Chapter 11 Chapter 11 Sweet Water.
She went to the kitchen with a worried look on her face. Ji Xu was already making mulberry juice. The filtered mulberry juice was poured into the earthenware pot, and the fire had just been lit in the stove.
Seeing her like this, I knew that she was stumped by what the village treasurer said. Although Ji Feng was only eight years old, children of poor families had to take care of themselves early. She had lived alone with her younger sister for more than half a year. She must be very worried at the moment. So I comforted her,
"It's okay. Didn't Sister Feng say that the Feng family's daughter would buy four steamed buns tomorrow? Here are four coins.
Butcher Li from the market town has also ordered twenty, which is twenty coins. If we sell some things over the next five days and save them, we will definitely be able to collect a total of one hundred and forty-three coins."
"Steamed cakes are selling fast today. Once the brown sugar is cooked, I plan to make some more brown sugar steamed cakes. Business will definitely be good tomorrow."
Brown sugar steamed cake?
Ji Feng looked at the gradually thickening, ochre-red mulberry juice in the cauldron.
"Is this made from mulberry juice?"
Ji Xu nodded, and she poured the boiled jujube juice into the ceramic basin, about a finger high. Because there was only one ceramic basin, it would not be good to pour too much, so she poured the rest into the large round lid of the ceramic pot, the inner wall of which was also flat and had some edges.
After it solidifies, use the tip of a knife to make horizontal and vertical marks. Following these marks, it will be easier to break it into small squares.
Then she took out a bamboo tube and picked small pieces of brown sugar into it. She filled two bamboo tubes with it and put a bamboo lid that was just big enough on top to seal it. However, she used up the brown sugar quickly, so she didn't have to worry about it going bad.
This bamboo tube is made from the bamboo that was cut down a few days ago. It is made of the twenty or so bamboo sections left after weaving the bamboo steamer. It is hard and has been dried yellow by the sun at the foot of the wall. It is very useful. It is like the plates at home, which are made by breaking the bamboo sections vertically. The only difference is that the bottom is curved and easy to shake, so two stones have to be placed on the left and right to prevent the dishes from falling over.
Also, there was a bowl at home used to hold lard, leaving two bowls. The bamboo bowls she used for eating were made by using an axe to cut half of a bamboo horizontally, and then carefully shaved the rim to make two round-mouthed, vertical-walled bamboo bowls. Not to mention, because the bottom of the bamboo bowl was flat, it was quite convenient to use.
And the money box she wore around her waist when she sold steamed cakes, for the yeast, and now for the brown sugar, was made of bamboo tubes, cut out of bamboo lids for storage. Although crude, it cost nothing. Fortunately, she had these bamboo baskets at home; otherwise, without a container, everything would be awkward.
The sugar liquid remaining at the bottom of the pot was not wasted at all. A bowl of water was added into it. After boiling, a bowl was poured out for each of the two sisters as a sweet snack.
"Sister drinks too."
When Ji Zhu heard that there was sweet water, she was very happy. She took a sip, stood on tiptoe with the bowl, licked her lips, and then let Ji Xu drink it.
Ji Xu didn't pour it for herself because she didn't crave sweet water. In her previous life, she even thought milk tea with three parts sugar was too sweet. Besides, she was not used to drinking from other people's mouths.
But Jizhu fluttered her eyes, her eyes full of light, and she was extremely looking forward to sharing this sweet thing with her.
She hesitated for a moment, then bent down and took a sip, "Thank you, Xiaozhu."
"She's good at acting cute." Ji Feng burst out laughing.
Ji Zhu took a small sip and found it sweet and sticky, so she held up some more to share with her.
Ji Xu rubbed her head and let her drink it herself. Then she took the bowl and went out, squatted under the eaves, smacked her lips, and took small sips, looking so cherishing as if it were nectar.
"Sister Feng has also drunk the sweet water and has emptied the bowl. We will have dinner later."
Ji Xu said, "I saw her cutting the lean meat, the small piece that Butcher Li gave her to make a topping, into tiny pieces. In the pot, the pounded rice was added with enough water, and it gradually boiled, with rice flowers swirling around."
At this time, add the lean meat shreds into the boiling white porridge, sprinkle some salt to adjust the taste, and you can eat the simple lean meat porridge.
It had been a long time since Ji Feng had tasted anything sweet, so how could she not crave for the sweet water? After being comforted by her sister, she temporarily put aside her worries about counting money, picked up the bowl, and drank it under the eaves with Ji Zhu.
Sometimes he would even imitate the adults at the banquet, clinking bowls together, tilting his neck back and making toast gestures, which showed some of the liveliness of a child, and Ji Xu felt relieved to see this.
Finally, the bowl of sweet water was empty, so each of them added half a bowl of water to rinse it off and drank it down.
After they finished drinking the delicious meal, Ji Xu's lean meat porridge was also ready. The three of them sat around and ate it on the pottery stove.
The taste is moderately salty and light, and it is both comfortable to eat and filling.
While it was still light, Ji Xu wanted to pick some willow branches to weave baskets. She planned to make more steamed cakes to sell tomorrow. The two willow baskets were not enough at the moment, so she had to weave two more as a backup.
To talk about something far away, there is a row of willow trees and many reeds on the bank of the Lingshui River five miles away; to talk about something nearby, there is an old willow tree with drooping ribbons next to the well where they get water. No one knows when the tree was planted, but they only know that it is public property. Children like to pick some of it and make necklaces to wear when playing. It is about a mile away. Feng and Zhu also said they wanted to go, so they came together to help.
At this moment, there was a woman who came to draw water from the well to water the vegetables. She asked the three sisters if they had eaten, and then asked:
"What are you doing picking these broken willow branches? You're already so old, are you going to weave some tricks like the kids?"
Ji Xu laughed and said, "It's for making baskets. I don't even have anything to carry things in my house, so I had to use these willow branches."
"You have quite a good craft. You can teach me. My family is also in need of baskets." The woman said with a smile.
Ji Xu smiled and said, "Aunt, come here. I picked some and took them home to weave them."
The woman said she had fetched some water and would be right there with a smile.
After a while, the three of them returned home, each holding a bunch of willow branches. In the still light, Ji Xu cleverly finished weaving the two baskets. The woman didn't come either, so it was obvious that it was just a joke. After all, they were not short of anything.
The next day, at cockcrow, Ji Xu got up with a torch and started making steamed buns.
She bought a lot of flour yesterday, about half a hu. According to the measurement standards of later generations, she weighed the flour and found it to be over ten pounds. She roughly estimated that it could make a hundred steamed cakes, fifty white jade steamed cakes and fifty brown sugar steamed cakes.
She made up her mind and sold the brown sugar for two cents more.
Ji Feng also got up and was very capable. She helped her light the fire and draw water from the well. She didn't know how much time she had spent on Ji Xu's behalf. Ji Xu felt very happy and praised her so much that she felt embarrassed. She poked the fire, her cheeks flushed slightly, and said:
"I can't rely on my sister for all the housework. She'd be exhausted. I have to help, but I regret that I'm still small. Otherwise, I could carry a full bucket of water in one go and split that thick wood with one knife. That would be great."
Ji Xu laughed and said, "How can there be such brute force? Sister Feng is already very well now. She has done so much for me."
The two of them were busy, chatting and laughing, and gradually filled the willow basket.
Jin from the first room got up at night and looked at the window of the second room's kitchen, where a dim firelight was lit.
I thought, making steamed buns again? What kind of steamed buns are so popular that they need to get up so early to make them?
She quietly climbed onto the wall of her own courtyard and looked at the round window at the mouth of the jar from a distance.
Ji Xu was seen rolling up his sleeves and kneading dough in a clay basin.
Her arms looked thin as sticks, but they were strong enough. The dough seemed very obedient in her hands and was kneaded into a snow-white and smooth surface.
Ji Feng came back with a half-bucket of water. In the moonlight, she saw a vague figure hanging on the courtyard wall. She immediately raised her eyebrows and shouted:
“Who’s there!”
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Note:
Capacity unit in the Western Han Dynasty: 1 hu = 10 dou = 100 liters = 1000 he,
In addition, one liter in the Western Han Dynasty was equivalent to 200 milliliters in modern times.
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