Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Xia Yu told Liu about the dishes she had been thinking about. Liu thought her daughter's ideas were very good, even more thoughtful than she had thought of herself.

Once the ingredients were decided, Liu was in charge of washing and chopping the side dishes. Xia Yu first put cold water in a pot, added the pork belly, along with scallions and ginger slices, and blanched it uncovered. After completing these preparations, she used a flint to light the firewood in the stove, adding enough wood to let it burn. She then took the washed cucumber, smashed it with a knife, and cut it into small pieces, placing them in a large, coarse porcelain bowl. She then smashed a few cloves of garlic, minced them, and put them in another small bowl. She added salt, vinegar, a little soy sauce, and sesame oil, and finally some well water from her space, stirred it, and poured it into the large bowl with the cucumber. She then tossed it well so that each piece of cucumber was coated with the sauce.

By this time, the water used to blanch the meat had also boiled. Xia Yu ignored it and added some firewood to the stove to continue cooking over a high flame.

"Mom, I miscalculated. This garlic pork belly might take a while. Let's make another cold dish, otherwise it might delay my grandpa and the others from drinking." Xia Yu suddenly thought of this problem while making it. She used to be able to make garlic pork belly quickly because she used a pressure cooker, but now that she's cooking it in this big pot, the skin won't be tender in less than forty or fifty minutes.

Hearing her daughter say this, Liu didn't ask why. She just thought for a moment and said, "Then let's make deep-fried river shrimp. We'll stir-fry the chives with the eggs later. What do you think?"

"Okay, I think that's feasible."

Both mother and daughter were quick and efficient; their hands never stopped moving as they spoke. Liu brought the drained shrimp to her daughter's reach. Xia Yu scooped a large spoonful of lard from the jar and melted it in the wok. She then added a few slices of ginger and scallions, and once the oil was hot, she poured in the ginger, scallions, and shrimp. She quickly stir-fried until all the moisture in the shrimp had evaporated and they turned completely red, then sprinkled in a little salt. Feeling it was almost done, Xia Yu scooped out a few shrimp and tasted them herself, finding them acceptable. She then scooped out a few more and brought them to Liu, asking her to taste them as well. Seeing her mother nod, she then placed all the shrimp on a plate, along with the prepared cucumber salad. Once her brother brought back the wine, it would be ready to serve.

Just then, he heard his brother run in calling for help. Changyun brought the wine he had bought to the kitchen for Liu Shi.

"Mom, I just went to buy wine. It cost 20 coins for a pound of wine. I remember it cost 18 coins a pound last year during the New Year. It's more expensive than before."

"Hmm, that's possible. Grain prices are higher than before, so it's normal for liquor prices to rise." As she spoke, Madam Liu had already filled the liquor she had brought back into a pre-washed wine jug, and placed several wine cups and the wine jug together on a tray, which she then carried to the main room.

"Changyun, Xiaxia, you two bring over the cold dishes you prepared as well."

Upon hearing Liu's arrangement, the two men each carried a plate and followed behind their mother, delivering the wine and dishes to the main room.

However, when Xia Yu arrived at the main room, she discovered that the people hadn't eaten much of the watermelon they had cut earlier; each of them had only a watermelon rind that had been gnawed down to a thin layer.

"Grandpa, Uncle, Second Uncle, Dad, why haven't you all eaten any of this watermelon? You've only eaten one piece?" Xia Yu asked.

"Sigh, I let your grandpa and the others eat it, but they each ate one piece and then refused to eat any more, saying I should put it away for them to eat slowly," Zhang Youtie said helplessly.

Xia Yu couldn't help but be moved by her father's words. Faced with such delicious fruit, her grandfather was able to control his appetite and not eat a single bite, just to save it for her and her brother. How could she not be touched?

"Sir, this watermelon doesn't keep well. It should be eaten on the same day it's cut open, or it will spoil overnight."

"Oh, it won't even last one night? Such a big melon has to be eaten in a day after it's been cut open, that's such a waste. How can you eat it like that!" Hearing his granddaughter's explanation, the old man couldn't accept it. He thought it could last for a few days, but who knew it would be eaten in a day. He should have known better than to let her cut it open.

"If we'd known it wouldn't last overnight, we wouldn't have cut it open today," Uncle Zhang Youjin said to the people in the room.

"Yeah, the whole day's over. If only we'd cut it earlier this morning, we could have eaten it all day. Now we have to finish it in one meal," Zhang Youyin echoed his brother's words. The group was still debating when to cut the watermelon, all agreeing that morning was better than evening. Xia Yu, listening nearby, couldn't help but laugh; she just thought they were adorable, so genuinely adorable!

"Hmm? What's that smell? It smells so good." Zhang Youyin suddenly smelled a scent different from that of watermelon. Perhaps the lighting in the room was a bit dim, and Liu Shi and Xia Yu had put the food on the low stools after seeing that the watermelon on the table was not finished, so Zhang Youyin was able to smell the aroma but not see the food.

"Dad, eldest brother, second brother, let's eat first. You can have your drinks first. The hot dishes will be ready soon. Xiaxia, Changyun, come and move this watermelon aside."

Seeing that there was really no room in the house to put the watermelon, Xia Yu ran around the yard and came back carrying a small wicker table. She placed the table in a corner of the main room and asked her brother to put the watermelon on it. Liu Shi took a rag and wiped the octagonal table clean, then brought out the dishes and wine from the low stools one by one.

When the food and drinks were served, the dishes on the table came into view under the light: a plate of deep-fried shrimp and a plate of cucumber with garlic sauce. "Hey, why are there cucumbers now? Third brother, did you grow these?" Old Master Zhang asked.

"No, I went to the county town to buy cattle today and met a fellow villager selling them. They looked pretty fresh, so I bought a few." Zhang Youtie started making things up.

"Cucumbers are quite rare this time of year. I wonder why that villager's cucumbers are ripe so early." The old man said, picking up a piece and putting it in his mouth. He chewed it and nodded with satisfaction. Xia Yu was afraid he would ask more questions, in which case her father would have to lie again. Luckily, her grandfather didn't press the matter. No one asked where the shrimp came from; they probably subconsciously assumed they were caught from the river—otherwise, where else could they have come from?

Seeing that Zhang Youtie had already poured wine for everyone, Liu led Xia Yu and Changyun to the kitchen to continue cooking.

The piece of pork belly that had been blanched in the pot was now thoroughly cooked, and Xia Yu took it out. She drained the water from the pot, added fresh well water, along with scallions, ginger, star anise, and cinnamon. Once the water boiled, she put the pork belly back in and continued cooking. She planned to replace the garlic-flavored pork belly with twice-cooked pork, and skip the pig intestines today. Her mother had mentioned earlier when she invited her grandfather to stay for dinner that her father had brought back some meat from the county town, and it wouldn't look good if the meat wasn't served at the end. Although her grandfather and two uncles wouldn't mind, Xia Yu and Liu Shi felt it wouldn't be appropriate.

That's how it is when entertaining guests. Things that are planned might change due to unforeseen circumstances, so a good woman also needs to be able to adapt to changing situations. Xia Yu thought her mother was very good at this.