Chapter 32
Buying Food
Li Yu went home and filtered out the soaked moldy bean cloves and placed them in a sauce jar. She poured in the white wine, peppe, and salt and canola oil according to the ratio. After mixing them well, she placed them in the courtyard to dry. When she returned to the house, she placed the salt and white wine in the chili sauce according to the ratio. She stirred them evenly and placed them there for backup. Then, she started a fire and started to fry the chili to make the peas and cabbage sauce.
Zhaodi used salt to dry the peas and brought them into the kitchen for Li Yu to use. The two cousins worked quietly and cooperated well.
When Li Yu saw that it was about time, she went to the wasteland to bring the ox home. After setting up the ox cart, she sent the pickled vegetables to Shun Feng Inn.
Shopkeeper Liu smiled when he saw Li Yu. “Xiaoyu, we still have to make a trip. We are ordering another 300 cans.”
“Okay, Uncle Liu, I’ll go back immediately.” Li Yu unloaded the goods and paid the bill with Shopkeeper Liu before turning around to drive the ox cart back.
As soon as Li Yu reached home, she called for Zhaodi and Lai Di. “Cousin, come and help me move the pickled vegetables.” The two sisters hurriedly ran out. Li Yu smiled and said, “I have an order for 300 jars. Fortunately, I filled a few hundred jars yesterday. Otherwise, I would have been delayed.”
Laidi smiled happily. “Cousin, there must be more people who know about our pickled vegetables. It looks like we have to make a little more.”
“Yes! I’ll start filling cans when I get back from the delivery.” Li Yu sent the pickled vegetables to the inn in a huff and returned home to start filling cans with the Zhaodi sisters.
The three of them busied themselves until Li Qing returned and realized that they had yet to cook.
Li Yu smiled. “There’s no time to cook. Let’s just have the soup.”
The few of them smiled and nodded. Li Yu made the soup with noodles. Li Qing, Zhaodi, and the others ate until they were slurping and kept praising Li Yu’s cooking.
After eating, Li Qing and Xiao An went to the forest. They dug until it was not far from school time before they rushed to school.
Li Yu decided that the children here were really sensible. As long as they had food to eat and work, no one needed to worry.
The three of them busied themselves until before dinner. The packed pickled vegetables filled the entire house. After counting, Li Yu realized that there were only about 200 jars of meat sauce left. She planned to send the wild boars in the space to the He family to prepare so she can make them into meat sauce.
After dinner, Li Yu lit the oil lamp and mixed the bean paste and chili sauce in proportion. She moved the sauce jar to the wall and placed it in two rows. She scooped a layer of bean paste into the sauce jar and added a layer of vegetable oil. She placed the bean paste half a foot away from the edge of the jar and stopped, leaving some space for the bean paste to ferment and spread outside the sauce jar.
Li Qing held the oil lamp and looked at Li Yu. “Sister, Sir asked me to thank you for the pickled vegetables.”
“Oh! If your teacher likes it, send more to him next time. Ah Qing, put the oil lamp on the bamboo rack and rest early.”
Zhaodi pointed at Laidi, who was dozing off under the eaves. “Ah Qing, go to sleep. It seems like I fell asleep as soon as it got dark.”
Li Qing shook his head. “None of you are sleeping.” Li Yu took the oil lamp from Li Qing’s hand. “Be good and call Cousin back to the house to sleep.”
Ah Qing watched as Li Yu nodded and put down the oil lamp. She went over to wake up the siblings and they went back to their rooms to sleep. Li Yu and Zhaodi were busy until midnight before they mixed all the bean slices, covered them, and placed them in the courtyard to ferment.
Li Yu went to the backyard to check that the door was closed properly and sent a bundle of grass to the ox before returning to the house to rest.
Early the next morning, she stirred the bean paste in the sauce jar and placed the bamboo lid upright against the jar. She opened the jar and began to tan.
It took them several days to make all the peas, peppers, and vegetables in the courtyard into pickled vegetables.
Li Mei set up a shed and brought the sisters back to Dongshan Village to help take care of the construction site. Laidi carried her rabbit and said to Li Yu, “Cousin, when the house is fixed, I’ll come back and spend time with you.”
Li Yu stroked her soft hair and smiled. “Sure! I’ll wait for you to come back.”
Li Mei reminded Li Yu, “Be careful at home. When Aunt’s house is repaired, I can come over and help you make pickled vegetables.”
“Okay.” Li Yu sent Li Mei and her daughters away and returned to the house.
Li Mei bought the foundation in East Mountain Village, which was close to Xishan Village. There was also a 30-acre mountain behind the homestead. The title deed and the house deed cost ten taels of silver together.
Li Yu’s soy sauce business was also on track. Even the least sold could sell sixty to seventy cans a day.
Li Yu knew that there would be less and less peas and chili as the weather turned cold, so she put all the retracted peas and chili into the space.
After Li Mei’s family returned, it was much more convenient for Li Yu to retrieve things from her space. She sent the wild boar to the He family and had it made it into minced meat.
Li Yu was afraid that if she wasn’t at home, Shopkeeper Liu would not be able get the goods and lose the customers. Hence she would increase the number of pickled sauces in Shopkeeper Liu’s inn to 100 jars. After making arrangements, she stored all the pickled sauces into her space to preserve them.
The straw in the field had also dried up. Li Yu spent half a day collecting all the straw and stacking it in the woodshed.
After another five to six days, Chen Yaohui and the others followed Li Yu’s instructions and scattered fertile soil onto the wasteland twice before plowing it deeply and flattening it. Only then did the wasteland finally open up.
Li Yu paid the wages to the few of them. After the helpers left, she said to Chen Yaohui, “Uncle Chen, I’m strong and eat a lot. Also, Ah Qing is growing. After paying taxes, I only have three to four catties of grain left. I want to buy some grains or rice to put at home. Do you know which family has a lot of grain?”
“My family sells twenty to thirty catties of grain every year. How much do you want? Buy it from my family!” Chen Yaohui said with a smile.
Li Yu knew that the village head was in charge of the Chen family’s affairs. She smiled and said to Chen Yaohui, “Uncle Chen, I’ll buy 30 stones from your house. Tell the village head and grandfather that I’ll give them as much as they pay.”
When Chen Yaohui heard this, he heaved a sigh of relief. If he sold less, he could still make the decision for a cheaper price. If he sold too much, the rest of the family would grumble. The price would be the same as others, and it would be easier for him to report.
“Alright, I’ll send it to you when I get back.” Chen Yaohui strode away.
Li Yu called An over. An looked at Li Yu uneasily. “Sister Li, I’ll go home after cutting the cow grass.”
“An, I want to ask if it’s okay for you to help at my house. I’ll give you four hundred copper coins a month. Are you willing to eat lunch at my house?”
An didn’t expect Li Yu to hire him. He said gratefully to Li Yu, “Sister Li, you don’t have to give me so much. I know you’re taking care of me, but I’m not worth that much. Just give me ten copper coins a day.”
Li Yu didn’t expect An to say that, but she decided to respect the child.
“Okay, we’ll do as you say. Is your mother feeling better?”
“Much better. Thank you, Sister Li.” An bowed to Li Yu and happily led the cow away.
After more than an hour, the two Chen brothers arrived in an ox cart. Chen Yaohui’s elder brother, Chen Yaozu, pointed at the grains and said to Li Yu with a smile, “Xiaoyu, the grains are all dried. They’re all this year’s new grains. 600 copper coins for one stone. This cart contains 10 catties.”
Li Yu smiled and nodded. “Alright, Uncle Chen. I’ll give you the money when you send it all over.”
Chen Yaozu chuckled. “It’s fine. I’m not afraid that you’ll run away.”
The few of them carried the food into the house. Li Yu asked them to put it under the eaves. The brothers went back to get more food.
After running back and forth three times, they finally managed to get all the food to Li Yu’s house. Li Yu paid the money and sent Chen Yaohui and his brother away. Just as they returned to the courtyard, the family selling piglets came with two piglets. Madam Xie smiled brightly and said, “Xiaoyu, the piglets have already been raised. Is your pigpen still in the backyard? I’ll carry it over for you.”
“It’s still in the backyard.” Li Yu brought the Xie couple to the backyard and locked the piglets in the pigpen. Li Yu paid the rest of the money, and the Xie couple left happily.