Eating melons

Liu Jiaojiao didn't seem unhappy to see the two of them staying silent. After all, she didn't want an answer. "What are you guys going to do with those backpacks? Aren't you going to work today?"

Wei Wei: "Let's go to Aunt Liu's house. They're pickling sauerkraut today. Let's go see how they do it and buy some Chinese cabbage and radishes. We'll pickle them too. After all, the winter here is quite long, so we have to pickle them."

Liu Jiaojiao: "Then let's go with you!"

After saying that, he went back to get the backpack, and in the end the two-person group became a five-person group.

As for the two people who didn't come, they were Li Zhibin and Xiao Xuemu, who had not been seen since early morning.

But even here, Wei Wei and Jiang Qi felt that they would not go. After all, if Xiao Xuemu had space, he should have a lot of cabbage and would not need to buy much.

Xiao Xuemu and Li Zhibin, who were being talked about by the two men, had already arrived in the town. The town was much closer than the county town, and it took them more than an hour to reach the town at their walking speed.

As usual, Xiao Xuemu first tricked Li Zhibin into buying things, and then he put the goods in the rented house.

Today he planned to get rid of all the domestic chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, etc. except those he ate himself, but he would keep the pheasants and ducks.

The Red Star Brigade is backed by the mountains, so it would be easier to explain these wild goods to Li Zhibin, as long as they are not seen by the people in the brigade often.

But it's not the same for those pets in the house. After all, there are no secrets in the brigade. Although no one will say much about whose house they exchanged things, everyone knows it in their hearts.

If they eat it often but no one has heard of them exchanging it for someone else's house, then they are doomed. Even if the people in the team don't tell others, Li Zhibin won't be able to hide it at all.

For example, during the previous autumn harvest, he took out a mixture of domestic and wild animals.

But it’s different with pheasants and wild ducks. There’s no problem if people see them once or twice, but they can’t be seen too often, otherwise they will be accused of undermining socialism and he’ll be doomed.

While they were working hard to make money, five people from the Red Star Brigade also came to the captain's house.

The captain's yard was full of people, not only Liu Aiying and her three daughters-in-law, but also Zhao Xing and her daughters-in-law.

This is how it is when working in the countryside: today your family helps my family, and tomorrow my family will help your family.

Jiang Qi greeted everyone as soon as he saw them, "Aunt Liu, Aunt Zhao, and the sisters-in-law, are you pickling sauerkraut? We're here to learn from you."

Wei Wei, who was standing next to her, couldn't help laughing when she heard the two words "Auntie".

During the time he spent in the countryside, Jiang Qi's Mandarin has been distorted. Lately, he has been using the Chinese accent unconsciously, but it's not as natural as that of northerners and it's a bit obvious.

Although I was a little distorted and used some catchphrases, it was okay. After all, Hunan Province is famous for its plastic Mandarin, so even if I was a little distorted, I didn't feel anything, it wasn't particularly obvious.

But Jiang Qi's Mandarin used to be quite standard, but now the crookedness is particularly obvious.

Although Jiang Qi heard Wei Wei laughing, he didn't know she was laughing at her accent, so he didn't pay attention.

Liu Aiying looked up and saw five people at the door. "Jiang Zhiqing, you're here to learn how to pickle sauerkraut. Lao Zhao and I are so skilled that you can trust us. The pickled sauerkraut we make will be sour but not rotten."

Jiang Qi: "Okay! I'll trouble Aunt Liu and Aunt Zhao. We will definitely study hard."

After that, several people came forward to help, but seeing everyone picking at the cabbage leaves, Wei Wei and Jiang Qi felt a pang of pain.

These leaves may not look that pretty, but they are all edible. Just pick them up and throw them away, leaving only the cabbage core.

Jiang Qi: "Auntie, why did you break off all these good cabbage leaves? They are all edible, what a pity!"

Liu Aiying found it funny to see Wei Wei and Jiang Qi's painful expressions. "There are some requirements for the cabbage used in pickling sauerkraut. We only want the cabbage cores, and we cannot accept rotten leaves or worm holes, otherwise the whole jar of sauerkraut will go bad.

And these leaves are not thrown away. The good ones are eaten at night, and the rest are blanched in water and dried. The bad ones are used to feed the chickens.

After hearing this, several people nodded in agreement. It was indeed true. There must be bacteria and mold in the rotten places. If the vegetables were put in, the bacteria and mold would multiply, and then the whole pot of vegetables would be rotten.

Liu Aiying: "The cabbage for pickling has to be chopped and left to dry in the field for two days before it can be pickled."

Wei Wei: "Doesn't this need to be washed?"

Liu Aiying: "These are all cabbage cores, they're very clean! No need to wash them, wouldn't it be a waste to dry them after washing? And we'll wash them when we eat them!"

Wei Wei and Jiang Qi nodded. It turned out that the purpose of drying the crops was to dry out the moisture.

Liu Aiying took the coarse salt and cabbage and walked towards the big vat. This vat was much bigger than the ones they had.

Liu Aiying: "This kind of coarse salt is used to pickle sauerkraut. Layer the cabbage with a layer of salt, and lay the cabbage flat and tightly."

Just like that, add a layer of salt and a layer of cabbage, and soon the jar is almost full of cabbage.

Then Liu Aiying took two clean sacks and spread them on top. Zhang's eldest daughter-in-law climbed on them and started jumping around on the sacks.

This scene left the five people stunned. They had never seen this way of pickling vegetables before.

Jiang Qi opened her mouth and said, "Auntie, won't the tank be damaged like this?"

Liu Aiying waved her hands when she heard this. "No, it's very firm! And the cabbage needs to be pressed firmly to prevent it from spoiling. The firmer the better."

Zhang's eldest daughter-in-law jumped around for a long time before coming down. Liu Aiying pressed the cabbage and nodded.

Then he brought over some cabbages that didn't look as good as the first ones, and put them on top in a layer of cabbages and a layer of salt. When the cabbages were full, he placed a large stone that looked very heavy on top.

Liu Aiying: "The top layer cannot be pickled and will definitely go bad, so just use this bad cabbage. Don't use good ones, or it will be wasted."

This jar is pickled, and Zhao Xing next to it has also pickled a jar.

Liu Aiying clapped her hands and said, "Alright, let's pickle these two jars first and wait until the cabbages from the brigade arrive."

Hearing this, the five of them paused. After pickling so much, they still had to pickle more. Do they have to eat sauerkraut for every meal?

However, considering the long winter in Northeast China and the heavy snow blocking the mountains, it may be difficult to open the door.

Not to mention this era, even in the 21st century, people in Northeast China have to stock up on vegetables, so Wei Wei and Jiang Qi also understand.

Liu Jiaojiao: "Does this need to be pickled? Can we finish it?"

Liu Aiying: "How can we not finish it? Even if we pickle two more jars, it still wouldn't be enough! Winter lasts for half a year! By then, we'll just have radishes, cabbages, and potatoes. If you don't stock up, we won't even have grass roots to chew."

Liu Jiaojiao, Wu Mei and Yu Xi all took this seriously when they heard it. They had just arrived and didn't know how cold and severe the winter was here, but they had heard about it.

Now after hearing what Liu Aiying said, I plan to stock up on more vegetables.

Wei Wei and Jiang Qi were fine. They had access to the system mall to buy groceries, so they only bought a few more than they needed to. Although they didn't eat them often, they could sell any leftovers to the system.

Jiang Qi: "Aunt Liu, we're planning to pickle some sauerkraut and wanted to buy some Chinese cabbage from you. Do you have any?"

Liu Aiying was stunned. "Are you all going to buy some? I don't have that much here. My fourth daughter also wants to pickle some. She's in town, and her family doesn't have that much, so she'll be back soon!"

Liu Jiaojiao, Wu Mei and Yu Xi who were standing next to them quickly said no when they heard it.

Yu Xi: "Aunt Liu, the three of us have agreed with Aunt Zhao to go to Aunt Zhao's house to buy it."

Liu Aiying: "There's still some for the two of you, but the team will also have a cabbage harvest soon, so you can get a lot. There's no need to buy too much now."

Jiang Qi: "Let's save those for fresh food. Let's buy some pickled cabbage first. We can each make a jar. The jar isn't as big as yours, but it's about the same size as the one you use for making soybean paste."

Liu Aiying: "This isn't enough for the two of you to eat for the whole winter!"

Jiang Qi: "It's okay. We can share a lot of vegetables by then, and we'll pickle other vegetables. I'll go mushroom picking with you in a couple of days, and buy more dried mushrooms and vegetables."

Wei Wei also nodded. "Compared to pickled cabbage, we prefer dried vegetables. Dried vegetables can be used to make soup and can reduce internal heat."

Hearing this, Liu Aiying nodded and said, "That's true. I heard from those educated youth that you people in the south like to drink soup after all, so it's the same if you stock up on some dried vegetables.

But if I stock up on dried vegetables, I might not have enough at home.”