Volume 1: Reborn in the 1980s, selling lunch boxes with my mother Chapter 101: Ask me to carry 20 kilograms of rice downstairs?
On the first day of "apprenticeship", Tong Xiaoyan was ordered around by her "master" Grandma Hu.
Not to mention writing a letter to Jiang Lesheng, she didn't even have time to stop to take a breath or drink a glass of water!
Jiang Tian, this bad girl!
The words "Service Center" were deliberately written in front of the stall where Grandma Hu sold rice balls, and this really deceived the passing drivers and passengers.
But Jiang Tian was not lying. There were three big words "Service Office" written on Grandma Hu's stall. In addition to selling rice balls, rice dumplings and tea eggs, which were her main business, there was a table made of red bricks and cement next to it, on which was a large bucket of herbal tea. In fact, it was made from a herb called "June Frost" , which was refreshing and heat-relief in summer.
The key is not to spend money.
This "June frost" was cut by Grandpa Hu himself in the mountains. After drying it, he cut it into pieces with a guillotine. You can't put too much of this stuff when cooking. Only a little bit is needed to cook a big pot.
You don't even need to add sugar when drinking it, because the tea made from this herbal medicine is sweet in the mouth, and it also has the effect of moistening the throat and relieving heat. It is something that every household here cannot do without in the summer.
Grandma Hu has a kind face and doesn't look like a bad person. She even gives free herbal tea to passers-by.
After drinking the herbal tea and smelling the fragrant aroma of glutinous rice balls, who can still walk?
On the first day of business, Grandma Hu was afraid that if she made too much, she wouldn't be able to sell it, so she only steamed ten kilograms of glutinous rice. Who knew that it was not enough to sell.
We set up the stall at around six in the morning, and before ten o'clock, the ten kilograms of glutinous rice were sold out .
Fortunately, my granddaughter's house was well designed, and some rice, flour, grain, oil and other things were stored in the attic at the back.
Grandma Hu immediately asked her new apprentice to climb up and bring down another 20 kilograms of glutinous rice for her.
Tong Xiaoyan, who looked like Lin Daiyu, was stunned at that time.
She? Carrying 20 kilograms of rice downstairs?
I'm afraid I don't even know how I fell to death.
There was no choice but to go back and call her father to help.
Grandma Hu washed the glutinous rice, steamed it in two wooden barrels, and instructed her apprentice to go to the place where Hu Qiongfang sold box lunches, asking her to deliver a message and ask Jiang Tian to bring her some ingredients for making rice balls.
"What to give?" Tong Xiaoyan was confused.
Grandma Hu patiently taught: "Just tell her that the ten kilograms of glutinous rice steamed this morning have all been sold out. I steamed another twenty kilograms of glutinous rice, and Tiantian will know what to send over."
Jiang Tian thought that since it was her grandma's first day of business today, sales wouldn't be that fast, so she planned to help her mother prepare the lunch boxes for lunch before going to check on her grandma.
Unexpectedly, grandma’s shop was sold out before noon?
Tong Xiaoyan was also very happy that her gas station was popular. She explained in a low voice, "Several buses came from Henan Province this morning. They said they were workers going to Zhejiang Province to build an airport. They traveled overnight and did not stop for breakfast along the way. They saw that the rice balls made by grandma were delicious, so many people got off the buses to buy rice balls. All ten kilograms of glutinous rice were sold out in no time."
Jiang Tian perked up: "We need to prepare more. I'm afraid 20 kilograms of glutinous rice won't be enough. So, go back and tell my grandma to steam another 20 kilograms of glutinous rice in the afternoon to sell in the evening. I'll prepare the food and send it to her."
Looking at Jiang Tian busying around, Tong Xiaoyan bit her lip. She was too embarrassed to ask her whether her second uncle Jiang Lesheng would come back this week.
Although Tong Xiaoyan's academic performance was not very good, she was not stupid, and girls were naturally sharp-minded. She felt that Jiang Lesheng did not seem to have a good relationship with his eldest sister-in-law's family. However, as soon as his eldest brother passed away, Jiang Lesheng immediately separated from his eldest sister-in-law. What happened in between... Tong Xiaoyan didn't even dare to think about it!
At the same time, she was a little ashamed. Who would have thought that her father would suddenly ask her to learn craftsmanship from Grandma Hu? This was embarrassing, because not long ago, she was secretly happy, thinking that Jiang Lesheng and her eldest sister-in-law had separated, and she would not have to bear such a heavy burden for her eldest sister-in-law's family of three.
However, seeing that Hu Qiongfang's lunch box business is so prosperous, Tong Xiaoyan thinks that she should write a letter to Jiang as soon as possible to persuade him. After all, her sister-in-law is so able to make money now and has even built a house next to the provincial road. If Jiang doesn't have enough money to go to college in the future, he can get along better with his sister-in-law, and maybe she can give him some money.
Tong Xiaoyan returned home with a heavy heart and had no time to write a letter to Jiang Lesheng.
Grandma Hu would always do what she promised to do. When she saw Tong Xiaoyan coming back, the old lady immediately called her over and taught her how to steam glutinous rice and how to control the heat.
After a while, Jiang Tian brought over the ingredients for making rice balls, and Grandma Hu began to teach Tong Xiaoyan how to make rice balls so that all the ingredients could be wrapped in them without leaking out.
If you want to make the glutinous rice balls delicious, you must wrap all the ingredients in them while they are hot. The glutinous rice just out of the pot is very hot. Grandma Hu has been doing farm work all her life, and her palms are covered with thick calluses, so she is not afraid of the heat at all.
But Tong Xiaoyan was afraid.
The girl had delicate skin and tender flesh, and after she tried to wrap two rice balls, her palms turned red and burning with pain.
Tong Xiaoyan ran to her father with tears in her eyes and acted coquettishly.
She really didn't want to learn how to make rice balls. It was hard work and she wouldn't make much money.
In the past, her mother always complained that her father was filling gas tanks for other people all day long and smelled of gasoline all over. She didn’t like the smell of gasoline either.
But now she has changed her mind.
No matter how bad gasoline smells, running a gas station and filling people's tanks is much easier than making rice balls.
Even if she couldn't get into college, she would rather come back and help her father open a gas station than set up a stall selling rice balls.
Unexpectedly, Tong Zhiyuan, who had always doted on her, actually cruelly rejected his daughter.
"Xiaoyan, do you know why Dad forced you to study hard?"
"If a girl doesn't endure the hardship of studying, she will have to endure other hardships."
"You said you wanted to learn how to open a gas station from me. Do you know how much it costs to open such a gas station?"
"Besides, this gas station is our Tong family's property. It will definitely be passed on to your brother in the future. What's the point of you learning how to run a gas station from me? If you learn it well but don't have the money to open it yourself, are you going to work for your brother for the rest of your life?"
These words made Tong Xiaoyan look pale.
At this moment, she suddenly thought of Jiang Lesheng.
A girl's feelings are always poetic. In the past, she never felt that there was any gap between herself and Jiang Lesheng. She even felt a little inferior because her grades were not as good as Jiang Lesheng's, and always felt that she was not worthy of him.
Moreover, even the school teachers praised Jiang Lesheng for being able to get into university in the future.
But what if I get into college?
Romance cannot be eaten. Even if Jiang Lesheng can get into college and be assigned a job after graduation, can he give her the life she has now? Maybe she will still have to set up a stall to make a living...
So, her father was worried that she might not marry well in the future and become so poor that she would have to set up a street stall to make a living, so he simply let her learn how to make rice balls from Grandma Hu in advance?
Tong Xiaoyan felt unwell .
