Eating melons and raising children in the period literature

Today is Yang Qingqing's rest time again

The villagers have been busy pickling sauerkraut these days, and Yang Qingqing wants to learn from Zhao Xiaohua and Ma Da Niang today.

"Auntie, here I come! What kind of vegetables shall we pickle today? Let me learn."

"That's easy. I've pickled everything else, and the only thing left is the cabbage. I pickle it whole. No need to cut it, so it's convenient. It'll be delicious when it's ready, whether it's for making dumplings or stewing."

"Okay, ma'am, how many kinds have you made? Are they all the same?"

"How can that be! But it's almost the same. I'll go help you tomorrow. I'm the one who pickles the vegetables at your second sister-in-law's house every year. She tried to learn it several times but never succeeded. Later, I stopped her from doing it because I was afraid she would waste it."

Yang Qingqing thought her second sister-in-law looked smart and capable, but she didn't expect that she didn't know how to pickle sauerkraut.

"Everyone is different! Second sister-in-law has done great things in other aspects!"

"Well, it's okay. Just wash the jar and dry it, making sure there is no water in it. Then add a layer of salt to each cabbage. Remember to make sure the amount is enough, otherwise it will go bad easily. Finally, put the press stone on it and it's done. Simple, isn't it?"

"It doesn't look difficult to me, but I don't know if I can do it well. Auntie, please teach me tomorrow."

"Okay, I pickled five kinds in total, including sauerkraut and pickled vegetables. Do you want them all? That would require a lot of preparation. Do you have any at home? Do you want me to pick some for you from my vegetable garden?"

"What do you want? I don't know. What did you do, Auntie?"

"I also pickled cabbage, mustard greens, shredded radish, pickled cucumbers, and green cabbage. They are all pickled vegetables, as well as green cabbage and Chinese cabbage stems. They are delicious when eaten plain, and can also be used as stuffing or to make pancakes. The pickling time is also short, so you can eat them now. Do you want to try it? The others will take a few days."

"Yes, I really like the pickled cabbage you make. I ate it last time and it was really delicious."

"There are many people in our village who are better than me. I'll take you to meet them when I have time. They know much more than I do. Some of what I learned was learned from others. Let me tell you about Aunt Wang in the village. She can pickle more than a dozen kinds of vegetables, and each one has a different flavor. She's amazing."

Yang Qingqing thought it was amazing. She had seen so many kinds of pickles in supermarkets before. She didn't expect there were so many kinds of pickles. It really opened her eyes.

Aunt Ma used chopsticks to pick up a piece of vegetable from one of the jars. Yang Qingqing could only tell it was cabbage.

Aunt Ma indicated that she could just eat it directly. She took it and took a bite.

It's a little sour, but not too sour. It tastes very good and refreshing, and I can't stop eating it.

Ma Da Niang fished out another ball-shaped object and said

"Try this for you. This is the wild stem. It's also delicious."

"Well, I've never seen it before. I heard Wen Dan say before that she loves to eat it with porridge in winter."

"That's right, that girl can eat a whole bowl of porridge every time she drinks it."

Yang Qingqing looked at the thing as big as his fist and wondered how much salt would exceed the standard if he ate one in one meal.

When she took the first bite, she was immediately captured. She thought he could also eat a bowl of porridge.

How do I describe the taste? It's sour, crunchy, and chewy. It's really delicious.

"Auntie, it's delicious. I want some too, but I didn't buy the stem. Do you know if anyone in our village has it?"

"What do you need? Let's buy everything today to save trouble. Your sister-in-law Changgen has extra of this stuff. I'll take you there later."

"I don't know either. I don't know the villagers well. There are only the cabbages from my second brother's yard and our yard. I think there are more than 100 kilograms of cabbage.

The ones in our yard are still young, we planted them too late. Do you think it will work?"

"What vegetables are you going to pickle? Do you know?"

"I really don't know! I haven't pickled anything before, so why not do the same as yours? See what you need. I bought seven jars in total, two large ones, three medium ones, and two small ones. You can arrange them as you see fit. I'll go buy whatever you need later."

"Okay, then let's pickle some Chinese cabbage. Let's pickle some cabbage, celery, beans, and peppers. This dish is delicious when eaten as a pickle, and it can also be stewed with potatoes and other things. It's also delicious without adding meat.

The rest I want is some shredded radish, some sauerkraut with green cabbage, and a pickled cucumber, okay?

We just happen to have some cucumbers, radishes and cabbages in our garden. You can buy a little, it doesn't cost much, but you can't be polite to Auntie. The remaining small jars can be kept for pickling Laba garlic and other things during the Laba Festival. What do you think?"

"Okay, I'll listen to you. How much more do you think I should buy? Is there anyone in the village selling it?"

"It's not okay to talk about buying and selling, you have to pay attention! We are all exchanging, do you understand?

Don’t you know that this year a man from our village went to the county town and was reported for saying something like “buy or sell”? Now he is on the farm. You should be more careful. We don’t know when he will come back!”

"I was wrong. I said change. I'll remember it and I won't make the same mistake again."

Yang Qingqing also felt that what she had just said was wrong. In this special era, it is not uncommon for words to cause trouble. The most important thing to pay attention to is the words you use in daily conversation.

"Don't worry about it. Old Li's family has some extra. We'll go over and exchange them later. What are you going to exchange? In our village, we can usually exchange a lot of coarse grains. One pound of sorghum flour can be exchanged for ten pounds of cabbage and radish. How much are you going to exchange?"

"Auntie, why does he have so many vegetables? I'm going to exchange it for cornmeal, maybe 20 kilograms."

"It's because he has a large family. When they were given private plots, his family was neatly allocated two mu of land, while other families only had one mu at most. Do you think his family doesn't have much talent? If you exchange it with cornmeal, one pound of cornmeal can be exchanged for eleven pounds of cabbage."

"Why? Aren't they all coarse grains?"

"People are different, and food is not the same. Bring it here later and I'll change it for you. Don't worry, it will be the full weight. It's not safe for you to go to his house."

"Why? I'm not worried about you. I'm just curious why it's not safe for me to go."

"Although he has a large family and a lot of land, there are not many people who can work. The most important thing is that he has a stupid son who always touches young and beautiful girls. People in the village avoid him.

His family is supported by Old Li and his wife, and they are afraid that they will not be able to survive. "

"Isn't there a lot of people in his family? How come he can't make ends meet?"

"I heard people say that it was because Old Li's parents were too shrewd that they killed all their children. Old Li had four brothers and three sisters. Two of the boys were deaf and dumb, and two had half-scissors. One of the three sisters was also deaf and dumb. The remaining two had no problems and were all married.

Among several brothers in the family, only Old Li got married and had five children, two of whom were deaf-mute and one was stupid. So there was only one son and one daughter left who were quite normal.

Old Li spent all his fortune but still couldn't find a wife for his son Li Gouzi, so he finally used Li Meihua to get married. Meihua was very hardworking and pretty, and everyone in the village liked her very much. However, when they thought of her family, no one dared to propose marriage to her. If anyone wanted to, they said they could pay more for the bride price, and the two families would not have any contact in the future.

When Old Li heard this, he refused. After a while, Meihua became an old maid, and finally she married her younger brother Gouzi.

When Yang Qingqing heard what Zhao Xiaohua said, the only feeling she had was that it was a good thing that he didn't turn into a plum blossom, otherwise she would have just run into the wall and died.