou Guo, then at the pine mushrooms, and asked, "A plate of them at Baoyue Tower costs 1.5 taels. How much did you sell them for?"
Zhou Guo gave an honest quote.
The table slammed with a loud bang, and Old Zheng slapped it with his iron palm. He said angrily, "This is bullying you, kid. I took it from you for 300 yuan a pound, and then I sold it to you for 80 or 90 yuan a pound. You got ripped off!"
Zhou Su and others were shocked.
The old man looked at the spilled wine on the table and felt extremely sad. He was reluctant to drink it, but he spilled so much.
Zhou Guo didn't expect him to be so emotional, and hurriedly pulled him down to sit down, "Don't be angry, don't be angry, uncle, it's okay, I think three hundred per kilogram is already very good for us. After all, tens of thousands of kilograms can be brought down from the mountains every year, which is enough for us to make a lot of money. As for the fact that the big restaurants in Baoyue Tower can sell so expensively, it is also because of their own signs."
Seeing that he was still angry, he added: "Anyway, the price is adjusted every year. At worst, I can just raise it a little bit next year."
Hearing her say this, Lao Zheng calmed down and said, "Yes, then we should raise it a little next year, preferably three taels of silver per catty. How can we make so much money? You are simply fooling us."
Zhou Guo nodded and continued to roast the mushrooms.
After a while, I heard him ask in surprise: "What? How many tens of thousands of kilograms of mushrooms can be harvested from the mountain in a year? How many years have you been selling this mushroom?"
Zhou Guo said helplessly: "Uncle, you are the son of a rich family. You are so old and have been in the army for so many years. You should be able to remain calm in the face of emergencies. Why are you so jumpy? You are scaring me into becoming sick even though I am not sick at all."
Old Zheng said, "My voice is not loud at all, your uncle Hei's voice is loud. I was scared by you. Every year, tens of thousands of kilograms of goods are brought down from the mountain. I'm afraid it's not enough for your family alone. The villagers follow them up the mountain to pick up the goods. Do you collect their goods and then sell them?"
Zhou Guo laughed and said, "Uncle, you really acted as if you saw it with your own eyes. You are really amazing. You can even be a military advisor!"
Zhou Su and the others laughed.
Old Zheng also laughed, "You make your uncle sound like a fool. Who can't think of such a simple thing? If all military advisors are like this, then we can just fight a fierce battle and give away the territory directly."
Looking at her, he continued, "No wonder you said your family is not short of money. It turns out that you really are not short of money. I thought you were being polite."
Zhou Guo puffed out his chest and asked, "When have I ever been polite?"
The old man said with a smile: "You are quite pleased with yourself."
By the time all the food was served, it was already completely dark.
Zhou Guo and others moved the dining table into the house, lit a few lights, and everyone sat together and started to eat happily.
Today's meal was quite sumptuous. Although we didn't buy meat because it wasn't market day, the family still had quite a few chickens and ducks. In addition, there was the roe deer that Zhou Guo carried back from the mountains. It was so big that we could make two large tables with a small half left.
There are chicken, duck, fish, roe deer meat, radish, cabbage, and pine mushrooms, and no other vegetarian dishes.
Zhou Guo also brought up two jars of wine from the cellar. This wine was the best wine he had bought in the county town before. There was still half a jar of wine in the cellar. The old man was fickle and seldom drank now.
Just right for entertaining guests.
As for Lihuabai, that belonged to the old man, and he did not hide it from himself. He took out half a jar and drank happily with Old Zheng, Wang Fugui and the others.
Lao Zheng took a sip of wine, picked up his chopsticks, tilted his head and looked at the pine mushroom slices on the plate, and said, "I have to try this mushroom that costs eight or nine taels of silver per pound. How come so many people like to eat it and spend so much money just to eat this? If there are many people at the table, each person can only have one slice."
Wang Fugui laughed and said, "Don't be fooled by the fact that we can sell so many in the restaurant. In our village, they are just wild mushrooms picked from the mountains. Everyone has some at home. The bad ones are kept by themselves."