Chapter 92 Chili Peppers and Everyday Life
Some time has passed.
The chili peppers are gradually turning red. A lot of chili peppers were planted before, and now the entire riverbank is a spectacular sight of red.
"We can make chili sauce now." Su Yun was very happy and worked very hard while picking the chilies.
Chili sauce is her favorite. When the wheat is harvested, she can make some noodles in clear broth, add a spoonful of fragrant chili sauce, and take a bite. It'll be hot and spicy, wow, it'll taste delicious!
Although Su Yun tries to cook delicious food in different ways every day, she hasn't had staple foods for a long time. Noodles and rice noodles have always been Su Yun's goal.
If the chili sauce is already made, how far away can it be before we can eat noodles?
"This one's still green? Should we pick it too?" Ye Feng's movements as skilled as his hunting were, but he still didn't quite understand some of the details.
He specifically picked the red, ripe ones, and then suddenly noticed that Su Yun had also picked some of the still green ones.
"Hmm, it's not a big problem. Green ones are edible, but they won't work if they're too small." Su Yun, as an experienced old farmer, knew that the color of chili peppers didn't make a big difference in taste. It's just that if they're too small, they won't be spicy enough. Larger ones are all about the same. Ye Feng usually prefers sweeter ones and doesn't like spicy ones, so he rarely uses chili peppers when cooking. Therefore, there's no need to leave too many chili peppers to continue growing. It's better to make them all into chili sauce at once.
"You can leave them or pick them, it's fine either way." Anyway, a lot of chili peppers were planted, enough to last until next year, so Su Yun didn't go into too much detail.
"Okay, I understand." Ye Feng observed the chilies in her basket, then carefully followed her instructions.
Su Yun didn't interfere and let him do as he pleased.
The two of them worked until noon before they finally harvested all the chilies.
There are many ways to cook and eat chili peppers.
Su Yun plans to use some of the chili peppers to make chili sauce and some to pickle sour chili peppers.
The pickling method is very simple. The most important step is to keep all the utensils dry and free of oil. Su Yun is responsible for washing all the jars and pots used for pickling, scalding them with hot water, and then moving them to the yard to dry in the sun.
Night Breeze was responsible for washing the chilies, then spreading them out in the sun to dry. Once the sun had dried them all in the afternoon and sterilized them, it was time to start making the chili sauce.
While the sun was still blazing, Su Yun returned to the storage room and carried out the thick cotton quilts to air them out.
Then remove all the herbs and dried vegetables that you had previously stockpiled, and sun-dry them to keep them dry.
In this apocalyptic world where everything is scarce, the sun truly is the most natural sterilization machine and the most efficient food processor.
Basically, the courtyard was packed full all summer long, with things drying everywhere, as if afraid of wasting a single corner.
Occasionally, when a small patch of ground is left empty, Ye Feng will conscientiously go out and pick a handful of mugwort, then spread it out and let it dry.
In the summer, mosquitoes are particularly annoying. Almost every night before going to sleep, Su Yun would burn a handful of mugwort to repel the mosquitoes, which consumed a huge amount of it. So Ye Feng developed the habit of cutting mugwort and using it as mosquito coils.
And from time to time, in order to prevent mosquitoes, I would burn some mugwort water to take a bath, or during those days, I would burn some to soak my feet.
Mugwort has become a basic necessity in daily life.
It requires a lot of stockpiling over a long period of time. Fortunately, mugwort is very resilient and can grow in large patches wherever it grows, and it doesn't need any care, which is really convenient.
"The chili peppers are all dried. Go take a shower first." Ye Feng came over and took the quilt from her hands. "I'll dry this one."
Su Yun suddenly felt a lightness in her arms; the heavy cotton quilt, weighing over ten pounds, had been carried away by the night wind. Considering her height, it would be quite difficult to air out such a large quilt, Su Yun clapped her hands and decisively took her clothes to take a shower.
When she came out after taking a shower, the night wind had already moved the stockpiled quilts to the wire mesh in the yard.
Neatly arranged quilts hung on the wire in the yard.
Being tall is definitely an advantage!
Su Yun looked at the other person's tall stature and felt envious.
Has this guy gotten even taller?
Su Yun walked over and gestured to him, "It seems like it was below your chin before."
Su Yun wasn't short; at 1.65 meters, she was quite tall. But when she stood in front of Ye Feng, she appeared somewhat petite and delicate.
Ah, Rose seems to be over 1.7 meters tall too...
"Am I too short?" Faced with the extraordinary height of the beastmen, Su Yun began to doubt his life.
Night Breeze reached out and patted Su Yun's head. "So cute..."
Su Yun: !!!
"No way! I'm pretty tall, okay? How am I cute?" Su Yun tried to stand on her tiptoes to appear taller.
Watching the other person trying to stand on tiptoe to appear taller.
The night breeze curved into a smile, and lovingly lifted the other person up, "No need for all that trouble, I'll help you..."
I felt my body lift off the ground...
Su Yun panicked and quickly grabbed the other person's neck: "Hey, hey, put me down, I haven't showered yet... Stop messing around..."
Life in the apocalypse is much more comfortable than in modern times. In fact, as long as he doesn't have to worry about food, Su Yun feels that life is much better than in the city.
A pleasant afternoon.
Cool, green-tiled houses.
The oppressive heat of summer was stretched out even longer by the gradually softening sunlight.
Su Yun groggily woke up to the sound of cicadas chirping, feeling momentarily disoriented...
"Why are you up so early today? The sun is still high in the sky. Do you want to sleep a little longer?" The night breeze, sensing the movement beside her, mumbled sleepily.
Su Yun gazed at the unreal mountains and blue sky in the distance, rubbed her eyes, softly agreed, and slowly lay back down, perhaps sensing her unease.
Its fluffy little tail stretched out softly again, gently patting her again and again, as if to comfort her or to caress her.
Looking back on it all, it all feels like a dream.
This post-apocalyptic pastoral life was unbelievably wonderful. Aside from the hard work each day, it was incredibly fulfilling. There were no difficult bosses, no complicated colleagues, and no tangled friends; it was simply about farming and searching for supplies...
With her loved ones by her side and beautiful scenery always around her, she didn't mind the hard work of farming, nor did she mind that farming would leave her covered in mud and disheveled. Compared to the oppression in the real world, she even felt that this kind of life was so beautiful it was unreal, and she felt a sense of loss and unease in her heart.
"What's wrong? Can't you sleep?" Ye Feng saw her staring blankly with her eyes open, and then tenderly pulled her into his arms.
His chin pressed against the top of her head. Perhaps he was exhausted from sleeping all afternoon, because even though his eyes were closed, his body honestly wrapped around her.
For someone who lacks a sense of security, this is a warm and thoughtful gesture. Su Yun felt completely enveloped, her whole body warm, and she could only feel warmth.
No.
"Then let's sleep a little longer."
Summer days are exceptionally long, thanks to the sunlight.
The two of them snuggled together and fell asleep again.
I slept until the sun went down.
Because they accidentally overslept, the two of them had to hurriedly get up to make chili sauce.
"It won't be good if it gets wet with dew at night. So we need to finish quickly. Just chop the chilies like this... Be careful not to touch your hands, or it will be very spicy." Su Yun dragged the wooden basin directly into the yard, and he and Ye Feng each took a chopping board and started chopping the chilies.
"Should we remove this green head?" Ye Feng asked, holding up the chili stem.
"Yes, remember to take them out first, don't get them inside."
"good."
The two men each took a cleaver and began chopping chilies with a clanging sound. They had harvested a large sack of chilies, and it would take several hours to chop them all into small pieces, as it was getting dark.
Su Yun had no choice but to change his plans. "Ye Feng, go wash your hands and feed the baby first, otherwise it will get dark soon. I can take care of the rest."
"Okay, I'll go feed the chickens first."
"And the rabbits, remember to wash your hands thoroughly, otherwise they'll feel uncomfortable if they touch chili peppers. They're all about to have babies, so be careful."
Later, Ye Feng found several more female rabbits for "Spicy" to keep her company. After "Spicy" worked hard for a while, the female rabbits all successfully gave birth to baby rabbits. Su Yun quickly moved them into the house to wait for them to give birth.
"Okay. Shall I pick some more corn to cook?" Ye Feng looked at the pile of things in the yard and felt that Su Yun probably wouldn't have time to cook dinner tonight.
"Okay, I'll put a few eggs in when I cook it."
"good."
Night Breeze took his sickle and went out.
Su Yun continued her battle with the chilies. After about half an hour, the wooden basin was gradually full. Seeing that it was almost done, Su Yun rubbed her aching wrists and muttered to herself, "It's much better now. We should be able to eat them until this time next year. I'll just soak the rest; I really can't chop any more..."
It took the two of them almost three and a half hours to work on this pile of chili peppers, and now it's already getting dark.
Su Yun turned on the solar light, then poured a large amount of salt, sugar, and liquor into a wooden basin, stirred it well, and put it into a prepared jar.
The fruits of their labor in three hours were plentiful, filling three large jars to the brim. "Looks like we'll be eating them until the year after next!"
Su Yun moved the jar containing the chili sauce into the storeroom, placing it alongside the pickled bamboo shoots and green beans.
There was also pickled raspberry wine, canned yellow peaches, tartare wine...
Looking at the increasingly full storage room, Su Yun felt a great sense of accomplishment.
"We still need pickled peppers."
Compared to chili sauce, pickling chilies is much easier. Simply put the chilies into a jar, pour in cooled boiled water with added salt, then add an appropriate amount of white wine, stir well, seal and store. They will be ready to eat in a few months.
"Phew~"
By the time Su Yun finished doing all this, it was already dark, and her hands were burning. Despite being extremely careful, her hands inevitably got some chili peppers on them, and they felt like they were on fire.
Su Yun hurriedly fetched some clean water, and after soaking her hands in it, her symptoms were slightly relieved.
Just as Su Yun changed the water and let out a long breath, Ye Feng hurriedly returned from outside.
Author's Note:
I envy the daily life of farming; I'm exhausted from working lately.
With exams on top of that, there's simply not enough time.
My hometown is a very interesting small town, not far from the city. Most of the young people have moved to the city, so the town is now both lively and quiet. I once thought that I could retire and go back to live in the town. There is a forgotten old neighborhood there, with red walls and green tiles. Every day when I open the window, I can see green fields, a large pond, and blue sky and white clouds. Ah! If I could have a piece of land there and farm, that would be really wonderful. Every time I pass by there, I am captivated by its tranquility and beauty.
Then comes the important part: although the area is all farmland, quiet and beautiful, you can reach a bustling market in ten minutes by electric bike, and then a big city in twenty minutes by high-speed train.
Because it's a railway hub, the prices of vegetables and fruits there are incredibly low... It's really, really good. I can't think of a place that better matches my ideal of idyllic rural life...
Then I posted a message, and some netizens asked me if there were any houses for sale there. I replied that I'd also like to ask that question.
If I had one, I would absolutely buy it. It would be so wonderful to retire in the future (but I don't have the money right now, so working people can't even dream of it).
All I can do is work day and night so I can retire as soon as possible!
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