pickled sauerkraut
Early in the morning, the sable on duty saw two trucks loaded with cabbages parked in front of the small building.
"Zang'er! What are you doing?" Zidiao yawned halfway and looked at Li Xingzang in amazement who was directing others to unload the cabbages.
"Uncle, are you on duty today?" Li Xingzang looked at him with a smile and casually picked up a small fried fish and put it into his mouth. "I just bought it at the morning market. It's still hot and crispy, right?"
Zidane's mouth moved unconsciously. "You bought so much cabbage at the morning market, are you going to make pickled cabbage? We have two big jars of it at home. Why would you bother with that?"
"We have enough for ourselves. I have to open a shop. It's just right. The small building is being renovated these two days. I can pickle a few more jars. It will be almost done by the time we open. Homemade pickles are delicious." Li Xingzang handed the breakfast he bought to Zidiao. "Uncle, you go eat with Aunt Guan first. I'll go check on the small building. The workers should be here soon."
"Hey! Wait a minute, uncle!" Zidiao hurriedly put the breakfast on the front desk. "I'll go with you! You're just a little girl, and those people will try to trick you because you're young." [1]
Li Xingzang looked at his uncle's baby face and said, "Uh... okay."
Their small building is over a decade old. It's called three-story, but it's actually only two stories. The top floor is a small attic that her parents used to store goods. After the factory in Xuecheng collapsed, the previously built factory buildings and dormitories were abandoned. Grandma Bai stepped in to buy the land and built a row of bungalows in the back to serve as employee dormitories, saving her home.
Normally, they slept in the bungalow at the back, and the first and second floors of the small building were used to entertain guests. However, in those days, no one was well off, and the second floor was rarely used. Therefore, apart from the dust that had accumulated over the years, the small building only needed a slight renovation of its overall style, which was not a particularly large undertaking.
"Zang'er, why did you clean up the small attic as well?" Zidiao asked curiously while watching the worker's actions.
"Well, I discussed it with the designer. The first floor will mainly be the lobby, and I plan to turn the second floor into private rooms to meet the needs of different guests. I'll also be able to sleep in the store when I'm busy after I clean up the small attic."
"That's fine. It's a good time to clean up the small bungalows behind your house. If you don't need the pots, pans, and other things, you can put them in the small warehouse. Then the people you hire can live in the back." Zidane said, pointing to the tables and chairs moved out by the workers.
Zidane looked around inside and outside the house, but didn't hear Li Xingzang's voice for a long time. She looked at her in confusion and saw that she was staring at those old things in a trance. She couldn't help but sigh, "Zang'er, it's been so many years, you have to look forward, understand?" These gods and monsters have lived in this world for an unknown amount of time, and one generation of humans has come and gone from them. She will be like them in the future, facing more partings, and must learn to let go, otherwise, she will be the first one who can't bear it.
Li Xingzang came back to her senses and saw that he looked worried. She thought he was talking about her parents, so she smiled and said, "I know, uncle, don't worry. I'm just wondering where to put all these. They're too old and won't look good to customers, but it would be a waste to throw them away."
Zidiao observed her expression and saw that she was indeed not too immersed in sadness. She breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Put it aside for now. If there are too many tables and chairs and there are not enough, we can use it to make do."
"That's fine." Li Xingzang listened to him, picked up a large round table and walked towards the small warehouse at the back.
The workers nearby opened their eyes wide when they saw her movements. Zidane laughed and said, "Ah, my eldest niece used to do weightlifting. How about that, ne (nē)?" [2]
The workers all laughed and praised him, "This young boss is really good. He fixed such a heavy table in no time. He's really got a lot of energy!"
"Hey? Why didn't you continue practicing?" a curious employee asked casually.
"Hey! Wasn't it because our family was poor before, which delayed the birth of our child?" Zidane opened his mouth and said.
"Come on, forget it! Look at you, you're wearing a big mink coat and you're in such poor condition. You're just trying to trick us!"
"This is mine!" Sable touched the mink fur on his body, "It's fake! If it were real, could I wear it and move these things with you? Besides, we have to protect wild animals, how can we wear real ones?" Sable had a baby face and joked with the workers. In the shadow of the attic, He Yishu looked at him with a puzzled look, is this really a big monster?
Zidane turned around inadvertently, and He Yishu quickly shrank back. Not only were there violent vampires here, but there were also so many powerful demon cultivators. Who knew if this would be a blessing or a curse for her in the future?
Li Xingzang had no idea that Zidane had scared He Yishu in the front yard. After putting down the tables and chairs, she cleaned the large vat she had prepared in advance, and took out a large box of coarse-grained salt to prepare to pickle sauerkraut.
"Zang Zang, you are so stupid. Why didn't you call Auntie and your Aunt Guan?" Aunt Shi heard the noise and hurried out to help.
"Weren't you busy until very late yesterday? I thought of letting you sleep a little longer, but I woke you up with all the movement." Li Xingzang said a little embarrassedly as he looked at Uncle Shi and others who walked out one after another.
In the bathing business, the busiest hours are at night, and the Baishan Bath Center's services have expanded significantly compared to previous years. They offer not only basic bathing, scrubbing, and cupping services, but also medicinal baths, steam rooms, and overnight stays. Sometimes, guests stay overnight at the bathing center, making the night shift their busiest.
Of course, due to the unique nature of Baishan Bathhouse, while only special guests frequented it, there were always some human customers who returned after so many years. Coupled with the increasing popularity of Northeastern bathing culture, the number of human customers has actually increased. With more people, more staff is needed. The backyard dormitory is almost full, except for the monsters she has known since childhood. This is why she renovated the small building so quickly. The employees she will hire in the future may not be ordinary people. For someone like Yi Shu, it is necessary to make arrangements in advance.
"I brought you breakfast. It's at the front desk. Let's go and eat." Li Xingzang said with a smile as he looked at the timid little stone spirit.
"Master, you and your mistress go have dinner. I'll help Sister Zang pickle the sauerkraut." Xiao Shi rolled up his sleeves and put the cabbage into the big iron pot. The boiling hot water seemed to be nothing to him. After a while, the cabbages stood upright in the big iron pot, like flower arrangements.
The backyard was mostly inhabited by spirits, and it was separated from the front yard by a wall. Most importantly, the Baishan Bathhouse and the small building were surrounded by a barrier set by Baishan and Li Long, so Little Stone wasn't afraid of being discovered. He reached into the large iron pot with his bare hands, turned the cabbage upside down, waited for more than ten seconds, and then, working with another Little Stone Spirit, placed the blanched cabbage into the sauerkraut jar.
"Huh? You two are really quick!" Li Xingzang had just said a few words to Uncle Shi and Aunt Shi, and the two young men here had already spread a layer of cabbage at the bottom of the jar.
Elsewhere, several goblins were also eager to make a move, not because they were enjoying the fun of pickling sauerkraut, but simply because they wanted to get closer to Li Xingzang. Baishan Bathhouse was full of powerful figures, and it was a rare opportunity for a goblin of their stature to arrive, one who was rumored to be a vampire. Some of the goblins, native to China, were interested in Western stories and wanted to be her friends.
"Hurry up and eat! Everyone is surrounding Gaha, how can she run away?" Aunt Guan chased away a few little goblins and came to help with a smile. [3]
"Aunt Guan, there are so many more people in our family!" Li Xingzang took the cabbage from the second little stone, "Hey?" Why is it so hot?
"Sister Zang, let me do it." The young man took the cabbage back with a red face.
"What happened?" She looked at the two boys in surprise, then looked at her hand which was healing quickly.
"You are just a little cultivator, do you think you are on par with them?" Aunt Guan shook her head, arranged the cabbages in the sauerkraut jar, and covered it with a layer of plastic cloth. "Come, stand in." She pointed to the big jar, and Li Xingzang jumped in. The two young men were stunned by her actions.
"I heard you call uncle and auntie Master and mistress just now. What? Are you taking uncle as your master?" Li Xingzang took off his contact lenses while stepping on the cabbage, and looked at them with his red eyes like a rabbit.
The first little stone spirit to come to help nodded and said, "We were originally stones at the bottom of Longjiang River. We absorbed the dragon energy of the Dragon God and gained wisdom. Later, the Dragon God brought us back here and we became his disciples."
"Then are you twin brothers?" Li Xingzang asked curiously, otherwise how could you look the same?
The stones looked at each other, shook their heads, and said, "We are one big stone."
"What?" She jumped out of the tub. "You mean you split off from a big rock?"
"Not only us," they shook their heads together and pointed behind Li Xing, "but also them."
Li Xingzang looked back and saw that they were the same two faces again.
"We can be one person, or we can be divided into different people." The girls came over to take over their brothers' work, and they were equally not afraid of the heat, which made Li Xingzang frightened.
"So do you like to be the same person or different people?" Li Xingzang asked with a smile, sprinkling salt on his face.
The little stones froze at her words, their hearts awash with an inexplicable warmth. The sun brushed across her face, her red eyes gentle and bright. Could this be the warmth Master had mentioned, the warmth of a lava bath?
"Well...what do you think, Sister Zang?" asked the little stone at the beginning.
"Me?" Li Xingzang looked at them with amusement, "Of course you have to like it yourself."
They looked at each other and said, "We want to be different people. Sister Zang, please give us a name!"
"Don't you have a name yet?"
"We don't usually appear together, everyone calls us Xiaoshi." There are four people, and each one is Xiaoshi.
"I'm not very good at naming..." She looked at Aunt Guan for help, always feeling that something was wrong.
"It's okay, just be open and honest! What are you afraid of?" [4]
"Then..." Li Xingzang pointed at the little stone who came to help first, "Your name is Shi Yi, Shi Er," and then looked at the two sisters, "Shi Shan, Shi Si, uh...how about it?"
Before hearing their answer, Li Xingzang felt the earth shaking. He looked up in surprise and said, "There are never earthquakes here!" This is not Chengdu, why is it shaking so violently?
Aunt Guan looked at her meaningfully. "This isn't an earthquake. It's because their realm has improved and they are absorbing the power of the earth."
Bai Shan walked out of the main house and glanced at the little stones. "They will follow you from now on."
"?" Li Xingzang asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"
"It means you pay them a salary!"
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