Chapter 753: The preparatory work is finished

That may be how it's said, but in Wang An's mind, he had already begun to ponder the matter of catching deer.

At home, there are only six deer—three large and three small—along with six roe deer and over twenty Mongolian gazelles. If he wants to start farming, when exactly would this little collection be able to develop into anything? However, the business of catching deer is truly no simple task. One must know that in these deep mountains, perhaps only fierce beasts like leopards and tigers could manage to catch a deer on their own.

The deer that Wang An, Wang Li, and Mu Xueli caught back then could only be attributed to good luck; it had absolutely nothing to do with strength or technique.

After a while, Liu Guilan suddenly said to Wang An, "Xiao An, why don't you go to the tofu shop in the township later and order three boards of tofu? Tell him to deliver them early tomorrow morning. There will definitely be no shortage of people coming tomorrow. Oh, right, while we're building the house, just have him deliver two every day. Actually, make it three; two boards of tofu definitely won't be enough."

After saying this, Liu Guilan immediately added:

"And go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some salt, matches, and the like. Oh, and buy another three or five spoons and shovels."

The "one board of tofu" that Liu Guilan spoke of actually refers to a full tray of tofu.

Locally, one tray of tofu is exactly 30 jin, but due to technical limitations, this 30 jin of tofu is made from 10 jin of soybeans.

If it were in later generations, 10 jin of soybeans could normally make 40 jin of tofu.

It's just that the tofu of this era is pressed quite firmly and is relatively dry, without so much water inside.

Wang An casually agreed, washed his hands, and rode off on his sidecar motorcycle.

At this moment, Wang Dazhu immediately added, "Buy another two bricklayer's trowels, and some cigarettes, too. See what else is missing and buy some of that as well."

Wang An casually replied, "Mm, Dad, I'll buy everything in one trip."

Kicking the motorcycle into gear, Wang An headed toward Liujia Tun, where the Yong'an Township government is located.

A tofu shop isn't something every village has; mainly because making tofu is purely hard-earned money.

The daily routine involves driving a donkey to turn the millstone for soy milk, and someone must also drive a donkey cart around the various villages to sell the tofu.

At this time, soybeans are 1 mao 2 per jin, and tofu is also 1 mao 2 per jin, so if you want to buy tofu, you can either pay cash or trade directly with soybeans.

However, in this era, tofu is considered a proper high-end item, and not everyone can afford it, so even if the tofu shop only makes one tray a day, it usually doesn't sell out.

As for this township tofu shop, last year it still belonged to the Liujia Tun collective, but following the implementation of the policy of dividing land among households, this tofu shop was contracted out by someone.

It must be said that no matter the time, there is never a shortage of people who want to make money and have ambition.

Usually, they can earn about two yuan a day, and during holidays or festivals, they can net seven or eight yuan a day.

This income is quite high for this era! Furthermore, the tofu dregs left over from making tofu every day are excellent for raising pigs; pigs that eat tofu dregs gain weight incredibly fast.

A few minutes later, Wang An arrived at the township tofu shop.

At this time of day, the couple running the tofu shop were, unsurprisingly, grinding soy milk.

Wang An explained his request simply, and the tofu shop owner immediately became all smiles.

Three trays of tofu could earn over 7 yuan; such a sale only happens during the New Year or holidays. However, changing his tone, Wang An began to haggle with a chuckle:

"Old brother, I want three trays of tofu a day for at least a month or more. Once the work at my house is done, my uncle's house will also need tofu, probably at least one tray a day. So, shouldn't the price be a bit cheaper?"

Although Wang An isn't short on money, money is something that should be saved where it can be. Mainly, the business of making money is truly too difficult—it's harder than eating shit, damn it.

Hearing Wang An's words, the tofu owner said with a conflicted face, "If you calculate it roughly, one tray of tofu only earns two yuan and four mao. If you deduct the contract fee, water, firewood, and such, there's only two yuan left..."

The tofu owner muttered for a long time, but Wang An just smiled and said nothing; mainly because Wang An wasn't listening at all.

After the tofu shop owner finished speaking, Wang An handed over a cigarette and said with a chuckle, "So, old brother, how much do you want to discount it for me?"

Upon hearing this, the tofu shop owner was instantly dumbfounded. So, after all that talking I did, you didn't hear a damn word! The tofu shop owner looked at Wang An with a speechless expression, his hand holding the cigarette frozen in mid-air. After a pause, he said with a helpless face:

"Fine, brother, you say it then. How much of a discount is appropriate?"

Looking at the owner's little glare that looked like he wanted to kill someone, Wang An thought for a moment and said:

"How about 10 yuan for three trays of tofu? That's like taking two mao off each tray."

In this day and age, no one has it easy. Even without the owner's murderous little glare, Wang An didn't want to push it too far; what if he really pissed the guy off?

Unexpectedly, the owner was quite straightforward, and after a brief thought, he said generously:

"Alright, brother, since you've put it that way, it would be pointless for me to keep haggling. 10 yuan for 3 trays of tofu it is."

Wang An casually pulled out a ten-yuan bill and handed it over, saying at the same time:

"Alright, then I'll give you the money for tomorrow's tofu first. When you come to deliver it tomorrow, I'll give you the money for the day after. It will be like this from now on. I'll let you know in advance when I don't need tofu anymore."

After giving the address and saying a few more useless words, Wang An left the tofu shop.

After leaving the tofu workshop, Wang An rode his sidecar directly to the supply and marketing cooperative, where he bought 50 cartons each of Great Production cigarettes and Grape cigarettes, and another 20 cartons of Changbai Mountain.

He bought plenty of salt, matches, and the like. He also bought tools like bricklayer's trowels and plastering floats, as well as a large ball of string for marking lines. In short, everything Wang An could think of that would be needed for building a house, he basically bought.

In the end, Wang An studied the sidecar for a long time before buying a large iron pot with a 12-inch mark. Only then did he ride the sidecar home with great difficulty.

The reason Wang An studied it for so long was because the large iron pot with a 12-inch mark had a diameter of 1.2 meters, and if you counted the rim, it was 1.3 meters. It was truly the largest pot available, and carrying this thing on the sidecar was indeed quite a struggle.

When Wang An arrived home, the preparatory work before building the house had basically all been completed by everyone.

Seeing Wang An return leaning against the large iron pot, Liu Guilan suddenly praised, "My eldest son is still the most thoughtful. Buying this pot was exactly the right move. If we burn a fire in the room with this tomorrow, it'll be hot as hell by night."

Turning around, Liu Guilan shouted to Wang Dazhu, "Dazhu, hurry and build another stove next to that one and install this pot."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 754 =====