Chapter 18 Pickled Cabbage
Then I saw her crawling to the side of the car and stuffing a pile of rotten vegetable leaves directly into her pocket.
After just a few minutes, a local woman wearing an orange vest ran over to stop her: "What are you doing? These are things from the market, put them all back!"
While they were talking, there was a tug of war between her and Sister Xu. When Shi Qingqing stood up, she saw Sister Xu pushing and shoving someone a few times and coming back with a sack of vegetable leaves.
The woman was still cursing behind her, so Sister Xu put down the leaves and rushed back to continue arguing with her. "It's not your dish, what do you care about?"
The quarrel between the two attracted onlookers. Shi Qingqing's pile of cabbages also attracted the attention of other people, including many familiar faces.
They were all pointing fingers at her.
That expression, that demeanor, all of them are saying, look at what happens when you marry a poor man from another place, you end up picking up rotten vegetable leaves and hanging out with people like him.
Shi Qingqing closed her eyes.
Sometimes she really didn't understand. No matter how her life was, she had never taken a bite of food from these people, let alone a penny from their hands. Why would they hold on to her just because she married a foreigner?
It's like marrying a foreigner is associated with crime and is despised by everyone.
Maybe it’s not about being from another place or not, but maybe being poor is the original sin in the eyes of some people.
When she opened her eyes again, the slight embarrassment she felt before was gone.
Since I have decided to live a life different from my previous life, the first thing I have to do is to overcome the rumors.
It's just cabbage.
Shi Qingqing rolled up her sleeves and immediately helped Sister Xu remotely in Minnan dialect.
For a while, there was constant cursing and spitting, it was very lively. It was not a peak time for the vegetable market, but it was surrounded by people watching the fun. Even the owner and his wife of the Shaxian snacks ran across the street to watch the fun.
In the crowd, a young woman dressed in rich clothes looked at Shi Qingqing, smiled mockingly, turned around and got into a Santana sedan, attracting many envious glances.
The verbal fight lasted for a while, and people from the street office came over wearing red armbands to maintain order. When they found out it was just a matter of some broken vegetable leaves, several people were very dissatisfied, and their attitude became even worse when they spoke to Sister Xu.
But with Shi Qingqing's intervention, they were each given 80 lashes of the cane. Whoever wanted the rotten vegetable leaves could take them away for 50 cents.
The old lady originally wanted to take advantage of the free service, so wouldn't it be very difficult for her if she had to spend money?
So she crossed her arms angrily and even complained about the red armbands. Finally, Sister Xu didn't want anything else. She picked up the good things in her hand and went back with Shi Qingqing carrying the cabbages.
After walking out for more than ten steps, Shi Qingqing turned around and saw the old lady stepping on the pile of rotten vegetable leaves that had been picked out unwillingly.
Sister Xu snorted: "You are not afraid of falling at your age."
After returning home, Sister Xu cut the rotten leaves and threw them into a basket. After washing her hands, she started to deal with the cabbage.
"Can you make this pickled cabbage? If not, just pickle it with me and let it sit for half a month. Then you will have an extra dish for the New Year.
This pickled cabbage is ready. It is delicious when used to make pork stewed with vermicelli or pickled fish. If you like dumplings or pancakes, you can pair them with pickled cabbage, such as pickled cabbage dumplings, pickled cabbage pancakes, and pickled cabbage buns. "
Shi Qingqing did not hesitate and went to get the processing tools. However, there was no big jar at home, so Sister Xu lent her one.
Shi Qingqing simply bought it.
"Well, I feel bad about charging you, but during the typhoon, two extra jars at home were broken, so I really want to buy two new ones to replace them."
"Let's put it this way. I've been using this jar since I bought it, so I didn't have to buy another one."
Sister Xu put the money away, washed her hands, and started making sauerkraut herself while instructing Shi Qingqing.
Of course, there are also ways to extend the shelf life of vegetables in the South, such as blanching them, drying them in the sun, or baking them.
But this was the first time that Shi Qingqing had pickled sauerkraut by herself. Sister Xu said, "It should be left in the sun for two days to dry. This way the sauerkraut will be more flavorful and crisper, and less likely to spoil. But the weather has not been great these days, so wipe it with dry gauze."
Apply a layer of white wine on the dry jar and set it aside to dry, then start processing the cabbage. Just peel off the outer leaves of the purchased cabbage and split the cabbage in half vertically with a knife.
Shi Qingqing looked at the bucket hesitantly: "How about washing it?"
"Haha, you are so particular. Don't worry, whether it is clean or not is another matter. The pickled cabbage also needs to be washed with water before eating. As long as it is not visibly dirty, it is fine. I have been eating it for many years."
Then sprinkle a layer of pickling salt on the bottom of the jar, and put a layer of sauerkraut, and then a layer of cabbage and a layer of salt, and then sprinkle table salt on the top.
One pound of cabbage contains ten grams of salt.
"That's it for the early stages. Go back and find a heavy object to press down the cabbage. After the water is separated out, discard it. Then add rice washing water and a tablespoon of strong liquor. Seal the container and place it in a low-temperature room to ferment for a month. Then the sauerkraut is ready to eat.
If you are in a hurry, half a month is not a bad idea. You can make bone soup."
Shi Qingqing had someone to rely on, so she was not in a hurry to eat these cabbages.
"Thank you, Sister Xu. I'll move back right away."
Shi Qingqing found the jars were quite heavy. Thinking that Zhao Fengnian was next door, and remembering their agreement, she simply called out, "Zhao Fengnian! Come over and move the things!"
A few seconds later, Zhao Fengnian appeared at the door. Sister Xu looked at Shi Qingqing and gave her a meaningful smile. "Look, a man who obeys orders is a good man. As long as two stubborn guys don't fight each other, life will get better and better."
Shi Qingqing sincerely thanked this neighbor.
In the dream, she didn't have much contact with this older sister. Shi Qingqing was always depressed and thinking about improving her life, so she blocked contact with many strangers.
At least for now, this person really gives people the feeling that distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors.
Due to the capacity problem of the jar, there was actually still half a cabbage left to be stuffed in. In the evening, Shi Qingqing used this half cabbage to cut into shreds and asked Zhao Fengnian to buy one dollar’s worth of meat to stir-fry. Together with the seaweed and egg soup, the two of them had a pretty good dinner.
Zhao Fengnian blinked his lips. The food these days was really greasy. His wife was generous with the oil and seasonings.
At around 8:40 in the evening, the owner of the convenience store at the corner of the street came again, and asked Zhao Fengnian to go out and answer the phone.
Zhao Fengnian was out for more than ten minutes and felt a little nervous when he came back.
Shi Qingqing was soaking her feet to relieve her fatigue. She had done a lot of work today.
Seeing Zhao Fengnian's hesitant look, she came to her senses. "Is someone coming from your hometown?"
Zhao Fengnian nodded.
Today, his relationship with his wife has only improved a little, and he really doesn't want to go back to the old ways.
The relationship between brothers and sisters has actually cooled down over the past few years. The wife is the one who will spend the rest of his life with him. Every bite of food and every dish he eats is given by her. He really knows it!
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