Chapter 36: Recruiting People
"Let's keep it for a few days and see how it goes!"
Lu Qingyao scooped a bowl of the stewed bamboo shoots and meat that had just come out of the pot and handed it to Liu Yu Niang.
The two sons each had a small bowl.
The steam was rising and the fragrance filled the entire yard.
The bowl contains a fragrant and thick white soup, wrapped with fresh white and tender bamboo shoots, pickled wild boar meat, and fat fresh chicken.
Jiang Miaomiao felt a little greedy after seeing this!
Is this pickled pork with preserved vegetables?
It's only been two months.
Her mother has transformed from a wealthy lady who could light the kitchen without having to do any housework.
She became a strong woman who could hunt with a bow and cook.
Jiang Miaomiao felt relieved but also a little distressed.
I am relieved that my brothers can finally have a normal meal.
Instead of eating burnt, tasteless, or undercooked food.
I feel sorry for my mother.
She was clearly the mistress of a household surrounded by servants, yet she had to endure such suffering...
My little heart aches a little.
I wanted my mother to hug me, but she said that all my unhappiness disappeared when I saw her.
She is her mother's happy pill and her mother's little cotton-padded jacket.
I want to make my mother happy.
As soon as he opened his mouth, saliva started to flow out.
"Sister is greedy too!" The eldest brother picked up a piece of bamboo shoots and put it to her mouth and licked it for her.
This is the first bamboo shoot I have tasted in winter.
My aunt's eyes were shining and she couldn't wait to take the bowl from my mother's hand.
"Sister-in-law, is this for me?"
Lu Qingyao nodded and said, "Sister-in-law, I picked some winter bamboo shoots in the woods today and stewed them with meat. You can bring it back for the children to try."
Jiang Qiao'er and Jiang Wenxuan were both as thin as monkeys, and there was also their bedridden grandmother...
No matter how poor you are, you should make up for it.
"Sister-in-law, you really make this dish with great care."
Liu Yu Niang sniffed. The stewed bamboo shoots with meat had a fragrant aroma and a beautiful color.
Although her cooking skills are good, in the countryside, it is good enough to have something to eat, and it is even more satisfying to have meat to eat.
On weekdays, I only take small pieces of pickled meat to season it, add some wild vegetables, radishes, and bamboo shoots, and stew them in a big pot.
Most of the time, we just eat whatever is available.
How could I bear to do it so meticulously?
A pot of bamboo shoots stewed with meat, half of it is meat...
The stew is still wild boar and chicken.
That's quite a luxury.
Seeing that Liu Yu Niang was about to drool, Lu Qingyao directly picked up a piece of bamboo shoots and stuffed it into her mouth.
"Fresh, right?"
"Sister-in-law, these winter bamboo shoots are really good. They're so delicious they'll make your eyebrows drop... I'm thinking of digging some up and selling them. I'm sure they'll fetch a good price. Do you know how much they sell for per pound in Qingshi Town?"
Liu Yu Niang was caught off guard.
He chewed and swallowed it subconsciously.
After eating, he licked his lips and said, "Delicious..."
Although it was not cooked enough, she put so much meat in it.
Even the bamboo shoots have a meaty aroma.
Take a bite.
Mixed with the fresh aroma of wild boar and chicken.
Plus the tenderness of the winter bamboo shoots...it's just...
"Delicious, delicious!" Liu Yu Niang licked her lips and praised.
That was the best compliment she could offer.
If it were my husband, he would definitely be able to write a poem.
But I'm afraid Lu Qingyao will be disappointed about selling bamboo shoots.
"Sister-in-law, I told you not to be disappointed..."
Lu Qingyao looked at her.
"Although winter bamboo shoots are delicious, they are not worth much in Qingshi Town. Even those who are good at digging bamboo shoots can only dig 20 to 30 kilograms a day, but they can't sell them for more than two cents a kilogram. Even if you dig them up, you may not be able to sell them. Working in the town is better than selling bamboo shoots..."
"How could this be?"
In Lu Qingyao's memory, this was a mountain delicacy that was very expensive in restaurants in the capital.
After all, we only eat it in spring and winter.
Spring bamboo shoots are easier to harvest and therefore enter the market in larger quantities. Scarcity makes things valuable, so winter bamboo shoots are relatively more precious.
Especially literati and poets, they are extremely rare.
Every spring and winter, you must go to Zuixianlou to taste the fresh food.
She once took her two children there to eat, and a plate of stir-fried winter bamboo shoots cost two hundred coins.
If she had not come to Taoxi Village, she would never have imagined that winter bamboo shoots that cost only two cents per pound could be sold for hundreds of cents in the capital!
Liu Yu Niang advised her to give up the idea of selling bamboo shoots. "We don't have much in Qingshi Town, but there are a lot of winter bamboo shoots. Almost every household has them in front of and behind their houses. If you are not rich, who would spend their spare money to buy this thing? If it is not cooked well, it will taste bitter..."
"I see......"
Lu Qingyao poured out all the bamboo shoots from the basket.
Each one is big and plump.
It’s a pity that she didn’t dig much.
She had to let Liu Yu Niang know the value of these bamboo shoots in order to get her to join.
"Sister-in-law, do you know how much a bowl of pickled and stewed food like this is worth in the capital?"
"How much is it worth?" Liu Yu Niang was also curious.
She never wanted to go to a place like the capital in her life.
My husband just went to the capital to collect a debt, but he didn't get it back and ended up spending twenty or thirty taels of silver on his travel expenses.
He only eats steamed buns every day, and by the time he gets home, he's so thin that he looks unrecognizable.
even so.
It didn't stop her from being curious.
Lu Qingyao looked mysterious. "A bowl of winter bamboo shoots stewed with bacon like this would sell for four hundred coins at Zuixianlou, the best restaurant in the capital."
"What?" Liu Yu Niang exclaimed, "Four hundred coins a bowl, this is not money..."
The money for a bowl of winter bamboo shoots is enough for her family to eat for most of half a month.
I was so shocked that my hands started shaking.
Lu Qingyao was afraid that she would drop the bowl in her hand, so she quickly took it and placed it on a wooden stool beside her.
"Sister-in-law, this thing is very valuable outside. Hasn't anyone thought of selling it outside?"
Liu Yu Niang looked bewildered. "This... your sister-in-law, I really don't know. There aren't many people in Qingshi Town who can read and write. I guess no one has thought that far..."
Jiang Miaomiao, who was secretly drinking soup, was yelled at by her aunt.
I was so scared that I choked, "cough cough cough..."
"Jiang Ziyan...why did you secretly give Miaomiao the broth again? She's still young and can't drink too much, she can only lick it."
Lu Qingyao took Jiang Miaomiao and stroked her back.
The last time her daughter had a stomachache, she suspected it was because she gave her chicken soup.
"Mom, I won't dare to do it again next time. It's because my sister was too greedy and almost drooled into my bowl, so I fed her." Jiang Ziyan stuck out his tongue, looking guilty.
He looked at his sister drooling and couldn't help wanting to feed her.
Jiang Miaomiao: “…”
The naughty second brother actually let her take the blame!
Lu Qingyao glared at him, then turned to look at Liu Yu Niang and continued.
"Sister-in-law, winter bamboo shoots are known in the capital as golden jade, a rare vegetable, and highly prized by scholars and literati. If we dig some up and sell them in Jiangzhou, we might get a good price... a few dozen coins per pound would be enough, right?"
"A few dozen coins per pound... Really?"
Liu Yu Niang was half-believing and half-doubting.
She still couldn't believe that a plate of winter bamboo shoots could be sold for hundreds of coins in a restaurant.
If they could really be sold, then all the bamboo shoots in Taoxi Village, covering the mountains and plains, would be worth a ton of silver.
"Sister-in-law, how could I lie to you? Go back and talk to my eldest brother. We'll start digging tomorrow, but don't tell anyone beforehand. Let's dig it up first and try to sell it."
Jiangzhou is also some distance away from Qingshi Town.
There weren't that many bamboos there, at least not any she had seen along the way.
Maybe it can be sold for a good price...
Jiang Miaomiao felt that her mother was being a little too generous today.
Cooking so much meat!
You are too enthusiastic towards your aunt!
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