Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 297: Winter Vegetables Stored in Every Household

In just two days, the size of the vegetable cellar was more than doubled.

The cellar walls were laid with broken bricks, the ground was covered with broken sand and gravel, and some wooden racks were built around the cellar walls.

At that time, radishes will be buried in the middle of the vegetable cellar, and pickle jars will be placed there, while the cabbages will be chopped on wooden racks around the cellar wall.

After the craftsmen had finished everything, Shen Yu followed Li to take a look. They found that there was no place that needed further repairs, so they paid the craftsmen their wages.

If the weather is fine, I estimate that after drying them for another two days, we can start storing the winter vegetables.

Mrs. Li said with satisfaction: "After the vegetable cellar is renovated, it is not bad to live here, not to mention storing vegetables. It looks clean and warm."

Shen Yu had never stored vegetables in this way before and was a little unsure, so he asked Zhou Dalang and others how to prevent moisture and insects.

Zhou Dalang scratched his head: "My father used to take care of all this, and I didn't pay attention to what he added to it."

"Don't worry, girl. My vegetable cellar has been used for many years and has never had any insects."

Zheng Sanniang thought for a moment and said, "Should I add some lime? I remember putting some in the corners of my vegetable cellar. Sometimes I would sprinkle some on the ground. My mother-in-law said that it would prevent insects and ants from growing."

Country people all have their own vegetable gardens, and they store most of the winter vegetables they grow themselves, without having to buy vegetables specifically to store.

Vegetables come easily, so less care is taken in preserving them.

When Li stored winter vegetables in the countryside, he simply harvested the vegetables, dried them, and then stuffed them all into the vegetable cellar.

In some years the vegetables are stored well, but in other years they are infested with insects and rotten. It all depends on luck.

Hearing what Zheng Sanniang said, she clapped her hands in sudden realization: "Yes, I was wondering why the vegetables always got worms when I stored them before. I have to buy two more bags of quicklime and put them in."

After listening to this, Shen Yu also thought that this method was good. Quicklime can absorb moisture and prevent insects. Only after these hidden dangers are solved can they start storing vegetables in large quantities.

Li is an impatient person and does what he says.

He immediately took the silver and rushed to the shop on the other side of the street, paid the deposit, and brought back a bamboo sign with the shop sign written on it.

They said the store would deliver the goods, and the clerk would take the bamboo tag as a receipt.

Li went to order quicklime before noon, but the clerk selling lime powder didn't come until the shop was about to close, driving a mule cart to deliver the goods.

Shen Yu saw that the mule cart was loaded with lime in cattail bags, and there was no other things such as ash powder or sand.

After asking, I found out that every year in late autumn when it is time to store vegetables for the winter, every family has to buy two bags of quicklime and sprinkle some in the vegetable cellar to prevent insects and absorb moisture.

The worker carried the lime down, looking exhausted: "Everyone is busy renovating the vegetable cellar these days."

"I started loading and delivering goods when I arrived at the store this morning. It's getting dark now, and I still have five or six stores to deliver to."

"The quicklime in the store will be sold out in the next two days. If you go to order tomorrow, you will have to wait a few more days before you can get it back."

After the waiter finished speaking, he took the bamboo sign handed to him by Li and hurriedly drove the cart to the next house.

Li couldn't help but feel lucky when she heard this: "Fortunately, we ordered it early today, otherwise we would have been late in storing the winter vegetables."

After dinner, Li and her friends sat at the table to discuss what vegetables to pickle.

Li counted on her fingers and muttered that she wanted to pickle a large jar of sauerkraut. The pickles would be radishes, mustard greens, mustard greens, and yellow sprouts.

Shen Yu sat aside and heard Li and Jiang discussing pickled mustard greens.

Thinking of the salty and fragrant braised pork with preserved vegetables and the crispy stir-fried pickled mustard greens with bacon, I asked the Li family if they knew how to make pickled mustard greens, a kind of dried pickled vegetables that are first dried in the sun, then pickled and air-dried.

Jiang shook her head: "We haven't heard of it over there. I wonder if they pickle it this way here."

Zheng Sanniang also looked confused: "I've only heard of pickling vegetables or drying vegetables in the sun, but I've never done both pickling and drying."

Shen Yu had never made it himself, but he had heard the chef mention how to make pickled mustard greens. After trying hard to recall the recipe, he explained the method in detail.

Jiang listened, thought for a moment and said, "Although I have never done it, it sounds easy, but it will take some effort."

"It doesn't look like it's going to rain these past two days, so we can hang them out to dry. I'll try making some according to what the girl said, and it will make the dishes more diverse in winter."

Li said directly: "We need to store vegetables for the next few days anyway. It's not difficult. We can just make some while we're at it."

"These days, vegetable farmers in the suburbs use carts to sell radishes, mustard greens, and other vegetables. There are all kinds of vegetables, and the prices are very cheap."

"Tomorrow morning Zhou Dalang and I will pull up a cart and go buy some. The vegetable cellar has been cleaned up and we can store the winter vegetables."

Zheng Sanniang said, "I will go with you tomorrow. The vegetable farmers don't deliver the vegetables to us like the shops do. We have to push the vegetables ourselves."

"A cart of vegetables is very heavy. I'll go with you so I can help push the cart."

Shen Yu knew that he had to buy winter vegetables in the morning so that he could pick the best ones, but he couldn't close the shop in the morning and take the whole family out just to buy vegetables.

She could only instruct: "Tomorrow, Aunt Jiang, Yutao and I can handle it in the store. When you go to buy, don't rush and don't be greedy."

"If you can't buy all of them at once, you can buy more tomorrow. Or you can buy the vegetables and hire a car to bring them here."

Li waved her hands and said, "At this time, a large car can't squeeze into the vegetable market."

"Then you need a car to store your own vegetables. Who is willing to help you transport the goods?"

"If you hire a large carriage to carry passengers, the money would be more expensive than a cart of vegetables, and people would not want to dirty the carriage with mud from the vegetables and radishes."

"It's still more practical to push the cart back home yourself. You don't have to worry about buying the groceries. Just stay in the store and greet customers tomorrow."

Shen Yu knew that what Li said was the truth, so he had to give up.

The next morning, Shen Yu and Yu Tao did not sleep for half an hour longer as usual, but got up as soon as Li and the others got up.

It was just daybreak and not yet time to open the city gates. Li and her friends did not even have breakfast and pulled their carts straight to the vegetable market in the east of the city.

Until the sun rose, there were only a few customers eating breakfast in the store, and Li and her friends had not returned yet.

Shen Yu and his companions were getting anxious and were discussing whether they should close the shop for a while to go out and welcome the guests, when they saw Zhou Dalang pulling a small cart, with Li and Zheng Sanniang each pushing it hard and walking slowly towards them.

Shen Yu asked Yutao to look after the shop, and he and Jiang went over to help push the car to the backyard of the shop.

After parking the car, Yutao had already prepared warm soy milk for Li and the others, and brought out a tray of freshly baked lasagna and placed it on the kitchen table, then hurried to the shop in front to check on the store.

Zhou Dalang was sweating profusely from exhaustion. Although Li and Jiang were not as tired, they were not much better either.