Ugly girl only wants to farm

Chapter 252 Japonica Rice

Xu Chaoyan gestured for a long time but still couldn't figure out how to describe the vessel. In her hometown, the round sieve was used to sift wood ash, since it was something that went into the mouth and they wanted to select the finest ash.

Previously, the menstrual pads were selected using a fine sieve, but now the things she's making are meant to be ingested, and she wants to try it herself. She'd only ever seen these things in the countryside before, but had never made them herself.

The old woman was completely bewildered by his gestures and stared blankly for a long time: "I'm asking you what you want to borrow. You've been gesturing for so long, but I still can't figure out what you're going to do with it."

Xu Chaoyan roughly compared the shapes from memory: "It's roughly like a basin, with a layer of gauze at the bottom for sifting. Ugh, I can't really explain it clearly. Never mind, I'll figure it out myself."

She had spent some time in the countryside before. When she was little, the adults would not let the children go out on the fifteenth of July, especially at night, let alone near the river. Some adults would even say that if you hid by the door with a basket on your head, you could see some things. The younger the child, the clearer they could see.

So she has always had a phobia of those things. She had seen those containers before at her maternal grandmother's house, which were basically used to hold noodles and the like.

She shook her head and decided to use a fine sieve to sift out all the debris and make do with it. She had an extra mosquito net from when they moved from town, and it was lying there. Xu Chaoyan gritted her teeth and cut off a piece, intending to sew it into a bag. The mosquito net was neither new nor old, and it had many patches, so it would be perfect as a draining bag.

Seeing her spinning around like a top, the old woman stopped her immediately, looking distressed: "My silly girl, what are you doing? Why did you take this mosquito net down? In the summer, mosquitoes will buzz around and make a racket. This net looks like it can still be used for several more years."

As Xu Chaoyan found her needle and thread basket, she pulled the old woman to sit on a stool by the fire and carefully explained, "Auntie, could you please help me sew a few stitches? I just need a simple cloth bag. My mosquito net only needs a small piece cut off, it won't hurt. We haven't been able to set up our stall for quite some time, have we? I've been researching a new food recently, and I wanted to make it for you to try first. If you think it's good, then we can set up our stall again."

The old woman rubbed her eyes and called out, "Moon Lady, come and lend a hand. My old eyes are getting dim, I don't want to sew something ugly and make you laugh."

Xu Chaoyan took the scissors and trimmed the cloth a little so that it wouldn't look like it had been chewed by a dog.

She really has no talent for needlework; she can cut a piece of cloth so badly it looks like a dog chewed it.

These past few days, Yue Niang has been staying home with her daughter, doing needlework on weekdays. Ya Ya was really frightened by the incident last time. Although she drank some calming soup that day, she was still startled that night and didn't sleep well for several nights in a row. So, Yue Niang has been staying home these past few days coaxing her daughter to do some needlework.

She also sewed summer clothes, as the weather was gradually getting warmer and the family's clothes needed to be prepared in advance. It would definitely be too late if it came to summer.

They had earned quite a bit of money from their stall in the county town, enough to buy a few feet of cloth to make a set of clothes. Before, when they were in town, Yue Niang would alter her own clothes to make them smaller for Ya Ya to wear.

Now that they're in town, Zhang Xuyang's clothes can no longer be so sloppy. He used to wear those half-worn shirts, which made him the laughingstock of many students. Now that he's in the county school, Yue Niang, not wanting her younger brother to lose face in front of others, used the money she earned from her business to buy him several new outfits.

Just then, Yue Niang came over with needle and thread: "Little sister, what are you going to do? Just tell me. Be careful not to prick your hand."

Xu Chaoyan chuckled and said, "Sister, don't expose me. I really don't know anything about needlework. I get a headache just looking at her. You can sew me a bag with a drawstring."

Moon Lady took the piece of mosquito net fabric handed to her and examined it carefully before starting to thread a needle: "What are you trying to do now? You've cut this perfectly good mosquito net into a bag. Are you planning to hide some secret stash of money? But this bag is way too big. When will it ever be full?"

Xu Chaoyan: "Sister, you're teasing me too, asking where I'd get so much hidden money? This bag is a drain bag I made. I'm planning to make a new dish, and I'll make it for you to try tomorrow. Come with me later to buy some rice and pick some vegetables for later."

"Wow! That's so extravagant."

When Zhang Yueniang heard that she wanted to buy rice, she forgot what she was doing and pricked her hand with a needle, making her wince in pain. She then held the needle in her mouth for a long time before she recovered.

"Girl, what are you planning to do now? This rice is expensive. Do you know how much a bushel of rice costs? It's enough for us to earn for several days!"

She thought Xu Chaoyan had recently started craving japonica rice. They usually ate more brown rice and coarse noodles, and only had refined white flour and japonica rice to enjoy during festivals.

It's a bit of a luxury for them now. Xu Chaoyan looked at her with a blank expression: "I don't really know how much a dou of rice costs, but the food I make requires this rice. I'll try making some first. It won't take much, and our costs aren't too high."

Zhang Yueniang picked up the half-finished cloth bag, looked at it, and then nodded in satisfaction before putting it down: "Nowadays, rice costs about thirty coins a dou, which is unaffordable for ordinary people. What are you planning to do with this rice?"

Xu Chaoyan quickly went inside and brought out a small half-bottle of wine, pouring some onto her fingers: "Let's wipe it first, just in case you get tetanus. Let's disinfect it first."

Moon Lady then waved her hand dismissively, saying, "This little wound is nothing. If you don't look closely, you'd think it's healed. Her mind is still on that rice."

Xu Chaoyan insisted on disinfecting her with alcohol before explaining, "I'm planning to make pickled cabbage and hot mung bean jelly. Everyone's tired of oden anyway, so I'll try something different. You can also make some tofu pudding and sweet potatoes. Don't sell those anymore; everyone's tired of eating the same thing every day. We'll go cut some more vegetables later. This rice can be used to make mung bean jelly and rice cakes. I'll try making some in various flavors."

Speaking of this, she got a little hungry; she hadn't tasted soft, sweet rice cakes in a long time.

Seeing her insistence, Yue Niang stopped talking and only gave her a few words of advice: "A peck of rice costs thirty coins. Use it sparingly and don't waste it. Don't let us eat it all. Take it out and sell it."

Xu Chaoyan took the cloth bag from her and put it aside: "Sister, don't worry about these things. Let's go get the rice and vegetables first. It will take two or three days to soak the rice and pickle the sauerkraut with wood ash. We can do our preparations and buy some soybeans to keep on hand."

Moon Maiden, completely bewildered, was pulled out the door before she realized, "I haven't taken my purse yet!"

Xu Chaoyan: "I'll bring it."

The old woman was still calling after you, saying, "Come back soon, I'll cook some sweet fermented rice balls for you."

The two hadn't been out of the courtyard long when they ran into Meng Jiuhe, who was returning from school: "Wife, where are you going? Shall we go with you?"

Xu Chaoyan waved her hand: "No need, I'll be back in no more than half an hour."

The picture shows hot pickled cabbage and cold noodles. Please go to the author's note: I just ate it today and took a picture, but the ones made in the countryside taste even better.