Jiang Gui

Are there any ginger sellers at the market?

There are no ginger sellers at the street stalls. When Zhou Erlang saw them wandering around like headless flies, he grabbed Zhou Wulang by the back of his collar and made him turn half a circle, pointing out the way to the old doctor's house: "They sell ginger there."

Ginger can help alleviate cold symptoms and eliminate the strong taste of gamey meat. Therefore, during the New Year, many people visit pharmacies or doctors' offices to purchase ginger pieces if they plan to stew mutton.

Wulang is not young anymore, and he should be sensible by now.

Zhou Wulang looked at the door of the old doctor's house with a somewhat ominous feeling, and he led Manbao over.

The old doctor had already opened the door and was sitting on a wicker chair, dozing off. When he saw the two young men and a child standing in front of him, he squinted and carefully looked at Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang. He found them somewhat familiar but couldn't quite remember their names. Then, he looked at Manbao.

Ah, this is a familiar face.

The elderly doctor waved to Manbao and said, "Your complexion looks healthy, not like you're sick." "What's wrong?" "Is your mother sick again?"

When Manbao was younger, she was sick every few days, and the old doctor was very familiar with her. Several times, he was carried to the Zhou family by the Zhou brothers in the middle of the night.

Manbao also had a strong impression of the old doctor because every time she saw him, he either gave her injections or made her take bitter medicine. As a result, Manbao was very afraid of him.

She touched her pinky finger and whispered, "I want to buy ginger."

"Oh, that's a good thing. How much do you want?"

"One pound!"

The elderly doctor's forehead twitched as he looked at the little one and asked with a smile, "What do you need so much ginger for?"

"To make soup." My third brother is going to serve in the army, and I want to make ginger soup for him to drink.

The old doctor thought for a moment and said, "Dispelling cold and warming the body is indeed a good idea, but ginger is precious. One pound costs sixty wen."

"Why is it more expensive than ligustrum?"

The old doctor was stunned for a moment and smiled, "You know about ligustrum?"

He thought for a moment and said, "The number of times ligustrum is used in prescriptions is not as much as ginger." Wealthy families prefer to use ginger in cooking and tea. The scarcity of ginger makes it expensive. "Ginger is in short supply and high demand, so it is naturally expensive."

"But ginger is easy to grow."

"Hmm?" The elderly doctor sat up slightly and asked with a smile, "Do you know how to grow it?"

Manbao didn't care at all and said, "Ginger likes fertile and moist soil." "As long as you plant a seed, you can harvest a large area."

This is stated in the entry, and Keke also mentioned that ginger is very easy to grow. In the future, due to significant human migration, many species have disappeared or declined. However, there are some species that have not only avoided decline but have actually increased in number. Ginger is one of the plants that are very resilient and easy to grow.

The old doctor seemed thoughtful. He got up and took out a piece of ginger for her, saying, "Ginger is divided into fresh ginger and dried ginger." I only have dried ginger. Dried ginger needs to be buried in the ground for three years to develop a rich aroma and mellow flavor. You should be looking for fresh ginger. "If you still want it, come back to the market next time."

He added, "Now that it's cold, in addition to ginger, radishes can also be stewed." In fact, ginger slices are better in summer, and radishes are better in winter. Instead of making ginger soup, you might as well make radish soup.

The elderly doctor smiled mischievously at Manbao and winked at her, saying, "Radish and meat are also a good combination."

Manbao swallowed and asked softly, "Besides radish, what else can I add?"

"Unfortunately, it's winter now, and there are no other vegetables available besides radishes." "Otherwise, you can add some vegetable leaves, and the soup will taste good."

Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang noticed their little sister drooling and doubted the reliability of the old doctor. They came to buy ginger, but he was teaching them how to make soup.

And is he talking about soup?

"That's practically a feast." Zhou Wulang quickly pulled Manbao away, afraid that she would be persuaded to do something. If they did that, they wouldn't be making money; they would be losing money.

Zhou Wulang wanted to pay for the ginger, but the old doctor was very generous and waved his hand, saying, "Just a small piece of ginger, give me two wen."

Zhou Wulang thought two wen were still expensive. They wanted to stew a large pot of water, and they needed a lot of ginger.

If they only got this small piece for two wen, how much ginger would they need to stew a pot of water?

Zhou Wulang was a little worried.

Upon seeing the two brothers returning with a worried expression, Zhou Erlang felt content. It's just that Manbao's expression didn't quite match the situation. He asked, "Did you buy the ginger?"

Manbao nodded repeatedly, still thinking about the white radish and meat stew. She asked Zhou Erlang, "Elder brother, isn't white radish a good match with meat?"

Zhou Erlang looked down at his little sister and noticed that her mouth was a bit shiny. He nodded and said, "Yes, it's a good match."

Zhou Wulang immediately interjected, "Manbao, don't listen to the old doctor. A bowl of soup with meat and radish for one wen, that's not just a loss, that's giving away the family fortune."

"Then sell it for two wen."

"Two wen is still not profitable," Zhou Wulang was no fool; he knew the cost of meat and could estimate the amount needed to create the meaty aroma in a pot of soup. "So," he said, "a bowl of soup with ginger, meat, and radish costs at least four or five wen to break even." If you want to make a profit, you have to sell it for at least six wen. Who would be willing to spend six wen every day for a bowl of soup?

Zhou Wulang reiterated, "Two wen is not profitable."

Manbao swallowed and said, "Let's go see the meat first."

There are also meat sellers at the market, but there are only two stalls: one selling mutton and the other selling pork.

Like most people, Manbao prefers lamb, which is also more expensive than pork.

Manbao instinctively went to see the lamb first. After inquiring about the price, she stepped aside and calculated the cost on her fingers, which seemed a bit high.

Keke reminded her, "Host, you can also stew soup with bones."

"Bones are expensive too."

"Not bones with meat, I mean bones without meat." Keke pointed to the bones that had been cleaned off at the pork stall next to them.

Manbao went to take a look, and the stall owner smiled and asked the three of them, "Are you buying meat?"

Manbao asked, "How much is the pork?"

The stall owner divided the meat into sections and pointed out, "This pile is ten wen per pound, this one is nine wen, and this one is eight wen."

It was divided according to the fat and lean parts, with the fatter ones being more expensive.

Manbao rarely eats pork and doesn't miss it, so she pointed to the bones and asked, "What about these?"

"Six went."

The bones had some meat on them, but not much, and it couldn't be denied that they were also very heavy. One piece of bone weighed more than a pound, but there wasn't much meat to eat, so it was priced lower.

The lamb next to it was much more expensive than the pork.

Manbao turned her finger in a half circle and asked about the bones piled up on the side, "What about these?"

Those were the bones that had been cleaned by the stall owner. The stall owner was stunned for a moment and said, "Young lady, do you want to stew bone soup?"