Chapter 19: Su Xingjiu Bing thanks his parents for opening the stationery store here...
The weather was getting hotter, and even with mosquito coils, Wei Jinyun still had several small red spots on her body when she woke up in the morning. She gently rubbed the mud used to build the stove in the yard with her hands, and the inside was already dry.
Her shop was now almost repaired, except for a few broken windows. If she didn't fix them, by July or August, the four of them, including her family, would be devoured by mosquitoes.
Changmen Market is now a place that Wei Jinyun must visit every day, and it is as convenient as visiting the vegetable market.
When she left, Meng Ge'er from Li Ji Cooked Food Store was still sitting on his ordinary little stool eating porridge. When he saw her, he still greeted her with a smile, as if what happened yesterday had never happened.
"Sister Wei."
Meng Ge'er put the bowl aside and picked up a jar on the ground. "Did you lose any money?"
"No."
Wei Jinyun took the jar and looked inside. The ordinary clay jar probably contained over a hundred coins. She glanced around and asked, "Where did it come from?"
"I left it at my door this morning as soon as I opened it."
He scratched his head. "I don't know who else is always losing things like Meng Ge'er. Since it wasn't Sister Wei who lost it, I'll sit here and wait for the person who lost the money to come."
Meng Ge'er was the same age as his sisters, but he was already half a head taller than them. Every day, while Zhao Xiangping prepared the marinade for the roast ducks and geese in the shop, he would help open the door and sweep up the leftover bones.
The copper coins in the clay jar were new, old, and some were stained with oil and smelled of mud and vegetables.
Wei Jinyun returned the jar and rubbed his head. "Go ask your mother. Maybe it was dropped by the Maitreya Buddha in Hanshan Temple."
Meng Ge'er said "hmm" and ran inside with the jar to find Zhao Xiangping.
Changmen is still bustling with activity, and at this hour it is even more boiling than a pot of porridge.
With the arrival of summer, many old ladies selling pickled vegetables appeared on the stalls. Although Wang Qiulan had pickled quite a bit, she had only been doing so for two days. Wei Jinyun picked at the pickles with bamboo tongs, tasting them left and right. This one tasted good, that one was also good, and she ordered three jars.
After finishing two red bean paste dumplings, she went to the carpenter's shop. She had been to this place so often that the wood fragrance was so delicious.
"Shopkeeper Wang, business has been good recently."
Wei Jinyun walked past the pile of wood shavings on the ground, saying, "I'm here to get my cart."
Carpenter Wang poked his head out from inside, his hair in a loose bun, still stained with a few strands of wood shavings. "Madam Wei, here you are! I polished you up early this morning."
He then dragged a small wooden cart, half a man's height, from the corner. It was a square box with small wheels mounted on the bottom and a wooden pole nailed to the top. As he dragged it, he seemed to show off, "You said it would be even better if the pole could be extended... Well, I've figured it out! I added two hidden buckles inside, so the pole can be folded and tucked away in a corner. Take a look!"
"Hurry up and eat your breakfast."
Lady Wang tugged at the loose hairband on his bun and said, "You're so happy! You've been up all night shaving wood, hoping to become an immortal."
"Oh, I'll eat it, I'll eat it."
Carpenter Wang took a stool and went to the side to eat his porridge with spicy mustard melon.
Wei Jinyun stretched out his hand and lifted the wooden pole. The four wheels rolled on the ground with a slight sound, and it was very stable.
She pursed her lips and smiled. "It's even more coincidental than I thought. No wonder yours is the tallest pile of shavings on my way here... I brought the money, take a look."
The ancients were incredibly wise. She only had a basic blueprint, and she didn't understand the complex structure, but Carpenter Wang insisted on making it for her. With this suitcase, neither she nor her grandmother would have to worry about carrying things by hand.
Madam Wang waved her hand. "Why rush? Just pay for the carved windows together. The two windows Madam Wei asked for can be made in two days. I'll have Dalang send them to the shop and install them together. He did the measuring anyway."
"Thank you very much, Madam Wang. When the shop opens someday, I'll order the remaining carved windows from you."
"become!"
Wei Jinyun pulled her suitcase, put three jars of pickles in it, and went to buy some Qiongzhi vegetables and fruits.
Pingjiang Prefecture had many ships, and Loumen could enter the Yangtze River and then go out to sea. The convenient waterway made some common seafood cheaper than in Bianliang. Therefore, when the people of Pingjiang Prefecture were craving something, they would buy some seafood to try.
Qiongzhi is also considered an affordable seafood product for people in Pingjiang Prefecture.
When he returned to the shop, Wei Jinyun saw that the door of Li Ji Cooked Food Store on the right was closed and not open.
Her sisters took the things she bought into the car one by one. Wei Fuqiu put the watermelon in a bucket beside the well and then hung it into the well. Wei Fuling fetched a basin of water and helped her soak the watermelon.
Wash half of the twigs several times and soak them in rice washing water, and use the other half to make a cold dish. Hot weather is also a good time to eat cold dishes.
When the water in the clay oven was boiling, Wei Jinyun poured the Qiongzhi in to cook. While she was doing this, she took a young cucumber she had bought and chopped it into thin strips with a kitchen knife.
She cut off two pieces and put them in the hands of her two sisters. They chewed the crisp cucumber and helped her watch the fire.
The twigs only need to be blanched once. After taking them out and rinsing them with water, Wei Jinyun squeezed them dry and cut them into inch-long pieces, and put them into the bowl with the shredded cucumber.
She scooped two spoonfuls of vinegar into the bowl, added a spoonful of soybean paste, stirred it, and poured it over the dish. Unfortunately, there were no chili peppers or peanuts to accompany it, so the flavor was missing. She could only pick a few cilantro and chop it up and mix it in.
"Today's meal is cooked in an iron pot. Try it."
Wang Qiulan served the three sisters some rice and took out chopsticks.
There was so much salted chicken and salted duck that Wang Qiulan got from her sister that she had to cut some and stew it with rice every two days.
Today's stew is bacon and pea rice.
The bacon soaked every grain of rice in oil, and mixed with green peas, it was both colorful and fragrant. Wang Qiulan naturally added some rice crust to the bowls of the three sisters.
The bacon is cut very thinly, half fat and half lean. The little oil is stewed and melted into the rice, making it fragrant and not greasy. When eating it, the three kinds of meat must be mixed together.
The plump rice grains are wrapped with peas and bacon. The rice grains are soft, the peas are sticky, the bacon is salty and fragrant, and the rice crust is crispy... all wrapped together, the taste is endless.
Of course, a bite of cold-mixed Qiongzhi is also indispensable.
The mixed twigs are as crisp as the yellow flowers, and they make a crunchy sound when chewed. After being rinsed with cold water and mixed with the sourness of vinegar, they are icy, fresh and crisp, and a bit more refreshing than hot dishes.
There were only a few flowers left on the locust tree overhead, but its leaves were thick, blocking out the sun. After lunch, the breeze carried the scent of the flowers and a drowsy feeling.
Zhang Renbai went to the shop next door at the right time.
By strolling by every few days, he has completely mastered Wei Jinyun's daily routine.
After lunch, he would take a half-hour nap with his grandmother and sister, and then get up to work on the snacks. When he entered, Wei Jinyun was using a cage cloth to squeeze the boiled Qiongzhi liquid into a large bowl.
After soaking the twigs in rice washing water, they're ground in a stone mortar and pestle, then mixed with vinegar to remove the fishy smell. Simmer for half an hour to produce a pulp. Wei Jinyun closed his stall yesterday and ordered three pounds of mulberries. The last of June's mulberries were drying on the trees, already ripe and purple, their sweetness intoxicating.
Of course, it also needs to be mashed and mixed in and cooked together.
The purple Qiongzhi liquid was poured into the newly carved mold that Wei Jinyun made every evening when he closed his stall, and the water-binding blanket was soaked in the freshly drawn well water to cool.
"When I walked into this courtyard, I didn't know where to stand. Everything was beautiful."
Zhang Renbai didn't know what words to use first. After thinking for a while, he blurted out this sentence, which made Wei Jinyun and her sister laugh.
He felt a little embarrassed and continued to speak to himself, "Meng Ge'er is not here today. I'm not used to it. Aunt Zhao took him to hire a lawyer."
"Mr. Zhang is busy in the shop, how can you still come here? I sent you some snacks last night."
Wei Jinyun kneaded the mint cakes while her two younger sisters helped her press the jasmine cakes into the molds. Seeing this harmonious scene, Zhang Renbai wanted to compose a poem on the spot.
"Your mint sandwiches are delicious too. I'm thinking of buying a couple to put in the shop."
Compared to jasmine cakes, Zhang Renbai prefers mint cakes, which are soft and chewy, and can be stretched. He ate most of the sample he had yesterday.
“The price is the same.”
Wei Jinyun cut a piece of cake fresh from the oven with a knife and handed it to him, "Just follow the contract. Twenty pieces of jasmine cake and ten pieces of mint cake, how about that?"
"Okay, okay."
Zhang Renbai chewed the warm, sticky food. "Delicious, very delicious... What delicious things are you making today? The juice you just poured out is as warm and smooth as agate."
"Master Zhang, take two pieces back to try, and you'll know."
"Okay, okay!"
I’d like to thank my parents for opening the study shop here.
Compared to the 60-yuan jasmine cake, Wei Jinyun only made half the mint cake. New products need to be released slowly, with quality products but not too much, to stay on people's minds.
She and her two sisters ate two pieces of watermelon, then pushed the cart to the gate of the provincial school.
Before she stopped the car, someone came up to buy cakes.
"Miss Wei has chosen a great spot. Usually, not so many people buy my egg pancakes this afternoon."
While Wei Jinyun was drinking water for over ten yuan, Madam Qian started to joke around. She made an egg pancake for the two sisters to share and waved her hand, refusing to accept any money.
In order to repay the favor of the egg pancake, Wei Fuling shouted a few words on her behalf, which attracted several customers.
The two chatted casually. Wei Fuqiu, with her sharp eyes, saw from afar the sister who had made the teacher speechless with just a few words yesterday.
"I shared the snacks with my sisters yesterday."
Lu Lantang skillfully paid the money, picked up a piece of cake and tasted it. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "They like it very much... Do you have any other specialties... I, I have a tea party."
"A little more."
Wei Jinyun brought Qiongzhi's new product to her and asked, "Miss Lu, would you like to try this?"
The desserts on the porcelain plate are crystal clear and shimmering, and are dotted with mulberry and jasmine, like condensed dewdrops.
“So beautiful.”
Lu Lantang picked up the spoon and touched it, causing it to sway slightly. "Is this vegetarian hangover ice?"
The author has something to say:
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Note: The recipe for vegetarian hangover icing comes from "Shan Jia Qing Gong": "Soak radish in rice water and expose to the sun. Stir frequently until white, rinse, and mash. Boil until cooked, remove from heat, add a dozen plum blossom petals, let freeze, and mince with ginger and orange."
It originally had orange juice and ginger added, presumably to sober up. Since Jinyun doesn't have that many ingredients in the summer, I'll use mulberries instead. They're sweet, don't need to sober up, and they're really pretty, after all. Since I don't have plum blossoms, I'll just add jasmine.
Qiongzhi is actually a common cold dish in summer, agar-agar, which is a white seaweed with nerve fibers that is crunchy when bitten.
(The thing I made looks a lot like jelly jelly, which seems to be in Four Fruit Soup... I haven't eaten it. Does anyone know the origin of Four Fruit Soup? Let me know. [Eat melon])
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