"Grandma's here. Haven't you eaten yet? Come sit down and eat with us."
Zhao Xian quickly stood up and pulled the old lady back.
The old lady was even more puzzled. Although the food on the table looked tempting and she wanted to sit down and try it, she wanted to figure things out.
“Your family was already starving just two days ago, how come you suddenly have fish, meat, and white rice all the time? Tell me, what’s going on? Where did you get so much money?”
"Grandma, we made kimchi and sold it in town for a lot of money," Zhao Lingling said first.
"Kimchi?" Old Mrs. Zhao was taken aback. She had never heard of kimchi before in all her years.
"Yes, it's kimchi. It's very popular in the market, costing 18 coins a pound. We can't keep up with demand. We made over 100 pounds today and will deliver it to a noodle shop in town tomorrow morning."
"This noodle shop has a huge demand, about 100 jin a day, so we have to deliver every day," Zhao Xiaoshan explained, following behind.
Grandma Zhao was skeptical, but seeing the joy on the faces of the family, she knew it was probably true.
"What does kimchi look like? Can I see it?" The old lady's disbelief turned into curiosity.
Li Chun'e pulled the old lady aside and pointed to two vegetable jars in the corner.
"Mom, these two jars are full of pickled vegetables. They've just been pickled and will be sent to town tomorrow morning."
The old lady came to the vegetable jar, looked at it, and smelled it. It had a wine-like aroma and a sweet and sour smell, unlike the pickled vegetables made in the countryside.
Although the old lady didn't know what kimchi looked like, she guessed it was probably similar to pickled vegetables.
Making these two jars of pickled vegetables requires a lot of vegetables. It's the lean season now, and vegetables are expensive. Vegetables in town are already selling for five or six coins a pound.
The villagers would take all the vegetables they grew to town to sell, and then exchange them for brown rice and whole wheat flour to make wild vegetable porridge to make a living. There were no extra vegetables left.
"What vegetables are used to make kimchi that can sell for eighteen coins a pound?"
“Grandma, it’s made with cowpea greens,” Zhao Lingling blurted out.
The group was taken aback. Zhao Xian had warned his family not to tell anyone that the cowherd vegetable was edible.
Grandma Zhao didn't notice the change in everyone's expressions, but when she heard that the kimchi was made from cowpea greens, she refused to believe it even if she were beaten to death. Even a fool knows that cowpea greens are inedible.
"You're all just trying to fool this old woman! Can you even eat ox gallnut? Try one and show me!" Old Mrs. Zhao was really angry.
Li Chun'e and her two younger brothers remained silent. They looked at Zhao Xian, wondering if they could tell the old lady about making pickled oxtail.
It seems I have to tell the old lady the truth. Actually, there's no need to hide this from her. Even if she knew how to make kimchi, she wouldn't tell anyone. Besides, the key ingredients for making kimchi can't be bought in the market.
Zhao Xian took a chair and placed it on the table, then walked over to the old lady and took her arm.
"Grandma, please sit down first, and I will tell you slowly."
Only then did the old lady begin to examine her grandson, the scholar, and discover that he had changed a great deal.
She was heartbroken when she remembered how the scholar had been placed on a door panel like a dead man a few days ago, but thankfully he woke up later.
"Zhao Xian, tell Grandma what happened." The old lady doted on her scholar grandson, and her voice was no longer as loud as before.
"Grandma, not only can you eat the bitter cabbage, you can also make pickles. As long as you can remove the bitterness from the bitter cabbage, you can eat it."
As Zhao Xian spoke, he looked at Zhao Xiaosheng.
"Xiao Sheng, did you have some leftover mustard greens from making kimchi? Could you bring them to me?"
Xiaoshan, open that vegetable jar you brought to town this morning; you should still find some pickled vegetables inside. Bring it over there too.
“Okay, we’ll go get it now.” Zhao Xiaosheng and Zhao Xiaoshan immediately went to do so.
Soon both items were brought over and placed in front of the old lady.
"Grandma, look."
Zhao Xian took a leaf of the Chinese cabbage and slowly unfolded the blanched leaf.
"This is what the leaves of *Cabbage desiccated* look like after blanching and drying. Take a look and see if it's *Cabbage desiccated*." After saying this, Zhao Xian handed the unfolded leaf to the old lady.
The old lady took the leaves, looked at them, and confirmed that they were indeed *Vaccaria segetalis*.
"These are indeed the leaves of the Chinese water spinach. Can they really be eaten?" the old lady asked suspiciously.
Zhao Xian didn't mention the imperial edict. He took another leaf, put it in his mouth, and started chewing.
"Grandma, after processing, the wild mustard greens are ready to eat. They're sweet and much tastier than other wild vegetables. You should try them."
Seeing that Zhao Xian had eaten a leaf of the purslane without any reaction, one wondered if the purslane was actually edible.
She carefully put the wild mustard greens into her mouth and chewed them. They had no bitter taste at all and tasted quite good, definitely better than ordinary wild vegetables.
"Grandma, this is kimchi, made with oxtail grass. Try it and you'll know how delicious oxtail grass is."
Zhao Xian used his chopsticks to pick up a little kimchi and put it near the old lady's mouth.
The old lady obediently opened her mouth and began to taste the beef offal.
The old lady was stunned when she tasted the kimchi. The kimchi made with cauliflower was sweet and sour, refreshing, and had an unforgettable aftertaste. It was so delicious!
The old lady took the chopsticks Zhao Xian handed her and began to taste the food herself.
Zhao Xian calmly filled a large bowl with white rice, placed it in the old lady's hands, and said with a smile:
"Just eating kimchi isn't enough, other dishes are delicious too, Grandma, try them all."
After saying that, he put food into the old lady's bowl, and the old lady was completely captivated.
She eats wild vegetable porridge at home every day, and she can't even bear to eat the vegetables grown in the field, let alone fish or meat.
The old lady started working hard and quickly finished a large bowl of white rice.
Although she could still eat a bowl, she dared not eat any more. If she ate something that made her taste bad, she probably wouldn't want to eat the wild vegetable porridge at home anymore.
“Grandma, now that you know that ox-bean lettuce is edible, you must never tell anyone. Once the villagers know how to eat ox-bean lettuce, all the ox-bean lettuce along the ridges and edges of the fields will be picked clean in no time, and we won’t be able to make pickles.”
The old lady knew perfectly well that there was plenty of wild mustard greens in the village, but she didn't know how to cook them. Once she did, they would be harvested in large quantities.
"Grandma won't tell anyone, but I don't know the specific recipe for beef offal stew yet. You'd better tell me." The old lady's face was full of longing.
"Grandma, I want to increase the production of kimchi and would like to ask for your help," Zhao Xian said with a smile.
"Let me help you." The old lady was taken aback.
"Making beef tripe into pickled vegetables involves three steps: first, removing alkali; second, pickling; and third, fermentation."
From now on, Grandma will arrange for her family to handle the dealkalization. They'll give me the chopped, dealkalized beef tripe, and I'll pay Grandma six copper coins per pound. With Grandma's whole family doing it, producing two hundred pounds a day shouldn't be a problem."
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