Chapter 37 Digging bamboo shoots
Smoke rises from the small village in the twilight.
The aroma of meat and food wafted from every courtyard.
This caused the dogs to bark wildly.
Jiang Yunhu prepared the meal and put it on the table, but his wife still hadn't come back.
He is happy today.
The land deed is back, time to celebrate.
I cut a small piece of bacon and stewed some wild vegetables that my wife dug up from the mountain.
He scooped a large bowl and handed it to his daughter.
"Qiao'er, go and call your mother back for dinner, and take a bowl of meat to your aunt's house."
Jiang Qiaoer looked at the pieces of meat floating in the wild vegetable soup and licked her lips. "Okay! Dad, I'll go right away."
Then he put his brother on the stool, pulled up his sleeves and went out.
Where else could her mother go? She must have gone to her aunt's house.
Her mother is really strange.
When my aunt first came to Taoxi Village, my mother and everyone around her disliked her because of my second uncle.
Sometimes he complained that she was clumsy and couldn't cook or do needlework.
Then he thought she was being too delicate.
Now, I actually start to admire him.
She always runs to her aunt's house whether she has something to do or not, and fortunately no one finds her annoying.
Along the way, the aroma of meat from the wild vegetables wafted into her nose.
She was so greedy that her mouth was almost watering.
But the closer we got to my aunt's house, the stronger the fragrance seemed to become.
Jiang Qiaoer quickened her pace and quickly walked to the door.
The smell of meat came from my aunt's house.
She leaned in.
I saw her mother holding a bamboo shoot, wondering what she was thinking about.
"Mom, it's time for dinner. Dad has prepared the meal and is waiting for you." she said.
Liu Yu Niang turned around and saw her daughter coming over with a bowl of wild vegetable soup.
At first glance, you can see the scattered bacon inside.
I knew what my daughter was here for, and I suddenly felt a little embarrassed.
Lu Qingyao also saw it, and with a smile on her face, she took the bowl.
"Qiaojie came at the perfect time. We were just worrying about having no vegetables to eat today, and you brought them here."
When Liu Yu Niang heard this, she felt much more relieved.
My sister-in-law will give people face.
Although we still have pickled wild boar meat at home.
But they were all used to being poor, so they kept the food hidden and only dared to take it out to eat during festivals.
Eating like this at my brother-in-law's house is too luxurious.
Jiang Qiaoer also saw the large bowl with a lid next to her mother.
The rich aroma must be coming from inside.
She licked her lips.
I am so lucky. I can have delicious food every time I come to my aunt's house.
She likes her aunt's family very much.
Ever since they came to Taoxi Village.
Life at home was getting better and better. We had meat to eat and new clothes to wear from time to time.
Few people laughed at her poverty, her patched clothes, and even less at her lame father.
The most important thing is that no one dares to come and offer ten taels of silver, hoping that her parents will sell her to be a maid or concubine!
Madam Liu Yu and her daughter happily returned with the pickled and stewed delicacies.
Jiang Yunhu saw Jiang Qiaoer exchange a bowl of wild vegetables for a large bowl of pickled meat and stewed bamboo shoots.
His eyes were wide open.
"Did your sister-in-law do this?"
"That's right, it's so luxurious!" Liu Yu Niang washed her hands and helped her mother-in-law to sit down.
Only then did he sit next to Jiang Yunhu.
Imitating her sister-in-law's tone, she said mysteriously, "My husband, do you know how much a bowl of pickled and stewed food like this would cost in the capital?"
"Eighty wen is about right..."
Jiang Yunhu went to the capital that time.
The only time I indulged myself was when I had a bowl of wontons that cost twenty cents.
This bamboo shoot stewed with bacon costs at most eighty cents.
Restaurants would not be willing to put as much bacon as my brother and his wife do.
Before Liu Yuniang could answer, Jiang Qiao'er, with the meat still in her mouth, sighed, "Eighty wen...why is it so expensive?"
After getting the pattern drawn by my aunt.
She would spend three or four days embroidering a handkerchief, and could only sell it for a hundred or so coins.
"Dad, why are bamboo shoots so expensive in the capital?"
Liu Yu Niang moved closer to the father and son and lowered her voice, fearing that others might hear.
"I tell you, it's more than eighty cents..."
"My sister-in-law said that she spent four hundred coins on a bowl of stewed winter bamboo shoots with bacon at Zuixianlou, the best restaurant in the capital!"
The air froze instantly.
Jiang Yunhu and his daughter looked at each other and took a breath.
He asked word by word, "Madam, is it really... four hundred wen?"
Liu Yu Niang smacked her lips. "It's only four hundred coins a bowl. My sister-in-law also said that the most rare thing is the winter bamboo shoots. It is said that the dignitaries and scholars in the capital love to eat them..."
"And they said winter bamboo shoots are something else... something about gold and vegetables being something else..."
"Is it the best among vegetables, dressed in gold and white jade?"
Liu Yu Niang nodded repeatedly, "That's right, that's what she said."
Jiang Yunhu didn't read many books, but he knew that eating bamboo shoots was a popular custom among scholars.
I just didn’t expect it to be sold so expensively in Beijing!
Part of the money he lent to Jiang Yunze was saved from selling bamboo shoots in the county town.
But at most it can only be sold for five cents per pound.
But since he injured his leg, he has almost become a disabled person.
The mountain cannot be climbed.
Can't go far away.
No one wanted to hire him when he went out to look for work.
The burden of the family fell entirely on Yu Niang, and she never had a good day.
Jiang Yunhu picked up a large piece of meat and placed it in his wife's bowl. "My wife, you've worked hard. Eat more meat!"
Liu Yu Niang also picked up a piece for him and said, "You have worked hard, my husband. Please eat it."
Jiang Yunhu picked up the meat, put it in his mouth, and started chewing it with big mouthfuls.
But he couldn't taste anything, so he asked Liu Yu Niang, "What else did my sister-in-law say?"
The voice is a little hoarse.
"My sister-in-law asked me to go with her to dig bamboo shoots tomorrow and then take them to Jiangzhou to sell." Liu Yu Niang said as she ate, with the rice still in her mouth.
"Maybe... maybe it can be sold for ten cents a pound..."
If these bamboo shoots are really that rare, she would be willing to dig them every day.
My husband would pick the fruits and sell them in the county town, and he could get five cents per pound.
To go to Jiangzhou, the cost must be doubled at least.
If you dig like this for a whole day, you can probably sell it for a few hundred coins.
As she thought about this, her appetite became better.
"Let me go dig with you!" Jiang Yunhu said in a deep voice.
Liu Yu Niang's hand holding the chopsticks stopped in mid-air, and she asked reluctantly.
Although the mountains in Taoxi Village are not very steep, my husband can still walk on flat roads.
Climbing the mountain is probably impossible...
She opened her mouth, not knowing how to persuade him.
Then I heard my husband say, "I know what you are worried about."
"Don't worry, I've already thought of a way. My sister-in-law has a horse, so I'll go there on horseback. With me and Old Man Li and his two boys, we can easily dig four or five hundred kilograms a day..."
"Yes, my husband is very smart. With a horse, you don't have to climb the mountain. Why didn't I think of it?" Liu Yu Niang patted her wooden head.
Digging winter bamboo shoots is a technical job.
You need to observe the color and shape of the bamboo leaves, find cracks in the ground, and also know how to find bamboo whips.
If you have no experience, let alone digging winter bamboo shoots, you probably won’t even see the shadow of the bamboo shoots.
Even if you are lucky enough to find it.
If you accidentally damage it, not only will you not be able to exchange it for money, but a day's work will be wasted.
When it comes to digging bamboo shoots, I’m afraid no one in Taoxi Village is more experienced than my husband.
At this moment, Liu Yu Niang's mind and eyes were full of bamboo shoots.
No, those are not bamboo shoots, they are pure silver...
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