Chapter 104: Careful Budgeting (Part 3)
While burning firewood, Mrs. Cui couldn't help swallowing.
Jiang Zhiluo took out the dried peppercorns she had bought today, put them in the stone mortar used to crush garlic, and began to grind them into powder.
When you make mushroom and meat stuffed pot cakes tomorrow, add chopped Sichuan peppercorns to the meat stuffing.
As if she had thought of something, Madam Cui asked, "Zhiluo, what are we going to eat for the main course?"
Jiang Zhiluo thought for a moment and said, "Mom, didn't we make cornmeal buns last night? We can eat them with cornmeal buns."
I steamed a pot of cornmeal buns last night, which can last for several days.
Even though their family conditions are better now, they are reluctant to eat white flour buns every meal.
Cornmeal is usually mixed in to make steamed buns.
Just because the house hasn't been built yet.
So if you can be thrifty, you should be thrifty.
Saving a little is still saving.
Don't run out of money halfway through building a house.
And since you have bought medicine to nourish Cui Hejin and Old Madam Cui, it is best not to stop halfway. A few consecutive courses of treatment will be enough to completely restore Old Madam Cui's damaged body.
Madam Cui nodded and said, "It can indeed be eaten with cornmeal buns."
"By the way, Zhiluo, are you pounding garlic? I can do this kind of heavy work for a while, or let He Jin do it."
Jiang Zhiluo said, "Mother, my husband will be tired after working hard in school all day. I can do this little bit of work, so you don't have to trouble him."
Mrs. Cui listened and was at a loss for words to refute.
She had never seen anyone so caring for her husband.
When she was the Duke's wife, she didn't feel so sorry for the Duke.
Old Madam Cui smiled and sighed, "He Jin must have accumulated some good karma in his previous life, to have found such a good wife like you."
"I didn't feel that bad for his father back then. I just thought he was a man and should pamper me more!"
Jiang Zhiluo's expression changed, and her hands paused. Her nose felt sore, and her heart ached as she said, "Maybe he had a hard life in his previous life."
Yes, it must be very hard for him to protect her so much.
In this life, she was unwilling to let him suffer even the slightest bit.
Madam Cui said, "That's all speculation. At the end of the day, I'll be relieved if you two live happily and harmoniously in this life."
Seeing her son and daughter-in-law doing well, she felt happy and relieved.
Aren’t husband and wife supposed to support and care for each other?
Her cold and lonely son seemed to have some worldly air under Zhiluo's influence.
While they were talking, Cui Hejin came in carrying two buckets of water.
He glanced at Jiang Zhiluo, as if he had heard what he had just said. A faint light flashed in his eyes, flickering and shimmering, and his black pupils became even deeper.
Cui Hejin poured two buckets of water and the tank was full.
He went to the yard again to chop firewood.
Looking at his busy figure, Jiang Zhiluo's cheeks were a little dazed, as if she saw another scene through him.
After Jiang Zhiluo ground the peppercorns into powder, Old Madam Cui took a sniff and asked, "Is that the smell of spices?"
"Mom, this is ground Sichuan peppercorns. I just kneaded the dough and let it rise. Tomorrow morning, after it has risen, we can make pot cakes."
"I'm planning to make a pot cake with mushroom and meat filling. These peppercorns are the seasoning for the filling."
Madam Cui was stunned. "So you really won't be doing the leek box business anymore, so you'll be making pot cakes instead?"
Although Mrs. Cui didn’t know what Guokui was at that time, if her daughter-in-law wanted to make it, it must be a good thing.
Jiang Zhiluo nodded and said, "Well, when it comes to making Guokui, our dough is different from others. It's not a pie, so it tastes unique. This way, it will stand out easily among a bunch of snack stalls."
"Not many people buy leek boxes now, so we won't make them for now."
Madam Cui nodded and said, "Well, mother doesn't know much about business matters, so I will follow your arrangements."
"I'll get up early tomorrow morning and make potcakes with you."
"Well, after we make preserved mustard greens with snow red, we can use them to make pot cakes. The taste will be more unique."
I visited the market before and there were no pickled mustard greens here.
"And we can also make preserved vegetable braised pork ourselves."
Thinking of this, Jiang Zhiluo had a smile on her face.
In this way, Mrs. Cui talked to Jiang Zhiluo, and the two discussed setting up a stall tomorrow.
Time passes by little by little.
The fragrance in the house became stronger and stronger.
“This fragrance is so fragrant.”
Mrs. Cui had eaten banquets in the village before and smelled the aroma of stewed chicken, but it was never as fragrant as this.
…
Next to the Niu family
Although there was an abandoned lot between the Cui family and the Niu family, the fragrance was so strong that it could easily reach the Niu family.
Especially at this time Shanmao was still playing in the yard. He smelled the fragrance and couldn't stand it, "Mom, it smells so good, I want to eat meat."
When it was time to eat, seven-year-old Shanmao was already hungry. His mother hadn't cooked the meal yet. He smelled the fragrance and thought it must be meat.
"You asked for candied haws yesterday, and I just bought them for you. Why eat meat? You can only eat meat during the Chinese New Year."
The beech couldn't stand the smell, "Woo woo, I want to eat meat, eat meat..."
Mrs. Niu loved her son very much. Her husband was strong and good at working. He also divided the property with his brothers and harvested enough food for his family.
So occasionally she would buy her son a piece of malt candy, some peanuts and other food.
But something like this only costs a penny and is effective in coaxing children.
But eating meat is not something that can be spent on just a few cents.
Niu was reluctant to buy such a pound of meat at twenty cents.
Those are things you can only eat during the Chinese New Year.
"Why are you crying? If you keep crying, your father will come back and beat you."
Niu's husband Liu Cang was very strong and hardworking, so he also went to the back of the village to help build a house.
Niu was so happy that she could take home ten cents every day for these three days.
This period is the slack season for farmers. There is not much work to do on weekdays. It is okay to be idle at home. Going out to work and earning ten cents a day is naturally a happy thing.
Just thinking about the Cui family's improved conditions made Niu feel a little puzzled.
She knew best what life the Cui family had lived before.
"Could it be that Jiang Zhiluo brought some dowry with her? Otherwise, how come things suddenly got better, and she even had enough money to buy a plot of land and build a house?"
"The village head said we could do business, but what kind of business could make so much money?"
"If business were so good, everyone would go into business."
There are some smart people in the village who can make some food and set up stalls, but it is not easy to sell it.
If things cannot be sold, they are wasted, and the flour used is also wasted.
Besides, they might not even be able to sell the eggs even if they just set up a stall at the market.
So after a long time, everyone stopped worrying about it and just took good care of the land. If they planted well, they could produce more food without having to worry about anything else.
Niu finally managed to calm Shanmao down and stop him from making a fuss.
But Shanmao smelled the stronger fragrance with tears in his eyes, his stomach growled, and he became even hungrier.
Niu naturally smelled the fragrance as well, and her mouth was watering with greed. "Really? I don't know what they're making, it smells so good every day that it makes me crave it."
I also smelled the fragrance last night. When I saw Cui in the afternoon, I asked her about it and she said she was making cornmeal buns last night.
Why do cornmeal buns smell so good?
While Mrs. Niu was swallowing her saliva, Jiang Zhiluo knocked on the door with a small bowl of mushroom chicken nuggets in her hand.
Niu swallowed her saliva and called out, "Who is it?"
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