in2ebook Chapter 146 Reciprocity
Chapter 146 Reciprocity
Making ice does not require any skills. After breakfast, Ye Ze told Ye Lao Da and Ye Lao Er what they should pay attention to, gave them some saltpeter, and went to the military camp.
Appropriately increasing the amount of saltpeter can cool the water more fully, while maintaining the surrounding low temperature to avoid external heat invasion, which can also make the ice produced more solid.
Boss Ye and his crew found an empty room in the shaded corner of the backyard and prepared to make ice. They then moved the made ice cubes into the cellar for storage.
The main force in making ice is Ye Lao Da and Ye Lao Er. The women are also busy, helping to fetch water into the house and moving the condensed ice to the cellar.
The family used the ice basin that night, and the room was filled with cool air, making sleeping much more comfortable. Old Mrs. Ye smiled with joy, for she had never expected that at her old age she could still experience the luxury of using ice in the summer like the rich. All this was thanks to her youngest son, and her love for him was not in vain.
When there was ice stored in the cellar, Meng contacted his younger brother and asked him to help find a market for it. This help was naturally not in vain. Even if Meng Lingshu refused again and again, the Ye family still had to give him the benefits.
Normally, families who needed to buy ice should have bought it about a month ago, but the border town was special. Ever since Mu Heng was named a king of a different surname, the border town had been isolated. Merchants from other places were not allowed to trade in the border town, and the people of the border town were not allowed to go to other cities to buy the items they needed.
There was a temporary reconciliation with North Vietnam, and no trade routes were opened. So even if the rich families in the border towns wanted to buy ice, they had nowhere to go.
As soon as the news that Meng Lingshu was selling ice got out, the ice cubes made by the Ye family were in short supply.
Not only the wealthy families in the border town, but even the wealthy families in the surrounding counties and towns heard about it and came to the city to make reservations.
Now that she had the real money in hand, Old Lady Ye was no longer stingy. Everyone in the family received a monthly allowance of silver, two taels for each adult and twenty wen for each child.
Well, it’s still stingy, but two taels of silver is already a lot of money in the village. Some families can’t even save two taels of silver in a year!
"Mom, should we send some of this ice to the Mu family and the Xu family?" Zhao Li asked.
Most of the people who bought ice were wealthy merchants, but I haven't heard of anyone from the Mu and Xu families buying ice. I'm afraid General Mu used his own family's money to subsidize the victims. A general who is so dedicated to the people is more worthy of respect. That's why Zhao Li asked this question.
Ye Qiulan also agreed with what she said, "Li'er is right. Although our three families don't have much contact, my third brother works for General Mu and is good friends with Master Mu and Master Xu. When Li'er and I go out to buy groceries, we occasionally run into Mrs. Chu and Mrs. Jiang. It seems that these two people get along well."
"Then send it off. Relationships are built through interaction. If others look down on us, we should just visit them less often in the future." Old Mrs. Ye frowned.
When the Mu and Xu families just moved next door, they wanted to visit them. After all, when the Ye family got into trouble before, Mu Xingchen and Xu Wu ran a long way to help. And this yard was also arranged by the two of them. However, the Mu and Xu families have always closed their doors to visitors, so the Ye family didn't want to disturb them.
The main reason was that Old Lady Ye felt that her family had moved from a poor mountain village, while the Mu and Xu families were wealthy families in the capital, and she was afraid of being looked down upon.
"Yeah." Ye Qiulan nodded.
Old Lady Ye: "Ms. Chen, you and Lan Zi should go together and tell them that the ice is homemade and not worth much money, so that they don't have any psychological burden."
"Row."
"I know, mom." The two agreed happily.
Mu Family,
Madam Mu is old and in poor health, and Shen has been taking medicine all year round. The woman who can be the head of the family is Chu. Mu Qianning has to take care of her grandmother and also help Chu with housework. Due to family reasons, this fifteen-year-old girl is much more mature than girls of the same age.
The brothers Mu Jinyang and Mu Yunche also followed their eldest brother to the military camp for training. They couldn't stay at home anyway. Their mother would nag them whenever she saw them. It would be better for them to go to the military camp and live freely with their eldest brother. The three brothers seldom went home.
Just after breakfast in the morning, someone knocked on the animal ring on the courtyard gate. Chu was making medicine for her mother-in-law in the open space outside the kitchen, and Mu Qianning ran to open the door.
"Who is it?"
Soon, the courtyard gate was opened. Mu Qianning poked her head out and saw two women from next door standing outside with a cart. The cart was covered tightly with quilts, and no one knew what was inside.
"What's wrong with you?"
Ye Qiulan: "Miss Mu, we are from the Ye family next door. We have met before. Don't you recognize us?"
"I know him. What's the matter?" Mu Qianning opened the door and came out, blinking her big eyes and asked. The two families didn't have much contact, so why did the Ye family suddenly come?
"My third brother and Mr. Mu are good friends. He came here today to bring some ice to your family." Ye Qiulan explained with a smile.
Seeing the little girl looking so surprised that she didn't know what to say, Chen added, "Homemade ice is not worth much money."
Mu Qianning was even more shocked. She couldn't believe her ears. The ice cream that the wealthy families in the border town had to queue up to buy was actually made by the Ye family themselves? Why did it sound so magical to her?
"Ah? Oh, you, you come in quickly... go through the side door, over there..." Mu Qianning reacted and hurriedly helped Ye Qiulan and her sister-in-law push the cart, and went around the side door into the yard.
In ancient times, gates had very high thresholds and carts could not pass through.
"Sister-in-law, it's Sister Ye and Second Sister-in-law who brought us ice."
"What?"
Chu poured the medicine in the medicine jar into the bowl, then ran out. Seeing the cart full of things, she looked at Mu Qianning in confusion and asked, "You said these are all ice?"
"Yeah." Mu Qianning: "Sister-in-law, where do you think I should put these?"
"Ah, how can we accept this? It's too expensive..." Chu frowned.
Although she really wanted to accept it, her mother-in-law's health became worse when the weather got hot. She ate very little and couldn't sleep well at night. She looked lifeless and listless.
If there was ice, Shen should be able to sleep well at night, right?
But... they have no money.
Chen smiled and said, "My family made it ourselves. It's not worth much. Let's find a place to move it down."
Chu opened her mouth wide, and her shocked expression was exactly the same as Mu Qianning's reaction just now.
Since they said so, it means they really want to give it to the family. Chu is not hypocritical and will reciprocate. She will prepare a return gift for the Ye family later, so that the two families can be considered to have established exchanges.
In fact, if it weren’t for the situation at home, they should have invited the Ye family to come over and have a visit.
There was a cellar in the yard. They covered the ground with oilcloth and the four men first moved the ice into the cellar and covered it with a discarded thick quilt.
I originally wanted to invite Ye Qiulan and Chen to the living room for a cup of tea, but they refused.
Chen laughed and said, "Let's not drink the tea for now. It's still cool now. We have to go to Xu's house to deliver ice. We'll visit them another day."
After hearing what Chen said, Chu no longer stopped them and sent them to the door. "Our two families live so close, you can come visit us often when you have time. We welcome you anytime."
"Okay, go back now."
After watching the two people walk away, the Chu family turned around and went home. Then they used a copper basin to take out two basins of ice. One basin was taken to the old lady's room by Mu Qianning, and the other basin was taken to the mother-in-law's room by Chu.
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