Chapter 23: Fried sauce. Pancake with vegetables.
Perhaps because she walked too far during the day, Qiu Xuan fell asleep as soon as she lay down on the kang at night.
When I opened my eyes again, sunlight was already shining in through the window.
Qiu Xuan rubbed her eyes, put on her clothes, and left the house. In the past, Zong Huaixue would have been waiting for her outside the door before she even left.
Now that she was in the yard, her ears were still quiet.
After all, the family was divided, and things were different. Qiu Xuan stood in front of the wall and sighed softly.
"Awake?" Zong Xiao came in from outside with a bowl of eggs.
Qiu Xuan pointed at the eggs in his arms and asked in confusion, "Why did you think of buying eggs?"
Zong Xiao: "My mother gave it to me."
Last night, Zong Xiao gave the one or two taels of silver to his third brother, and early this morning, Zong's mother asked him to go and get the eggs.
Zong Xiao couldn't refuse, so he took back a small bowl with six pieces of food in it, enough to last for several days.
Qiu Xuan looked at the eggs and suddenly remembered the ones she had hidden in the cave. She didn't know if the eggs had gone bad after being there for so many days.
Zong Xiao saw her staring blankly at the eggs, thinking she wanted to eat them, so he said, "Go wake up, I'll make breakfast."
"Just cook some rice soup, and I'll make you something delicious at noon." Qiu Xuan was no longer polite to him. Since Zong Xiao asked to cook, she let him do it.
It just so happened that Qiu Yun had something else to do, so she had to go back and get the few taels of silver.
She searched around the house for a long time these days and finally found a small hole on the kang where she slept. She would dig it herself every day when no one was around.
Now the small pit has become a small hole, just big enough to hold her money.
Qiu Xuan returned to the house, took out the undershirt, and then cut the hem with scissors.
Seven taels of silver fell onto the kang. Qiu Xuan found a piece of cloth to wrap them up and stuffed them carefully into the hole.
This is her life-saving money, and she will not take it out unless it is absolutely necessary.
After finishing these, she left the house again.
In the kitchen, Zong Xiao had already steamed the egg custard. This was easy, and he learned it after watching his mother do it only once.
Beat the eggs and add water. When the water in the pot boils, place them directly on the steamer and steam them.
Zong Xiao steamed a bowl for Qiu Yun and heated up three dry buns for himself.
"Why don't you eat?" Qiu Yu frowned as she looked at the food on the table.
Zong Xiao didn't care. "You eat it. I'm not used to that. This dry bun is enough to fill me up. I'll go back into the mountains after I finish eating."
Qiu Xuan thought he went into the mountains just to see if there was any prey in the hunting pit, so she thought about going with him. "Let's go together later. I can go to the mountains to pick some wild vegetables."
Zong Xiao was eating dry steamed buns with pickled vegetables. When he heard she wanted to go into the mountains, he quickly waved his hand to refuse, "We're going hunting today. It's dangerous for you to follow us. We can pick those wild vegetables another day."
Qiu Xuan used a small spoon to share half of the egg custard with him and "threatened" him, "You must eat it. If you only make it for me next time, I won't eat it either."
After that, she asked again: "When will you be back? I will make you something delicious at home then."
Zong Xiao felt warm in his heart and couldn't hide the smile on his face.
"If it's early, it'll be after noon, and if it's late, it'll be evening. You don't have to wait for me to eat." Zong Xiao obediently finished the half bowl of egg custard. "You know where the money is at home. If you want to buy something, let Huaixue take you there. She knows everything."
After breakfast, Qiu Xuan personally sent Zong Xiao out of the house.
She did have plans for today. She bought a jar of old sauce in Yuanxiang Town yesterday, and she wanted to make it into fried sauce.
It’s a pity that there is no diced meat at home, so I have to go to the butcher to buy some.
Qiu Xuan went back to the house, took out Zong Xiao's purse, and counted out thirty copper coins from it. She was afraid that it was not enough, so she took out ten more before leaving the house.
In the next courtyard, the clan mother was braiding Huaixue's hair.
The grandmother said: "Grandma and your uncle have to go out for a while, so you go to your second uncle's house for a while. Don't make trouble, okay?"
The little girl held the hair flower in her hand, her little head motionless: "Grandma, don't worry, I'm very good."
Seeing that the courtyard door was not closed, Qiu Xuan walked in directly and happened to hear everything they had just said.
Qiu Xuan asked, "Mom, are you going out today?"
The clan mother put the hair ornament on Huaixue's head and when she saw her come in, she hurriedly asked someone to come over and sit down.
"Well, originally mother was planning to go to the Liu family to propose marriage in two days, but the matchmaker came this morning and said that someone from the next village also went to the Liu family to inquire. Although we talked to the Liu family first, we didn't propose marriage in the end. Mother didn't want to do that, so she went today." The grandmother was also afraid of accidents.
After all, a good daughter is sought after by hundreds of families. If Sanlang missed this opportunity because of her delay, she, as a mother, would really feel uneasy.
Qiu Xuan nodded to show her understanding.
"Mom, that's perfect. You guys go to Liu's house, and I'll take Huaixue to buy some pork." Qiu Xuan waved to Huaixue, and the little girl ran over and jumped directly into her arms.
"Okay, Huaixue knows the way, let her take you. By the way, don't forget to bargain when you get there. A few days ago, good pork cost 32 or 3 cents, so don't buy it too expensive." The clan mother was afraid that she would be cheated, so she couldn't help but give her a few more reminders.
It was quite expensive. Qiu Xuan secretly felt lucky that she had taken a few extra coins with her before going out.
Qiu Xuan didn't stay in the yard for long. People said that meat is better in the morning. After Huai Xue finished cleaning up, she picked up the basket and left the yard.
The butcher's house was in the north of the village, not too far away, and the two of them arrived there in no time after walking and playing.
It was still early, and there were not many people buying meat in Wang the Butcher's front yard. Including them, there were only four of them.
When it was Qiuxiu's turn, there was a piece of pork belly with more fat, which cost thirty cents per pound, which was a little cheaper than the previous two days.
Qiu Xuan didn't buy much, only one pound, and used the remaining ten cents to buy pork fat.
"Oh, isn't this the new daughter-in-law of the Zong family?" Qiu Xuan was about to pay when she heard a noise behind her.
The woman who spoke wasn't very old, probably in her early twenties. She carried a bamboo basket and looked Qiu Xuan over from head to toe.
The woman had a sister-in-law at home. She originally wanted to ask for more betrothal gifts for Zong Xiao, but unfortunately the Zong family did not agree.
Unexpectedly, not long after, Qiu Xuan married into the family. The woman always felt that Qiu Xuan had snatched the marriage away from her, and she was unhappy.
Now that he had met someone, his words were even more harsh, "You only bought this little meat? Is it enough to eat?"
Qiu Xuan had seen people looking for trouble, but she had never seen anyone looking for trouble like this, actually mocking her about food.
Qiu Xuan was not one to suffer a loss, so she moved to the side to make room for the woman.
"There are not many people in my family, so one pound of meat is more than enough. I just don't know how much you want to buy, five or ten pounds?"
Five kilograms? Ten kilograms! How could an ordinary family possibly buy so much?
"If you buy a lot, I can give you some of mine." Qiu Xuan continued to add fuel to the fire. She didn't believe that this woman could buy more than ten pounds of meat at once.
Chunlan didn't expect her to say that. She clutched the hem of her clothes and looked at Qiuyun fiercely.
This morning her mother-in-law gave her thirty copper coins, and she also came to buy a pound of meat.
"There's only a little of this good pork belly left. You bought a lot, do you want to buy it all?" Qiu Xuan had no intention of leaving. She stood obediently aside and looked at the woman.
Gradually, more and more people came to the yard to buy meat. Seeing that the person in front was still not moving, someone inevitably urged, "Are you going to buy it or not? If not, let me buy it first."
"That's right, buy it quickly."
They were all from the same village, so Qiu Yun didn't make things awkward.
She raised her hand and patted Chunlan's shoulder, smiling and saying, "A pound of meat is still meat, don't you think?"
Chunlan was so angry that she was shaking all over, but she couldn't say a word in rebuttal.
After all, her family was not rich, and she could only eat this pound of meat once in a long time.
Huaixue couldn't understand the sarcastic remarks between the adults.
She shook Qiu Xuan's hand and asked curiously, "Aunt, what are you going to do with the meat today?"
Qiu Xuan didn't tell her directly, "Come on, you'll know when you get home and it's done."
After returning home, Qiu Xuan closed the gate first.
There were only two of them at home, so she still had to be on guard. After all, they were in the mountains, and what if there were bad guys?
"Aunt, let me help you." Huaixue rolled up her sleeves and helped Qiuyun.
Qiu Xuan wanted to make pancakes wrapped with meat, but meat was expensive and it seemed a bit extravagant to eat it like this.
So she settled for the next best thing and made pancakes with vegetables.
Qiu Xuan first washed the pork belly she bought, and then used a knife to separate the fat and lean parts of the meat.
She put the fat into the pot and stir-fried it to release the oil. When the oil was hot, she poured the lean meat in and stir-fried it to dry out the moisture. While the aroma of the meat was coming out, she poured in the old sauce and chopped green onions.
The aroma of green onions wrapped in the aroma of meat adds a lot of flavor to the old sauce.
Then Qiu Xuan poured hot water into it until it covered the diced meat, and then boiled it over high heat.
Taking advantage of her free time, she started kneading dough and making pancakes.
This is much simpler. Roll the kneaded dough into a pancake and spread a little salted lard on it.
The pancakes baked in this way are oily and taste delicious.
After a busy period, Qiu Xuan finally had her meal before noon.
"It smells so good, auntie!" Huaixue sat aside, waiting obediently for Qiuyun to make her a roll.
There are vegetables, meat sauce and golden pancakes, so delicious!
Just when the two of them were enjoying their meal, there was a sudden and urgent knock on the door.
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