Flowers in full bloom

Hualei was about to fetch water to wash the remaining peppers, but Kong Xiaoya, who was standing beside her, ran up, took the bucket from Hualei's hand, quickly drew water from the well, poured it into the large wooden basin beside her, poured the peppers into the basin, washed them carefully, and was about to put the washed peppers back into the bamboo basket when Hualei stopped her, "Sister Xiaoya, go find a clean bamboo basket and dry the peppers." Xiaoya nodded and went to find a bamboo basket.

Hualei looked at her back and sighed. Perhaps because she was returning home after a divorce, Kong Xiaoya spoke very little and was almost a semi-transparent presence in the village, but she was very good at doing things. She was also literate, and she must have learned it from Brother Kong since she was a child.

Kong Xiaoya brought a bamboo basket, placed it on two long benches, and then poured the peppers into the basket and spread them out. "Sister Xiaoya, have you ever made pickled cucumbers?" Kong Xiaoya nodded, "Okay, we'll pickle peppers later. The ingredients are similar to pickled cucumbers. You prepare the relevant things and prepare a few jars that can hold one pound of pepper." Xiaoya nodded, went to the field to dig some garlic, pulled some green onions, washed them, and hung them in the bamboo basket.

Half an hour later, Aunt Zhao had prepared dinner, and everyone had dinner at two tables. Hualei called everyone together, first distributing last month's salary to everyone, and then distributing a batch of newly purchased cotton cloth and cotton.

The women in the family were asked to take time out to make winter clothes and quilts for the people on the farm. Although it would take some time before they could wear winter clothes, Hua Lei was worried that the farm would be busy and that they wouldn't be able to finish the work in a short time, and wouldn't be able to wear them when the weather got cold. So she distributed the clothes early and made them slowly, which touched everyone.

After distributing the monthly salary and winter clothes and quilts, Hua Lei asked Uncle Zhao about the remaining fruits on the trees, and learned from Uncle Zheng about the arrangements for the subsequent rice harvest.

Hualei talked about the sales of peach syrup in the shop, praised the efforts of all the people in the village, and finally arranged the next things.

"I originally thought that it would take at most half a month to finish making the peaches on our farm. Uncle Zhao just said that it would take at least twenty days. Then, in four or five days, the rice on the farm will be harvested, and Uncle Zheng and his family will probably have to go and look after it. The villagers nearby may also have their own harvests to do and won't be able to come over to do part-time work. In this case, it will probably take more than twenty days to complete the production of the peach syrup. Don't worry, take your time, and make sure that hygiene conditions are maintained and that no mistakes are made.

I just went to the hillside behind to check and saw that the peppers were almost ripe, although they were not red yet, so I wanted to make a batch of pickled peppers before they turned red. Next, I divided the tasks. Uncle Zhao and Brothers Da Hu and Daniu were still in charge of picking and transporting peaches, while Aunt Zhao and Aunt Zheng were in charge of making peach syrup.

Uncle Zheng and Brother Dacai and Brother Xiaocai are in charge of the rice harvest. These few days, they will organize farm tools, sickles, etc., and try not to run out of supplies. Then Sister Xiaoya, Brother Dacai and his wife, and Zhao Xiaohua will lead several children from the farm to pick and pickle peppers. I will tell you the specific method later. When pickling peppers, don't rush. Try to pick the big peppers. But once the peppers turn red, they can't be picked and pickled. Sister Xiaoya, please pay attention to this."

Hualei looked at Kong Xiaoya, who nodded nervously. "After pickling a batch of green peppers, I'll make another dish with the red peppers, so don't force it, okay?" Hualei was afraid that the girls would think that the red peppers were useless and just force them to be pickled, so she gave another reminder.

"Also, when picking or chopping peppers, remember to cover your mouth and nose with a clean cotton cloth to avoid choking." Hua Lei paused and said, "Brother Xiao Kong, you have to keep an eye on everything, especially when you need to count, please help and make sure you don't make any mistakes." Brother Xiao Kong nodded.

"If you have nothing to do, just go ahead. Sister Xiaoya and Sister Dacai, come with me to the kitchen. I'll teach you how to pickle peppers." Several men went downstairs to wash the peaches they had just picked. There was no need to turn on the lights to wash the peaches, so while it was still early to go to bed, they washed the peaches and dried them first, so that when the nearby villagers came tomorrow, they could peel and cut them into pieces, saving a lot of time.

Among the female relatives, Hua Lei asked Xiao Kong's mother, who was old and weak, to go back to her room first. Xiao Kong's wife was pregnant, so Hua Lei also asked her to go back to her room to rest.

Almost everyone else followed them to the kitchen. Aunt Zhao lit the oil lamp and said to Hua Lei, "Boss, are there any preliminary preparations needed to pickle peppers? We can help, and we'll be out when they're pickled." Aunt Zhao thought that Hua Lei's pickled peppers had to be kept secret, so she offered to help with the preliminary preparations.

Hua Lei smiled and said, "That's not necessary. The reason why I asked Xiaoya and Dacai's wife to be in charge of pickling peppers is that I felt that on the one hand, you and Aunt Zheng were already making peach syrup and didn't have time to take care of this, and on the other hand, they couldn't control the villagers who came to help, so it was a bit of a waste of them."

Aunt Zheng thought of the tender face of Dacai's wife, and she was embarrassed to see the women who cut the meat sometimes stuffing it into their mouths. She really couldn't help but admire Hualei's foresight. You know, Hualei only came to the manor occasionally, but she seemed to know everything that happened in the manor.

At this time, Hua Lei asked Xiao Yajie to put oil in a ceramic pot, pour in the shredded old ginger and spices and stir-fry until fragrant, pour in half a jar of soy sauce, add a little yellow and white sugar, boil over medium heat for one minute and then turn off the heat, add chopped green onions, let cool, then pour in a certain proportion of aged vinegar and stir evenly.

Ask Dacai's wife to remove the dried chili peppers and cut them into four cloves vertically, flatten the garlic and cut them into slices, mix them with the chili peppers, shake them a few times, pour them into a clean, waterless jar, press them slightly, and then pour in the cooled sauce, so that the sauce slightly covers the chili slices. Finally, pour a little cooking wine and seal it. It can be eaten after six hours.

Because Kong Xiaoya was literate, she took note carefully when Hua Lei said it again, and then wrote it down on paper with a pen.

"You may need to adjust the saltiness when the time comes. Don't make it too salty. If it's too salty, the shelf life will be shortened. Taste it tomorrow morning. If it's about right, do it this way. This is called pickled green peppers. Next, I'll teach you how to pickle peppers. This is relatively simple, similar to pickling cucumbers, but it takes three to four days to pickle before you can eat it."

As he said this, he asked Dacai's wife to pour the remaining chili slices into a clean ceramic basin, add a small amount of oil, an appropriate amount of salt, a little bit of sugar, add the flattened garlic slices, stir evenly with dry chopsticks, wait for a cup of tea, find a clean dry jar, pour the chili slices into it, pour all the pickled juice under the ceramic basin into the jar, slightly compact it, and seal it. Leave it at room temperature for three to four days.