bestfiction Chapter 80 The Hunter's Daughter in a Fictional World (Part 5)
Chapter 80 The Hunter's Daughter in a Fictional World (Part 5)
When they arrived at the livestock market, well, how should I put it? The smell wasn't just plain foul, it was quite complex. Liu Yuxi really couldn't stand it, so she gave Wang Dahe the twenty taels of silver and told him to go in and buy the livestock while she watched over the oxcart outside.
Wang Dahe went straight to the bull market as soon as he entered. He couldn't afford a horse, so there was no need to waste time, right? Liu Yuxi waited for about half an hour, almost falling asleep, when she saw Wang Dahe leading a bull out of the market, grinning broadly. As he approached, he said, "Xiaoxi, we need to get another cart frame." "Where do we go?" "There's a cart frame shop not far ahead!" "Let's go!" The two went and got a new cart frame.
Wang Dahe gave the remaining five taels of silver to Liu Yuxi, and then the two began a large shopping spree. Liu Yuxi figured that since they had two carts, they should definitely buy more things. First, they went to the grain store and bought 100 jin of fine rice, 100 jin of wheat flour, 50 jin of millet, and 100 jin of cornmeal. Then they went to the cloth store and bought one bolt each of four colors of cotton cloth: blue, green, black, and white. Thinking that buying cotton out of season would be cheaper, they also bought 50 jin of cotton. Then they went to the butcher shop and bought 10 jin of pork fat, 5 jin of pork belly, and two pieces of offal. Offal is always in demand, but in some dynasties, there were fewer seasonings, so the flavor was stronger and it was cheaper. After all, it was still meat. But Liu Yuxi knew that many seasonings could be bought at the pharmacy, so he bought two pieces of offal. He also bought sugar, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar at the general store, and then went to the pharmacy to get a spice packet and other ingredients to prepare for braising the offal.
Liu Yuxi bought some farm tools that needed replacing at the blacksmith's shop, such as sickles, shovels, and hoes. He also chose an iron plow. Before they had oxen, it was easier to dig the ground with a hoe than to pull a plow by hand, so they had never bought one before. Now they finally have one. Liu Yuxi also ordered nine throwing knives here, left a deposit, and arranged to pick them up a week later.
They went to a pastry shop and bought some pastries for their grandparents and the children. They also bought candied hawthorns from the street vendors, one for each person. Wang Dahe watched as the money in Liu Yuxi's hand flowed out like water, and he got impatient. Liu Yuxi had no choice but to stop this happy activity.
Once they were out of town and on the main road, Liu Yuxi, under Wang Dahe's tutelage, quickly mastered the skills of driving an oxcart. The two of them drove the oxcart back home. When the family saw how much stuff was on the cart, they rushed over to help. After unloading everything at his grandmother's house, they asked Wang Dahe to take a bag of snacks to the village chief's house to return the oxcart.
The family was divided into three groups: the men focused on the cattle and farm tools, the women on grain, cloth, and cotton, and the children on snacks and meat. Her grandmother, while nagging her about wasting money, stopped the children from reaching for the snacks. Liu Yuxi instructed that the lard should be rendered first; she would take a jar back with her, along with some fine grains. The rest should be left here. Her grandmother could decide how to distribute the cloth; enough for her and the little one to make two outfits each, and the rest for the others. She would clean the pig offal with wood ash and then burn it; she wouldn't worry about the rest. The cattle would be kept at her grandmother's house from now on.
After listening to her, her grandmother began assigning tasks. First, she put the farm tools away in the storage room, then she put the cloth and cotton away in her and her grandfather's room, to be distributed later when there was time. Then she had her grandfather and three uncles build the cowshed, her eldest aunt render lard, and her second and youngest aunts clean the pig offal and wash the vegetables. She gave each child a string of candied hawthorns, and then put away the snacks and the remaining candied hawthorns to eat later. Wang Xin and Liu Yu'an, on the other hand, had soft snacks in their hands, since they couldn't eat candied hawthorns yet!
After everyone received their tasks, they got busy. Her grandmother packed up the things and pulled Liu Yuxi into the house, asking her what she had made and how she had made so much money. Not wanting the old woman to worry, Liu Yuxi explained the details in a rather casual tone.
Her grandmother didn't say anything to her. What could she say? Could she stop her from going into the mountains again? She just said that she was squandering money now that she had it, and told her to keep the rest of the money safe for Liu Yu'an's education. She also said that since they had an ox, they would clear five more acres of wasteland and register it under Liu Yu'an's name after the autumn harvest. Listening to her grandmother lamenting that her mother wasn't destined to enjoy a good life, Liu Yuxi knew that her grandmother missed her mother.
Fearing that it would be too much for the old lady, she put the little boy and Wang Xin in her grandmother's arms and asked her to watch the two little ones eat their snacks while she went to the backyard to help her grandfather and his family build a cowshed. It was called a cowshed, but it was really just a room, except that the door was twice the size of a human room door, so it would be more appropriate to describe it as a cowshed.
When my second aunt and the others returned after cleaning the pig offal, the lard had already been rendered. Some of the cracklings were given to the children, and the rest were put away to make steamed buns later. Then, my eldest aunt and the others were busy cooking and chopping fillings, while Liu Yuxi prepared the spice packet and started braising the pig offal.
The aroma wafted through the Wang family's courtyard all afternoon, growing stronger as time went on. Even though the houses in Wangjia Village were built far apart to save land, Liu Yuxi still heard the cries of several children.
When the braised meat was almost done, Liu Yuxi asked her aunt to boil some eggs, peel them, and cut some potato slices. She put them all in the braising pot and cooked them together. After they were almost cooked, they were left to soak in the braising liquid and kept warm by the embers in the stove.
While her aunts were busy making dumplings, Liu Yuxi loaded half of the fine grains, a small jar of lard, and some seasonings onto an oxcart and sent them back to her home. When she got back to her maternal grandmother's house, it was time to eat. Her grandmother asked her uncles to send a bowl of braised dishes, half meat and half vegetables, to each of the close relatives. Then the whole family started eating.
There were too many people, so they sat at two tables. She sat at one table with her grandparents, uncles, and aunts, and the rest of the family sat at another. The whole family was too busy to talk, all focused on eating. The pork offal was especially popular, and her grandfather even brought out a jar of wine and started drinking with his uncles. There are places that sell braised dishes now, but none are as good as Liu Yuxi's braising sauce recipe. Her sister-in-law ate while remarking, "If this were sold, I'm sure a lot of people would buy it!"
What was said in jest was taken seriously by the listener. Yes, she could teach this braising sauce recipe to her maternal grandmother's family and earn extra income by selling braised dishes in the county town. She would discuss this with her uncle and the others after dinner!
After a hearty meal, adults and children alike sat on stools to digest. Everyone was stuffed, and the younger ones were still nestled in their mothers' arms, having their bellies rubbed. Tonight, everyone needs to take a walk before bed, otherwise they definitely won't sleep well!