Liu Laozhu's father was walking back and forth rubbing his hands at the door of the bathhouse.
As soon as his son pushed open the steaming wooden door and came out, Father Liu hurriedly turned around to meet him and asked eagerly, "How many of you want to make shoes?"
"How many are there?" Liu Laozhu held a charcoal pen in his ear and held up a notebook full of random small words. He waved his hand and said with a smile, "Do them all!"
Father Liu clapped his legs with both hands: "Okay!"
Then, the old man carried baskets full of shoes to the house where Liu Laozhu's brother sold mules and cattle.
At this time, dozens of women had gathered in the room. They brought their own needles and threads, awls for sewing shoes, and also brought their own jade grass that had been smashed into cotton wool, and they were waiting to divide the shoes.
As soon as the shoes arrived, Liu Laozhu's mother began to distribute them.
You have three pairs, and she has two pairs. With her hands busy, the old lady did not forget to say:
“We must make people’s shoes comfortable.
Because these are shoes for walking a long way, and if they are slightly uncomfortable, they will cause blood blisters. You cannot make money that is unconscionable by comparing your feelings with your own.
This is also because next time our customers come, they will trust us and buy our 靰鞞草. Even the price is reasonable and it is easy to buy ready-made shoes directly.
So don’t get fooled by thinking about getting a job faster and earning two extra bucks, you hear me? "
The old women in the village sewed shoes without raising their heads and answered with a smile:
"I heard it. In fact, old lady, before you returned to the village, the boss repeatedly emphasized to all of us that we must develop sustainably."
Another woman took over and continued to tell with a smile:
"Yes, the boss even talked to us in detail, saying that the mutual market would not end in one year.
This is a major matter decided by the imperial court, and it is not a joke.
Then many wealthy businessmen from this dynasty will gather here, and there will also be connections between those businessmen.
As human beings, we have to pass on the benefits one by one. If you don't come to stay with us this time, you will come to stay next time if you don't know. "
How could the women be unhappy? Not only would they earn money for making shoes, but the men and children at home would also have work to do. If a family makes money together, they can earn a fortune that they could not even imagine before.
So in order to get more guests to come to Erdaohe Village, let alone making shoes with care, we just ask them to do anything for the guests. As long as everyone comes here, they will come again next time, and the flow of customers will continue, and people in the village will continue to make money.
"Yes, yes, that's the truth." Liu Laozhu's mother smiled and took the first pair of shoes for inspection.
Check the thickness, feel if the stitches are tight, and see where you can add some tangerine grass to make the shoes warmer.
In the eyes of businessmen, mending shoes for thirty cents a pair is like buying two ears of boiled corn on the road, but in Erdaohe Village it is a lot of money, and the profit must be divided into three parts.
Five cents from the profit from a pair of shoes should be given to Liu Laozhu's family.
Because it was the Liu family that provided a place for women to sew shoes. Mrs. Liu is also responsible for the inspection. If any pair fails, Mrs. Liu will be held accountable directly. Mr. Liu will be responsible for transporting the shoes.
In addition, five cents should be paid to the village committee in a pair of shoes.
This was decided by the villagers with a show of hands.
Because Mrs. Xu always calls the shots, she said to everyone during the meeting:
The village committee must have money to buy red lanterns all over the road in front of the shop, and money to make big flags.
To do that, every time we entertain a caravan, our village will put up a high flag.
For example, if a Lu merchant comes, we will embroider on the flag the months in which we have entertained Lu merchants, what the Lu merchants do, and how many guests they have entertained.
Then, half a year or a year later, we will see if we can have colorful flags flying in the wind in front of our shop.
Shandong merchants, Hui merchants, Shanxi merchants, Fujian merchants...our village has to strive to receive them all.
Such a flag will not only become a living advertisement.
The colorful flags are equivalent to flying the years we have worked hard and the money we have earned.
Everyone was so excited when they heard it
They all raised their hands and unanimously approved giving the village committee a commission.
To buy, you must buy red lanterns and cloth, and choose good cloth that will not fade. They want to look back in a year and see where the money in their pockets came from.
Including washing clothes, five cents will be given to the village committee.
There are also cakes and naan made for the guests to eat on the way back, and a commission will be given to the village committee.
While the women were busy sewing shoes, the rooms in the back room were even more busy.
The whole table is making noodles, and the stew is ready. She hurriedly finished this task, thinking about helping her sister cut the pieces.
The whole table was filled with daughter-in-law Xiaoyun, who was preparing stacks of sauce for dipping quick-frozen dumplings and making wonton soup. Later, when the guests were served, she would directly cook the dumplings and add the wontons.
There are steaming sticky bean buns on the drawer next to it.
Mrs. Xu was in the kitchen where she could cook vegetables. She had a blue cloth wrapped around her head and was sweating all over her face.
Whether it is sliced pork or steamed pork, it needs to be deep-fried twice.
Yu Qiniang can cut vegetables and fry meat until crispy, but like sweet and sour pot dumplings, she currently doesn't have good control over the taste and heat.
She could only help her mother-in-law, wash, cut and cook vegetables, then make celery, peanuts, cold dishes, and cut fish jelly.
Xu Laosi was cooking fish stew in Xiaozao's big house.
Xu Youyin is really a good old man to her mother. She is a naturally attentive cook. As long as his mother prepares separate bowls of sauces for each pot of fish stew, he can completely inherit Mrs. Xu's good fish cooking skills. .
Outside, the table full of young son Huzi was killing fish and picking up fish scales.
In the backyard, Yu Qinniang's natal brother Dali was feeding mules to the guests with a table full of them.
And Xu Laosan was in front of the open-air cauldron outside, waving his strong arms and stir-frying sugar-roasted chestnuts.
To say that Xu Tianxin is still enjoying the blessing.
She couldn't smell much fumes.
Either refilling hot water for customers sitting cross-legged on the hot pot, or working as a garlic picker in front of the counter, live-streaming the topics discussed by the customers.
Of course, from time to time we also sell sugar-roasted chestnuts fried by Uncle San.
There is no airtight wall in the world. Whose roasted chestnuts are so fragrant?
"How much does it cost?"
There were oil paper bags placed on the counter, and the sugar-roasted chestnuts inside were still warm and exuding a sweet smell.
"Thirty cents a piece."
"Give me two."
"Okay, I'll charge you sixty cents, so I can put it on a plate for you?"
"No, don't bother, just pick it up and eat it."
The guests all know Xu Tianxin, so they talk to her most cordially.
After all, it was this girl who suddenly appeared from a distance with ten big dogs roaring when they were too cold to bear it, and blew the suona to notify the villagers to welcome them.
Then when we got here, Xu Tianxin was the first to make arrangements to provide hot water.
If they want to ask something or go to the hut, and they don't know who to ask, they will look among the figures in gray clothes, wearing an orange dress, a boar skin vest, and a lily coat. Lin Cao, Xu Tianxin wearing a white rabbit fur hat on his head.
There is no way, she is so bright and conspicuous, how many colors are there on her body?
The guests could tell from her dress that this girl's family must be among the best in the village.
Speaking of going to the latrine, there was an episode.
After the guests came out, a small thatched shed was set up not far from the hut. In the shed stood a trembling old man, heating hot water on the stove and waiting for them.
As long as you just wash your hands with hot water, there is also a fragrant soap wrapped in loofah pulp hanging on the wall. When you rub the loofah pulp, it will foam, and then you can wash your hands with hot water.
I was paired alone and given spicy sauce. Many guests misunderstood: "You don't have to pay to go to the latrine, do you?"
Lao Zhaitou smiled and said, "No, no, no, no money." Whatever you want.
"You don't need any money to give it to a separate partner, and you give me such fragrant soap.
use. Uncle, your village is really interesting, it’s so rare. It's obviously a village, but sometimes it doesn't feel like a small village at all, more like a city person.
The Kang mats on the floor of each house were so clean that we were embarrassed to take off our shoes. Even the huts were neatly tidied. Can I ask how much you will be paid? "
"No."
Yes, there is no salary.
Only Lao Zhaitou's sons and daughters-in-law can earn money from working here.
But even if Lao Zhaitou didn't earn a penny, he would cover himself thickly, wrap himself with jade grass like a scarecrow to keep warm, and go wherever he saw a shortage of people to work.
It's like guarding the door of the hut.
Lao Zhaitou came here by himself. He was petty and was afraid that someone would steal the spices or damage the hot water on the stove.
In the eyes of Lao Zhaitou, every piece of soap locust, every firewood used to boil water on the stove, and even the corn leaves used to wipe the buttocks are the hard work of the villagers who are reluctant to use them more.
Tian Xin makes soap piece by piece, which soap has no cost.
The villagers carried bundles of firewood down from the mountain, and no bundle of firewood was sweated. Even the corn leaves collected by each family were neatly folded and put into baskets, so that they could not be wasted.
So Lao Zhaitou thought that as a leftover in the village, this was what he should do.
After the guests finished using the toilet, he would go in and check them again. He was afraid that if someone peed outside, it would freeze into ice. If the sole of his foot slipped and fell into the toilet again, it didn't matter if we salvaged it. It was not easy for the villagers to make some money together. Don't let anyone break it and get sued. The toilets were being cleaned under the light of torches.
At the same time, the old scrubbers who are about the same age as Lao Zhaitou are not only farming but also working in re-employment positions, giving full play to their sincerity and residual enthusiasm.
The sky is vast and the fields are vast, and the bathing business is quite busy. First rub before and after, and a piece of handkerchief is enough.
A customer shouted: "faifaifai..."
"You have to turn over, first lie down and then lie down. The more you rub, the harder it gets. We don't rub both sides in the bath, we rub all sides. Come on, lie down."
The gentlemen who take a bath should keep in mind the words of training.
There are also a few sentences that say, what is washed away is not the mud, but the dirt. After washing in our house, life will be smooth.
If you rub your back with salt, you will make money in whatever you do this year. Rub your back and put your breasts on, life is destined to be wonderful. It’s cupping and gua sha, and good luck will come to your home; making a pot of tea and taking a bath can resist fatigue and aging.
Also, if we want to be distinguished in front of others, we must open our backs with essential oils.
Shopkeeper Zhang was lying on the other kang. Seeing that the uncle was getting more and more courageous as he rubbed, he had to wave his hand to stop him and said, "He said it hurts."
"It hurts!" Oh my god, we don't understand their dialect either. "I'm sorry, brother, I thought you came all the way here just to clean things up for you."
There is no way. In their eyes, every guest who comes to take a bath is uncarved wood, which must be polished, polished and waxed.
The young man turned over and breathed a sigh of relief. He thought to himself: Oh my god, my arms are about to fly. Actually, you don’t need to exert so much force. You should apply numbing powder first before rubbing in the bath.
On the other side, there were some young guys who were a little embarrassed to see so much mud rubbed off their bodies, and they were looking for something to say, a little dirty.
The old man who was taking a bath smiled and said, "Don't be ashamed, who will do the cleansing?"
As long as you hold back this moment of embarrassment and open the door of the bathhouse, your life will be sublimated. Who knows that you have been buried in the past.
Nose hair, beard, and hair that are stuck together and cannot be combed away will be repaired for you.
Shopkeeper Zhang had already reached the stage of applying facial cream to his face, and the uncle who was giving him a bath went out of his way to apply more cream on Shopkeeper Zhang.
Knowing full well that this guy has a lot of money and loves to talk about everything with a wave of his hand when he is happy, the uncle is trying to wipe Boss Zhang's face so smooth that it would be best if mosquitoes land on it and it will cause splitting.
"You bought this for opening a bathhouse?" It doesn't look like a bargain, and the texture and taste are different.
"The beauty of our village is the girl who picked you up today. She
She is the only girl in the Xu family, Xiyu Xu. She is also a rare girl in the eyes of people in our village. "
The gentlemen who took baths were very happy when they mentioned Xu Tianxin.
Xu Tianxin's mass base among the elderly is much better than hers.
Shopkeeper Zhang immediately stopped thinking about facial oil. He had long been looking for an opportunity to inquire sideways about why the Xu family was able to get so much horse manure.
"The Xu family must have children and grandchildren who are officials or studying." Shopkeeper Zhang said with a smile: "My guess is correct, I can feel that there is a background."
"Ordinary villagers have no background."
The uncle said as if he didn’t take it seriously:
"It's just that Zhenting is the gan'er of the Xu family. The beautiful little granddaughter of the Xu family also knows two generals above the fifth rank in the Zhenbei Army. The Xu family also cooperated with the Zhenbei Army and did this trip with you. It’s almost a sale, nothing more.”
The uncle thought to himself: Therefore, you must give money. If you dare to offend the Xu family, you must be determined to die together.
Shopkeeper Zhang: "..."
What else do you want? No wonder he can tell him exactly who to call tomorrow and how to deliver the goods.
And there are two and a half people. It seems that Zhenting is the half.
Just when the first batch of customers lay down after rubbing and started scraping and cupping, and some customers chose to massage first, Guan Ertu walked in dressed like a fairy.
He wore a dark gray cloth coat of very fine fabric.
"Mr. Langzhong."
"gentlemen."
No matter how old the bath master was, he immediately nodded to Guan Ertu with respect. It can be seen that training has been done in advance.
Guan Ertuo also pretended to be very similar. He only nodded slightly to everyone and asked them to get on with their business.
Then I started to check the customers’ gua sha spots one by one.
"Sir, your throat is swollen and mute, right? You're still coughing."
The young man lying on the kang who was doing scraping looked at Guan Ertu in surprise. When he said yes, his voice was indeed hoarse.
Guan Ertu took the young man's hand and rubbed it along the other's wrist to the outer end of the thumb. Then he rubbed and scratched the bottom of the outer nail of the other's thumb. Just looking at it, after a while, the outer bottom of the other's nail appeared. Two small white blisters.
"Now, feel your throat."
The young man was even more surprised. He pinched his neck and said, "It seems to be much better. My throat is much clearer, and I don't feel like coughing so much anymore."
"If this happens again in the future, I will just scrape my thumb like this to remove the fire and drive away the cold."
Guan Ertuo then told the bath master who was waiting aside: "Shave him in the same way with the other hand. Then shave these two places on his legs, and then put the cupping pot on his back."
"Yes, sir."
After this little episode, Guan Ertuo went to someone else's place. If he wanted to check the other person's arms and sprained ankles, he asked him to open his mouth and have a look. The guests were very cooperative.
Someone even asked: Sir, am I okay?
"It's nothing serious. You are also in the cold. Do you have the pills with you?"
"There are pills. But don't you need to buy other medicines separately?"
"No, just eat it first if you have it."
"Mr. Doctor, we have almost finished what we brought with us. Do you have any? We need to prepare some when we go back."
"Yes, I'll tell you if you need anything when you leave."
Guan Ertu finally walked to the kang where Shopkeeper Zhang and other stewards were.
He looked at the hemorrhoids on the back of Shopkeeper Zhang's buttocks and said warmly: "It's not easy to do anything. They've fallen out. Do you need to steam them? Some medicine can relieve it a lot."
"Is there any medicine available?"
