Butcher Wang kills a pig every day, half of which are just sent to restaurants in the market, and the remaining half is not much left in a day.
As usual, Xiaocao spent six Wen to buy a pig's head, today's pork belly and pig intestines, she also insisted on giving four Wen, but the Pig Blood King Butcher said nothing.
Touching the silver dime given by the sixth brother in her arms, she cut another two catties of pork belly and two catties of hind legs, and asked for a pair of big pig bones. Wang Butcher looked at her in surprise, and said, "Today, there are guests at home, and you actually bought so much meat?"
Xiaocao didn't explain, just smiled and said: "Well, if you want to entertain more distinguished guests, you can't be too shabby!"
Putting the purchased ingredients on the wheelbarrow Yu Hai was pushing, she led the way into a rice shop in the market. As soon as you enter the shop, you can hear the noise inside, adults yelling and children crying, it is very lively.
Xiaocao stood and listened for a while, and it turned out that a child from Miliangpu's family was mischievous and accidentally spilled water on a bag of glutinous rice. The owner of the rice grain shop rushed to rescue the glutinous rice, but the glutinous rice was still wet. Everyone knows that if the rice is soaked in water, it will be completely powdered even if it is dried. There is no way to sell these seventeen or eight catties of glutinous rice!
The shopkeeper's family relies on this small rice store every month, and they can barely make ends meet. They lost seventeen or eight catties of glutinous rice all at once, which is more than one hundred yuan. Can the shopkeeper feel bad? He couldn't bear to beat the child, so he could only vent his anger by cursing.
"Uncle shopkeeper, I'll pay you three cents a catty for this wet glutinous rice, can you sell it?" Xiaocao looked at it and asked suddenly.
Her voice was not loud, but the noise in the store stopped abruptly. The shopkeeper looked at Xiaocao, then at the adults behind her, and said softly: "Little girl, after the rice is soaked in water, it will not taste good..."
"It doesn't taste good, but it doesn't mean you can't eat it? Uncle shopkeeper, you can't sell this rice anyway, why don't you sell it to me cheap!" Xiaocao smiled sweetly.
Just as the manager of the rice shop was about to say something, his wife pulled his sleeve and stood up and said, "Little girl, this glutinous rice usually costs eight or nine yuan a catty. If you want all of it, it costs at least five yuan a catty." Jin, otherwise we might as well keep it for ourselves!"
The shopkeeper of the rice grain shop was anxious and angry, looking at his daughter-in-law anxiously. His daughter-in-law gave him a hard look, with an expression of "If you dare to talk, I will never end with you".
Xiaocao shrugged, and said: "In this case, the shopkeeper's wife can keep it for herself! Dad, let's go to the rice store over there..."
The shopkeeper of the rice and grain shop hurriedly shook off his wife, blocked the way of the father and daughter, and said, "Don't go! Three pennies is three pennies! It's nineteen catties in total, and the glutinous rice is wet. I'll take another catty away for you..."
Seeing that the shopkeeper was honest, Xiaocao paid fifty-four renminbi to ask her father to carry the glutinous rice into the cart, and asked the price of flour and rice, and felt it was fair, so she bought another ten catties of flour and five catties of rice. More than 130 wen were spent at the rice grain shop in one go.
Fortunately, the business was good today, and I earned more than two hundred cash just by selling braised vegetables, and with the two taels of silver that the sixth brother gave me, Xiaocao didn't feel soft.
After leaving the rice store, Xiaocao went to the grocery store to replenish the few seasonings at home, especially buying half a catty of white sugar. It was not enough to spend all the money for selling stewed vegetables today. However, considering that these seasonings can be used for at least half a month, they can earn her several taels of silver. Xiaocao immediately cheered up.
The daughter spends money like running water, and the money she earns flows out again before it is warmed up. Yu Hai didn't ask any questions, he didn't even say a word when he bought glutinous rice soaked in water.
On the way back, Xiaocao smiled and asked him, "Father, why don't you stop me from buying glutinous rice soaked in water?"
Yu Hai pushed his daughter with a satisfied face, and said with a smile: "The ones bought by our family must be useful. Father knows that you are not a child who spends money recklessly. Besides, even if the glutinous rice is useless in your hands, it will be useful." It won’t be wasted. The floured glutinous rice, porridge is much more delicious than bean noodles and bean cakes!”
Xiaocao smiled and said: "Thank you for your trust, I really have plans! Sixth brother said that he wanted me to help cook a table of dishes for guests, so I wanted to make something special. He saved me, so we have to help He has a long face. I am going to use glutinous rice to make pearl balls. They are fragrant, delicious and crystal clear. Both visually and taste-wise, they are amazing! Customers will love them. Grinding glutinous rice into glutinous rice flour, you can also use it to make desserts... and more Yes, making pig blood glutinous rice cake is also good!"
Seeing his daughter's skinny face, Yu Hai was full of confidence, and felt happy and proud in his heart—that daughter, who was thought to be too small to raise, was able to share the burden for him and the family!
When she got home, Xiaocao began to draw up the menu and collect the ingredients. Pearl balls need a small steamer, and this simple bamboo work is naturally difficult for Yu Hai. He didn't care to drink his saliva, so he started to cut bamboo and weave a steamer according to his daughter's request.
To make pearl balls, you need salted egg yolk, Xiaocao knocked on the door of Qian's house, and Mao came out. When she saw Xiaocao, she was a little surprised and said, "Xiaocao? Why are you here at your aunt's house at this time?"
Xiaocao asked directly: "Aunt Qian, do you have any salted duck eggs? Can you sell me some?"
Although the number of eggs laid by ducks decreases in winter, duck eggs are not so popular. The main reason is that everyone doesn't like the fishy smell of duck eggs. For the convenience of preservation, the Mao family marinated the duck eggs with coarse sea salt, ate and sold them, and left some.
"Yes! Xiaocao, how many do you want! Salted duck eggs cost a penny each!" Mao's temperament is like this, he never pretends to be false, and said directly.
Xiaocao nodded, she liked this kind of straightforward temperament, and she was really embarrassed to ask for money if she didn't want it. She took out ten copper coins from her purse, handed them over and said, "Aunt Qian, give me ten first, and if you need them later, come to Auntie's house to buy them."
Mrs. Mao picked out eleven duck eggs from the jar, put them into Xiaocao's basket, and said with a smile: "Our family, Qian Wu, went to your house again this morning to ask for food. Give you one more duck egg!"
Although Mao's mouth is not forgiving, he is not a person who likes to take advantage. Qian Wu ran to someone's house in the morning and ate two small fish, which were worth a penny, so he gave him an extra duck egg.
Xiaocao didn't refuse, thanked Mrs. Mao, and went through the menu in her mind again when she got home. Sixth brother’s guests are from the north, who loves spicy food and loves spicy food... here we go! In the afternoon, I went to catch a larger fish with my father and made it into "boiled fish fillets", and the fish head can also be made into "chopped pepper fish head"!
Add the pearl balls and you have three good dishes. Is there any other special dish? Xiaocao racked her brains... That's right! Didn't you buy pork belly? She remembered that Aunt Zhou's house dried some dried plums and borrowed some from her to make "Sauced Pork with Preserved Vegetables"!
The four dishes are all meat dishes, so there must be a combination of meat and vegetables! But this season, where are there any fresh vegetables? Xiaocao glanced at the green vegetable seedlings in the yard stretching their leaves in the midday sun, and felt reluctant to harm them at this time. If it doesn't work, just pinch a few larger leaves and make a bowl of "vegetable and egg drop soup".
After a while, I went to the tofu shop to buy some dried tofu, fried it into oily tofu, marinated it with old stew, and a plate of "dried tofu" came out of the oven. How about... Another plate of "sweet and sour cabbage", after all, the ingredients are limited at this time.
Suddenly, "Shredded Pork with Beijing Sauce" flashed in her mind, a dish she likes very much. It should not exist in this era, right? It must be novel and delicious, so I deleted the dish "Chopped Pepper Fish Head" from the menu in my mind.
Four meats, two vegetables, one soup, plus a staple food - glutinous rice and sweet potato cake, it is definitely more than enough for two people!
In the afternoon, it was Xiao Lian who took the small stones to the pier to sell bad fish. After Yu Hai made the steamer, he took the "bait" prepared by Xiao Cao to go fishing. He received a very important task, which was to bring back a fish weighing at least five catties, preferably herring.
Mrs. Liu was busy packing up the pig's head and large intestine brought back by Xiaocao, and planned to marinate them before night. Fang Shi, who came to visit, saw that she couldn't do it alone, so she rolled up her sleeves to help. When they got busy, the whole family wished they had two more hands.
Xiaocao's job is to take a nap, and get up early the next morning to prepare meals.
Sure enough, before dawn, Xiaocao woke up automatically. When she got up, she saw that Mrs. Liu was already busy in the kitchen. She wanted to make breakfast in advance so that the father and daughter would have enough to eat before setting off.
To make pearl balls, you need to mince the meat, but fortunately, you don’t need a lot of meat, so Liu Shi chopped it up in a few clicks. Xiaocao seasoned the meat filling, pressed it thinly in the palm of the hand, wrapped it with half a duck egg yolk, rolled it into meatballs, rolled it with glutinous rice, and steamed it for two quarters of an hour.
Boiled fish fillets are a little more troublesome, and they have to be eaten hot, so Xiaocao brought the small clay stove that father decocted medicine a few days ago, put a few pieces of charcoal on it, and ate them in the slightly cold sea breeze. The hot and spicy boiled fish must be very tasty!
Six dishes, one soup and one staple food, it took nearly an hour for the little grass girls to get it done. Today is still Yu Hai pushing the wheelbarrow, not only the braised vegetables that will be sold today, but also a table of dishes ordered by Sixth Brother.
Along the way, Xiaocao sat on a wheelbarrow, holding two baskets with soup to prevent spills on the road. Then her busy morning will be in vain!
When we arrived at the pier, Sixth Brother was already waiting there. The place where he treats guests is the best-looking building in the market—the Lin Family Restaurant. It is said that it is the best house, but it is only three half-new mud brick houses. Sixth brother booked the only private room in the restaurant, and specially asked Xiaocao to prepare a table of dishes, which is enough to show how much he attaches importance to the guests.
What the sixth brother is going to receive is a steward of Prince Jing's mansion. King Jing is in charge of most of the domestic shipping.
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