Chapter 144 Pickles

Xia Juanjuan couldn't help asking, "Where did you get so much money? The betrothal money from last time is still with me. It must be enough to build a house."

Li Zhan pushed the money back to Xia Shuangshan and explained with a smile: "It was for our wedding. Later, my old master in Beijing, my old leader, and Brother Fu's family in the southern military region also sent me gifts. I also borrowed some from my comrades. Dad, don't refuse this money. We need to build a house at home, so it's better to be prepared."

Lin Yuru also said, "Auntie... No, Lizhan, most of your allowance has been sent back to Juan'er. How can you pay back your comrades? Juan'er's father often goes out to work as a bricklayer. We have saved about 20 yuan in the past six months. You should take some back!"

After Xia Juanjuan told them about building a house that day, the two of them planned to use their savings to subsidize the project. So even though they were busy with farm work, Xia Shuangshan also worked hard as a bricklayer to earn some money, but he never mentioned this to Xia Juanjuan.

Xia Juanjuan was moved when she heard Lin Yuru's words, but she immediately refused, "Dad, Mom, why do we need you to pay for our house? Didn't I say I have money?"

Then, she said to Li Zhan, "You too, why didn't you consult me ​​before borrowing money? I haven't spent much of the betrothal money and the allowance you sent back in the past few months, so I still have at least 500!"

After being scolded by his wife, Lizhan was stunned.

As she spoke, Xia Juanjuan got up and went into the inner room, took out two hundred yuan from the living room and put it on the table.

She first pushed the two hundred yuan that Li Zhan had brought back to him and said, "Even if there was a gift from your old leader, I'm afraid you've used it all to buy cement and wooden beams, right? If these two hundred yuan were borrowed, you can take them back and pay them back."

Then he said to Xia Shuangshan, "Dad, keep these two hundred yuan first. When we start working in two days, I'll give you more when you've used up most of it."

It’s not that she doesn’t trust Xia Shuangshan and Lin Yuru, but she has her own space after all, and it’s safer to keep the money with her.

Li Zhan, Xia Shuangshan and Lin Yuru all looked at Xia Juanjuan, and they all felt that their wives or daughters were quite opinionated.

Li Zhan had no choice but to put the money away.

Xia Shuangshan said, "Juan'er, you should keep the money in your room. I'll ask you for it when I need it. Our room may not be safe."

Xia Juanjuan thought about it and realized that their house was only separated from the Xia family's house by a fence, so it was indeed unsafe. So she nodded and said, "That's fine."

The money issue has been settled.

After dinner, Xia Juanjuan asked Li Zhan to take out the watermelon that had been soaked in the water tank last night and cut it, and the family sat down to eat the watermelon.

He also asked Xiao Wen and Xiao Wu to send a few pieces to Li Jie's home.

After eating the melons, Xia Shuangshan and Lin Yuru went back to work in the fields. Li Zhan went to the commune and talked to Secretary Zhao and the village cadres about building a house in two days.

Then he went home, thought for a while, and said to Xia Juanjuan: "Juanjuan, I left one hind leg of the wild deer I killed this morning for my parents, and I will use the rest first."

Xia Juanjuan was stunned for a moment. She knew that Lizhan went to the mountains to hunt early in the morning. He probably went there because he had run out of bacon and other things at home.

I just marinated it, why do you suddenly want to use it again?

"You want to use it? What for?"

Li Zhan scratched his head, a little regretful that he had not thought it through, and said with a smile: "We will definitely need help from the villagers when we build a house later. I would like to say hello to every household in the village first, please."

When Xia Juanjuan heard this, she smiled and said, "Is that so? Fine then. You can take it and divide it among them."

Li Zhan took down the hung pickled meat again and cut it into small pieces weighing about one pound each with a knife.

Xia Juanjuan looked at the hind legs he left behind and said with a smile, "Let's leave a hind leg for Third Brother's family as well. Third Brother and his wife have helped me a lot these days."

Zhou Qiuhe didn't go to work during the busy harvest and planting days, and worked at home. Otherwise, she would go to the town when she was not too busy.

However, she still found time to make a few small clothes and shoes for her. Li Jie also helped Xia Juanjuan with farm work for a few days with his comrades asked by Li Zhan.

Li Zhan listened and said with a smile: "Okay. I'll listen to you."

Xia Juanjuan hesitated for a moment, but still asked, "How about leaving a front leg for your second brother and mother-in-law as well?"

The 'father and mother' that Li Zhan just mentioned should be referring to Xia Shuangshan and Lin Yuru.

Although Xia Juanjuan dislikes Liu Lan and Li Qiang's family, they are still related to Li Zhan after all, and she has no right to ask Li Zhan to break up with them.

Li Zhan looked back at her and said with a smile, "I'll give them a few more pounds. If they give me a front leg, it won't be enough."

After giving away the food, there were still about ten or so pounds of pure meat left, as well as blood and meat sausages.

Li Zhan was not in a hurry to deliver the gift. At this time, every household should be working in the fields. Even if there were people at home, it would probably be the women. It would definitely not be appropriate for him, a grown man, to visit them.

Li Zhan washed his hands and said with a smile, "You stay at home. I'll go to the fields to work for half a day."

Xia Juanjuan: “…”

Doesn't this person know how to be idle? He comes back for just one day, goes hunting in the mountains early in the morning, marinates meat in the morning, and just has a break in the afternoon, but he still wants to go to the fields to do farm work?

Don't you know how to talk to her at home?

Xia Juanjuan said angrily, "The family doesn't need you to earn half a day's work points. If you can't spare any time, go to the vegetable garden and pick some cowpeas. The pickled cabbage we made two days ago is almost finished, so it's a good time to make some more. You can help wash the vegetables at home and give a hand."

Li Zhan scratched his head and said with a smile, "That's fine."

As he said this, he took out a bamboo basket. Xiao Wu and Bei Bei also wanted to go, and they both obediently took their own small bamboo baskets and Li Zhan took them over.

There is a period of harvest for cowpeas in the summer, and you can basically pick a large basket of them in a few days.

This time, too, I picked a basketful of fruits in a short while. I also dug some carrots, cucumbers, cabbages, green and red peppers, celery, etc. I also dug some ginger and picked some chili peppers to take home.

Xia Juanjuan was not idle here either. She took out rock sugar, cinnamon, star anise, bay leaves, green peppercorns, etc. from the space, and also prepared a two-pot bottle of white wine.

She had bought a jar of pickled vegetables at the supply and marketing cooperative earlier, and had taken out two more from the jar. Now there were still some cowpeas and carrots and ginger left in the jar.

Xia Juanjuan thought about it, then held her waist, took out the remaining kimchi with difficulty and chopped it into pieces.

He took down another piece of the hanging pickled meat, chopped it into minced meat, mixed it with kimchi to make bun filling, and steamed some buns with sour beans and minced meat.

There was ready-made meat paste in the space, but Lizhan was at home and pork could not be kept in such a hot day, so she could not explain the source of the meat paste.

You can only chop the meat yourself.

However, she just cut the sauerkraut and chopped the meat and waited for Liezhan to come back and do it.

Otherwise, when Lizhan comes back later, he will definitely scold her.

Just like that, when Lizhan and Xiaowu Beibei came back and saw that Xia Juanjuan had already cleaned up the kimchi vat, Lizhan couldn't help but scold Xia Juanjuan.

Xia Juanjuan listened obediently, but she still grumbled unconvincedly: "Didn't I just cut some pickled cabbage? You're still waiting to chop the meat."

Lizhan was not angry: "Wife, you are now the commander of our family. You tell me what to do, you give the order, and I and the boys will execute it and ensure that the mission is completed! You don't have to do it yourself."

Xia Juanjuan laughed: "Okay. I give the orders and you do the work. First, boil some water, wash the kimchi pots, boil them in boiling water to disinfect them, and then put them in the sun to dry."

Li Zhan smiled and said, "That's right."

As he said this, he went to the kitchen to boil water to disinfect the altar.

After the kimchi pot is disinfected and waiting to dry, wash and drain the cowpeas, cucumbers, carrots, cabbage, celery stems, young ginger, green and red peppers, chili peppers, etc., and then cut them into small strips. The cowpeas are not cut, but put in whole.

After cutting, marinate the vegetables with salt and sugar for about 20 minutes to remove excess water. Then, boil various spices and rock sugar over high heat, then simmer for 20 minutes over low heat. After cooling, add salt according to the proportion.

First, clean the pot with white wine, then put in various vegetables, add appropriate amount of white wine, and then pour in the cooled sauce, the amount of water should cover the vegetables. Finally, seal the pot and add water to the mouth of the pot to seal it.

This kind of kimchi can basically be eaten after being pickled for two or three days. It is sweet and sour and delicious, and is the best dish to go with rice in the hot summer.

After the kimchi was ready, Xia Juanjuan asked Lizhan to chop the meat filling, then knead the dough, let it rise, make dumplings with sour beans, and steam them in a pot.

When Lin Yuru and Xia Shuangshan came back from work, they couldn't help laughing when they saw the results of their afternoon's work.

"Juan'er, Lizhan has finally come back, why are you ordering people to do the work like this? Why don't you let me pickle the kimchi and steam the buns?" Lin Yuru couldn't help but complain to her lady in a low voice.

She really loves this aunt more and more now.

I used to think that a lady would be a widow after marriage, would never have children, and would not be able to hold her head up in front of others.

Who would have thought that my aunt is not only in good health, but also capable of doing anything and making so much money. The key is that she knows how to care for people. She is truly a first-class person!

However, when it comes to loving each other, a husband and wife must love each other. If one party only loves and the other party only enjoys, there will definitely not be long-term harmony.

Lin Yuru was worried that her daughter didn't know how to love others.

Xia Juanjuan rolled her eyes at Li Zhan and said, "Did I want to call him? He just can't sit still. If I didn't call him, he would have gone to the fields to weed the cornfields and earn work points!"

Lizhan also explained for his wife: "Mom, Juanjuan is right, I just can't sit still."

Lin Yuru finally felt relieved after hearing this and said with a smile, "So that's how it is. Then pickling kimchi and steaming buns at home is better than working in the fields. Not only will you be spared the scorching sun, but it's also a rare opportunity for Li Zhan to come back. You two can still talk more."

Xia Juanjuan blushed when she heard this: "Mom, what are you talking about? Who... who wants to talk to him more..."

Li Zhan had not thought of this at first. He thought that Xia Juanjuan felt sorry for him and did not want him to go out in the sun. When he heard Lin Yuru's words, he was stunned for a moment, and then his heart felt as sweet as if he had drunk honey, and his eyes became hot as he stared at Xia Juanjuan.

Xia Juanjuan's face became even hotter when he looked at her. She handed him a bun and said, "Here! You made the bun yourself. Try it and see if it tastes good."

Li Zhan took it, took a bite, and said with a smile, "It's delicious. The kimchi pickled by my wife must be delicious."