20demayo Chapter 141: Pickled Cabbage
Chapter 141: Pickled Cabbage
That night, Wen Wuyan found Gu Qingqing.
"Qingqing, I have something I want to discuss with you."
Gu Qingqing, who was half upside down in the jar, heard Wen Wuyan's voice. She grabbed the edge of the jar with one hand and kicked her legs at the same time to pull herself out of the jar.
"What's wrong?" Gu Qingqing, whose brain was lacking oxygen, asked while gasping for breath.
Wen Wuyan hurriedly reached out to support her and said, "I want to dig a cellar in the new yard."
"Dig a cellar? What are we going to do with it?" Gu Qingqing wondered.
"It can be left empty in your spare time, used to store vegetables in the winter, and can also be used to store food. If something happens in the future, having a cellar should still be useful."
As someone who was familiar with the history of other dynasties, Gu Qingqing immediately thought of wars, bandits, refugees, etc., who were good at robbing, killing and looting.
For this reason, she didn't even wait for Wen Wuyan to say more, and waved her hand, "I understand, dig. But we don't dig one, we have to dig two."
Now it was Wen Wuyan's turn to be dumbfounded, "Dig, dig two?"
"Yes, two. If it's a big one, we'll have to ask the villagers to help dig it. We still have an hour to wait until your leg is better, then we can dig it slowly ourselves. The one we dig doesn't need to be too big, just enough to put some valuables in it."
Seeing that Wen Wuyan didn't quite understand, Gu Qingqing then explained to him the principle of not putting all your eggs in one basket.
Wen Wuyan exclaimed, "Qingqing is still smart."
In the next few days, Gu Qingqing focused all her attention on making sauerkraut.
Although it's a bit cold, the sun is shining.
Three days later, Gu Qingqing looked at the cabbages that had been dried out and started to work after lunch.
Before starting, rinse the large iron pot for cooking several times, mainly to remove the grease on the pot.
"Aunt, Dahua hasn't come back yet. Let me help you." Seeing that Gu Qingqing was busy, Li Xin came over.
"Okay, help me light the fire first, and call me when the water starts to smoke."
Gu Qingqing took this opportunity to spread a bamboo mat that Wen Wuyan had woven earlier on several fallen benches, and would use it to place the cabbage later.
What she wants to make is pickled sauerkraut using the traditional method, also known as sauerkraut.
Just boil water in a pot first, and when bubbles start to form in the pot, fill the pot with the cabbage roots facing downwards, cook for about ten seconds, then turn the cabbage over so that the leaves face downwards, and continue heating for about ten seconds.
Then take it out, drain and let it cool, then you can put it into the jar.
The only advantage of this method is that you don’t need to add salt.
This method was taught to her by her grandfather when he was alive. She made it a few times after her grandfather passed away. However, there were only her and her father at home, and she often stayed at the dormitory. She could not finish the food she made every time, so she stopped making it later.
Unexpectedly, this skill of hers came in handy at this time.
While Gu Qingqing was reminiscing about the past, Li Xin ran out from the kitchen.
"Aunt, there's white smoke coming out of the pot."
Gu Qingqing's pupils finally regained focus, "Hey, here it comes."
"Aunt, you hold the ones in the pot, I'll go get the ones outside." Li Xin ran around with a keen eye.
Gu Qingqing stopped only when the tank was almost full.
"Daxin, go to the back and find your uncle. Ask him to see if Uncle Zhaodong is on the ground or on the roof. If he is on the ground, ask him to come and help." Gu Qingqing instructed Liming.
"okay, I get it."
After a while, Li Xin ran back first, followed by Wen Wuyan and Zhao Dong not far behind him.
"Brother Dong, I need your help with something!" Gu Qingqing shouted to Zhao Dong outside the fence.
Zhao Dong looked at the cabbage piled on the bench, still dripping with water, and asked, "Why did you cook the vegetables?"
"Well, it needs to be blanched."
"What do you want me to do? I don't know for sure."
"No hurry, wash your hands first. I need you to help me press the vegetables. I'm not strong enough."
Gu Qingqing said this as she carried the blanched cabbage and walked towards the back of the wooden house.
The reason for placing the sauerkraut pot behind the cabin is mainly to avoid light and away from kitchen fumes.
Zhao Dong looked at his colleague De Wen in confusion, "Pressure food?"
Wen Wuyan smiled slightly and explained in a tacit understanding, "It means putting the vegetables in the jar and pressing them down manually."
Zhao Dong seemed to understand.
Sure enough, after Gu Qingqing had stacked three layers of cabbage in the vat, she said to Zhao Dong, "Brother Dong, it takes a lot of strength to press the cabbage firmly. Thank you for your help."
If she had a plastic bag or a snakeskin bag at home, she could put it on the vegetables and let people step on it, but she didn't have these two things.
Now it can only be pressed manually.
Zhao Dong thought it was simple, so he bent down and exerted force with his hands, and the cabbages that Gu Qingqing had stacked went down to half a layer high.
"Qingqing, you come and code it. Dong Ge, Daxin and I will go get it." Wen Wuyan said to Gu Qingqing who was running around.
"Okay, go slower and watch your legs."
"I know."
If a few people work together, a jar of cabbage will be ready soon.
Finally, Gu Qingqing brought a clean stone and placed it on the vegetables.
The lid is covered with the weaving made by Wen Wuyan and then pressed with stones.
This is the case for both cylinders.
......
Gu Zhuangzhuang came, and Gu Qingqing took him back that afternoon.
When Gu Daquan saw Gu Qingqing coming back, it seemed to ignite his anger as he was bedridden, and he started cursing at Gu Qingqing.
No matter how dirty it is, come on.
Gu Qingqing just glanced at him and ignored him completely.
Instead, Xiao Cao said nervously, "Sister, Dad might be having hysterics, don't take it seriously."
Gu Qingqing pointed at the house from the yard and asked, "Has it always been like this?"
"No, no, I was fine before. I haven't cursed for a few days. Maybe it was today, maybe it was. Sister, I'm fine. Just pretend you didn't hear it."
"That's right, Qingqing, let's just ignore him and let him scold. He will be fine when he gets tired of scolding." Gu Jia also comforted.
Gu Qingqing deliberately said to the room, "Why should I care? It's not like I can't move when I lie on the kang. Some people can't see through the current situation and don't repent, so they can only lie on the kang."
Gu Qingqing had a plan in mind. She could scold herself, since she couldn't hear it anyway. If she lived like this every day at home, then she must be eating too well.
After saying this to the room, he whispered to his mother and Xiaocao, "As long as I don't scold you on weekdays, it's fine. Come on, take me to the backyard." After Gu Qingqing said this, she went to the backyard.
After Gu Daquan cursed in the house for a while, he was indeed tired. When he calmed down, his eyes looked dull.
"Can't he see through the current situation? He doesn't know how to repent? He is the head of the family, why should he repent?" When he thought of this, his eyes suddenly lit up again and he continued to scold.
Gu Qingqing looked at the hole dug by Gu Zhuangzhuang in the backyard, as well as the solid ground around it.
She looked at the piles of manure, dead leaves, some rotten straw, and wood ash nearby.
While throwing things into the pit, he said to them, "Mom, Xiaocao, this method is also convenient. Now put all the things into the pit, sprinkle some lime powder in it later, and then pour in a few buckets of water."
"Zhuangzhuang, take the knife and chop these rotten rice straw into pieces." Gu Qingqing said to them while working.
He also did not forget to assign Gu Zhuangzhuang to do the work.