AWB Chapter 106, could it be that Yuan family member?
Chapter 106, could it be that Yuan family member?
If Song Jiaojiao still didn't understand after hearing this, she would really be a fool; it was obvious that this person was after the sweet potato starch recipe.
"Do you know which gambling den they belong to?" Song Jiaojiao asked the woman as she helped her up.
“I don’t know. Wang Shuifa never talks about this at home. He only heard the name Yuan once when he was drunk and talking in his sleep.”
The Yuan family? Could it be that Yuan family? It seems we'll have to wait for Manager Wang's news to find out.
"Did you tell them the recipe for sweet potato noodles?"
"No, I've never been inside. I don't know how to make sweet potato noodles, I only know how to make sweet potato starch." The woman quickly shook her head. Usually, she just washes and cuts sweet potatoes, but she really didn't know how to make sweet potato noodles.
It seems she only knows how to make sweet potato starch, which is fine; I'm not worried about what happens next.
“You know, after this incident, I absolutely cannot keep you here, otherwise I won’t be able to convince the public. But if you still want to sell sweet potatoes and mung beans, you can still come. Aunt Li, see how many days she’s worked here, and settle her wages.”
When Aunt Li saw the person in front of her, she seemed to be thinking about something, but she didn't say much and silently gave her the wages.
"Oh, Jiaojiao, you're too easy to bully. She sold you out, and you still paid her wages and didn't even ask for compensation," Aunt Li said, her voice full of disappointment and frustration.
"Oh dear, she's pitiful. She married a man like that. If it weren't for her child, she probably wouldn't have survived. I'm only doing this because her son is still young." Song Jiaojiao thought about how parents always worry about their children and decided to avoid trouble. Who knows what they might do if they were driven to despair?
Song Jiaojiao never expected that her act of kindness today would save her from a disaster years later.
Looking at Song Jiaojiao like this, Aunt Li sighed and said, "So, it's really impossible to make sweet potato starch afterwards?"
"Well, we'll stop after this year's harvest and start making other things. Last time, Hefan brought me back a kind of grain called 'ground egg,' so we'll start making that. I'll let everyone know when it's ready to plant. Ground eggs are usually planted in the eleventh month of winter and can be harvested in February or March of the following year, so it won't delay spring planting."
Hearing that Song Jiaojiao had more new things to share, Aunt Li finally felt relieved.
"Has the wheat harvest in the village been completed?" Song Jiaojiao suddenly remembered that the soybeans Wang Hefan brought back last time could also be planted at this time of year.
"It's almost done. Everyone's turning over the soil, preparing to plant mung beans. These people weren't usually this diligent; they just planted whatever they could find. This year, they even made ridges for the mung beans," Aunt Li said with a smile, thinking about the situation in the field.
"Perfect timing! I happen to have some soybean seeds here. Auntie, could you ask around in the village if anyone grows them? The purchase price is the same as for mung beans. This type of bean takes a month longer to grow than mung beans, but the yield is higher. Anyone who needs them can buy the seeds from me for five coins a pound." Song Jiaojiao still hoped that the villagers could grow soybeans, as there were so many things that could be made from them.
"Soybeans? Okay, I'll go ask Jiaojiao later. Do you think we should plant some?" Aunt Li thought that anything that Song Jiaojiao needed must be of good quality.
"Is Auntie's family able to manage all the farming? Only Brother Fugui is at home doing the work."
"It's alright, we can plant slowly and hire people to help with the harvest." Aunt Li thought that it would only take a few days to hire someone to help.
"That's fine. Soybeans do yield a higher harvest than mung beans, and we'll be in need of them for a long time." Song Jiaojiao thought to herself that she would have to go find Wang the stonemason to make two more millstones.
Soybeans can be used to make tofu, dried bean curd sticks, tofu pudding, and soy milk. Tofu can also be made into fermented tofu and red tofu. After being smoked, it can be made into dried bean curd, all of which are delicious. Song Jiaojiao most wants to make dried bean curd sticks, which are convenient and can be preserved for a long time, making them the most suitable for this dynasty.
After finishing these tasks, Song Jiaojiao finally felt her stomach growling. She hadn't felt this hungry in a long time, and the feeling of being hungry was truly awful.
Upon returning home, Song Jiaojiao quickly ate several pieces of pastry before feeling a little better. She then called Xu Fang over and asked her to bring down all the eggs from the barren mountain. Song Jiaojiao planned to make salted eggs at the old house.
I didn't expect to have accumulated so many eggs over this period; there were more than half a basket full, including quite a few duck eggs. I'll leave the eggs here for now and wait for the workers to arrive tomorrow so we can start working.
The next day, before dawn, Song Jiaojiao had just gotten up when Sifanglou arrived with two men, both around thirty years old, who had come to learn how to make sweet potato noodles. Both were surnamed Wang, so they seemed to be servants of the owner of Sifanglou.
After meeting the people, Song Jiaojiao immediately had Xu Da take the two to the sweet potato shop, handing them over to Aunt Li and asking her to familiarize them with the procedures.
After breakfast, Aunt Li brought the elderly people who had come today to Song Jiaojiao. The elderly people all looked at Song Jiaojiao with smiles. Among them, Song Jiaojiao only recognized Aunt Yu, who owned a cow at the entrance of the village. Although Aunt Yu was not of a high generation, she was over 60 years old.
Aunt Yu herself never expected that she could still go out to work and earn wages at her age. She thought that she would only be able to stay at home tidying up the house and growing some vegetables in the future.
Song Jiaojiao led everyone to the old house and carefully explained the details of pickling salted eggs. Song Jiaojiao planned to soak the eggs in salt water and use the mud method to pickle the duck eggs.
Xu Fang taught them about the salt water, and the old lady only assigned each of them one task to avoid them forgetting and causing trouble later.
Yesterday, Song Jiaojiao had Xu Da help her dig up a lot of red clay, just for today's use. After everyone got the hang of it, Song Jiaojiao led Xu Fang to start making a new salted egg recipe.
"We need to put the spices into the water first, and after the water boils, we can add salt. For thirty duck eggs, we need one ounce of salt, about two and a half pounds of soil, and one pound of water. This way, the salted duck eggs will be just right." Song Jiaojiao said while boiling the water. After boiling the water, she picked out the spices, poured in the prepared salt, and then took Xu Fang out. They waited for the water to cool down before starting to mix the mud.
"The steps for making mud-cured salted eggs are the same: wash and dry the duck eggs, coat them with white wine, then put them into the prepared mud, coat them evenly with mud, and seal them in a ceramic jar for twenty days. Mud-curing allows them to be stored for a longer time, but I plan to use these for other foods." The best thing about mud-cured salted eggs is using the yolks to make desserts; you could try asking Huichuntang about that.
Xu Fang listened attentively, nodding occasionally. After Song Jiaojiao finished explaining the precautions, she left to go to the sweet potato shop to see how the people sent by Sifanglou were doing.