349 Hydraulic Millstone?
Xue Sifu laughed.
“A few dozen would be more than enough. A few dozen pieces is equivalent to a few dozen bowls. Originally, the highest number of bowls we sold in a day was about hundred and sixty bowls of rice noodles. We’re not only selling liangpi, we’re also selling rice noodles.
“Well it’s also because my stall is small. Besides, there isn’t a tree beside my stall for shade and it hasn’t been windy. Once it gets hot, no one would want to sit in the heat. Even if I build a sunshade, it’ll be useless.
“I only managed to sell a hundred and sixty bowls a few days ago. These two days, I barely reached a hundred. Many people would rather eat in a cooler place. for example, there’s a noodle stall on the same street. It’s in a very good location and is under a very large tree. The whole stall is covered by the tree’s shade.
“There weren’t many people before, but in these two days, the number of people has increased. When it gets hotter, there should be more people going to that stall, and fewer people coming to our stall. At that time, I’ll be glad if I can even sell dozens of bowls a day.”
Jiang Yue wanted to make ice for two reasons. First, she wanted to make it cooler for her family during the hot weather. Second, she wanted to make sure that her family’s business would not slow down because of the weather.
If they could produce ice, they could sell ice at their stall. Ice was what they needed most in summer here. As long as it was sold at a cheap price, there would be many people coming to buy ice even if their stall was hot.
Even the cold rice noodles and liangpi would sell better.
As for making ice with saltpeter, they children would have to find the right time to talk about it.
“When our stall has earned enough money. I must buy a shop in town to sell rice noodles. At least it will be much cooler than setting up a shed in a stall on hot days. That way, we can still get business during hot days.”
The next day, they dried the liangpi in the sun to see if there would be a big change in the taste.
There were only a few pieces of thin liangpi. By the time Xue Sifu returned from town in the afternoon, these liangpi had already been dried and could be soaked like the rice noodles before being cooked again.
After it was cooked, he took it out and let it cool. He then mixed it with the same side ingredients, but it did not taste as great as when it was fresh. Thus, Xue Sifu gave up the idea of drying the liangpi.
That night, Liu Guixia and the others made and washed the noodles. The next morning, when they got up to make breakfast, they also steamed the liangpi. It was not troublesome at all.
They had steamed more than fifty pieces of liangpi, but Xue Sifu only brought thirty to town to sell. He brought an extra ten for Shen Yuxuan’s family.
The remaining dozen or so were given to Xue Dafu and the others to eat their fill. At the same time, he gave Xue Da a bowl, as well as Xue Darong and Xue Dagui.
Xue Sifu asked Jiang Yue and Xue Yan to follow him to town, thinking that their business would be better with them around.
It was also because Jiang Yue and Xue Yan were really good-looking and cute that many people came to eat rice noodles just to see them. When they saw the two children, their mood couldn’t help but become better.
However, before Xue Yan went to town, he reminded his father about the workshop.
“Father, you, Erfu, and Sanfu should pay more attention to the hole in the middle of the floor of the room on the East side of the workshop. Make sure the sizing is correct.
“I drew that hole for a reason. I want to install a stone mill there. Yifu has been working hard grinding rice flour every day. Even if we make the cows do it, they won’t be able to turn it.
“Moreover, the cows have to follow them to town often. It’s better to make use of the water and make a hydraulic stone mill. The wheels I asked Yifu to make were for this.
“By then, the workshop would not only be able to use the husks to remove the grains and turn them into rice, but it could also use the stone mill to grind all kinds of things into powder.”