frightfiction Chapter 143 Pickled and Dried Bamboo Shoots
Chapter 143 Pickled and Dried Bamboo Shoots
They packed up the tools they brought and prepared to go back. Halfway there they met He Lizheng's son He Yunzheng and his two uncles who were going up the mountain to dig winter bamboo shoots.
Lin Wan felt that Luo Fang was a little too enthusiastic. After the warm greetings, when she heard them say they were ready to go back, she asked Li Chongwu not to see them off.
Li Chongwu looked surprised. Before he could react, Luo Fang smiled and said to He Yunzheng and the others:
"It's on our way. Chongwu has things to do. Can we go back with you?"
He Yunzheng and the others agreed readily.
Lin Wan, who was standing nearby, thought that Luo Fang was considerate of her husband Li Chongwu, so she asked He Yunzheng and the others to accompany her.
After walking for a while, they found that Luo Fang had been chatting with He Yunzheng and asking him whether he was engaged or not.
Only then did I realize her intention. This person wanted to be a matchmaker for He Yunzheng?
It seems that according to the marriage age here, they lived in seclusion in the cave because they had two girls who were old enough to get married. One was Li Chongshan’s fifteen-year-old sister Li Mei, and the other was Li Chonghai’s fourteen-year-old sister Li Zhu.
Lin Wan laughed secretly in her heart, this Luo Fang was really kind-hearted and impatient.
Luo Fang asked a lot of questions indirectly, but He Yunzheng answered them patiently, saying only that he was not engaged at the moment.
Lin Wan observed silently, wondering if this could succeed.
After walking for a while, they arrived at a fork in the road, and not far ahead was the entrance to the cave where they lived in seclusion.
Luo Fang smiled and said, "Then let's say goodbye here, Brother Yun Zheng."
He Yunzheng bowed and said goodbye, then left with his uncles.
Back at the secluded cave, the two siblings were called away by their friends who were playing on the gentle slope.
Luo Fang had a mysterious look on her face. She pulled Lin Wan aside and asked her with a smile what she thought of He Yunzheng.
Lin Wan thought Luo Fang asked her to help with the advisory, so she expressed her opinion that He Yunzheng looked handsome and easy-going.
After hearing this, Luo Fang smiled and said, "You think he's great, too, right? That's great."
She felt that Lin Wan and He Yunzheng were a perfect match. Although there were rumors that her husband's distant cousin Li Chongwen was missing on the battlefield, everyone had long believed that he had died in battle.
At that time, Zhang said that she married Lin Wan in order to adopt a child to continue the bloodline of Li Chongwen. However, it was unfair for Lin Wan to become a widow after marriage, as she was only 15 years old.
The more she got to know Lin Wan, the more she felt that she was gentle, kind, hardworking and capable. She didn't want such a good girl to be alone all her life, so she wanted to find a good husband for Lin Wan.
Now is not the time to tell Lin Wan about this. As long as Lin Wan thinks He Yunzheng is a good person, she will find an opportunity to test the opinions of He Lizheng and his wife.
By then, with the parents' orders and the matchmaker's words, things might be able to get done.
Luo Fang was thinking in her mind, wondering how to start her speech so as to appear natural and appropriate.
She knew that this matter could not be rushed and had to be done slowly.
Lin Wan still thought that Luo Fang was trying to set her up with someone else, not knowing that Luo Fang was planning to find her a second spring.
Obviously, she never had her first spring in the strict sense.
Although Luo Fang had good intentions in planning to find a new husband for Lin Wan, if Lin Wan knew about it, she would probably shout "Thank you, it's not necessary."
It’s so good for her to be a widow now. She doesn’t have to be urged to get married anymore.
Live your life the way you want.
Lin Wan, who had misunderstood, said goodbye to the kind-hearted Luo Fang and went home to prepare dinner.
~
On the second day, everyone sat together in the main hall of Lin Wan's house to eat breakfast.
Li Ke looked at the stir-fried bamboo shoots on the table, a little listless, "Sister-in-law, do we still have a lot of bamboo shoots at home?"
Recently, the most common dish on the family table is the bamboo shoots cooked by my sister-in-law in different ways. Although they are all delicious, it will still be a bit greasy if you eat too much.
It's just a little bit disgusting! Li Ke emphasized again in his heart.
Looking at the little girl's expression, Lin Wan knew that she was probably tired of eating winter bamboo shoots.
I couldn't help but tease her: "Yeah, there's still a lot, enough for us to eat for a long time!"
When Li Ke heard this, he hung his head, but in his heart he felt that it was good to have food to eat, as there were still many people who could not eat enough.
If it weren't for her sister-in-law, she and her brother would have been poor children who were hungry and cold.
She immediately reflected on herself and then continued to eat her meal happily. Her current life was something she had never dreamed of before.
Oh~ What happened to me just now? I actually felt a little tired of eating bamboo shoots.
Mm! I love eating bamboo shoots!
While thinking about it, he ate the bamboo shoots in big mouthfuls.
Lin Wan looked at Li Ke's cute appearance and said with a smile: "Xiao Ke, don't just eat bamboo shoots, eat more other vegetables."
Lin Wan had no idea what the little girl had been going through in that short period of time and thought that the child had coaxed herself into submission.
She then expressed her thoughts:
"I plan to keep some of the winter bamboo shoots at home to eat fresh, make some into sour bamboo shoots, and make some into dried bamboo shoots. This way they can be stored better, so we can still eat bamboo shoots even after the season is over."
Li Ke chewed bamboo shoots and said incoherently, "Sister-in-law is really smart. This way we don't have to worry about running out of bamboo shoots to eat."
"Very good, these fresh bamboo shoots. I'm an old man and my stomach can't take it if I eat too much. But if you change them to sour bamboo shoots or dried bamboo shoots with bacon, maybe it will be much better." Doctor Zhong said with a smile, stroking his beard.
Lin Wan couldn't help but laugh inwardly. The old man always said this, but he was the one who ate the most every time.
"Don't worry, Doctor Zhong. When it's ready, I'll give it to you first to taste."
"That would be great, haha."
After everyone finished their breakfast happily, Lin Wan took the two siblings to start making sour bamboo shoots and drying them.
The first step is to peel the bamboo shoots.
The two siblings had already moved the bamboo shoots to the doorstep in bamboo baskets, set up benches and prepared knives.
Children who grew up in the mountains all know how to peel bamboo shoots. When Lin Wan put down the dishes and chopsticks and came out, the two siblings had already peeled several.
It seemed that their method was the same as what Lin Wan had learned. They all placed the bamboo shoots on the ground, cut the bamboo shoots vertically with a knife, and then peeled off the skin smoothly along the cut marks.
Lin Wan walked forward and looked at the peeled bamboo shoots they had peeled. The bamboo shoot skins and heads were also peeled very cleanly.
"Not bad, keep up the good work."
The brother and sister were praised and became more motivated.
Lin Wan sat on the bench, picked up a bamboo shoot and joined the team peeling bamboo shoots.
After peeling most of them, I told the two siblings and took the bamboo shoots to the spring to wash them. Then I went into the kitchen and cut the smaller ones in half and the larger ones into four pieces, making sure they were all about the same size.
She lit the fire to boil water, and when the water boiled, put the bamboo shoots into the pot and blanch them for about five minutes. She then took them out according to the time.
Hold it in a clean wooden basin, place it outside the cave, and use a dustpan to dry it.
When Lin Wan came back with the empty wooden basin, the two siblings had already peeled the remaining bamboo shoots.
"Sister-in-law, are these used to pickle bamboo shoots?" Li Ke asked.
In the past, her family only dried bamboo shoots, and almost no one knew how to pickle them, so she was curious about how to make it and wondered if the pickled bamboo shoots would taste good.
The bamboo shoots for pickling cannot be soaked in raw water, so Lin Wan sat down and peeled the bamboo shoots one by one, and the two siblings also helped obediently.
Everything was ready. Lin Wan cut the bamboo shoots into appropriate pieces and prepared to pickle them.
She put the chopped bamboo shoots into a prepared oil-free and water-free ceramic pot, turned to the stove and brought out a bowl of rice soup left over from making rice in the morning, with salt already added to it.
Carefully pour the rice soup into the clay pot until it covers the bamboo shoots.
Li Ke saw this scene and said in surprise: "Sister-in-law, is it so easy to pickle sour bamboo shoots?"
"Yes, just add salt to the rice soup, seal it and leave it out for 25 days before you can eat it."
Lin Wan covered the pottery jar and placed it in a cool corner.
At this time, Xiaobai ran into the kitchen. Lin Wan took a look and thought that its mouth was injured, with some red blood clots.
He quickly called it over, squatted down, held it and checked it, and when he touched it with his hand, he found that it was not blood, but tomato juice.
Lin Wan immediately understood that the little guy must have stolen the first ripe tomato.
I don’t know if it’s because it often follows Li Ke to the vegetable fields, but it seems to be able to tell which are its own fields, and it only eats cucumbers from its own fields.