Xu Qinyu could see that Ning Jie'er really knew nothing. The little girl was only eleven or twelve years old. In her generation, she was a treasure in the hands of her parents, not to mention she was a princess. She had been spoiled and lived a luxurious life before. She was suddenly exiled to the southwest. The psychological gap must be huge. It was not bad for her to have the thought of living.
But this is the case. Ning Jie'er is also a member of this family and she has to contribute to this family. Otherwise, she will never have a sense of belonging, which will not be good for her psychology in the long run.
But there's no need to rush, just take it slow.
Seeing Wen carrying water into the room and the others going to the kitchen, Pei Jianing stood in the main room at a loss, not knowing what to do.
Xu Qinyu went into the kitchen, lit a fire and prepared to cook.
If you want to cook good food, an iron pot is also very important.
You can use either pig skin or lard to start the pot. While she was busy preparing the pot and preparing the ingredients, Pei Weixuan led Feng Ge'er and Yan Jie'er to the main hall to move the purchased ingredients and cooking utensils to the kitchen. Seeing Ning Jie'er still standing in the main hall in a daze, he said calmly, "Ning Jie, help move the things to the kitchen."
Moving things was easy, so Pei Jianing didn't refuse and followed him to the kitchen with the casserole in his arms.
Xu Qinyu started cooking and made a pot of pork ribs and taro stewed rice. It was already late and everyone was hungry, so they didn't have time to prepare vegetables and soup. The pork ribs and taro rice had both vegetables and rice, and tasted good.
This is simple to make. After washing the ribs, stir-fry and add taro to stir-fry until fragrant and add seasoning. Then pour in an appropriate amount of water, bring to a boil, add washed japonica rice, and simmer until cooked.
While Xu Qinyu was cooking, Feng Ge'er and Yan Jie'er sat obediently beside the stove to keep warm, and Pei Weixuan also sat beside them to help watch the fire.
Xu Qinyu found that her cheap husband had excellent manners. Even when sitting in such a simple room, he sat upright with his back as straight as a pine tree.
When the fire was almost cooked, Xu Qinyu asked her adopted husband to turn down the heat in the stove and opened the lid of the pot. The rice inside was soaked in the broth of the pork ribs and taro, and it was slightly oily. She sprinkled the chopped green onions on it, and it looked very tempting.
Not only were the family members overwhelmed by the fragrance, but even the neighbors could smell it, and several families came out to take a look.
"Whose family is making this evening snack? It smells so good."
"It smells so good, it's the smell of meat. We eat meat occasionally at home, but why can't we make meat that smells this good? It's so delicious that I can hardly stand it."
"It seems to be the house in front. Smoke is still coming out of her house. It used to be the house of the Xia couple. Has it been rented out?"
"It looks like it's been rented out. I heard her family wants three hundred coins for the house, and they won't give a penny cheaper. Anyone who can rent a house for three hundred coins can also afford to eat meat, but this meat smells a bit too good."
Everyone was very greedy. They were all ordinary people. Some of them could not eat meat for a month, while some could eat it twice a month. But they never knew how to cook meat so deliciously.
Even if the fragrance was irresistible, no one would dare to run to someone else's door and knock.
At the Pei family, Xu Qinyu had already called everyone to the kitchen to eat. There was a square table in the kitchen, and there was still some residual heat in the stove, so it was quite warm, so they ate in the kitchen.
A large bowl of pork ribs and taro stewed rice was added to each person, and another portion was placed in the food box, which was for Shao Ge'er.
Xu Qinyu said, "You guys eat first. I'll give this to Shao Ge'er."
"I'll go." Pei Weixuan stood up and took the food box from Xu Qinyu's hand. This place is not like the capital, and it's so late, so he naturally wouldn't let Yu Niang go out alone.
Mrs. Wen was also worried that her son might get sick again after just recovering from a fever. "I'd better let me go. Xuan Ge'er and Yu Niang, you guys eat first."
As they were arguing, there was a knock on the door. Xu Qinyu went out to open the gate. It was a young boy of about thirteen or fourteen years old. He was wearing a gray padded jacket. The jacket looked quite thick and dark, but his eyes were quite bright. He smiled immediately when he saw someone opening the door. "You must be the young lady of the Xu family. I am a servant of the Xia family. My wife asked me to come and get the food box. I can smell the fragrance from far away." The fragrance was so overbearing that he couldn't help swallowing his saliva all the way.
Xu Qinyu knew the situation of the Xia family, and this young boy should be Xiao Cui's brother Zhuzi.
She smiled and said, "Today's dinner is late, so I made pork ribs stewed with rice."
As she was speaking, Wen had already come out with a food box. Zhuzi took the food box and thanked them before leaving.
After Zhuzi left, the Pei family started to eat.
The pork ribs and taro stewed rice, the pork ribs are not overcooked at all, the surface is crispy and the meat is tender inside, the taro is also full of soup, it tastes soft and sticky, not choking at all, the rice is even more covered with soup, each grain is distinct, there is a layer of crispy rice crust at the bottom of the pot, the rice crust is crispy and fragrant, everyone likes to eat it.
The family ate quietly, finishing the whole pot of pork ribs and rice. Then they washed up and went to bed.
Pei Weixuan was the one who washed the pots and pans. After dinner, he naturally took the dishes for the whole family to wash.
Wen wanted to take on the job quickly, but Pei Weixuan just said no.
——————
There were six people in the family, but only three rooms. Wen originally wanted to give the largest room on the left to Xuan Ge'er or Ning Jie'er, but both of them disagreed. In the end, Wen and Yan Jie'er lived in the big room, Xu Qinyu and Ning Jie'er lived in the small room on the left side of the main hall, and Pei Weixuan and his younger brother Feng Ge'er lived in the room on the right side of the main hall.
In fact, the Pei family subconsciously did not regard Xu Qinyu and Pei Weixuan as a real couple. Although they were married, it was all forced by the new emperor. The girl was implicated, and they could not force her. They would wait and see. If the two children really had feelings for each other, it would not be too late to become husband and wife.
When she woke up the next day, Xu Qinyu got dressed and left the warm bed. Ning Jie'er was still asleep, so she moved very carefully for fear of waking her up.
It was all white outside, the snow had piled up to the ankles, and it was still snowing.
Xu Qinyu couldn't help but feel a little worried. With such heavy snow, the docks must be closed. It was too cold, and the river would easily freeze, making it impossible for the caravans to continue traveling. If the docks were really closed, the food stalls there would definitely be affected. There wouldn't be many people setting up stalls there. Would they have to wait until spring after the New Year to set up stalls? But she quickly rejected the idea. The family only had eleven taels of silver left. If anyone in the family had a headache or a fever, these eleven taels of silver would definitely not be enough. Xu Qinyu planned to go and see them after breakfast.
For breakfast, she planned to make some red bean porridge. The porridge she cooked was fragrant, glutinous and sticky. It was made with red beans and rice. The red beans had been soaked last night.
When the Xia family moved, they didn't take the stove, wooden barrels, or basins with them.
The clay pot was bought yesterday. The bean porridge was cooking on the stove. Xu Qinyu also lit the fire under the stove and prepared to boil lard.
She had just lit the fire when there was a movement at the kitchen door. She turned around and saw that it was her cheap husband. He was wrapped in a dark blue long coat. The clothes were a bit ugly, but his face was as white as jade, with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes. He was really handsome. Xu Qinyu couldn't help but take a few more glances. It was strange that although her cheap husband was weak, the chapped face was the least during his exile. After applying ointment for two days, it was almost healed.
She felt that the ointment made by her cheap husband was quite effective. After applying it for two or three days, the redness and swelling on her face from the cold subsided, and the chapped skin also improved a lot. If she used it for another ten days or half a month, the chapped skin on her face and hands would definitely be completely healed.
"Fourth brother, why don't you sleep a little longer?" Xu Qinyu asked with a smile.
Her eyes curved when she smiled, which was a far cry from her previous bitter and resentful look.
Pei Weixuan came over and sat down by the stove. "Now that you're awake, come and help you light the fire."
"Thank you, Fourth Brother."
Xu Qinyu was not polite either. With someone helping to light the fire, she could do other things.
She first boiled a large pot of hot water and blanched the chopped lard. This way the lard would be whiter, cleaner and taste better.
Wash the blanched lard and start to boil it. Add some water while boiling. After a lot of oil is boiled out, add a few star anise and peppercorns to enhance the flavor.
The whole house was filled with the aroma of lard.
Scoop the boiled lard into a ceramic pot, put the remaining oil residue on a plate and sprinkle some salt on it.
There is not much oil residue, otherwise you can make buns or dumplings with radish, which tastes very good.
Xu Qinyu took a piece of the oil residue and put it in her mouth. The aroma of burnt food filled the air. It was still crispy just out of the pan. She thought it tasted good, so she took the opportunity to pick up a piece and put it into Pei Weixuan's mouth, "Fourth brother, try it too."
The girl's soft fingertips touched his lips. Pei Weixuan froze and subconsciously chewed a few times before swallowing the oil residue in his mouth without even tasting it.
Xu Qinyu asked, "Fourth brother, how does the oil residue taste?"
Pei Weixuan lowered his eyes slightly, "Very good."
Xu Qinyu was very happy and put the oil residue aside so that she could eat it with bean porridge later.
The oil on the bottom of the pan was not wasted and was used directly to fry the tofu.
The tofu she fried was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a rich onion aroma.
The Pei family members also woke up and came over to have breakfast.
Today, as usual, Zhuzi came to get breakfast and said to Xu Qinyu, "Shao'er really liked the pork ribs braised rice made by Miss Xu. He ate a full bowl. Our wife and master were very happy." He was embarrassed to tell Miss Xu that the remaining pork ribs braised rice was eaten by his master. His master wanted to lick the bowl clean and said that he had never eaten such delicious food.
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "As long as Shao likes it."
After breakfast, Xu Qinyu went to the dock. She wanted to start a food business, so customer flow and customer sources were very important. They let her decide what kind of food to cook and where to cook it.
What Xu Qinyu didn't expect was that there was still some business at the dock. Even though it was snowing heavily, there were some food stalls nearby because there were several large ships docked on the canal. She then realized that there were two official ships that specialized in transporting coal and iron ore, and two other ships belonging to merchant caravans, all of which were forced to stay here because of the heavy snow.
There were at least twenty or thirty people on one boat, and at least a hundred people on four boats, so the dock was quite lively.
In order to save money, the guys on these ships all live on the ship, but they certainly cannot save on food. Being on a ship is also very hard work, and they cannot afford to not eat well.
If the river had not been blocked by heavy snow on ordinary days, there would be many small caravans and people coming to the dock to move goods, as well as people coming to deliver coal and iron ore. At that time, the flow of people would be really large and bustling. Now it is still deserted.
Business at the dock is pretty good at the moment. There are not many food stalls, just one wonton stall, one bun stall, and one noodle stall. It's mainly because the weather is too cold and the snow is too heavy, so other people don't want to set up stalls. Even the shops and small vendors on the road have decreased a lot.
It was breakfast time and customers were waiting for food at several stalls with their necks hunched. After getting the food, they would go back to the boat to eat as they didn't want to suffer from the cold here.
The guys on these boats all knew each other and were chatting.
"I've been eating the same food these past few days. It's a bit greasy and too bland."
These wontons, buns and noodles were not greasy enough for them, and they felt hungry again not long after eating them.
"It's a bit bland indeed. It would be much better if we could have a pot of stewed meat. When can we make an appointment to go to the restaurant on West Street for a good meal?"
"Forget it. Do you dare to go to the restaurants on East Street and West Street? Just two or three dishes cost one or two taels of silver. We can't afford it." Following the fleet, although the monthly salary was higher than that of ordinary people, they still felt distressed that one meal would cost half a month's salary.
The restaurants on the South Street and North Street were cheaper, but a meal still cost several hundred dollars, which they couldn't afford.
As he was speaking, the wonton stall owner had already cooked several bowls of wontons, and several waiters were carrying the bowls back to the boat.
After hearing these words, Xu Qinyu gradually formed a general idea in her mind.
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