The southern mountain wasn't too far from the village, but it was the busy farming season recently. The village's farmland was mainly concentrated at the foot of the northern mountain, so no one went towards the southern mountain. If Zhao Ger hadn't gone to the southern mountain to gather firewood, then Wu Ger...
Du Xiaodu didn't dare to think further.
Madam Du touched the bowl, felt it wasn't so hot anymore, handed the porridge to Wu Ger, and said, "That day, Young Fang carried you back. Your blood even stained his clothes. I don't know if it will wash out. Later, the midwife said you had no strength. Seeing we had no food at home, Zhao Ger had him run back home to fetch brown sugar. Even this porridge now was delivered by Zhao Ger the day before yesterday."
She turned to look at Du Xiaodu and said seriously, "We owe them a great debt of gratitude. One must not forget kindness. You must remember this for a lifetime."
"Mother," Du Xiaodu nodded and said, "I know."
He had earned a bit of silver on this trip. Du Xiaodu ran to town to buy food, then bought two catties of meat and half a catty of malt sugar. In the evening, when Fang Zichen returned, he and Wu Ger carried their child to their door.
Fang Zichen was a bit surprised to see Wu Ger. He didn't expect that after just a few days, he was already out of bed. Didn't this ger need to do the month of confinement?
Zhao Ger liked children very much. Wu Ger handed the child to him to hold. Zhao Ger coaxed him for a while. The child blew bubbles, his face chubby like a big white bun, his black, shiny eyes very clear, waving his little fists, seeming very excited.
"Husband, look, so cute!"
Fang Zichen didn't look. Remembering that 'glimpse' from that day, his heart still trembled.
Guaizai circled Zhao Ger, calling "little brother, little brother" non-stop.
Wu Ger and Du Xiaodu chatted with them for a while, and in the end, actually wanted to kneel. Zhao Ger quickly dodged.
Du Xiaodu said he didn't know how to thank them. Zhao Ger thought about it and asked if he could help make some small jars.
The jars for the chili sauce were small. The jars usually used for oil and salt were wide-mouthed. The twenty he bought previously were found by Zhao Ger after searching throughout the entire Fu'an Town. That day, he happened to not have much money on him. Afraid the blood sausage oil wouldn't wash out, Zhao Ger wore old clothes when selling blood sausage. So when he ran to the last grocery store that day, he emptied his entire purse but was still short two coppers. He asked the shopkeeper if he could lower the price a little.
It so happened the store had a few small jars that hadn't sold, all covered in dust. Ordinary families rarely had use for this kind of small jar. Afraid of missing the chance to ever sell them, the shopkeeper patiently lowered the price by two copper coins for him, but because of this, the shopkeeper felt that Zhao Ger was a poor wretch.
Zhao Ger asked Du Xiaodu to make them for him, not without payment. Du Xiaodu didn't expect that coming to express thanks would lead to closing a business deal.
Zhao Ger explained it very clearly to him, and he understood. If Zhao Ger's chili sauce business did well, this order of his would be long-term. For now, Zhao Ger asked him to provide thirty jars a day, at two coppers each, making sixty coppers a day. Du Xiaodu calculated secretly, and his heart was about to fly. He wished he could go back right now to light the kiln.
____
Entering the tenth lunar month, Zhao Ger made chili sauce several more times. It sold very well in town, with customers almost fighting to buy it each time.
The chili sauce earned more, so Zhao Ger made less blood sausage. It also allowed Fang Zichen to rest more. Zhou Ger's family couldn't supply enough chili peppers, so he went to ask at He Daleng's house. Uncle Liu's family grew a particularly large amount of chili peppers and garlic and were worried about selling them. Knowing he wanted to buy chili peppers, he directly took him to the fields.
"How much do you want?" Uncle Liu asked.
Zhao Ger looked. The chili peppers at Uncle Liu's house grew very well, red and very pleasing. He said, "I need thirty catties of chili peppers a day, and fifteen catties of garlic."
After making chili sauce several times, Zhao Ger had figured out the pattern. Adding chili peppers and garlic in a two-to-one ratio made the best-tasting chili sauce. Too much garlic made the flavor too pungent and the texture cloying. Too little, and the flavor wasn't fragrant enough.
Two-to-one was best.
"What?" Uncle Liu was dumbfounded and asked curiously, "You want this much for yourself to eat, or..."
For one's own family to eat thirty catties a day, he wondered if they were trying to breathe fire?
Zhao Ger replied, "I'm doing a small business myself." When he returned home, Uncle Liu's daughter-in-law sidled over: "Dad, what did Zhao Ger come to see you for?"
Uncle Liu glanced at her and said, "He wants to buy some chili peppers from our family."
She originally thought it was something good, like also having their family deliver vegetables to Zuixiao Restaurant or something. Hearing the reason, the daughter-in-law let out a disappointed 'oh' and was about to go to the backyard to feed the chickens when Uncle Liu added, "Deliver thirty catties of chili peppers and fifteen catties of garlic to him every day."
"What?" The daughter-in-law's voice rose two pitches: "Dad, you're not joking with me?"
"Would I be that bored?" Uncle Liu said.
The daughter-in-law laughed, then curiously wondered what Zhao Ger needed so many chili peppers and garlic for. Uncle Liu glared at her: "He's using it for a small business. Don't ask questions you shouldn't."
The daughter-in-law said, "I understand."
Farming families didn't have many skills. Any skill that could earn silver was hidden and concealed. No one would be foolish enough to go to someone's door and ask.
"By the way," the daughter-in-law said, "Dad, where did you put that piece of cured meat I brought back from my parents' home last time? I'll take it to Zhao Ger's family. The cured meat my mother makes is very delicious."
She was rarely so generous. Uncle Liu was stunned and couldn't help asking, "That cured meat isn't poisoned, is it?"
Daughter-in-law: "..."
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