Chapter 33 Chapter 33 Water chestnut.
"Sister won't marry, but it's because of Xiaozhu and me..."
During lunch, Ji Feng heard the whole story and realized that Liao and the others had suddenly come to their house to discuss the marriage between her elder sister and Cui Guangzong.
Although she scolded Liao, she knew in her heart that the Cui family had fields and houses, and the Cui family was a good relative.
In her opinion, girls are meant to get married and boys are meant to get married. If they waste their time until they are in their twenties and become resentful women or lonely men, the whole village will laugh at them behind their backs.
She thought Ji Xu couldn't let go of her and Xiaozhu, so he didn't want to marry.
"My sister thought about it. If she got married, she would have to serve her uncle and aunt, continue the family line, become a wife, daughter-in-law, and mother, with multiple identities, and she would be even more constrained. It would be better for her to be free now, earn her own money, and live a good life."
Fortunately, the family was divided, and she was the head of the second house. Jin couldn't bear to see them doing well, and wanted to marry her off, but she couldn't do that.
Ji Feng was dumbfounded. "But girls are supposed to get married. Only with a son at home can we live a good life."
Even her father-in-law, Aweng Jigui, disliked the three sisters from the bottom of his heart, despising them because they were all girls, making him lose face in the village and ashamed of his ancestors. If her mother had not stopped him, he would have wanted to name Xiaozhu Nanlai, which sounds like "Nanlai" (male).
My mother loved them very much, but when she heard those gossipy people talking about them, she would sigh at night, thinking that if only she had a boy, they would not have to live in such a hard life with only a thatched hut after the family split up.
Ji Xu really treated them as his sisters. Hearing this, he couldn't help but feel distressed, and his eyebrows and eyes became more gentle.
"We don't have a son, but we are living a better life, aren't we? Look at the things we have bought at home.
Feng Mei is a girl, but no matter how many young men she scolds, they dare not talk back. You are so young, but you can herd pigs to earn money, collect firewood, and cook...
In my eyes, you are more capable than many other young men, so please don't underestimate yourself."
Ji Feng was stunned when she heard this, but when she thought about it carefully, she felt that this was the truth and blushed. "I'm not as good as my sister said. It's all because of my sister's skills that I can make money."
"Who said that? You help me light the fire and make steamed buns every day. If it weren't for you and Xiaozhu, where would we get the firewood from under the eaves to make the buns?"
She picked up some food for Ji Feng and Ji Zhu and encouraged them, "So, with the help of the three of us sisters, we can live a better life."
"Yes!" Five-year-old Ji Zhu half understood what she heard, and knew that her sister was very capable. She nodded like a chick pecking at rice, with eager admiration in her eyes.
Ji Feng's cheeks felt hot. It was the first time someone praised her like this, and she nodded slightly.
For two consecutive days, Ji Zhi returned home with the same basket without a penny.
Ji Yuan said, "If that's the case, why sell it? It's better to work at home."
Ji Zhi went to sell pickled vegetables, so she had to do all the chores at home, which made her very tired.
"No, I want to do business, I want to make money, like Xu Nu."
She walked into the house in a daze, mumbling,
"This pickled mustard greens is not good. Try selling something else..."
Ji Yuan chased after him with a fire poker in his hand, "Hey! Are you crazy?"
"Seven hundred and ten coins?"
At night, Ji Feng was shocked to learn that his family had saved 710 coins.
Ji Xu had been hawking his wares in Shengchang for five days straight. He had just counted the bamboo tube used to store his family's savings, and found that there were already seven hundred and ten coins in it.
This amount is still far from enough to build a house. In another eight or nine days, she will be able to open the first can of duck eggs and sell them, and then she can save more.
Seeing that Ji Feng could fit an egg in his mouth, he smiled and said, "That's exactly the number."
Ji Feng had never handled so much money before, so she begged Yueying'er, "Good sister, let me count it too."
Ji Xu let her go, and Ji Feng poured the money on the bed, counting it and always laughing out loud.
Ji Zhu, who was clinging to Ji Xu's arms, said, "Sister, stop laughing. You're forgetting to count again."
"Oh, you're interrupting me. Never mind. I'll count again." Ji Feng counted happily. She must be the reincarnation of a string of money. How could she be so beautiful?
"When we have saved more than 4,000, we will build a tiled house to live in."
Ji Feng was so happy with what Ji Xu said that she jumped on her.
"Can we sisters also live in tiled houses?"
"Xiaozhu, pinch me, did I hear correctly?"
You know, since the family split up, the tiled house has been the capital of the big family next door to show off, but because they are girls, the eldest grandparents did not like it, so they only gave them a thatched house.
It just so happens that they are next door to each other, which makes the whole world look so shabby. The tiled house has become a source of worry for A'mu and Ji Feng. They dream of living in a tiled house.
Although it was still a long way off, she finally had the thought, which had never happened before. Ji Feng was so excited that she could hardly sleep that night.
At dusk the next day, Ji Xu picked some freshly sprouted garlic sprouts behind the house and used them as seasoning.
The vegetables she planted were diligently tended by her two younger sisters, who caught insects, watered the plants, and weeded them every day. They grew very well, and the green garlic sprouts could be eaten now. The cabbage, radish, celery, rapeseed, and the winter mallow and turnip that were planted later were still tender, and it would take another month or so for the first crop to come.
"Sister Xu, Sister Xu?"
Chen Che'er called her in front of the house, unloaded the basket on his back under the eaves, wiped the sweat off his face, and said to her,
"I got two baskets of water melons from Wang Dianji, the kiln owner. Many of the water melons from the Gan family were damaged by insects and produced these astringent water melons.
Wang Dianji got two baskets, but he didn't like the astringent stuff, so he gave them all to me. My grandmother asked me to give one basket to your family."
The Gan family is the richest family in Shengchang. They have vast tracts of fertile fields and abundant forests. The kiln belongs to the Gan family. The ancestors of the Feng family were slaves released from captivity by the Gan family. It is said that the family still has dozens of slaves.
Ji Xu was selling steamed cakes and could see the tall gate and large courtyard from afar. Servants from the Gan family also came to buy her steamed cakes. Ji Xu had never seen Wang Dianji before, but she had heard from Chen Che'er that he was an old servant of the Gan family and the accountant of the kiln.
My two younger sisters Feng and Zhu also came back with me. They were playing at Chen's house just now.
Ji Feng picked up the green-shelled wild rice melon and sighed, "Once the good wild rice is infected by insects, it will no longer produce wild rice. The wild rice will turn into wild rice melon. What a pity."
"That's right," Chen Che'er also said, "It's just that the Gan family has a lot of land, so they don't care about this. If it were us, we would be so distressed."
In fact, the cattail at this time, also called 苽, is said to be infected by insects, which means it is parasitized by a kind of black powder fungus. Once parasitized, the plant will no longer produce ears and flowers, and will lose the ability to bear fruit. The stem of the cattail will continue to swell, forming a water melon that looks like a child's arm, which is the water chestnut in later generations.
But at this time,茭白 is not popular. After all, without it, wild rice cannot be produced.
At that time, wild rice was one of the six grains. "Xijing Miscellaneous Records" says: "The wild rice is called Diaohu by the people of Chang'an."
This kind of wild rice is also called "Diaohu", "Jitou rice", "Jitou", "Yantou", etc. It is fragrant and delicious. It was a very important food for the people in the Western Han Dynasty and was still eaten until the Tang and Song Dynasties. Later, Li Bai wrote "Kneeling to serve Diaohu rice, the moonlight shines on the white plate", and the "Diaohu rice" here refers to wild rice.
However, in the later generations of Ji Xu, rice was in abundance and wild rice was relatively rare. The wild rice formed by the parasitic smut fungus was also specially cultivated and became a popular vegetable in autumn.
"Thank you, Che'er, for bringing it here." Ji Xu said as he went to clear out the basket for Che'er.
In the eyes of people at that time, the water chestnuts, which were astringent and tasteless, were just a basket of water chestnuts with plump tender stems to her, which were delicious when stir-fried with meat.
Chen Che'er scratched his head, smiled, and ran home.
Ji Feng took a water melon from the basket, peeled it and took a bite, then passed it to Ji Xu and asked her if she wanted to eat it.
"It's a little bitter, not very flavorful, but at least it's fresh."
Ji Xu shook his head, fearing it would be bitter. "Let's fry it and eat it later."
Ji Feng asked, "Can wild rice squash be fried?"
There are also people in Benguli who grow wild rice. For example, the ones that are caused by bad insects are eaten raw, or steamed. At most, they are stewed in water and flavored with some salt and sauce.
"Of course, just fry it and have it with rice. I guarantee Fengmei will eat two bowls." Ji Xu said with a smile, picking up some water chestnuts to peel.
Ji Feng didn't want to eat it raw. She broke off the untouched half and stir-fried it. The taste of the stir-fried half was unforgettable to her. As for the bitten half, she didn't want to waste it, so she and Ji Zhu chewed it and ate it.
The peeled water chestnuts were white, plump and tender. They were cut into slices at an angle, and then into shreds, with the sound of the knife and the chopping board.
Ji Feng felt that it was a pleasure to watch her sister cutting vegetables. Before she knew it, a whole ceramic basin of water chestnut shreds was ready.
Seeing her pouring wild rice strips into the boiling water, Ji Feng couldn't help but ask, "Sister, isn't this stew?"
Ji Xu rummaged through it and said, "It will be picked up soon. This is blanching. Blanching the water chestnuts can remove the astringency."
The lean meat was also cut into shreds and marinated. The oil was heated in a pot, and the shredded meat was first fried, and then the water chestnuts were stir-fried.
In a short while, a dish of fresh and fragrant fried water chestnuts with meat was served on the bamboo plate. The aroma made Ji Zhu excited to put down her bowl and chopsticks.
Ji Xu specially prepared enough for both families and sent one plate to the Chen family first.
"I just gave you a few water chestnuts, but you had to put in so much meat..." Aunt Lu held the dish curiously and smiled embarrassedly.
"It's not just a few, it's a whole basket, enough to keep us going for days. I don't know how much money you saved me."
Ji Xu thought that the Chen family also had a basket of water chestnuts, so he explained to Lu Ai in detail the method of stir-frying water chestnuts with meat, including the step of blanching the water chestnuts to remove the astringency.
Although Lu Mu nodded after hearing this, her family was not willing to waste oil and meat on these water chestnuts. They just blanched them in water and then stewed them in plain water.
The fried water chestnut and pork tasted delicious, tender, smooth, lightly spicy and fresh. Ji Feng actually ate two large bowls of rice and wanted to have more, but was stopped by Ji Xu, who was afraid that she would eat too much and have trouble sleeping at night.
There was still a large basket of water chestnuts left, and Ji Xu saved some to fry the next day or the day after. The rest she couldn't finish, and the core would turn yellow if left for too long, so she cut it into slices, took it out to dry in the sun during the past two days, and stored it for winter.
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