Chapter 46 Pickles
Hearing his daughter calling his son, Gu Lianshan poked his head out of the house and said, "Ping An is not here. He went to the village head's house to order cabbage."
Cabbage?
Gu Tang didn't react for a moment.
It took me a while to remember that cabbage is actually white cabbage. It is called differently from the modern name, but it is the same dish.
The variety of green vegetables here is limited, especially in winter, there are only cabbage, kohlrabi, white melon (winter melon), radish (radish), etc.
If you count carefully, there are quite a few varieties. The only three that may end up on the tables of ordinary people are cabbage, turnip and radish.
Storage is also very simple, most of the time you just need to dig a vegetable cellar in the yard.
The cabbage is placed in the vegetable cellar, while the turnip and radish are usually cut into small pieces and pickled with salt to make pickled vegetables.
But salt is expensive in Bei'an City, and many families in the village cannot afford to buy salt or make pickled vegetables, so they can only store it in the vegetable cellar.
Gu's family is large, and all the land they rent is used to grow crops. Only some vegetable gardens in the corners can be used to grow cabbage, radish, etc.
These are far from enough for the whole family to eat, so in previous years, we would ask the villagers to buy some.
What I bought were some kohlrabi and radish with broken skins. Once the skins of these two kinds of vegetables are broken, they are difficult to store and will most likely rot if placed in the vegetable cellar.
Therefore, many families sold them at a low price, and could buy them with copper coins or exchange them for other things.
Every year, Feng would take out some bran and have her family go to each household in the village to exchange some for it. The bran would then be cut into small pieces and pickled in a small jar to be eaten in the winter.
This year should be no exception.
Thinking of pickled vegetables, Gu Tang curled her lips. The pickle jar was kept in Feng's house all year round and was managed by her. If anyone in the family dared to disobey her, when the pickles were distributed, they would not even get a radish strip!
Although pickled vegetables may seem insignificant, they are the main companions for meals throughout the winter.
Although there were fresh vegetables in the vegetable cellar, they were chopped up and added to the paste and cooked together, which was tasteless.
If you want to eat a stir-fried dish, then prepare to be scolded.
In Gu's family, only during festivals and holidays can we cook dishes to entertain relatives. Or when Gu Liansheng's classmates and friends come to visit, we can also cook some dishes to entertain them.
Apart from these, I rarely eat stir-fried dishes.
Gu Tang didn’t care what it was like in previous years, because she hadn’t worn it at that time, but there was no way she would live like that this year.
Isn’t it just pickles?
This year she also pickled!
She'll ask her father to buy a few small jars, and then she'll filter out the salt and pickle ten or eight jars of it!
As for cooking, you must buy an iron pot. It is best to buy two pots, one large and one small, and then put two stoves in the house.
In winter, frying some vegetables and stewing some meat can make life more enjoyable.
Otherwise, you will be like the Gu family, eating porridge every day and every year. What’s the point of living?
Sacrifice the whole family to support one person?
hehe!
Just thinking about good things!
Leaning the sack against the wall, Gu Tang immediately went out to talk to her father about buying a jar of pickled vegetables.
Gu Lianshan was completely focused on the moose. He had no objection to his daughter's suggestion of pickled vegetables, so he asked, "Do you want a big jar or a small jar?"
"I want a small jar, not the kind used in dairy houses. I'd rather use a wine jar with a big belly and a small mouth. One jar can hold ten kilograms of vegetables."
"This is easy to buy." Gu Lianshan pointed to the north, "There is a shop in Xiaowan Village that sells wine jars. They bring in good quality jars from Bei'an City. They should have the wine jars you mentioned. Dad will go ask now."
As he said this, he took some thick clothes and put them on, and told Gu Tang to take good care of the moose in the house and not to leave.
Gu Lianshan didn't need to remind him of this, as this deer was obtained by Gu Tang by burning incense, praying to gods and signing in, and it is worth one or two hundred silver coins!
Before leaving, Gu Lianshan whispered to Gu Tang: "There is someone from Xiaowan Village who works as a cook in the camp outside Anzhou City. That person is very familiar with my father. I heard him say that every year at the end of the year, some young generals in the barracks are thinking about giving gifts everywhere.
They all said they were willing to spend money! Dad thought that this deer looked tall and fierce, and if it was sold to those generals, it would definitely be sold at a high price! "
Gu Tang raised his eyebrows: "Aren't you afraid that those nobles will take advantage of their power and snatch the deer away without paying a penny?"
"No! A few years ago, a new officer was appointed to the camp. He is a very fair and honest person! I heard that he is a royal relative from the capital. He is powerful and would not look down on a deer!"
Gu Lianshan spoke with a firm tone and looked at Gu Tang expectantly, waiting for her to agree.
"Okay, as long as you know what's going on, you can handle it yourself. I'll be happy if you can sell it at a high price."
Deer meat is expensive, and live deer are even rarer. If you don’t have connections, it’s really hard to sell it.
This is neither a sheep nor a cow. It could be settled for a few taels or dozens of taels, but this is one or two hundred taels!
After getting Gu Tang's agreement, Gu Lianshan grinned and said, "Wait for good news from Dad at home!"
After saying that, he rushed out of the house.
There was a cart in the backyard of the Gu family. Gu Lianshan first went to the backyard and pulled the cart to the front yard. He put a bundle of hemp rope on the cart, and then hurriedly pulled the cart out of the yard.
Probably having heard the noise in the yard, Feng in the main room and Gu Tianbao in the east wing all came out to take a look.
When Gu Tianbao saw Gu Tang standing under the west wing corridor, he immediately shrank his neck and went back to the house, just like a mouse seeing a cat.
Feng was not afraid of Gu Tang. She glared at Gu Tang fiercely and yelled a few curses at him.
"What are you doing pulling the cart out again? You're out hanging out all day without any proper livelihood! Have you chopped enough firewood at home? If there's no firewood, when it snows, I'll stare at you and freeze to death!"
Gu Tangyi leaned against the door frame, too lazy to look at Feng, and only shouted towards the east wing: "Gu Tianbao! Did you hear what grandma said? Grandma told you to go chop wood! If you don't, when it snows, grandma will stare at you and your family and freeze to death! Anyway, we have enough firewood. If anyone dares to touch my firewood, I will peel her skin off!"
Feng was so angry that her whole body was shaking!
Are you talking about Tianbao?
No! This was clearly a hint at her!
Feng was about to have a fit, but old man Gu in the inner room behind her hurriedly called her back, "Come back to the room, my old cold legs are acting up again."
Feng paused, realizing what her husband meant. She glared at Gu Tang again, then walked into the house.
Old Master Gu was lying on the bed with his eyes closed. When he heard Feng's footsteps, he whispered, "Ask Lai'an to go to Wangzhai Village this afternoon, and ask your daughter to go home when she has time..."
When Feng heard her husband mention their daughter, she didn't understand what he meant for a moment.
Everything is fine, why do you want your daughter to come home?
Then I heard my wife say, "Among my daughter's sisters-in-law, I remember there was one named Li? I heard that her family is a prostitute, a matchmaker, and a matchmaker?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com