Chapter 55 Chapter 55 and fried dumplings

This new food is fried dumplings. Originally, the store did not sell dumplings. These days, when they were free in the evenings, the family sat together to make dumplings. Baozhu thought that most people in this dynasty eat dumplings in soup, so she might as well try making fried dumplings first.

In winter, leeks and cabbage are the perfect vegetables for making dumplings. So, we made leeks and eggs fillings and cabbage and meat fillings. We also made seafood dumplings, soaked scallops and shrimps and made them into fillings. The three fillings were wrapped into dumplings and fried in oil. The side that was pressed against the pan was fried until golden and crispy. When we dipped it in vinegar and took a bite, the first thing that came out was the rich and delicious oily soup.

Wrap up a few hundred of them in the evening and put them outside to freeze solid. They will be just right to fry in the store the next day.

The twelfth lunar month is the peak season for restaurants, and with the addition of one more store, the store has become much bigger.

As soon as the restaurant opened on the ninth day of the Lunar New Year, some old customers who had not been there for a long time knew there was a discount. After coming, they were relieved to see that they no longer had to queue.

I noticed they had just added pickled pepper bamboo shoots and pickled pepper garlic, so I immediately ordered some noodle soup with a side dish and ate it enthusiastically. Then I saw they had added fried dumplings, and immediately regretted ordering the noodle soup first. It wouldn't hurt to order a little less to see how it tasted.

Today, I ordered a second helping of dumplings for half the price. The dumplings are generously stuffed, the meat very thick. The leeks and eggs are only ten wen a portion, eight in a portion. The cabbage and pork are twenty wen a portion. The seafood is more expensive, due to the high price of dried shrimp and scallops, so it's thirty wen a portion.

I thought the cheaper chive and egg dish would be popular, but surprisingly, the most inquiries were about the most expensive, simply because they thought the half-off discount for the second portion was more appealing. The seafood coin sold out first, followed by the cabbage and pork coin. Once those two were gone, the diners opted for the chive and egg coin.

I didn't get to try the fried dumplings stuffed with shrimp. The store didn't have much today and they were too busy to make them. Everyone who tasted them praised them and asked Baozhu to save two portions and come back to eat them tomorrow.

Those who didn't get to eat asked Baozhu and learned that the half-price discount was valid until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. They all told Baozhu that they wanted to try the seafood dumplings tomorrow. Seeing Baozhu's instructions to make more, they left with peace of mind and prepared to come back the next day.

Dip it in vinegar and add a head of garlic, it tastes delicious. Pair it with a bowl of mutton soup or mutton bone soup, drink a sip of the soup, eat a bite of dumplings dipped in vinegar, and you'll find that this is what life in heaven is all about.

This fried jiaozi was not very popular at first, but it became more and more popular as time went on. Most people ordered it in the morning, and after eating it, their stomach would be full of grease for the whole day.

With the expansion of the store, diners now have a place to sit when they come. At mealtimes, the tables are packed in an orderly manner. Now the store not only sells drinks, but also keeps two kinds of drinks as free drinks. When you order a set meal in the store, you can get one for free. The store mainly focuses on serving food.

The only drinks left in the store at this time are hawthorn drinks and jasmine tea.

This simple drink only needed to be brewed. Liu Si'er, who collected the money at the front and made a cup at the same time, was not inconvenient. Baozhu now stayed in the kitchen to help out. The shop was busy and Zhen's father could not take care of it alone, so Baozhu helped with chores such as frying dumplings and cooking noodle soup. The wood stove was kept burning all day long, and there were several other stoves used for noodles and stewing soup.

In the twelfth lunar month, Zhen's father had to attend many banquets. At the end of the year, officials in Beijing would invite their colleagues to have a drink with their superiors, or someone would hold a plum blossom viewing banquet. These official banquets were difficult to refuse and the price was high, so Zhen's father naturally had to go.

The store was too busy for Baozhu to handle it all by herself, so she thought of finding a chef who specialized in northern cuisine.

It is difficult to find a good chef. The recruitment notice has been posted at the door for quite some time. Many people come to ask about it, but when they try their skills, they often find that they are not good enough.

Since she couldn't just find someone to destroy the shop, Baozhu had no choice but to endure it. At least now that the shop had Liu Si'er helping out, and she had asked Sister Liu to help in the kitchen, she could manage it. She still had the job posting, and asked Madam Xu to keep an eye out at the shop, just waiting for the right person to come along.

There are a lot of goods to prepare for the new year at home, and everyone is busy now. Madam Xu herself cannot spare the time, so she simply hired a maid to do some odd jobs at home. After all, the work is not much, so the salary this month is not high.

This year's winter clothes were cut a little late and were delivered to the house. New clothes had to be made again for the New Year, so Madam Xu cut the cloth and asked the clothing shop to make clothes so that the family would have enough to wear. Baozhu said that Madam Xu would only make one set, and each of the servants could get two new sets of clothes.

The order list for the new year garment shop is very long. Even if we work day and night, we will probably have to wait until the end of December to get it.

The shop assistants all wore the same uniform style, making it easier for customers to tell them apart. Normally, they wouldn't bother buying cloth, let alone making new clothes, so even if they were all the same style, they were happy.

Baozhu took advantage of her father's absence in the store and went to the street to pick out some food and daily necessities for the New Year. She bought everything she wanted and then asked someone to deliver it to her home.

My aunt's family sent two baskets of oranges this year. I don't know how these oranges were stored, but the peels were completely soft, giving off a sweet fragrance, and they were very juicy.

At night, Madam Xu came to Baozhu's room and said a lot of things in a roundabout way. She wanted to lift Baozhu from the bed, but she hesitated for a long time before she talked about the previous incident.

"After the New Year, you'll be eighteen, and you'll be old enough to discuss marriage. Auntie has mentioned it several times. What do you think now? If you don't want to, we have to give you a firm answer."

"Mother, please go and help me get back."

Seeing that Baozhu obviously didn't take the matter seriously, Xu Niangzi couldn't help but persuade her, but Baozhu still shook her head. She wanted to ask more, but Baozhu had already buried her head in the quilt and pretended to be asleep.

Madam Xu sighed that the older the child gets, the more worries she has to take care of him. She moved the charcoal basin in the house, left a gap in the window, and closed the door.

I saved some oranges and stored them in the cellar for Chinese New Year. The peels are dried and can be used to make tea. The tea has a natural aroma that helps relieve greasiness and stimulates appetite. It's less sour and more fragrant than hawthorn tea, and it's also popular as a complimentary drink in stores.

I made several boxes of orange pastries by boiling orange flesh and sugar into a sauce. The orange pastries were baked until crispy, and the filling in the middle was made of orange flesh. The pastry melted in my mouth when I took a bite, and the filling inside was the crystal clear orange honey sauce.

Fruit is precious in winter, so these boxes of snacks were reserved for gifts. Madam Xu had a few important clients to maintain, so she left a few boxes for Erlang to use as favors. She also sent another box to her aunt, but Baozhu didn't respond after several inquiries. While delivering the orange pastries, Madam Xu also spoke with Aunt Zhen to completely reject the marriage proposal.

Madam Xu's warehouse was furnished with numerous large shelves, each containing various items. The hired clerk was diligent, and a separate room in the shop was set aside for him to live in. He wasn't from here, having previously rented a room in Bianjing. Now that he had a place to stay, he saved a fortune on rent. This work required only careful attention, and it was easy and effortless. Even with the challenges of making a living, the clerk's night patrols were meticulous and careful, and he never made a mistake.

Madam Xu sold all the old rice and flour that she had bought from the old shopkeeper of the rice shop last time. The Zhen family did not raise the price. They went directly to the areas in the outer city where all kinds of people, the elderly and the weak gathered, and shouted to sell their products. The rice and flour were sold out quickly.

Most of those who came to buy this old rice and noodles were from poor families. Now that they had enough food at home, there was no need to embarrass them. For the Zhen family, it was just a matter of effort, and they could consider it a good deed.

It was the end of the year again, and this year A Zhong brought Landlord Shi to Bian Jing to deliver fish. The fish from last year were fat again, so the small ones were released, and only those that were long enough were kept and sent to Bian Jing.

Winter is the season for eating fish in the shop. The same fish can be cooked in thirteen different ways, such as frying, stir-frying, braising, deep-frying, boiling, steaming and stewing. All of these ways can make the fish meat into various dishes.

Many families in Bianjing bought fish because the price of fish was lower, but it was also a meat, and if cooked well it was more delicious than mutton. Every day, carts carrying fish were brought in from outside the city.

This year, my eldest brother is not here, A Zhong has difficulty walking, and Landlord Shi is not familiar with Bian Jing, so he did not carry a basket around to sell fish.

Any fish that cannot be eaten immediately will be pickled and dried in the sun when the weather warms up.

Everyone was busy at home and outside. The Zhen family had stockpiled a lot of things for the New Year this year, but no one had packed them up. The maid who came to help the Zhen family was not sure how to deal with the food and supplies, so she had to ask Madam Xu one by one before she could do anything.

My second brother's letter didn't arrive home until the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month. The whole family sat together to celebrate the New Year. The guys who didn't go home sat together and enjoyed a table full of wine and food.

After the Little New Year, Jiang Shi came to Baozhu and told her that he had not been home for a long time and wanted to go back to celebrate the New Year with his family at the end of the year. Baozhu saw how hard he had worked that year and naturally had no objection. Landlord Shi was also worried about his family and went back with him.

Since they had to go back early, Baozhu gave them the red envelope for the new year in advance.

The streets were decorated with lights and colorful lanterns everywhere, waiting for the New Year. Even the roads were swept clean by people ordered by the government.

My second brother arrived home exhausted on the night of the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month. The work of building the river embankment and clearing the silt could only be done in winter when people were free. In addition, the water level was low at this time of year, so the work could be done more efficiently.

Last time, Baozhu brought the message to the young lady of the Kong family. She brought it to the young lady of the Kong family. The young lady of the Kong family had her family confined to her house for three consecutive months. Because the Zhen family was a benefactor, she was able to meet the young lady of the Kong family.

I don’t know how my second brother is going to ask Miss Kong.

Just before New Year's Eve, we received another letter from our eldest brother. After reading the letter, the whole family was excited. It turned out that Sister Xiu was pregnant.

Grandma Zhen was going to be a wife, and she was so happy that she burned a few incense sticks for Grandpa Zhen to tell him that he was going to be a grandfather.

"I'll go there myself when the time comes. This is a big deal. I'll also give Dalang some money while I'm there. It's inevitable that things will be tight for a young couple to make a living while also taking care of the shop."

It has been almost two years since Baorong last returned to Suzhou. When Baorong heard that Xu Niang was going back, she insisted on going to their house together. Even Baozhu was eager to go. She had not been back to Suzhou for a long time and didn't know how her former good sisters were doing now.

Besides, the last time I came to Bian Jing from Suzhou, I was so nervous and panicked that I didn’t even notice the beautiful scenery. This time I’m going home with peace of mind, and at least I can see the local customs and people along the way.