"Sister, how come you have time to come to my place? Did you come by yourself? Didn't your brother-in-law come with you?"
Jiang Mengxue took off her shoes and climbed onto the kang, feeling instantly warmer.
"Your brother-in-law received a telegram last night and took the train back to the army this morning. I just saw him off and came to see you.
Your brother-in-law is gone, do you want to move in with me?"
Originally, Jiang Mengxue really wanted her sister to go live with her, so that at least the two of them could keep each other company.
But it’s so cold now, and I have to get up half an hour earlier every day because I live so far away. It’s not as comfortable as living here.
"Sister, I won't go. I live closer here, otherwise it will be inconvenient to go to work in winter. I'll go to your place on my day off."
Jiang Mengxue thought about it and didn't say anything. If Jiang Mengran went there, she would have to be more careful in her daily life. It was fine like this now.
"Okay, I brought you some buns. You can heat them up yourself later. I'll be leaving first. I'll be back to work at the hospital tomorrow, so I have some free time today to pickle some sauerkraut."
She originally had three days of wedding leave, but now Gu Qingbei has returned to the army early, so there is no need for her to take any more leave.
He first went to the post office and sent a telegram to Gu's parents, telling them that Gu Qingbei had returned to the army so that they wouldn't have to wait.
Originally, Gu Qingbei had agreed with them that he would visit them before returning to the army. There was no other way around it because it was an emergency, but he didn't know when his next vacation would be.
When Jiang Mengxue returned home, she first boiled a pot of water on the stove in the corridor, preparing to blanch the cabbage.
After buying the cabbages, I put dozens of them in the corridor, and they have been there for a while.
The outer stems of the vegetables had become a little wilted due to the sun, so Jiang Mengxue peeled off the outer layer of leaves, leaving only the better core inside.
First wash it with water, then put it into the pot with the stems facing down and blanch it for a while, then turn it over and blanch the leaves.
Take advantage of this time to clean out the jar for pickling sauerkraut, as well as the big stone that will be placed on top of it.
This was something Gu Qingbei had found for her in the wild before. The surface was very flat and the weight was just right.
After all the cabbages are blanched, let them cool down and then pack them tightly into the jar layer by layer.
In fact, this was Jiang Mengxue’s first time making sauerkraut. She had only seen videos of this kind online before.
Sprinkle a layer of coarse salt on a layer of sauerkraut. There are about eighty sauerkrauts in a jar.
This is several hundred kilograms of cabbage. Fortunately, I brought a lot back from my hometown.
Of course she couldn't finish it all by herself in winter, but now is an era where people value social connections, and it is normal for people with good relationships to give each other some of their signature dishes.
If this jar of pickled cabbage is pickled well, I can take some with me to my second uncle and aunt's house, as well as to the homes of Gu Qingbei's cousins. In fact, after all this, there won't be much left at home.
But anyway, there is enough to eat. This kind of thing is a give and take.
In the afternoon, Jiang Mengxue washed some more radishes, cut the smaller ones in half and the larger ones into quarters, and used coarse salt to remove all the moisture.
It will be almost done in one night. Tomorrow, take it out of the salt water and spread it outside to dry in the sun. Dry it in the sun for a day, collect it at night, put it in the salt water and continue to rub it a few times, and then continue to dry it in the sun. Repeat this process until all the water in the basin is dried up. Then wait for the dried radish to dry in the sun for a few more days. After it is dried, you can put it in a jar and seal it. When you want to eat it, take out some, soak it in water, cut it into cubes and stir-fry it with oil and chili peppers. It is just right to eat it with porridge in the morning.
In fact, Jiang Mengxue doesn’t know how to pickle many vegetables. Dried radish is one of her best pickles, and she can hardly make any other ones.
She remembered that when she was a child, her neighbors would make winter melon sauce and salty dumplings, but her family had never made them and she had never learned how to do it.
Aunt Liu next door saw that her family had started to accumulate sauerkraut, so she took out her own jar and cleaned it.
"Xiao Jiang, can I borrow your stove? My pot is too small. I can only fit two or three cabbages at a time. Every year, I have to spend half a day blanching the cabbages to make sauerkraut. Your big iron pot is much easier. It can hold more than ten cabbages at a time."
It wasn't a big deal. It was normal for neighbors to borrow these things from each other, so Jiang Mengxue agreed without hesitation.
"Then when will you use it, Aunt Liu? I'll leave the door to you, but I don't have much firewood at home, so you have to prepare it yourself."
There is nothing on the corridor. It is usually only used to dry clothes. When the time comes, just lock the door of the house. There is no need to lock the door of the corridor outside. It can be lent to others openly. There is no need to worry about things being lost. Aunt Liu will also keep an eye on it for her.
Not only Aunt Liu next door but also Aunt Wang from the main house and Aunt Ma from the backyard wanted to borrow her stove. Jiang Mengxue agreed to leave the door outside her house unlocked, and they discussed among themselves who would use it first.
However, it was Aunt Liu who brought up this matter first, so they all waited until Aunt Liu finished using it before using it.
In fact, the people in the yard have been very busy recently. It is estimated that it will snow in half a month or a month. They have to buy winter vegetables before that, and each family will pickle a lot of pickles. Therefore, these women in the yard have visited each other less frequently recently. At most, they will make appointments to buy vegetables and pickle pickles together. Everyone helps each other collectively, which makes it easier and faster.
Until the evening, Gu Qingbei still didn't leave a message on his space, so Jiang Mengxue simply stopped waiting.
The next morning, Jiang Mengxue went to the hospital and went to the director to cancel her leave. Ma Juanlan saw her coming to the hospital and thought something was wrong.
"Why are you here today? Don't you have to go to work in a few days?"
"Director, my husband has returned to the army. Since there's nothing to do at home, I want to come back to work early."
Ma Juanlan sighed and nodded. This was the bad thing about being a military dependent. They could come and go as they pleased, and from now on, they would have to rely on themselves to support the family.
Jiang Mengxue saw the work schedule at noon and found that she had not been scheduled for night shift recently.
Working the night shift isn't easy these days. The weather alone is tough. Sitting in the office at night, no matter how thick my cotton-padded jacket is, my feet are still frozen.
But in the hospital, they will never be short of glass bottles. They will fill the glass bottles taken away from patients' IV drips with hot water and use them to warm their hands.
Jiang Mengxue sometimes just put the bottle in her arms and it could last for an hour or two.
However, it is not so easy during surgery. Although the operating room is warmer than outside, your feet will still become numb after standing for a long time.
So when she was performing surgery or sitting in the office, Jiang Mengxue would secretly stuff heating pads into her shoes.
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