Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Once the water in the large pot boiled again, Xia Yu poured in the prepared batter and the liquid from the pickled eggplant, stirred it well with a large spoon, and then covered the pot to continue cooking. This time, Xia Yu cooked it for a longer time, stirring it several times to prevent the bottom from burning. Finally, she tasted it to check for sweetness and saltiness, added a large spoonful of salt, and then poured in half a bowl of perilla leaves. Now the pot was a beautiful mix of red and green. Adding some sesame oil when serving would make it even more fragrant.

One after another, the oil cakes in the pan were made. It took about thirty of them to finish making all the dough.

Looking at the sun, it was already midday; the workers should be back soon. Xia Yu scraped the salty paste from the large pot into a large basin, and the three of them—Qing He and Qiu Yu—carried it to the stone table in the yard, covering it with a steaming cloth to prevent insects from getting in. They cleaned the large pot and continued boiling water. Qing He, who had been tending the fire all morning, didn't want to continue; it was too hot, and tending a fire in the summer was truly a difficult task.

“Auntie, my grandpa originally said that you would cook all the meals during the summer harvest. Now Qiuyu and I are already helping you. If you are not willing to do this little bit of work, Qiuyu and I will go to the fields to cut wheat and pick up the ears of wheat tomorrow.”

Hearing Xia Yu's threat, Qinghe was reluctant, but she was genuinely afraid that both girls would quit, and then her father would scold her again. She could actually cook, but even she wouldn't want to eat what she made. She had watched Xia Yu cook today; the food was oily and smelled incredibly delicious, so it must taste great too. She wanted to eat it for a few more days.

Qinghe grumbled as she ran off to start a fire, while Xia Yu and Qiu Yu sat in the shade of the courtyard to rest. They had been busy all morning, and their arms and legs were sore and heavy.

Around noon, the whole family finally returned in an oxcart with their farm tools. Xia Yu and Qiu Yu quickly went to help with the tools and fetch water for everyone to wash their faces. After everyone had washed their faces and sat down to rest, the two of them filled large, rough porcelain bowls with cooled boiled water and served each person a bowl.

"Ah, I'm so thirsty! I didn't bring enough water this morning, and I'll have to bring another bucket this afternoon. I was already thirsty by midday." Chang Sheng gulped down a bowl of cool boiled water and sighed contentedly.

“Isn’t that right? I’ve been thirsty for a long time too, my throat is practically burning.” Mrs. Wang echoed her son’s words.

"Big brother, aunt, would you like some more? I'll get you another bowl," Xia Yu asked quickly when she heard them say that.

"Let's drink later. This big bowl has already made me feel quite full," Wang said, waving her hand in refusal.

"I'll drink after I eat; if I drink now, I won't be able to eat." Chang Sheng didn't want to drink anymore at this point.

"You only made a pot of salty porridge all morning at home?" Liu asked with some dissatisfaction after lifting the steaming cloth off the large basin.

"Qiuyu and I also made some fried dough. We made twenty or thirty fried doughs using the flour and cornmeal you brought out. They're in the kitchen."

"Everyone, let's eat first. After lunch, we'll take a half-hour nap, and then we'll go to work in the fields. Let's take advantage of the good weather these days and hurry up and harvest the wheat." Old Master Zhang, holding his pipe, heard Xia Yu say that the food was ready and urged everyone to eat quickly.

Xia Yu felt a pang of heartache seeing her family's ox panting heavily. She sidled up to Zhang Youtie and said, "Dad, when are we going to feed our ox? We'll have to go to the fields soon, don't tire it out any further."

"I've prepared hay and feed for it in the cowshed in the backyard. I'll take it there to feed it now. After it eats, we'll walk back. The cow will be kept at the old house for lunch, and we'll take it back in the evening." As he spoke, Zhang Youtie led the cow to the cowshed in the backyard.

People resting in the front yard began to take their bowls to get food one by one, each holding a large porcelain bowl and a fried dough stick in their hand.

"Ah, this salty porridge is really delicious. We've made it a lot at home before, but it's never tasted as good as today's." Zhang Youyin took a big gulp, then took a bite of the fried dough, and exclaimed with satisfaction.

"Hmm, this salty porridge is quite good. Who came up with the idea of ​​adding the perilla? It makes the porridge taste even better. Why didn't I think of doing this before?" Wang Shi said, enjoying the porridge in her bowl.

"Hmph," Liu snorted unhappily, but her voice wasn't loud, and everyone was slurping their porridge, so no one heard her. Liu was very unhappy. She had just checked the kitchen; the lard jar was nearly empty. With so much lard, how could the salty porridge not taste good? She knew without guessing who had made it. It would be more likely her own daughter would eat it; she could never make such a delicious meal. Qiu Yu was timid; she wouldn't be willing to use so much lard. Who else could it be but that brat Xia Xia?

It's all because of that spendthrift Liu's upbringing. She's been so extravagant since she was little, never knowing how to manage a household. With such a narrow mind, how can she possibly make a living? Although she thought this, Liu didn't say it aloud. She was quite tired after working all morning. Anyway, everyone had already eaten the lard in the pot. It was the busy farming season, and she couldn't say this in front of everyone. After all, these were the days when everyone needed to put in a lot of effort, and she couldn't just worry about her family eating too much.

The lunch prepared by Xia Yu and Qiu Yu this noon was well received by everyone. A bowl of salty porridge and thirty pancakes were all eaten up, and everyone was satisfied with their meal.

After dinner, Xia Yu and Qiu Yu quickly washed the bowls and basins, and Liu Shi brought out the ingredients for dinner. Ten catties of wheat flour and ten catties of cornmeal, but this time the old lady said that they should steam the two kinds of flour into buns instead of making pancakes, because making pancakes would use too much oil.

"What are we having for dinner?" Xia Yu asked, following Liu Shi around.

"Pick as many vegetables as you like from the back garden," said Liu before hurrying back to her room for a nap.

"Second sister, you should go back with Uncle and Aunt to rest for a while. There's nothing else to do now. I can knead dough, so you don't need to rush over. Take a nap at noon." Qiu Yu said to Xia Yu, pulling her along. She could sleep as soon as she got back to her room. It was still a few minutes' walk to Uncle and Aunt's house.

"Okay, I know. You should go and rest too. Kneading dough to make steamed buns is hard work." After Xia Yu finished speaking, he left the old house courtyard with Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi and went back to his own home. After watching them leave, Qiu Yu locked the gate from the inside before going back to his room to rest. His parents were already asleep, snoring softly. It seemed they were exhausted from the morning.

Xia Yu went straight to bed when she got home. Although she didn't work in the fields, cooking at home was still tiring. Before falling asleep, she was still thinking about what dishes to cook for the old house that night.

It was Zhang Youtie and Liu's voices that woke Xia Yu up. Xia Yu looked at the bright sun outside, rubbed her slightly sore arms, and felt more and more tired the more she slept. She went to the old house with her parents. The adults continued to work in the fields, while she and Qiu Yu stayed at home and kneaded the dough for steamed buns, then covered it with a damp cloth to let it rise naturally.

"Qiuyu, what should we cook for dinner? I still haven't thought of anything," Xia Yu said, somewhat troubled.

"How about we stir-fry some eggplant? There are so many in the backyard, we can't eat them all."

"Okay, let's stir-fry some eggplant. We can stir-fry a lot, and adding more lard will make it even more fragrant."

"Okay, sure." Qiu Yu replied with a smile, but then seemed to remember something and whispered to Xia Yu, "Second sister, Grandma looked at our oil jars at noon. She didn't look too happy, but I don't know why she didn't scold us."

"She'll be doing heavy work these next few days, so she can't possibly complain that we put too much oil in the food, right? Don't worry, she won't scold you if you eat more these next few days," Xia Yu whispered to comfort her.

"Um"

The two of them took a nap in Qiuyu's house for a while before getting up to pick eggplants in the backyard. This time they picked more than a dozen large eggplants and five or six red persimmons before stopping.

Seeing that the dough hadn't risen properly, the two decided to wash and chop the vegetables first. Xia Yu went to the upper room to wake Qing He, who was still napping, and asked her to get up and start a fire.

Qinghe, whose afternoon nap had been disturbed, pouted unhappily. "Xiaxia, what time is it? Is it necessary to start cooking so early? Look at my face, it's burning from the heat." As she spoke, she moved her face closer to Xia Yu, wanting her to see her still slightly red face.

"Auntie, this afternoon we're going to steam buns, cook porridge, and stir-fry vegetables. If we don't prepare in advance, we can't be left with nothing when everyone comes back for dinner tonight. If you don't want to tend the fire, you'd better learn the other things quickly, and then I won't let you tend the fire." With that, Xia Yu reached out and pulled her up.

"Hey, don't pull me! I can walk by myself. Can you stop pulling me, you brat?" Qinghe shouted, but Xia Yu still pulled her away. Although she was fat, she hadn't done any work in a long time and wasn't as strong as Xia Yu.

Finally, Qinghe chose to chop the vegetables first and then light the fire while steaming the buns. Xia Yu let her choose, and when she said she wanted to chop vegetables, she handed her the knife, added water to the pot herself, and then poured in a small bowl of mung beans. She planned to cook mung bean soup for everyone that evening, which would be refreshing, thirst-quenching, and good for relieving the summer heat.

Half an hour passed, and Xia Yu's pot of mung beans had already burst open. Qing He's dozen or so eggplants were still mostly uncut, and the ones that were cut couldn't be called "shreds" because each one was very firm and as thick as an adult man's finger.

Xia Yu couldn't stand her slow movements any longer, so she forcefully made her go and start a fire. She had no choice but to do so, and her objections were ineffective.

They quickly shredded all the eggplant on the cutting board, then poured the risen dough from the bowl onto the board, sprinkled it with dry flour, and Xia Yu and Qiu Yu began kneading. They kneaded the dough until smooth, then divided it into equal-sized portions, shaped them by hand, and placed them on a bamboo steamer rack. After shaping all the dough portions, Xia Yu and Qiu Yu took out the steamer, cleaned it in the yard, and let it dry. By this time, the shaped dough portions had risen a bit more. They emptied the boiling water from the pot, added cold water, and then placed the steamer rack on top, arranging the dough portions one by one, forty or fifty per layer, two layers in total. They covered the steamer and started steaming over high heat.

After finishing all that, Xia Yu and Qiu Yu were covered in sweat. Seeing that the sun was starting to set, Xia Yu had to prepare to cook. She took out two cloves of garlic, and the three of them peeled them together. Then, Xia Yu sent Qiu Yu and Dong Yu out, saying that she could cook by herself and there was no need for the three of them to stay there in the heat.

Qinghe was too exhausted to object to Qiuyu and Dongyu going out to rest; her objections were futile, as these girls simply wouldn't listen to her.