Chapter 44 Can you also make wine?

In addition to clothes, Sang Zhixia asked the shopkeeper to pack a pair of shoes as well.

She originally wanted to add something for Xu Mingxu and Xu Jinxi as well, but when she thought of so many pairs of eyes staring at her at home, she suppressed the idea.

According to Xu Yu, his mother-in-law was good at needlework and would make something for them when she had the material.

I bought everything I wanted at once, and after many twists and turns, I was finally able to go home.

When the mule cart arrived at the door, Xu Yu first helped to move all the things off the cart, and then carried the prepared rice wine to the village chief's house.

Sang Zhixia took advantage of the chaos to take Xu Yu's new clothes back to the west shed and put them away. Then she came out, bent down and started to move them in.

The old lady came out upon hearing the noise, but the first thing she said was, "Weren't you on the bus back? What took you so long to get back?"

Going out early in the morning and returning home in the evening, isn't this taking too long?

Sang Zhixia had already thought of the words, and said calmly, "The charcoal in town can't be sold at a high price, so I went around to the county town to sell it."

"It was quite a coincidence. I came across a cloth shop in the county town selling material at a discount. I used the money my grandmother gave me to buy two and a half pieces of cloth. Considering the time I lost today, it was a good deal."

The old lady came out, unable to conceal her surprise: "Where is it? Let me take a look."

She unwrapped the oilcloth, took a look, and laughed with satisfaction.

"I gave you five taels of silver, and you can buy so many things?"

Sang Zhixia thought to herself that you had a nice thought, but she said, "What my grandmother gave me was a little short, so I made up for it with the money I earned from selling charcoal."

The old lady finally remembered the important matter when she heard this: "How is the total price of the charcoal you sold in the county town calculated?"

"Xu Yu found a long-term restaurant and agreed to have the charcoal delivered to them divided into two grades based on quality: the lower grade was 9 wen per 10 jin, and the higher grade was 15 wen per 10 jin."

The old lady quickly fiddled with the abacus in her mind and looked quite satisfied.

"That's better than going to the brick kiln."

"It's just that this material is not expensive, why don't you buy some more?"

Sang Zhixia secretly rolled her eyes in her heart and said helplessly, "Grandma, no matter how cheap it is, it still costs money. How can I buy more if I don't have the money?"

You want to test her and ask her to support herself? That's wishful thinking!

The old lady had made herself look awkward and was laughing a little unhappy, but Sang Zhixia didn't care.

She quickly arranged the various seasonings she had bought, and poured all the small fish in the wooden basket into the wooden basin.

It happened that Aunt Xu San came in carrying a bundle of firewood. Sang Zhixia walked over, took the firewood and put it on the ground.

Aunt Xu saw the little fish in the wooden basin and asked curiously, "Xia Xia, can you eat such a small fish?"

They had eaten many rare foods, but this was the first time they had seen one that was not as big as a finger.

Sang Zhixia smiled and said, "Small ones have their own flavors. You'll know when Auntie tastes them after they're ready."

The little fish in the wooden basin caused everyone who saw them to ask questions.

After asking, some people still set their eyes on the not-so-good-looking pig's trotters.

Aunt Xu hesitated and said, "I've seen people eat pig's trotters, but I've never tried it myself. Can it be delicious?"

The ladies and gentlemen from respectable families pay attention to elegance and perfection in eating, drinking, walking, sitting and lying down. They would rarely touch even the ones with bones, let alone the ugly pig's trotters.

No one present had ever eaten this thing.

The old lady wanted to take this opportunity to lecture him about the uselessness of the things he had bought, but Sang Zhixia spoke first and said, "This is only half the price of meat, and it tastes even better when cooked."

Aunt Xu said doubtfully, "Xia Xia, you're not kidding me?"

Sang Zhixia said with a smile: "Why would I scare you?"

She filled two small bowls with soybeans and soaked them in water. She pulled a small stool and sat down and said, "Aunt, if you have time, why don't you help me clean up these little fish?"

I came back late today, and this thing takes time. If I don’t hurry up, I’m afraid I won’t be able to have dinner.

When it comes to food, Aunt Xu still cares a lot.

She sat down first, followed by Xu Wenxiu and Aunt Xu.

They were only willing to clean the fish, but they didn't want to touch the ugly and hairy pig's trotters.

Sang Zhixia held back her laughter and stood up to hand them the basin. Seeing Xu Yu coming back, she said, "You've come just in time. Please help me chop the pig's trotters."

Xu Yu skillfully rolled up his sleeves and grabbed the kitchen knife. As Sang Zhixia instructed, he placed the blade in the middle of the pig's trotter, which had been blackened by the charcoal fire, and cut it open from top to bottom.

Sang Zhixia took it and scrubbed off the black on the surface, then handed it to him and chopped it into small pieces one by one.

Xu Wenxiu was cleaning the small fish with her hands, but her eyes were always on Xu Yu. Seeing that his movements on the stove were becoming more and more skillful, she felt very uncomfortable.

It’s okay to do hard labor, Xu Yu is a man and should do the hard work.

But he always interferes with the kitchen work. If this continues, won’t it be...

Perhaps her expression was too obvious, so Aunt Xu San saw it and said softly, "Sister-in-law, our family's situation is not what it used to be. It's a good thing for young couples to support each other. Have you forgotten how Xu Yu taught Mingxu?"

Xu Mingxu did not understand the great principles, nor did he necessarily understand what Xu Yu meant by what he was taught.

But it was enough for Xu Mingxu to convey it to Xu Wenxiu's ears.

Xu Yu himself was willing.

Xu Wenxiu struggled repeatedly and sighed silently, then lowered her head and said, "My third sister-in-law is right. As a mother-in-law, I shouldn't meddle in other people's business."

"What's the big deal?"

Second Aunt Xu sneered, "It's already hard to take care of three meals a day. This is not the time to act like a mother-in-law and set rules. Let go when you should."

"Xia Xia is a capable person, and she always protects Xu Yu. With so many people taking care of things for you and feeling sorry for you, how much worry has this saved you?"

As she spoke, she felt regretful that she had not arranged a marriage for Xu Minghui earlier, otherwise her Minghui would definitely have someone who loved him.

The three sisters-in-law were in different moods and stopped talking. The clanging sound of chopping pig's trotters on the stove was coming to an end.

Sang Zhixia soaked the chopped pig's trotters in water, rinsed them three times to remove the blood, blanched them in cold water, and then took them out and washed them clean.

Put the chopped onion, ginger and garlic slices into the oil pan and stir-fry until fragrant, then add the spices you just bought today and stir-fry. After the bay leaves change color, add the dried peppercorns and chopped dried chilies and boil some oil. Pour all the drained pig's trotters in with the crackling sound of the oil, sprinkle in two spoons of syrup and rice wine and soy sauce and stir-fry until colored, add the soaked soybeans, add water to cover the surface and cover the pot.

The fish here have just been stewed, and the small fish in the wooden basin have been almost cleaned up.

There is no need to scrape the scales off such a tiny fish. Just squeeze out the contents of its stomach and clean it.

The gutted little fish were washed to remove dirt, sprinkled with ginger slices and rice wine to marinate to remove the fishy smell. Sang Zhixia beat two eggs in a large bowl and mixed them well. He used a small bamboo sieve to sift some flour and mixed it with the egg mixture into a batter. A lot of oil was heated in another iron pot where the rice had just been cooked.

Xu Yu adjusted the fire in the stove, stood up, and frowned silently when he saw the smoking oil in the pot.

"Are you going to blow it up?"

Sang Zhixia dropped two drops of batter into the pot with chopsticks. Seeing the batter tumbling and turning golden brown, she nodded and said, "It tastes best when it's crispy, so..."

"You go to the side, I'll come."

He took the bowl of batter from Sang Zhixia without saying a word and pretended to pour the batter into the pot.

Sang Zhixia quickly stopped him and said, "That's not how it's fried."

"Just keep an eye on the pot, I'll mix it for you."

As she spoke, she rolled the marinated fish in the batter, scooped it out with a strainer and handed it to Xu Yu.

The little fish covered with batter burst into oil when put into the pan, and Xu Yu pushed Sang Zhixia farther away as if by reflex.

Sang Zhixia said quickly: "Stir it a little bit so that it doesn't get stuck on the bottom of the pot. I'll tell you it's ready before you fish it out."

"Um."

Xu Yu was guarding the oil wok with a serious expression, as if he was doing something big.

Sang Zhixia found a clean sieve, covered it with a layer of clean large leaves, and said, "Okay, take it out and put it on top."

The bluish-white little fish are coated with egg batter and rolled in the oil pan for a long time. When they are taken out, they are golden all over and make a crispy sound when they collide with each other.

Sprinkle some chili powder prepared with salt and pepper powder, and roll it up and down in the sieve directly, and the tempting aroma will come out.

The little ones who had been waiting here for a long time peeked in with shining eyes. Sang Zhixia took out another large bowl and said, "Try it first to see if it's spicy. If it's spicy, eat what's in the bowl."

There is only a little bit of salt in the big bowl for seasoning, which is perfect for children.

After she finished speaking, she took out a small bowl filled with small fish and handed it to Xu Wenxiu, who was holding Xu Jinxi: "Mother-in-law, feed this to Jinxi. This one is fried for a little longer to make the bones crispier."

Xu Wenxiu smiled and said yes, then took the handkerchief and wiped Xu Jinxi's mouth lovingly.

Xu Mingyang, unconvinced, ate two of the ones with chili powder. Even though he was gasping for breath from the spiciness, he still said, "It's so delicious! The bones are crispy!"

Xu Mingxu grabbed the one with only salt and chewed it happily: "Crispy!"

Xu Yanran was eating happily and didn't forget to put it in Aunt Xu's hand: "Mom, try it, it's delicious."

Those who originally didn't think this thing was delicious also tried it one by one, and the old man stroked his beard and laughed out loud.

“The fish isn’t big, but it tastes great when cooked this way.”

Uncle Xu echoed with emotion: "Yes, it would be even better if we could have two pots of wine at this time."

These fragrant and crispy little fish are great as a side dish for wine!

Uncle Xu snorted after hearing this: "Wine is good stuff, but it's very expensive. I'm afraid our family can't afford it."

Xu Yu did bring back a pot of tea today, but he gave it to someone else before he even entered the house. How could they have the chance to drink it?

There were a lot of small fish bought, and they had to be fried all at once, so Xu Yu couldn't move his hands for the time being.

Everyone was enjoying the food, but Sang Zhixia couldn't bear to see his mouth idle, so she quickly stuffed something crispy into his mouth.

She turned to look at Uncle Xu, whose face was full of gloom, and changed the subject to the old man.

"Grandfather is craving for wine?"

The old man was too lazy to bother with the annoying Uncle Xu and said with a smile: "I wasn't greedy at first, but after eating the snacks you made, I suddenly became greedy for some reason."

"What's so difficult about this?"

Sang Zhixia stuffed another cup into Xu Yu's mouth and said with a smile, "Grandfather, if you don't mind my rough cooking skills, I'll make you a pot someday when I have time."

Not only the old man became interested, but even Uncle Xu looked up in surprise.

"My niece is saying that you can also make wine?"