Traveling through ancient times, I led my family to prosperity

On the third day of the Chinese New Year, Sheng Lanhua and her husband Zhou Shuren took their son Xiaojin and daughter Xiaoyin back to the old Sheng family. Last year, Lanhua's family had an extremely hard life. If it weren't for the old Sheng family sending some relief food back every now and then, her family would have been unable to survive.

Xiaolan practiced archery at home with Shengxuan, Zhang Qingfeng and Zhang Qingnian. This year, Xiaolan's archery skills have improved and her strength has increased a lot. In the first month of the year, Xiaolan's family didn't have much to do. The villagers lived a tight life and didn't have any banquets. However, on the eighth day of the first month, the shopkeeper Bao invited their family to sit over for a feast.

"The weather is hot now, and we haven't eaten much pork and roe deer meat at home. I'm afraid they will go bad if left for too long. Let's make them into jar meat." Zhang put forward her idea while eating.

"Okay, it would be a shame if such good meat went bad." Xin nodded in agreement with her daughter.

After dinner, the women began to cook the meat. First, wash the meat and then cut it into pieces. Put the meat in a pot, add water and salt to the pot, and cook until the chopsticks can poke the meat. Take out the cooked meat and dry it, then apply white wine on the meat, and then apply brown sugar to color it. Pour animal oil into the pot, and when the oil is hot, put the meat in the oil pan to fry. When Xiao Lan was practicing archery with Sheng Xuan and the brothers Zhang Qingfeng and Zhang Qingnian in the outer courtyard, she smelled the aroma of meat. When bubbles appear on the surface of the pork, you can take it out. When the meat cools down, put it in the jar. When putting the meat in, fill the gaps in the jar. Put a handful of soybeans in the jar to prevent it from changing its taste. When the jar is full of meat, put salt in the oil for frying the meat, pour the cooled oil into the jar meat, and cover the meat completely. In this way, the jar meat is ready.

Xiaolan's jars were large, so she made three jars. After the lard cooled, the surface of the meat in the jar was sealed with a layer of white lard. The meat in the jar made in this way could be stored for a year without going bad.

When eating, use chopsticks to push away the lard on the surface and pick out the meat inside. Jar meat is more flavorful than fresh pork. Take out the amount of meat you want to use. It can be stir-fried or made into braised pork.

The next day after the jar meat was made, Xiao Lan couldn't help asking Zhang to make some braised pork. Zhang had no choice but to take out four pieces of meat from the jar, cut them into strips, and put them on two plates. No seasoning was needed for the meat. She added hot water to the pot, put a grate on it, put the two plates of meat in the pot, and steamed them over high heat.

"Mom, this jar of meat is so delicious." Xiao Lan ate the jar of meat with bean rice while praising Zhang's cooking skills. She couldn't help but sigh at the wisdom of the ancients. There were no refrigerators in ancient times. In order to store meat, they could think of such a great way to store meat. It really opened her eyes.

"You are hungry because of practicing archery, so everything tastes delicious to you. If you want to eat, mother will continue to make it for you tomorrow." Zhang said with a smile.

The whole family doted on Xiao Lan, and Zhang was no less so. Xin picked up a piece of braised pork with chopsticks and put it in Xiao Lan's bowl, saying, "The child is in the period of growth, so she should eat more."

In the blink of an eye, it was the eighth day of the first lunar month. On this day, Xiaolan's family, Zhang Shanfeng, Xin, and Xiaoyan set out for the Bao family in the town. Originally, Zhang Qingfeng and Zhang Qingnian were also asked to go, but Zhang Shanfeng said that someone had to stay at home to look after the house. There was a lot of food at home, and it would be troublesome if someone broke in.

The layout of Bao's house is very similar to Xiaolan's, it is a three-story house. When the family entered, they heard familiar conversations. It turned out that Zhao Dongjia and Xu were also there.

Zhao Dongjia is Zhao's eldest brother, but Zhao is a concubine's daughter, while Zhao Dongjia is the eldest son. Every year when the Bao family entertains, they will send an invitation to the Zhao family, and Zhao Dongjia can attend once in ten times. The Zhao family is large and powerful, and there are many social events in the first month of the year, which Bao Zhanggui and Zhao can understand. Zhao is worthy of being a woman from a big mansion. She knows that her family is her foundation. Only when her family is better, her position will be more stable. When the invitation was delivered to the Zhao family this time, a small piece of soap was handed over with it, and it was written in the invitation that this was a return gift from Xiaolan's family to her family.

Seeing Sheng Xuan and Zhang Shanfeng and his group coming, Zhao Dongjia, Bao Zhanggui and Xu Zhanggui hurriedly stood up to greet them.

After a round of greetings, the men drank tea and chatted in the outer courtyard, while the women were taken by Zhao to the inner courtyard for tea and snacks.

Just as Xiao Lan was about to leave with Zhang's group, Shopkeeper Xu asked her to stay. "Miss Xiao Lan, please stay. Today, Shopkeeper Bao has invited all of his family members. It's the same if you stay here and drink tea."

Xiao Lan was young, and there was not much separation between boys and girls among farmers' children. Besides, Sheng Xuan and Zhang Shanfeng were still around, and Shopkeeper Bao, Shopkeeper Xu and Mr. Zhao were also acquaintances, so Xiao Lan stayed.

"They are all talking about business, which we can't understand. Let's go and talk about what we are interested in." Zhao was very talkative and took Xin and Zhang to the inner courtyard.

Xiao Lan wondered, isn't Tianxianglou closed? Is there something that requires her presence?

Zhang Shanfeng was deeply touched. What Manager Xu said represented the thoughts of the Zhao family. It seemed that Xiaolan's status in their hearts was much higher than Shengxuan's. Otherwise, why would they have Xiaolan present when discussing business instead of talking to Shengxuan?

When Shopkeeper Xu took out the soap, Xiao Lan understood and said with a smile, "This is a return gift from my family to Shopkeeper Bao's family. We said we would air it for a month. How come you have already used it?"

Shopkeeper Bao smiled embarrassedly and said, "I have good use of it at home, so I gave a piece to my brother-in-law, but I didn't expect them to be so interested in the soap."

Xiao Lan is clear-headed. She knows that the market for soap will be very large. There is no soap on the market now. Rich people usually use soap nuts to wash clothes, while poor people only use clean water and a mallet to wash clothes. Besides, soap can be used not only for washing clothes, but also for bathing, washing hair, washing face, and washing hands. It is a must-have item every day. This will be a huge market, and it is an undivided market. This will be larger than the market for tofu. Once you use soap, you can't get rid of it.

Zhao Dongjia is a businessman with a far-sighted vision. Since he started working with Xiaolan's family last year, he has always believed that Xiaolan is his destined benefactor. Otherwise, he would not have sent a letter of silver to Xiaolan's family when they moved into their new home. It is rare for a farmer to receive a letter of silver as a gift when they move into their new home, which shows how much Zhao Dongjia values ​​Xiaolan's family.

Originally, Shopkeeper Xu wanted to visit Xiaolan's house on the tenth day of the first lunar month, but yesterday, Zhao Dongjia called him to the county town and asked him to try the soap. Shopkeeper Xu has been with Zhao Dongjia for so many years. Although he is in the restaurant business, he has a sharp eye. He quickly realized that as long as the soap is on the market, it will soon become popular. Although the economy in the town and the county is still sluggish, the Zhao family is big and powerful, and they also have a shop in the capital city. Now the capital city is becoming more and more prosperous.