Travel to the mountains and make a fortune in silence

"Sister-in-law, the taste of your fish is absolutely amazing. Not only is it not fishy at all, but the fish meat is tender and melts in your mouth. It's also sour and spicy, and the taste of the pickled cabbage is unforgettable."

After devouring several pieces of fish in a whirlwind, Mu Xiao couldn't wait to try a bite of the pickled cabbage. He was holding half a salted duck egg in his left hand, which he hadn't had a chance to eat yet.

"First, you have to rinse the blood off thoroughly, slice it, marinate it carefully with ginger and garlic, and then pour in a little white wine."

"The secret to the tender fish is the addition of sweet potato starch, the pickled cabbage is homemade, and the spiciness comes from chili peppers!" Wang Qing'er explained the recipe for pickled cabbage fish while helping Mu Yao pick out the fish bones.

"No wonder it tastes so delicious! With such a complicated process, it must be really hard work for you to cook!"

Mu Qin sighed, "Second brother, you're right! The weather is getting hotter and hotter. It's like my sister-in-law and mother are in a steamer when they cook. It's so hard for them!"

Mu Xiao said dismissively, "Tch, aren't you just trying to say that you work hard tending the fire in the kitchen?"

Mu Qin immediately retorted, "I didn't say that!"

Mu Xiao pressed further, "Isn't that what you meant?"

"Second brother, you're so annoying!" Mu Qin's face turned bright red with anxiety when her second brother saw through her thoughts.

Mu Nan picked up a piece of fish bone and gently placed it in her second brother's bowl, warning him, "Mu Xiao, you should close your mouth when you eat, or you might get a fish bone stuck in your throat."

"Big brother, I..." He felt a little indignant. He picked up a large piece of fish and ate it in a huff. He wondered why his older brother always looked down on him. He was just telling the truth!

The meal was unusually quiet, with everyone carefully eating the fish, afraid of getting pricked by a fish bone.

The two large bowls of fish were devoured in the blink of an eye, and even the broth and pickled cabbage were swept away.

Seeing that Mu Yao had finished her food and obediently put down her chopsticks like a little lamb, Wang Qing'er gently asked her, "Yao'er, are you full?"

"Yes, Mother, I'm full," Mu Yao said, gently stroking her slightly bulging belly.

She gave Wang Qing'er an innocent smile and said, "Mom, the fish is so delicious, I want to eat it again tonight."

"Okay, Mom will make you another one tonight." Mu Yao was so well-behaved and adorable, like a sweet glutinous rice cake, and it was free, how could Wang Qing'er not like it?

This affection came from the bottom of her heart; she felt that she was a qualified mother.

There were indeed fish left that night. All three large fish had already been killed. She had only cooked half of them at noon, and the other half was marinated and hung in the well.

Mu Lin and Zi Hao eat lunch at the private school and only go home to eat dinner.

Zhou Shi had finished eating and put down her chopsticks, saying, "Qing'er, they cut a few more bundles of sugarcane today. Why don't we start boiling the sugar this afternoon? It's not much anyway, and it can be done in one afternoon."

Wang Qing'er thought for a moment and replied, "Grandma, let's keep these for seed. We won't make sugar this way, so we can plant more next year."

Zhou nodded: "It's fine to keep them for breeding; the cellar should be able to hold them."

"Grandma, how many sweet potatoes do you have left?" Last time, we used over 100 kilograms of sweet potatoes to make more than 10 kilograms of starch, and the starch yield was pretty good.

She wanted to make some more, so she could dry some vermicelli when she had time. She was getting tired of eating white rice every day and wanted to change things up.

Adding some glass noodles to sauerkraut fish is also a good idea. When you're busy and don't have time to cook, it's convenient to boil some glass noodles.

Zhou thought to herself, "There should still be eight or nine hundred catties left."

Wang Qing'er suggested, "How about we turn it all into starch? Then we can make you a fresh dish, and maybe we can even sell it."

When Zhou heard that there was a new food, she smiled and said, "Okay, we don't eat sweet potatoes often at home these days. If you want some, just buy a few. Let's start making starch tomorrow."

After a moment's thought, Zhou asked, "Should we sell the candy we had before, or keep it at home? Wouldn't it be too much to keep it at home?"

"Oh, I completely forgot about the candy. I'll take three hundred catties to sell, and keep the rest at home." Wang Qing'er slapped her forehead in frustration, as if she would only remember it after being hit on the head.

Sigh! Now that we're not short of money, we've completely forgotten about the brown sugar we used to think was so valuable.

Mrs. Zhou said with concern, "You silly girl, didn't your head hurt from hitting so hard?"

Wang Qing'er touched her head and said shyly, "Uh, Grandma, I didn't use much force, it was just that the sound was a bit loud."

Mu Xiao said confidently, "I'll take some brown sugar to Manager Wang tomorrow. I sold all the honey to him in the past few years, so he should also buy brown sugar. With the quality of our sugar, I estimate it can sell for eighty or ninety coins per catty."

Mu Nan said to her younger brother, "We won't sell the honey we collected today. Don't mention it to Manager Wang."

Mu Xiao nodded repeatedly: "I understand, big brother."

Wang Cuiying asked with great curiosity, "Why not sell it? Why keep such expensive honey? There are still two hives of honey that haven't been harvested in the peach orchard. What's the point of keeping so much?"

Zhou said, "If Mu Nan says to keep it, then let's keep it for now."

Mu Nan said, "This afternoon I'll go and check the two nests in the peach orchard to see how many there are before deciding whether to sell them or not."

When Wang Qing'er heard that he was going to collect honey again that afternoon, she couldn't help but worry and said to him, "Brother Mu Nan, maybe you shouldn't collect the honey."

Wang Cuiying looked suspicious and hurriedly asked, "Qing'er, why don't you take it out?"

Wang Qing'er was speechless when her mother-in-law asked her such a question. How should she answer? Should she say that she didn't want her husband to be stung by bees?

She stammered for a while before finally saying, "Ah! Well, this afternoon, I need Brother Mu Nan to take me to dig up some ginger. We're almost out of ginger at home."

Wang Qing'er was racking her brains to come up with a reason to get away with it when she suddenly noticed the ginger slices she had picked out and had a flash of inspiration to make up this excuse of digging up ginger.

Old Man Mu said, "Then I'll take Mu Xiao to dig, and Mu Nan, you go with Qing to dig ginger."

Wang Qing'er, "..."

Is it really necessary to dig out this honey? Doesn't it hurt if you get stung? Oh well, let them be. It's not like it's Mu Nan who got stung.

“Then I’ll take Zixuan and Zihan to pick soapberries,” said Wu Zihao, who was usually quiet.

Wang Cuiying said, "I'll go too. The ducks and pig offal will be taken care of this morning, and there's nothing important to do this afternoon. Muqin and Zitong will go together too. We can also see if there are any wood ear or silver ear fungus, and picking some mushrooms would be nice too."

Mu Xiao chimed in, "I'll clean out the beehive and then come help you. I'll try my best to collect the soapberries in the next few days."

Zhou said, "Then Yan'er and I will take Ziyuan and Yao'er home to peel bamboo shoots."