47 Crispy Cabbage Pot
◎Change clothes◎
Little did she know that he didn't do as described in the novel, "no matter how she struggled and screamed, he just picked her up by the waist, threw her into the haystack, and pressed her down hard", nor did he say any domineering quotes.
She just smiled slightly, revealing two deep dimples at the corners of her mouth, looking a little childish.
"Who do you think I am? Don't be afraid. I'm Xie Linchuan, and I won't bully a woman. Besides, your last name is Jiang, so I'll only treat you well."
"I was too impatient and scared you. If you don't want to agree, then don't agree. Just take your time. Why are you running out to this remote place?"
He said this very gently, and coupled with his pair of peach blossom eyes that were as bright as stars, it was impossible to hide anything.
In this desolate mountain village, under the chilly wind and cold moon, the gentle words spoken after several frights seemed extremely lethal.
Jiang Qinglan's heart, which had been tense for a long time, suddenly relaxed. His legs almost gave out and he fell to the ground.
However, her weakness was only momentary.
He was just retreating to advance. Did he think she was one of those love-brained little girls who would melt at the mere mention of a few sweet words?
Since he had changed his tactics, she wasn't without new ways to deal with him. When someone was strong, I was weak; when someone was weak, I was strong. Having lived two lives, Jiang Qinglan was very adept at adapting to circumstances.
"Yan..." Jiang Qinglan had just said one word when he suddenly remembered that his last name was not Yan. He felt that he had been deceived by him for so long and became angry.
"I came to the village to buy cabbage. What does it have to do with you? You are the prince of Dongping Palace. Why did you follow me to this desolate wilderness in the middle of the night?!"
Xie Linchuan stepped on the shadow and took two steps, a smile on his face, his eyes as pure as glass and as bright as stars:
"Of course you have ulterior motives, and they're very good! I see you two girls have valuables and you came here with a stupid driver. What if you get cheated or robbed?"
Jiang Qinglan snorted coldly:
"This place is full of Sister Hui's relatives and friends. How could there be so many swindlers and strongmen? Besides, if you hadn't bothered me, I'd be fine and living a carefree life in the city. Why bother coming to this village?"
"Hey," Xie Linchuan caught the loophole in this, and he chuckled twice, "Didn't you just say that you were here to pick up the cabbages, and it has nothing to do with me?"
Jiang Qinglan choked and his body trembled slightly with anger.
Had he changed his personality, from being spoiled and irritable to becoming a scoundrel? No matter what, he couldn't escape the habits of a dandy.
She decided to keep quiet so as not to fall for his trick again.
Sometimes there is a cold wind, which stirs up waves on the pine and cypress trees.
"Ahhh——" Jiang Qinglan suddenly sneezed and quickly pulled up his robe.
It was only then that she realized that her dress was very indecent.
Wearing only a middle shirt and an outer robe, it was like wearing pajamas and a cotton-padded jacket before going out. No wonder his eyes were always staring at him.
Subconsciously looking at Xie Linchuan, he was dressed neatly:
His black hair was tied up with a gold and jade hairpin, he wore a dark grey round-necked, narrow-sleeved shirt with a crotch, and leather Liuhe black boots.
This formal outfit made him look like a dragon and a tiger, full of vigor and heroic spirit.
She just felt it was indecent to go out in pajamas, but she didn't think it was a loss of chastity or a death. But seeing how lightly he was dressed, she felt even colder.
The cold weather brought back the urge to urinate, even more urgently.
Seeing this, Xie Linchuan stood in front of her, as if trying to use his body to block the cold wind:
"Why are you strolling out in the middle of the night? Are you looking at the moon?"
He thought to himself: Daughters raised by scholars tend to do these pretentious things. Wasn't there a story about Wang Huizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty who "came with excitement and left when excitement was gone"?
When he saw this, he felt contempt for the man and thought that he was just bored and had too much to eat.
But at this moment, his mind was dazed, and he felt that whatever she did was good. He thought hard in his mind and finally found a line of poetry:
"The moonlight in the courtyard is bright and clear, and countless willow catkins pass by without a trace[1]. It is indeed beautiful."
After he finished talking to himself, he said considerately: "After you finish reading, go back quickly, be careful not to catch a cold."
Jiang Qinglan frowned and rolled his eyes in his heart: What the hell is the moon?
She tried her best to hold back her urge to urinate and urged him, "Get out of this yard!"
Xie Linchuan pondered for a long time at home before coming up with this method of using softness to overcome hardness. He was worried that she would rather die than obey like her father.
Now, after being humble for a long time, he saw that she at least did not say things like "If you force me again, I will die", and he was very satisfied with his performance tonight.
He just said "OK".
But after thinking about it, he felt that it was not enough, so he earnestly instructed for a long time:
"There are bandits nearby, but don't worry, I'll be with you these days."
"I heard there are leopards in the mountains, but I'm strong enough to kill a tiger, so I'm not afraid of them."
"Whenever you leave, I will definitely go with you..."
Jiang Qinglan's legs were shaking as waves of urge to urinate came over her, but she still tried her best to endure it, gritting her teeth.
He was talking about something incoherent, and she had no intention of listening carefully.
After waiting for a long time for him to say "Then I'll be leaving", she nodded hurriedly, as fast as a chick pecking at rice.
Unexpectedly, he turned his toes outward half a degree, but then turned back again, with a serious face: "No, I have to watch you go into the house before I feel at ease."
Jiang Qinglan couldn't stand it any longer and gritted his teeth, "Get out of here!"
Xie Linchuan tilted his head, glanced at the cold moon in the sky, then looked at the pine and cypress trees outside the yard that were surging like waves, fearing that she would not go back yet.
He was also determined and said stubbornly: "You go in first."
Jiang Qinglan's teeth chattered. He couldn't wait any longer, so he just threw it all out, not caring about his pride at all: "I... I need to go to the bathroom!"
…
The next day, Jiang Qinglan sat up rubbing his eyes, feeling that what happened last night was just like a dream.
It was not easy to tell Wang Huiniang about the embarrassing thing. She just hoped that Xie Linchuan would not bother her again.
Fortunately, he didn't show up all morning.
Jiang Qinglan felt a little relieved, ate some snacks, and then, led by the village chief, went to the field with Wang Huiniang to check on the radishes.
Radish is a relatively "cheap" plant.
It is drought-resistant and cold-resistant, can be harvested in two or three months, and has the effects of clearing away heat and detoxifying, promoting the production of body fluids and aiding digestion. Therefore, it has long become a popular vegetable.
Jiang Qinglan had a plan when he went to the countryside. He was going to harvest some white radishes, red radishes and green radishes.
White radish is the most common, plentiful, and inexpensive food. Its only drawback is its bitter taste, requiring it to be cooked with a stronger flavor like lamb to complement it.
Jiang Qinglan decided to collect them and make spicy dried radish. After drying and draining, he mixed them with Sichuan peppercorn powder and cornelian jujube powder. Each bite was crunchy and spicy, making it a great side dish for rice or noodles.
When it comes to pickled radish, the best one is the rouge radish, which is the kind that is red from the outside to the inside.
After being soaked into pickled radish, it has the crispiest texture, sweetness amidst the sourness, without any of the bitterness of white radish, and the color is particularly beautiful.
In Sichuan cuisine, stir-fried chicken offal, stir-fried celery and beef shreds, and even some restaurants’ twice-cooked pork, all require this kind of pickled shredded radish to enhance the flavor.
As for green radish, Jiang Qinglan simply classified it as a fruit. It is best eaten raw, but it tastes good in any way when mixed cold.
The next best option is to make it into "bath kimchi" - that is, only pickle it for a day or two, and then treat the food as if it has taken a bath in the kimchi jar.
Bathing kimchi can preserve the crispness of green radish to the greatest extent, but it is different from eating it raw. It has a slightly sour taste and a hint of alcohol, and the taste is more layered.
Several people came to a radish field.
It was still early, and a thin mist still hung over the ground, making it difficult to see clearly in the distance. In the fields, the frost and dew from the wild grass last night had wet the edges of people's shoes.
In the radish field, the reddish-brown soil was covered with clusters of green radish leaves, on which glittering dewdrops rolled.
Muramasa introduced them, "This is Wang Laoer's land. The couple is diligent, and their radishes are growing beautifully. Just as I mentioned yesterday, they were already pulling them out this morning."
Jiang Qinglan looked up and saw two figures squatting on the ground.
In addition, there is a bamboo basket on the ridge of the field.
A baby wrapped thickly was lying inside, sleeping soundly with his head tilted to one side. His little face was red, probably because of the frosty wind.
She asked curiously, "Why did you bring the child out in such a cold weather?"
Wang Huiniang sighed, "Sister, you come from a wealthy family, so you don't know the hardships of farmers."
"The child is so young and will need milk soon. How can he leave his mother?"
"But I have to do the farm work, so I have to bring him out. When the child wants to feed, I don't even have to pick him up. I can just bend over and feed him."
Jiang Qinglan stopped talking.
She seemed to remember that her grandmother had said something similar to her when she was a child.
Literary men and women often paint the idea of returning to the countryside as a poetic and leisurely experience, but farm work is the hardest work in the world. Given a choice, farmers would choose not to farm.
Muramasa was old and couldn't stand the cold wind, so he said goodbye to Wang Er and his wife and went back.
Wang Huiniang was skilled in farming, so she rolled up her sleeves and went to the fields to help pull out radishes.
Jiang Qinglan wanted to help, but after pulling out two, he got two large bumps on his hands from bites from some unknown insect. They were red and shocking to look at.
Wang Huiniang spat at her, "Go away, forget it, just stay over there! When we left, Tuantuan told me she'd counted every hair on your head, and if there was one missing, I'd have to pay for it."
Jiang Qinglan walked away with a wry smile.
She really knew nothing about farming, so she'd better not help. She'd get bitten all over by insects, and it would be hard for her to find medicine.
Jiang Qinglan squatted beside the basket and looked at the chubby pink baby for a while.
Sometimes the little guy pulled up the corners of his mouth to smile, sometimes pursed his lips as if he was about to cry, but his eyes were always closed. He must be dreaming.
Although it was cute, she got tired of looking at it after a long time and started looking around.
At this time, the mist had dissipated, the sun was rising, and the view was even wider. Beyond the radish field, downhill, there seemed to be a small river, with tall and straight metasequoia trees growing on both sides.
Jiang Qinglan had just been bitten by an insect on his hand, and it was a little itchy, so he wanted to go to the river to wash it.
I went straight there, and when I finished washing and stood up, I felt a little dizzy.
She stood there for a while, her eyes hazy, looking around. In a trance, she felt that a bunch of weeds in the mustard field next to her looked somewhat familiar.
Could it be...
But then I heard a chuckle, and someone said, "Are you looking for me?"
The sunlight was too strong, and Jiang Qinglan couldn't help but tilt his head back and squint his eyes.
A tall figure stood there majestically, with the bright golden sun behind him.
She couldn't see his face clearly, but she vaguely felt that he was smiling.
Jiang Qinglan was startled: "Where are you from?"
Thinking of what happened last night, she felt embarrassed again.
Last night, when she said she was going to the bathroom, he was stunned for a moment, then looked like he couldn't hold back his laughter and quickly walked away.
Jiang Qinglan wanted to crawl into the cracks in the ground. He quickly solved the problem, ran back to the house, and slept all night.
Seeing him now, that embarrassment came back.
Xie Linchuan was quite carefree and didn't mention what happened last night. He smiled brightly and said, "Don't worry about me. I used to go hunting in the mountains often, so I know the area very well."
Jiang Qinglan rolled his eyes inwardly, thinking: Who's worried about you? Who wants to know whether you hunt or not?
She shook the water off her hands, took a deep breath, and tried her best to shake off her complicated emotions.
After a while, she pointed to the path trampled by the river bank and said calmly, "Come down, let's talk."
With a "whoosh", Xie Linchuan jumped down from the edge of the field and stepped on a clump of weeds.
He held a black whip in his hand and casually whipped the grass beside him: "Whatever you want to say, I'll listen."
Jiang Qinglan deliberately walked away from the radish field before slowly saying, "I wanted to wait until you calmed down before discussing this with you in detail."
"Since you've followed me here and you're not as angry as I thought, let's just talk it out."
Xie Linchuan walked on her left, blocking the gurgling stream outside. After hearing her words, he only said "hmm".
Jiang Qinglan said, "There's a huge gap between our statuses. As the saying goes: A man of high status shouldn't be paired with a woman of high status. There's truth to that."
"Maybe you're interested in me now, but no one can predict the future. I'm not willing to give up my stable life to gamble on an uncertain future."
Xie Linchuan smiled, seemingly with a hint of self-mockery: "So that's what you're worried about. To put it bluntly, you still don't understand me and don't trust me."
Jiang Qinglan shook his head: "Xie Shizi, you are still young. Perhaps, you don't even understand yourself."
Xie Linchuan was overjoyed: "I'm young? You're one year younger than me."
Why are you pretending to be a pedant?
Jiang Qinglan said, "Although I'm young, I've experienced the loss of my family and divorce. I'm indifferent to the world and people's hearts."
"I'm really not your best choice. It's better to give up now than to regret it later."
The water in the stream crashed against the rocks, making a gurgling sound and splashing white waves. A skylark took off from the Metasequoia trees, startling a few dead leaves and causing them to fall.
Xie Linchuan's expression slowly hardened, and he stopped smiling. After a long moment, he said, "You're going to mourn for your parents for three years anyway, so I'm not in a hurry. We'll see."
Jiang Qinglan felt bitter when she heard this. All her words had been in vain.
Forget it, let him do whatever he wants. Like Sister Hui said, he will lose interest in you after two or three months.
She stopped talking, left him, and went back to the radish field.
"By the way," Xie Linchuan suddenly called her, "Do you want to change clothes?" He smiled, with two deep dimples under his cheeks, and looked very sincere.
Changing clothes? Jiang Qinglan was puzzled. What clothes?
She looked down and saw that her clothes were fine, not torn or dirty. Besides, how could she change clothes in this place? She looked bewildered.
Xie Linchuan chuckled twice and walked away.
Jiang Qinglan finally understood what was going on, and his face gradually turned the color of liver.
Changing clothes means going to the bathroom. Was he mocking her, or was he asking sincerely?
No matter what, it was a shame for her! She glared fiercely, quickly climbed up the ridge of the field, and walked away.
Only when she returned to the fields did she feel more at ease.
With the cooperation of the three, they had already filled both baskets to the brim: one was filled entirely with white radish, the other with both green and red varieties.
Wang Huiniang called from the other side of the field, "We've filled two baskets. Let Wang Er carry them back first and put them in the cart. One more basket will be enough. We'll go pick the cabbages this afternoon."
Wang Er smiled innocently and walked past Jiang Qinglan with his head lowered, not even daring to look at her.
When he reached the basket full of radishes, he spat, rubbed his saliva on his hands, picked up the shoulder pole, and carried the radishes onto the ridge of the field.
When he passed by the basket containing his son, even though he was carrying a heavy load, he did not forget to look at it lovingly.
He pulled a smile and then went towards Muramasa's house.
After a while, perhaps sensing that its father was away, the baby suddenly struggled, pulled its two chubby little fists out of the swaddling clothes, twisted around, and started crying loudly.
Immediately, the Wang family's wife came running over here in a panic, rubbing her hands together as she ran, rubbing the mud off in strips.
Jiang Qinglan took a look and saw that the woman was no more than twenty years old, but her skin was tanned and looked old. She had been working for most of the day, and her hair was wet with sweat.
She didn't realize it herself, smiled sheepishly at this side, and began to undress.
In autumn and winter, we wear a lot of clothes, so it is not noticeable from the outside, but when we take off the inner layer, we find that the collar of the clothes has been soaked.
Then she leaned over and blocked the baby's mouth. As expected, everything became quiet.
Jiang Qinglan finally reacted.
As an unmarried woman, she had no idea about breast engorgement or milk overflow, and had never seen breastfeeding in public. She felt a little embarrassed and turned away.
After a while, Wang Huiniang came running over in a panic again.
Jiang Qinglan looked over and saw that the woman had somehow collapsed beside the basket. The baby in the cradle was staring around with its bright black eyes, looking very cute.
Jiang Qinglan was at a loss for a moment.
Wang Huiniang, who had experience, said quickly, "She's just too hungry after feeding. We have some bread in our bag, let's give it to her."
Jiang Qinglan rummaged through the bag and found sweet soy milk, fried dough sticks and egg pancakes, which were the "snacks" prepared by the village chief's wife for them at noon, so he gave them to the woman.
The woman drank some soy milk, recovered her strength, looked at the baby in the cradle and cursed, "This bastard, this slick little kid, is so full."
Even though he was scolding her, there was clearly love in his eyes.
Wang Huiniang let her eat some fried dough sticks and egg pancakes, and then slowly asked, "Is your husband treating you well?"
The woman knew she was mistaken and said quickly, "Don't blame me, Sister Wang. He's been very good to me. I ate two poached eggs in sugar syrup before coming out this morning, but he only had a bowl of porridge and still had to do the hard labor and carry the load."
Wang Hui Niang sighed.
Recalling her worries, she added, "Then I can't blame him. After all, this summer was dry, and the autumn was rainy, so the harvest won't be very good."
The three of them chatted for a while.
After eating the omelet, Mrs. Wang regained her strength and struggled to pull out the radish.
Jiang Qinglan couldn't bear it, so she said, "We've almost finished pulling out the radishes. Wait for your husband to come back, and then you can take the children back and rest."
"We're going to harvest cabbages this afternoon."
"I heard from Muramasa that the owner of the cabbage field is an old man, and I'm afraid he can't help. Go back and tell your husband to come and help. I'll give him fifty coins."
When Mrs. Wang heard this, she was overjoyed and asked if she could come and help as well.
Wang Huiniang laughed and scolded, "Stupid woman, you're too lazy to steal! My sister wants you to go back and get some sleep so I can wash and cook the bacon. Then you can have a good meal with your man tonight!"
Mrs. Wang brushed a strand of hair in front of her eyes behind her ear and smiled a little embarrassedly.
…
By the afternoon, after harvesting two baskets of cabbage and settling the bill with Wang Er, it was already getting late, so Jiang Qinglan and the others returned to Cun Zheng's house for dinner.
Muramasa's son and daughter-in-law came back from the fields, so there were more people, and they were divided into two tables, one for the men and one for the women.
At Jiang Qinglan's table, there were only four people: her, Wang Huiniang, Muramasa's wife, and her granddaughter.
As he was speaking, Muramasa's wife came out of the kitchen, holding a small black tripod in her hand.
She worked in the fields all year round, and her face was tanned. Her smile was particularly simple: "It's very cold, let's have crispy pot tonight."
What is a crispy pot? Jiang Qinglan was puzzled.
Looking closely, there was a pot of oil in the cauldron, which looked a bit like the brine she used to stew meat and vegetables, and was light brown in color overall.
Perhaps because they'd been simmering for so long, the cured pig's trotters and pork belly had become mushy. The tender white lotus root slices and radish had changed color. The kelp pieces were limp and soft.
It was obvious that there should have been a lot of cabbage in the dish, but now it had become a thin, small piece.
Jiang Qinglan thought to himself: It looks a bit like a Northeastern hotpot.
Wang Hui Niang explained to her: "This pot looks black now, but it was fun when it was just being cooked."
It turns out that this crispy pot is indeed like a hodgepodge, with a layer of cabbage, a layer of lotus root, a layer of kelp and a layer of meat, layered on top of each other.
The fun part is: when there are enough ingredients, you need to set aside the fresh cabbage leaves and place them vertically in a circle next to the pot to form a cabbage "wall".
Then continue to put bean curd skin, vermicelli and other things in the "wall".
Finally, cover the pot and let the cabbage leaves push the lid up high.
After simmering for several hours, the cabbage leaves softened and gradually collapsed. The lid of the pot also gradually became shorter, finally covering the cauldron.
Jiang Qinglan was just curious after hearing this.
Since the cabbage is stewed in such an interesting way, the taste must be different from the salty and fragrant style of Northeastern stew.
After tasting a few chopsticks, it was indeed sweet and sour.
The generous amount of cabbage and radish gives the dish a distinctly sweet flavor—perhaps from the sugar. Furthermore, the bacon and pig's trotters give it a strong salty flavor.
Jiang Qinglan and Wang Huiniang had eaten their fill, and before it got dark, they were about to hurry back to Huiniang's old house. As they were leaving, they saw Xue Qi getting off a carriage.
This man, a businessman at heart, always wore a smile on his face. He saluted with his arms crossed and said, "Madam Jiang, Madam Wang, did the harvest go smoothly?"
Wang Huiniang smiled and said, "It went very smoothly. I think we'll be able to return to the city tomorrow afternoon."
Xue Qi's eyes lit up. "That's great! I'm also leaving tomorrow afternoon. Why don't we travel together? We can look after each other."
Jiang Qinglan remembered that Xie Linchuan was still nearby, and hesitated a little. "Medicinal herbs are not like radishes and cabbages. Did Master Xue collect them all so quickly?"
Xue Qi said, "Madam Jiang, you don't know this, but I've been operating here for many years and I have some familiar herbalists."
"They went into the mountains a long time ago to look at the medicinal herbs and left them there to grow. When I get there, I can pick them right away so there won't be any delays."
Jiang Qinglan smiled, bowed, and left with Wang Huiniang. However, he felt that there was something wrong with Xue Qi.
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