After the drivers finished eating, Xiao Yunying went to the storeroom and brought out two old quilts. She told them to drive the oxcart to the greenhouse, load the vegetables onto the cart, and cover them with the quilts to prevent them from freezing.
She went back to the living room to get her basket. The two older children had already tidied the table, while the two younger children were watching the puppy drink its milk.
She raised her voice and called towards the kitchen, "I'm leaving."
Luo Yang came out and said, "Mother, be careful on the road."
This was her daily conversation before entering the city these past few days. Xiao Yunying responded and went out to get into the carriage.
It was a cold day, and there was a small, exquisite hand warmer on the small tea table in the carriage. It was obviously prepared for her, so she picked it up without any hesitation.
Ling Qi said from outside, "Miss Xiao, let's set off."
This warning is necessary to prevent the people inside from being jolted by the carriage suddenly moving forward.
"good."
Once inside the city, Xiao Yunying got off the carriage on the road and let Ling Qi go back to the restaurant by himself. She went to deliver vegetables to Cheng Yue first.
Her basket contained a little of every kind of vegetable, and she also had some sweet bean sauce in a small jar.
"Sister Cheng Yue."
Now that it's cold, people don't like to go out. Apart from families who come to order cotton-padded clothes and quilts, very few people come to browse clothing stores anymore. Cheng Yue's Jinxiuge has seen a significant decrease in customer traffic.
"Oh, what brings you here? The screen and gauze curtains were just taken away."
"I'm here to deliver vegetables to you."
Xiao Yunying lifted the cloth covering the basket on her back: "These are vegetables I just picked this morning."
The top layer was lush green lettuce. Cheng Yue flipped it open with a happy expression and looked down, picking up a cherry radish: "What kind of vegetables are these? They look so fresh and beautiful."
Xiao Yunying introduced the names of the dishes one by one and explained in detail how to eat them.
Cheng Yue said, "You're making my mouth water. I'm so tired of eating radishes, cabbages and potatoes every day these days. Wait, I'll go get a basket from the back."
Xiao Yunying moved the vegetables into the basket, took out the small jar at the bottom and said, "I brought you this sauce. It's delicious whether you use it to stew fish, make noodles with soybean paste, or just dip lettuce and radishes in it."
"I already feel bad about eating your food. It's not like we can't buy sauce here, so you don't need to bring it to us."
Xiao Yunying opened the jar: "It's different. Mine is sweet bean sauce, so it doesn't taste just salty."
Cheng Yue dipped her little finger in the mixture, tasted it, and said, "It really is sweet. Is this something new you came up with?"
Xiao Yunying closed the jar and chuckled, "I guess so."
She only realized how many seasonings there were in this world after she entered the kitchen of Huiweilou.
The product range is fairly complete, including essential salt, sugar, aged vinegar, white vinegar, soy sauce, rapeseed oil, sesame oil, peanut oil, and condiments such as bean paste and soybean paste.
It's just not as refined and delicate as modern food. It's handmade without high-tech assistance, and the processes for removing impurities and purifying it are not as sophisticated as they are today.
Moreover, the flavors are rather limited. For example, fermented soybean paste and soybean paste are only purely salty. As for soy sauce, there are no soy sauces for steamed fish, seafood, or cold dishes. There is only one type of salty soy sauce made primarily from soybeans or black beans and flour, which is naturally sun-dried and fermented.
Furthermore, due to the low grain yield and limited raw materials in ancient times, coupled with the complicated process and the small number of finished products, the condiments made were relatively expensive and therefore not commonly seen.
Other seasonings are fine, but vegetable oil is not sold in ordinary grain stores and grocery stores because very few people would buy it.
For ordinary farming families, getting enough to eat is already a challenge; who would spend so much money on seasonings? They'd rather use that money to buy a few more pounds of grain or meat.
The lard rendered from the fatty pork can be used for stir-frying, and the remaining cracklings can be used to satisfy the family's cravings for meat. It's much more cost-effective than vegetable oil, which costs several times more.
Cheng Yue took out five taels of silver from the counter and pushed it in front of Xiao Yunying.
Xiao Yunying's face immediately darkened: "What are you doing? Do you want to settle accounts with me? Isn't it too late? Everything I've given you these past few days is a unique secret recipe, which can't be bought for five taels of silver."
Cheng Yue smiled and patted her arm: "Don't be angry yet, let me finish. The pickled peppers, sweet garlic and kimchi you sent me a while ago tasted pretty good. I wanted to order some more from you. In just over ten days, it will be the New Year, and I was thinking of giving them to my uncle and aunt as gifts."
If you give me food, I won't charge you for it. I'm going to use it to give as gifts, so I can't just shamelessly ask you for it back for nothing.
I know those dishes aren't that expensive; the high price is due to your recipe and ingredients. Could you make some for me? I'll get you more money if you need more.
Xiao Yunying smiled again: "Oh, I see."
Cheng Yue said with a smile in her eyes, "Look how quickly your face changes. Anyone who didn't know better would think I was asking you for money."
Xiao Yunying didn't treat Cheng Yue as an outsider and said, "It's all because of my mother. It's not easy to buy charcoal right now, so I asked her to come to my house to get it, but she insisted that my elder brother give me money."
Tell me, why do we have to be so calculating among family members? I just pretended to be angry and scared them away.
"I'm bringing you vegetables now, and you immediately hand me money. I'm not going to misunderstand."
Xiao Yunying spoke casually, but Cheng Yue was deeply moved.
This younger sister was worth it; she treats me like family.
Cheng Yue was touched, but she didn't show it on her face. She joked, "I didn't say anything. You were too impatient. You should have at least asked me what I wanted the money for. How did you know I was giving it to you?"
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