Chapter 33 - A dish combining two ingredients, they'll be... soon...

Lin Chuntao shook her head, too lazy to argue with them.

After seeing Lin Chuntao off, Zhang Huarui snorted coldly at Zhang Qingqing and said with a displeased expression, "Why did you speak so nicely to her, Sister Qing? That person clearly couldn't afford it and was just eyeing these nice fabrics. Her linen clothes, who knows how many years they've been worn, are so ugly!"

Zhang Qingqing's expression remained calm as she softly said, "But when a business opens its doors, everyone who comes is a customer. Whether they buy or not, they have to come in and look. Once they see the good materials in our shop, even if they can't afford them now, they'll think about saving up to buy them later. They'll always need to make clothes, and then they'll come."

Zhang Huarui scoffed at her cousin's theory, giving it a dismissive snort.

They were all sold into the Yang family as maids by their parents years ago, and were only assigned to work in the shop this month.

Zhang Qingqing had always wanted to redeem herself, but it was really hard to save up the monthly salary for a maid. Working in a shop was different; if she did well, the boss would give her a reward. She just wanted to sell more things and save more money to redeem herself.

Zhang Huarui was a year younger than her and was also beautiful. Every time her mother came to visit, she would give her a few words of advice, telling her to work hard and become a concubine so she could live a life of luxury and comfort.

Zhang Huarui often told her that being a servant was a dead-end job and that she should try to scheme her way into becoming a master.

Zhang Qingqing knew this, of course, but she didn't want to scheme to become the master; she just wanted her freedom.

Zhang Huarui was still muttering to herself, but Zhang Qingqing ignored her.

They are not on the same path, so there's no point in saying more.

Lin Chuntao was thinking about the ready-made clothes. It was summer now, and the weather in Yizhou was warm, so she didn't need to make a vest. She felt that the skirt was too cumbersome to wear, but since she had to work anyway, she didn't need to make one. Underwear and panties were necessary.

With the money she has now, she should be able to buy enough fabric to make one set for each person. She'll think about it some more and go back to ask if there are any tailors in the village.

Thinking it over, she browsed a few more clothing stores around the area. The prices were about the same, but the workmanship was indeed not as exquisite as that of the fabric store she had just visited.

After taking a stroll around, she made up her mind and then returned to the market to find Pei Ying.

Pei Ying was still busy. She and Manager He were quite familiar with each other, so she lent a hand.

As the crowds waiting to go to the early market gradually dispersed, the meat was almost sold out. With so many pigs slaughtered daily, pig blood and liver were the most plentiful leftovers. Vendors making braised dishes also liked to buy the intestines and other offal. Each pig would yield at least half a basin of pig blood and a large string of liver. The former was too oily to stir-fry, and the latter had a strong, unpleasant smell, so very few people liked to eat it.

Even among the workers in the shop, when Helan asked them to share the spoils, they all refused and didn't want any.

Today is another day when Lao Zhang and Lao Zhao both give all the pig liver to Pei Ying.

He Lan said crisply, "Pig's blood, each of you take half a bucket back. You can stir-fry it with some dried chili peppers and it'll be a dish."

It can be eaten as a dish, but after eating too much of it, I don't want to eat it anymore.

Zhang Dayong patted Pei Ying on the shoulder and laughed, "Little Pei, take half a bucket of this pig's blood back with you. Just like the shopkeeper said, cut some dried chili peppers into it and stir-fry it. It'll be quite fragrant."

Pei Ying wouldn't have agreed if he were alone. He didn't like pig's blood either, but now there were four or five people in his family. Lin Chuntao could make pig's liver taste so good, so maybe he could make pig's blood taste good too. He decided to take some back and try it.

The wooden bucket containing the pig's blood came from the butcher shop. The blood inside had already congealed, but with the wooden lid on, it was still quite convenient to carry.

Pig liver was easy to prepare; it was wrapped in lotus leaves and placed in a bamboo basket. Pig blood might be a bit heavy to carry in a bucket, so Lin Chuntao looked at Pei Ying and said, "Should we put it in a basket and carry it on our backs?"

"Won't it sway and be hard to carry?" Pei Ying asked.

Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Give it a try. It'll definitely be easier than carrying it."

As they were talking, Pei Ying picked up the bucket and saw a kitchen knife and a bag of unknown contents in the basket.

"You bought a knife."

Lin Chuntao hummed in agreement. Pei Ying picked it up, examined it, and smiled, "It's a fine knife. Is it expensive?"

"fine."

Pei Ying picked up her basket, smiled, and said goodbye to He Lan and Lao Zhang.

After the two left the market, Pei Ying said, "Let's go this way and look at the fabrics."

"I just went to take a look," Lin Chuntao said. "I also looked at the ready-made clothes. They're not cheap. I think 600 coins a set is too expensive. As for the fabric, white cotton is 400 coins, fine white cotton is 600 coins, and dyed cotton is 700 coins a bolt. If I buy two bolts of fabric, it should be enough to make four sets of clothes, right? I'll go back and ask if there are any tailors in the village. If there are, I'll buy the fabric and make them."

Pei Ying went shopping a few days ago and looked at the ready-made clothes. Now, when Lin Chuntao talked about the ready-made clothes, she only said that the price was not cheap, which meant that she had no objection to the style and workmanship.

He said, "Then come back tomorrow to buy it, and also buy some needles and thread while you're at it."

Lin Chuntao raised an eyebrow slightly: "What? You can sew clothes?"

Pei Ying felt a little uncomfortable. He knew how to sew clothes, but he was too embarrassed to say it. He was afraid that people would laugh at a grown man using needle and thread.

But since she could do it at home, no one could see it, which saved Lin Chuntao the expense of going out to find a tailor.

"Mmm," Pei Ying responded softly, as if afraid that others would hear.

Lin Chuntao's eyes lit up, and she looked at Pei Ying with admiration, "You're so amazing! Who taught you?"

Looking at Lin Chuntao's shining eyes, Pei Ying was a little puzzled. She didn't seem to mind that he, a grown man, was sewing.

“Master’s wife, she is a tailor.”

"Is she the master's wife from the pig-slaughtering master you learned from?" Lin Chuntao asked.

Pei Ying nodded. After the old man took him in, he helped out at the meat stall during the day and sewed with the old woman at night. Mainly, his master's wife would give him steamed buns and eggs to eat, so he was more willing to work with her. A couple of years later, his master's wife passed away, and he lived with the old man. He was also responsible for making clothes for the old man, and he had to do his own sewing and mending as well. Over time, he became quite skilled.

Seeing Pei Ying nod, Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "You're amazing! I'll go buy the fabric tomorrow."

"You need scissors to make clothes, right?" Pei Ying wondered if she had any. She then asked, "Do I need to buy a pair of scissors?"

Pei Ying shook her head: "No need, I have scissors."

Lin Chuntao pursed her lips, her eyes curved like crescent moons, bright and clear like a pool of water in summer, shimmering and captivating.

"I noticed your package wasn't very big the other day, was it a treasure bag? Why are there scissors in it?"

Pei Ying said, "That was left by my master's wife, and we've been using it ever since."

He also wanted to say that he had nothing, except for the two things his master and mistress left him; he had nothing else.

But before he could say it, Lin Chuntao laughed and said, "You seem to have a good relationship with your master and mistress? Considering that they are not related by blood, and they still teach you a skill, it's better than my father who is obsessed with having a son."

"Sometimes I really don't understand. He always wants to have a son. He is a son himself. Doesn't he know what a son is like?"

Pei Ying glanced at Lin Chuntao secretly, her expression remaining relatively calm, despite Lin Chuntao's disgusted tone.

“Perhaps it’s because your uncles and aunts all have sons,” Pei Ying said cautiously. Lin Chuntao scoffed dismissively and then said, “He should have been to the county town before, right? Why didn’t he come out and try to work harder to earn money when he saw that these rich families in the town had money? It’s utterly ridiculous.”

Pei Ying actually found what she said to make a lot of sense, and smiled with her lips pursed.

Lin Chuntao raised an eyebrow at Pei Ying and asked with some suspicion, "You're not like Lin Changhe, are you?"

Pei Ying hurriedly waved her hand, "Of course not."

"I'm an orphan, I'm already lucky to be able to get married, I've never thought about having children."

Lin Chuntao believed the first part of what he said, but she had doubts about the second part, after all, that was the way things were back then.

But she didn't argue with Pei Ying. They were only husband and wife in name only, and it was too early to discuss such things. Besides, if they decided to become a real couple in the future, it would be a serious matter for Lin Chuntao, and she had to treat it seriously, not just say it casually.

The conversation ended there. Pei Ying couldn't figure out Lin Chuntao's thoughts, but he had gotten to know a bit about her personality over the days they had spent together.

Lin Chuntao appears to be all smiles, but she is actually quite resourceful.

Take her severing ties with the Lin family, for example. In all his years of life, even those married women who were disliked didn't dare to sever ties with their families. He didn't quite understand at first, but later he gradually realized that Lin Chuntao had a principle of self-reliance, so she wasn't afraid of not having anyone to rely on.

When the two returned home, Lin Chunxing and the others had just come back from the field. The bean seeds had not yet been planted. The sisters had gotten up early that morning and gone to the field to plant bean seeds.

Seeing Pei Ying carrying a wooden bucket, Lin Duo'er asked curiously, "Brother-in-law, what are you carrying?"

“Pig’s blood,” Pei Ying replied.

"Pig's blood? Sister, how do you eat pig's blood?" Lin Duo'er asked Lin Chuntao.

Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "You can boil them and eat them as cold slices with dipping sauce, or you can stir-fry them or boil them. What would you like to eat?"

The sisters shook their heads in unison.

"I don't know, I've never eaten it."

“There’s a lot of pig’s blood, so I’ll make some of each kind and share them with you.”

Hearing her words, even Pei Ying was filled with anticipation and wanted to try all kinds of pig's blood.

After putting her things down, Lin Chuntao started steaming the rice, then picked up her vegetable basket and went to find Aunt Guizhi. She needed to get some radishes to pickle into sauerkraut and also needed to cut some chives.

Aunt Guizhi laughed and said, "Why did you decide to make pickled cabbage? What delicious dish are you making?"

"I brought back some pig's blood. I want to eat stir-fried pig's blood with pickled cabbage." As she spoke, Aunt Guizhi frowned slightly and smiled, "Pig's blood tastes better when stir-fried with chili peppers. It won't taste good with pickled cabbage, will it?"

"Stir-fried pickled cabbage is also delicious. Once I've made it, I'll call my aunt to try it."

"Go on, go on, hurry up and get it ready." After Aunt Guizhi finished speaking, Lin Chuntao left. Looking at Lin Chuntao's back, Aunt Guizhi thought of the pork liver she stir-fried and the mushroom stew with meat broth, which had shredded radish in it. Only she would be willing to do that. Radish is hard to cook with other dishes, and it can easily ruin a whole pot of food.

"This girl is quite fond of thinking about food."

Aunt Guizhi muttered to herself, while her mother-in-law laughed beside her, "Everyone has to eat. Now they can cook whatever they want to eat, so they certainly won't skimp on themselves."

Lin Chuntao cut a bunch of chives. The light green chives were still tender and would be great for stir-frying or making soup.

Lin Chuntao picked out the radish leaves that were lush but had no radish heads underneath. She didn't need the radish heads; they were too sweet and would affect the flavor of the sauerkraut. She mainly used the leaves. The sauerkraut she made was more sour and delicious when cooked with pig's blood or stir-fried with konjac tofu.

Come to think of it, I don't even know if there's any konjac.

Lin Chuntao worked quickly and soon filled a vegetable basket.

She had just come out of Aunt Guizhi's vegetable garden when she encountered Miao.

Miao looked at the full basket and then saw that it belonged to Xu Guizhi's family. She thought about how Xu Guizhi had been helping her with the farming these days, and now she was picking vegetables in someone else's field, filling a whole basket each time. Anyone would get tired of this after a while.

She thought that if Lin Chuntao greeted her, she would offer a few words of advice; if not, well... Miao Feng curled her lips into a smile.

Lin Chuntao spotted Miao Feng, her aunt. Miao Feng was a smooth talker who could charm the old man and woman. Plus, she had married the youngest son, so she had won their favor ever since she entered the family. She was living a very comfortable life in the Lin family's small household.

But this is the kind of person who often makes things difficult for Xu in front of the old lady. The original owner once overheard her saying to the old lady in a sarcastic tone: "Oh dear, I don't know what Third Sister-in-law is thinking. Third Brother is so old and doesn't have a son, but she doesn't seem worried. The other day I told her I knew an old woman who had a folk remedy and asked her if she needed it, and she looked unhappy."

After hearing this, Tian snorted coldly and cursed Xu as a barren hen with a useless belly, having given birth to four girls over the years.

She and Tian worked together to use Xu as a tool.

At this moment, Lin Chuntao acted as if she hadn't seen Miao Shi at all. She carried the vegetables, stepped over the edge of the field, and walked away on her own.

Miao Feng's lips twitched. Just a few days ago, she had complained to her husband about how Zhang Shi had been cursing Lin Chuntao by calling her by her name and not even calling her "aunt." At that time, Lin Changfu had told her, "Sister-in-law, don't you remember that it was Zhang Shi and Qian Shi who were working together, trying to marry Chunxing off to Zhang Bao and trying to separate Lin Chuntao from her? How could Lin Chuntao not hate her?"

She agreed with that. She felt that she hadn't offended Lin Chuntao, so she shouldn't be treated the same way as Zhang.

Now, watching Lin Chuntao walk past her with her vegetable basket as if she didn't even see her, she frowned and felt displeased.

Lin Chuntao didn't care what Miao Feng thought; the entire Lin family was full of no good people.

Thinking about the rice in the steamer, Lin Chuntao quickly picked up her vegetable basket and went home.

She handed the shopping basket to Pei Ying.

"Wash the chives first, then wash the radish leaves too."

Pei Ying took the basin and, without saying a word, went to scoop water to wash it. Lin Chunxing looked at her and asked, "Sister, the food is almost ready. What dishes should we cook first?"

"Let's stir-fry the pig's blood first. Once the rice is ready, take the steamer off the stove and add some water back into the pot."

She gave the order and went to get the kitchen knife she had redeemed. She held it in her hand to test its feel; it had a bit of weight. But since this kitchen knife looked like it could chop bones and cut meat, it would be difficult to use if it was too light. Looking at the sharp blade, Lin Chuntao couldn't wait to start cutting something.

Lin Chunxing brought in the steamer, and when she saw the kitchen knife in Lin Chuntao's hand, her eyes widened like copper bells.

"Sis, did you buy a kitchen knife?"

"Yeah, it'll be more convenient to buy one."

She quickly placed the steamer on the bamboo rack and came over, saying, "Let me see."

As they spoke, Lin Chuntao handed it to her. Lin Chunxing took it and examined it carefully. It looked much bigger than the one at home before, and it looked like it would work very well. She asked curiously, "How much does it cost? Is it expensive?"

Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "It's not expensive." Lin Chuntao really didn't know how much it would cost, so she changed the subject, "I also went to look at fabric today. I calculated that if we buy some fabric to make clothes, we should be able to each make one set."

"real?"

Seeing Lin Chunxing's delighted expression, Lin Chuntao nodded, "Of course it's true."

Lin Chunxing looked at the kitchen knife in her hand, thinking it must be expensive. Besides, she was considering making clothes. She asked Lin Chuntao, "Do we have enough money?"

“That’s enough. You don’t need to worry about the money,” Lin Chuntao said.

Although everyone said that the crops planted now would only yield a bunch of hay, she still believed in Lin Chuntao. Lin Chuntao had said that if they could harvest corn, then they could harvest it.

If she could harvest a crop of corn in the fall, most of her food problem would be solved. She really, really wanted to make a set of clothes, even more than she wanted to eat meat.

But the family lacked everything. Lin Chuntao and the others used the money they earned to gradually add things to the family. She was no longer a child, and the words she wanted to say kept coming out of her mouth.

She was so happy that she felt like she could fly when she heard Lin Chuntao say she wanted to make clothes so soon.

"Sister, can we make it in color?"

Seeing the joy and anticipation in Lin Chunxing's eyes, Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "That's fine, but we sisters should only make one color, which will save more fabric."

Lin Chunxing nodded vigorously, "Sister, you can decide. I'll take any color that comes with it."

"Okay, hurry up and boil some water, I want to cook pig's blood."

Hearing this, Lin Chunxing grabbed the kitchen knife and was about to leave when Lin Chuntao quickly called out to her, "Give me the knife."

Lin Chunxing was overjoyed. She looked down at the kitchen knife in her hand, chuckled, handed it over, and flew out of the house like a butterfly.

Lin Chuntao first went to get a piece of pig's blood, cut it into tofu-like pieces, called Lin Chunxing in, took it out, and poured it into a pot.

"Keep an eye on it, call me when the water boils." Lin Chuntao instructed before cutting off a piece of pig liver, washing it, and taking it inside to slice.

It's incredibly satisfying to slice the liver thinly with a sharp cleaver; each slice is about the same thickness, which is a pleasure to look at.

She washed it again after slicing it, and then scooped some cold water into it to remove the blood, and threw in a slice of dried ginger to remove the fishy smell.

After she finished preparing the pig liver and washed the cutting board and knife, the pig blood on the fire boiled. She took her chopsticks and went over to check it. After the blood clots were no longer red, she quickly scooped out the blood and Lin Chunxing busied herself washing the pot.

Pei Ying stood up with the chives in her hand and looked at Lin Chuntao: "I've finished washing the chives, I'll put them on the cutting board."

"Okay." She replied, then asked Lin Duo'er and the others in the courtyard, "I'll stir-fry some pig liver and some pig blood. What vegetables would you like to eat?"

"Either is fine," the two sisters said in unison.

Lin Chuntao shook her head helplessly. People who can't eat meat for a long time and can only eat various wild vegetable buns don't have much expectation for vegetables after they can eat meat.

She quickly chopped a cucumber, scooped some chili oil and regular oil into it, mixed it up, and let it marinate. That made up a vegetarian dish.

Stir-fried pork blood with chives is quick and easy. After frying the oil, add garlic and stir-fry until fragrant, then add the pork blood and stir-fry. When it's almost done, add the chives. Chives cook quickly, so add salt when they are almost cooked, stir well, and serve. It's a simple and easy home-style dish.

Stir-frying pork liver isn't difficult either. Just use plenty of oil and seasonings, and cook over high heat, making sure not to overcook it.

While she was cooking, her younger sisters would gather around the pot, watching eagerly. Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Remember how to cook it, so that if I'm busy in the future, you can cook it yourselves."

Lin Duo'er nodded repeatedly beside her, like a chick pecking at rice.

There were three dishes for five people, but each dish was a large portion. After they finished eating, they all slumped in their chairs, patting their round bellies, to rest.

With the afternoon sun high in the sky and a gentle breeze blowing, Lin Chuntao thought that when she built her own house in the future, she would put two rocking chairs in the yard, and after eating, she would lie on them and rock for a while, basking in the sun.

They hadn't rested for long when Lin Chuntao chopped up the radish leaves that Pei Ying had washed, blanched them in boiling water, then fetched an earthenware pot, scooped the cooked vegetables into it, and poured in water. Lin Chuntao then built a fire in the yard, placing the earthenware pot beside it to warm it.

"Sis, will this work?"

Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "It should be fine. We'll know for sure when we get back tonight."

After finishing preparing the things, Lin Chuntao was ready to lead them to the fields.

The beans weren't finished being planted yet, and the vegetables needed to be planted quickly as well. Lin Chuntao picked out several types of vegetables suitable for planting now from the large bag of seeds.

Lin Chunxing looked at the packets of seeds. She recognized the melon and chili seeds, but she couldn't distinguish the smaller ones.

"Sister, what kind of vegetables should we plant?"

Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Plant some bamboo leaf vegetables, cabbage, pumpkin, red amaranth, carrots, peppers, cucumbers, bitter melons, and small gourds."

As she uttered this string of words, Lin Chunxing stared at her in disbelief.

"Are we going to plant them all?" Lin Chunxing asked. Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "There are so many vegetables, we definitely can't plant them all. We only kept one plot of land for vegetables."

Lin Chunxing felt dumbfounded and smiled, pursing her lips.

On the way to the fields, Lin Chuntao asked the three of them questions.

What colors do you like for making clothes?

Lin Duo'er skipped over to her, looked up at her with bright, sparkling eyes, and asked, "Sister, are we going to make clothes?"

"Yes, I'm going to buy fabric to make clothes."

Upon hearing Lin Chuntao's words, Lin Chunhe and Lin Duo'er were even happier than Lin Chunxing had been earlier. If people had wings, they would have flown away by now.

But Lin Chuntao's question was pointless, because Lin Duo'er wanted every color and kept changing her mind.

Lin Chuntao said in a deep voice, "Grass green, lotus root pink, smoky purple, and brownish red, choose one of the four."

With four choices, Lin Duo'er was still struggling, counting on her fingers in extreme indecision. This little brat seemed to have decision-making difficulties. Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Just choose whichever color you want the most. We'll definitely make it again when we have more money in a while, and then you can choose a different color next time."

"Then I want grass green." After Lin Duo'er finished speaking, Lin Chuntao looked at Lin Chunxing and Lin Chunhe. Lin Chunxing asked her in return, "Sister, what color do you want?"

Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I like all four colors. You guys choose first, and I'll go with you."

Lin Chunxing smiled at Lin Duo'er, "Then I'll go with grass green."

Lin Chunhe echoed, "Me too."

"Let's buy grass green fabric this time, and make other colors next time."

The sisters spent the afternoon working while discussing what color they wanted for their new clothes.

Lin Chuntao felt like she was tired of hearing it, but she could understand their expectations.

The three sisters were familiar with planting beans, and Pei Ying followed along, while Lin Chuntao went to tend to the vegetable patch on her own.

She used a small hoe to divide the vegetable patch. She needed to plant a variety of peppers and vegetables, and she could also plant a few pumpkins along the edge of the field. She also arranged for cucumbers and bitter melons to grow next to them, as they would need trellises later and wouldn't block the sunlight from the other vegetables.

After dividing them, they were planted one by one.

Vegetable seeds are not as large as corn kernels and are easier to separate. If you throw a bunch of vegetable seeds in, they will all grow together, which is not good for their growth.

So she squatted in the field and worked very carefully. By the time she finished planting the vegetables and stood up, it was already afternoon.

Lin Chunxing and the others who planted beans are about to move to a different location.

After resting for a while, Lin Chuntao took them to the back mountain.

They worked until the sun was setting before returning together.

As soon as she opened the door, she smelled a pungent sour smell. Lin Chuntao was overjoyed and handed the hoe to Lin Chunxing before rushing to wash her hands and check on her sauerkraut.

Thick sour juice had already overflowed from the mouth of the earthenware pot, and the pickled cabbage was almost ready!

She ran inside to get chopsticks, then lifted the lid of the earthenware pot, picked up a bit to taste, and found it was pungent and sour that it made her teeth ache.

Seeing her furrowed brow, Lin Chunxing asked, "What's wrong? Did you fail?"

Lin Chuntao shook her head vigorously: "No, it's done, but it's too sour and a bit pungent. It needs to be simmered for a while longer to taste better."

"Hurry up and wash your hands and cook. Tonight we'll have stir-fried sauerkraut and pig's blood."

The younger sisters had never eaten it before, and Lin Chuntao's tone was full of anticipation.

The rice steamed quickly. Lin Chuntao boiled the pickled cabbage once, took it out, added oil and stir-fried it. After it softened further, she added water, almost covering the pickled cabbage. After the soup boiled, Lin Chuntao added the pig's blood, which had been cut into small pieces beforehand.

Soon, the color of the pig's blood in the pot changed, and a strong sour smell filled the yard. Pei Ying felt her appetite was instantly awakened.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the pickled cabbage and pig's blood dinner. The pig's blood was tender, smooth, and had no fishy smell; not only was the texture excellent, but the flavor was also superb. The stir-fried pig's liver on the table was completely ignored.

After eating and drinking to their hearts' content, it was still not dark.

Lin Chuntao sat in the yard to rest, while her three younger sisters squatted and played in the yard.

As the evening breeze caressed her face, Lin Chuntao looked up and saw birds flying over the rooftops and into the cedar tree behind the yard. She looked at Pei Ying and said, "There should be a bird's nest in that cedar tree behind us."

Pei Ying nodded: "Yes, I saw it when they were cutting down tree branches that day."

Weary birds return to their nests as night falls.

People who have worked all day should tidy up and prepare to go to sleep.