Traveling through 1942 with space

Chapter 123 Small Business

The cave dwelling was really simple. Looking inside from the outside, there was nothing else except a three-meter-long earthen kang, a one-and-a-half-meter-long black horizontal cabinet and two high stools.

Most of the entrance to the cave is also built up, with a 1.5-meter-wide window on it. There is no window glass at the moment, so it can only be covered with thick white paper, which is the famous window paper of that era.

The door was made of black wooden boards that Hou Xiaoge got from the space, and was about one meter wide.

This is all the layout of a cave house, but it is still a home after all.

After the yard was leveled, the children began to run around in circles.

Wang Maimiao and her elder sister Hou Xiazhu looked around with joy, and her younger aunt and uncle who came to help were also happy and envious.

"Uncle, aunt, these two cave dwellings also have kangs. Your cave dwellings have not been dug yet, so you can live in them first.

There is also a kitchen. You can move in after your cave house is ready." Seeing that both the uncle and aunt's families were envious, Hou Xiaoge invited them with a smile.

"Okay, then we won't be polite. Once the busy farming season is over, we'll start digging the cave and try to have a decent home before winter." Before the uncle could say anything, the aunt couldn't wait to speak.

Seeing that his younger sister's family had agreed, Hou Yangmin also smiled and nodded in agreement.

There is no way. To put it bluntly, my aunt Hou Cuiping's family has only two strong laborers, but there are three children, one four years old and two eight years old, and they are all burdens.

Although the couple had some assets, my brother-in-law Zhou Xinmin had to go out to work with my uncle and the villagers every day to earn money to supplement the family income.

So my younger aunt was left alone at home to dig the cave with three children. Even though my younger uncle came back at night to work overtime, they only dug three meters deep after more than half a month.

To be honest, this depth is just enough to shelter from wind and rain. It can't be considered a home at all. You have to pay attention to your family's safety when living there at night.

The situation in his uncle's family was better. Hou Yangmin went out to do odd jobs. The four children in the family were all teenagers and had the strength to work. In addition, Hou Yangmin came back to help at night. After more than half a month, they had dug out a cave.

But this cave had no kang and no door wall. The three-meter-wide entrance was open and there were no walls around it. Just like my aunt's house, it was just there to provide shelter from wind and rain.

It is already mid-October, the weather outside is starting to get colder, firewood is precious, and everyone sleeps in the cave at night and is often blown by the wind and has a runny nose.

"Uncle, aunt, there isn't much farm work to do these days, and the wages are about the same as what I offer, so you don't need to go.

Everyone, take a good rest today. I will start braising the meat in the afternoon. You can wait for business tomorrow!" Hou Xiaoge said with a smile.

"Braised pork, that's really delicious!" Erhuan jumped up excitedly.

Hou Yangmin and Zhou Xinmin, who were standing by, were also delighted when they heard this. Doing business is easy and stable.

In fact, by mid-October, there was not much farm work left. Recently, Hou Yangmin and Zhou Xinmin went to the railway station to work as porters, earning only 20 to 30 cents a day.

This money seems to be a lot, and they can earn a lot of money by doing odd jobs in a month, but they are odd workers, with no tomorrow, and their income is really unstable.

Even though earning two or three cents is a lot, carrying things is hard work, and if you are not full you won't have the energy to work, so nearly half of the money is spent on meals, and it's considered good if you can save a dime at the end of the day.

But just this dime can sell more than six pounds of sweet potatoes or one and a half pounds of flour, which is enough to support a family.

So manual labor jobs are also in high demand. Yes, they are really in high demand. People have to fight for the jobs.

At the beginning, the villagers of Nanjiagou made a living at the railway station and freight station, but they often got into fights and it was common for them to get bloody.

Fortunately, hundreds of strong laborers in Nanjiagou Village were united and had a few weapons in their hands, so they drove away the other refugee groups that were causing trouble and the small gangs that were collecting protection fees.

But even so, after finishing their work every day, the Nanjiagou team still had to pay tribute to the boss, which was two-tenths of each person's income.

As for this situation, Hou Yangmin had worked occasionally as a laborer in the Central Plains before and already understood the rules, so he paid the money promptly and did not dare to bargain.

But even so, the laborers were very competitive, and some refugees were even willing to give up half of their income as tribute.

However, those who dared to take out so much were just guerrillas who were just trying to make a living. They were not a big deal and were difficult to manage, so the manual labor was mostly done by refugees who were in groups.

Therefore, carrying is not an easy job.

"Heiwa, tell me what is needed to set up a stall. Your uncle and I will go to buy the belongings." Hou Yangmin asked while rubbing his hands excitedly.

Ordinary people are too far away from officials, so they all want to be bosses.

Hou Yangmin is now the patriarch of the Hou family and has fulfilled his desire to be a leader. However, he is too poor, so he wants to make more money and show his abilities.

"Uncle, uncle, as the saying goes, brothers should settle accounts clearly.

We need to discuss how to do this business and how to divide the money in advance, otherwise it will easily hurt everyone's feelings. "Hou Xiaoge looked at the excited expressions on everyone's faces and shook his head to calm them down.

"Yeah! Heiwa, you are right."

After all, Zhou Xinmin was a foreigner, so he agreed with Hou Xiaoge's words.

"Uncle, uncle-in-law, let's divide the business among the three of us in a 4:3:3 ratio.

My family has the recipe, so we'll take the lion's share, 40%, and you two families can contribute, 30% each, how about that? "Hou Xiaoge didn't care about a small snack recipe, the most important thing was to keep the families stable.

"Heiwa, the most important thing in cooking is the recipe. You'll be at a disadvantage if you divide it like this, won't you?" Hou Yangmin said to his nephew somewhat embarrassedly.

"Uncle, to be honest, I haven't taken this recipe seriously yet. I have many ideas for making money in my mind!

But we are all family, and we can all earn money and live a good life, which is better than anything else. "Hou Xiaoge said, waving his hand without even looking at his adopted mother who looked unhappy.

"Then your uncle and I will take advantage of you, but you provide the prescription, and your uncle and I will pay for it with our family assets!" Hou Yangmin said with a smile on his face.

"middle!"

Hou Xiaoge told the two what they needed to buy, and then the two of them, along with a few boys, rushed out the door, pushing the cart that Hou Xiaoge had bought.

"Mom, aunt, I bought some cornmeal and flour in the kitchen yesterday. You can let the flour ferment first. I will teach you how to make sesame cakes to sell in the evening." Hou Xiaoge said to his aunt and cheap mother.

"You little rascal, your mother and I have been cooking for decades, and I still need a little kid like you to teach me how to make steamed buns." Hou Cuiping scolded with a smile.

Hou Xiaoge shook his head and didn't argue with the two of them. He just took them into the kitchen to ferment the dough first.

"Mom, sister-in-law, there are three kinds of pancakes to make: one made from cornmeal, one made from cornmeal and white flour, and one made from pure white flour.

I won't talk about the other two. For the double-mix flour, add one and a half kilograms of wheat flour to three kilograms of corn flour.

Here are 20 kilograms of cornmeal and 10 kilograms of flour. Cook them all and I will calculate the cost when we make love cakes in the evening." Hou Xiaoge pointed to the three ceramic basins in the kitchen and said.

"Heiwa, what if we make so many cakes at one time and can't sell them all?" Wang Maimiao felt a little distressed about the food in Weng Li's house.