Chapter 46: Sunning Autumn Vegetables
Hang's father and mother were lingering around the stalls in Chouzhou. Wang Silan used her usual bargaining style at the big market, and fought with the vendors in the small stalls until the end of the day.
Dad Hang was responsible for carrying the sacks and ensuring security.
This, put it inside!
Put this inside too!
After counting the goods, Wang Silan would pretend to go to the restroom and take out money from various parts of her body.
This time I brought a total of 89.5 yuan from home, plus the 60 yuan that my daughter stuffed into my pocket before she left, the total was 149.5 yuan.
Wang Silan didn't plan to spend all the money, but since her family was not safe now, she might as well keep the money with her for peace of mind.
This time, Wang Silan only planned to buy goods worth 60 yuan, and according to the lady's instructions, she wanted to buy many styles and small quantities, and mainly wanted them to be beautiful and exquisite.
The shapes vary greatly, with no more than 20 of each type.
Don't invest blindly when trying out your skills. The capital is too little, so you definitely can't put all your eggs in one basket.
And this time, Wang Silan also saw the sales model of the small commodity market, how to set up the stalls and how to quote prices.
These days, except for the fact that you cannot bargain when buying things at the supply and marketing cooperative, anyone who doesn’t bargain is a fool.
Wang Silan was already an expert at bargaining with the neighbors, and this time she made full use of her advantages. Not only did she bargain very well, she also had a good conversation with the bosses of several of them.
If Bagua is used in the right place, it can be very powerful!
Hang Renshan thinks his wife is so beautiful when she bargains!
Over there, the Hang couple were lingering in the Chouzhou small market, while Hang Jingshu was busy drying autumn vegetables and pickling various side dishes.
Winters in the north are always gray, and the most common foods are radishes, potatoes and cabbage.
Therefore, drying autumn vegetables and planting winter vegetables are crucial steps before entering winter.
The last crop of vegetables at home can be pickled, including spicy cucumbers, sour beans, pickled peppers, pickled radishes, as well as dried cabbage, dried spinach, dried beans, and dried potatoes.
Finally, as the temperature drops, the sausage makes its debut.
Bacon, smoked meat, and various smoked chickens, smoked ducks, and dried fish that are commonly eaten in the South are not popular in the North.
Mainly due to differences in region and climate.
The south is full of mountains and ridges, with scattered populations, making it inconvenient to go up and down the mountains, so people gradually developed methods of pickling and smoking to preserve meat products.
Smoking starts from the winter solstice, and the climate and temperature can meet the standards.
Even though it is becoming more and more developed now, this tradition and taste are still passed down.
The north, on the other hand, has a relatively flat terrain and is densely populated, so if you slaughter a pig in the village, you can sell it all without leaving the village. In villages with a large population, reservations have to be made in advance.
Winters in the north are also colder than in the south. With temperatures as low as minus ten degrees Celsius, the outdoors is like a natural refrigerator, so there is no need for smoking or preservation.
At most, we would dry some pickled intestines, which are delicious whether steamed or fried during festivals.
Almost every household starts stuffing and drying sausages after November. What Hang Jingshu is busy with now is drying vegetables.
All the vegetables in Grandpa Yan's yard were not wasted. Those that could be dried were dried and preserved, and those that could not be dried were eaten.
Once all the weeds and vines in the field have been cleared, it’s time to start planting some winter vegetables.
The kitchen was filled with steam. Many dried vegetables needed to be blanched and then dried before preservation, and today was a big day.
Early in the morning, Grandpa Yan and Grandma Yan dressed up and sat in front of the TV to watch the military parade.
The TV volume was loud enough that Hang Jingshu could hear everything clearly in the living room.
In response to this major event, Yan Cheng'an and Gu Zhengguo also sat in the living room, ready to watch the military review.
Hang Jingshu could also see the pictures on TV from the kitchen. The pictures on the color TV were more realistic, more passionate, and more honorable.
I remember that in my last life, at this time, I had just returned home from the county’s No. 2 Middle School for the autumn harvest holiday.
Someone in the village put the radio directly on the edge of the field and turned the volume up to the maximum. While everyone was bending over to harvest the crops, they would also listen to the radio to hear the grand scene.
The Yan family was very quiet today, with the TV playing loudly. After Hang Jingshu had cooked and dried two large pots of food, he moved a small stool and sat in the living room.
In the living room, Grandpa Yan looked serious with tears in his eyes, while Grandma Yan was more concerned about the female soldier who appeared for the first time.
Yan Chengan was writing and drawing seriously on his notebook, while Gu Zhengguo looked nervous and stared at the TV.
After the female soldiers had passed by, Grandma Yan turned around and spoke to Gu Zhengguo: "Zhengguo, have you seen your parents?"
Gu Zhengguo still had that smiling face: "I saw them. They are on the viewing platform closest to Tiananmen Square."
Grandma Yan nodded gently, her tone light and cheerful: "Although your parents are busy with their translation work, they still care about you a lot. They even took the time to call me yesterday to ask about your situation."
It turns out that Gu Zheng is also very powerful in the country.
Hang Jingshu saw that he was always smiling and looked like he didn't care about anything, and it turned out that his parents were actually translation workers.
Those who could go up to the viewing platform were basically all from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They were engaged in translation work and had to travel around the world, so they had very limited time to take care of their sons.
No wonder Gu Zhengguo lives in Yan's house.
Diplomatic work in the 1980s was very complicated, and the fact that they were able to gain a foothold there showed that Gu's father and mother were very capable.
Working hard at your job will naturally bring you gains and losses.
Since ancient times, it has been difficult to be both loyal and filial. Busy parents are neither good nor bad for their children.
Grandma Yan adjusted her shawl. The military parade had come to an end. She sighed, "The weather is getting colder."
Hang Jingshu brought out the warm Tremella and Snow Pear Soup and said, "Grandma, drink some to warm yourself up."
The temperature is cooling down very quickly now. It started to get cold in October and it started snowing around the beginning of winter. The temperature is much lower than in later generations.
A cool breeze blew outside the window, and the leaves swayed and fell, finally returning to their roots with the wind.
The vegetable plots in the yard have been cleaned up, and the last crop of green onions and spinach will be planted. When they are grown and ready to be eaten, it will officially be winter.
Before winter, store vegetables first.
The temperature is not low enough now. When it gets colder, every household will have to start preparing vegetables for the winter.
We had hot pot for dinner, which Hang Jingshu started preparing yesterday.
The fresh mutton was compacted, rolled and frozen, and some green vegetables, frozen tofu, pork slices, bean sprouts, potato chips, sweet potato vermicelli, and fresh mushrooms bought at the farmers' market in the afternoon were prepared.
Fearing the monotony of just eating hot food, Hang Jingshu also prepared century egg tofu and cold tiger vegetable.
Hang Jingshu saw that the table was almost full, and worried that Gu Zhengguo and Yan Chengan might not have enough to eat, so he reminded them, "If you don't have enough, there are still baked cakes. I'll serve them when you've finished eating."
After that, Hang Jingshu planned to go to the kitchen with Yu Lihong to eat. Grandpa Yan was in a good mood today, so he simply called Hang Jingshu and said, "Xiao Hang, you and Xiao Yu, come eat with us!"
Gu Zhengguo was the most active and ran directly to the kitchen to get the dishes and chopsticks.
Grandma Yan knew Hang Jingshu best. She knew she was going to refuse, so she said, "Today is a happy day, and it's a holiday. Don't be so distant."
Yan Chengan picked up his chopsticks, his eyes fixed on the boiling pot, ready to go.