Border Cook

Chapter 4 Scallion Meat Patties
Xia Mingyue complained in her heart, but nodded obediently, "I've made a note of it. I will do as Brother Lu said. Don't worry, Brother Lu."

"Brother Lu, if you go to the military camp, would you like to take some crispy pork with you? We still have a lot of crispy pork at noon, and it tastes pretty good."

No matter what Lu Qiyan's considerations were, the fact that he gave her so much silver was enough for her to survive. Xia Mingyue felt that she should remember this favor.

Lu Qiyan seemed to like the crispy pork quite a bit, so this was considered as catering to his tastes.

Xia Mingyue took the initiative to mention it, so Lu Qiyan did not refuse, "Okay."

After getting the answer, Xia Mingyue went to find some oil paper and wrapped most of the remaining crispy meat for Lu Qiyan. "If Big Brother Lu doesn't mind, I'll make some more food next time Big Brother Lu comes back."

Come back next time?

Lu Qiyan raised his eyebrows slightly, and nodded after a moment, "Okay."

As the sun sets, Lu Qiyan and Zhao Youcai set off.

Xia Mingyue, Lu, Zhao Dahu and Zhao Erhu accompanied the two men to the city gate, and only went back when they were completely out of sight.

Everyone had dinner at home.

There were still some vegetables left from the lunch purchase, so Xia Mingyue made pickled cabbage and tofu soup for dinner, and the staple food was the leftover oven-baked sesame cakes from lunch.

After eating and drinking, Xia Mingyue went to bed early. She got up early the next day and began to tidy up the house and sweep the yard.

Lu Qiyan's courtyard is not big, with two rooms facing north and south, one main room and one inner room, both of which are quite old. The blue bricks are weathered and dusty due to wind and sun, and the tiles on the roof are also accumulated with some fallen leaves and dust due to age and limited daily maintenance. You can see dense moss on the tiles when you look up.

The things in the house were also very simple. There was a square table and two benches in the main room, and a brick bed in the back room. There wasn't even a box for clothes...

Speaking of clothes, Xia Mingyue tugged at her sleeve.

She was bought, and her clothes at that time were tattered and could no longer be worn. The clothes she was wearing now were given by Mrs. Lu. Although they were half-new, they were very loose and made her look a little funny. She had to roll up her sleeves high when working.

After thinking for a moment, Xia Mingyue went to the street holding the purse given by Lu Qiyan.

First I went to the cloth shop.

Xia Mingyue was still wearing the clothes that Mrs. Lu gave her. They were large and loose, and she didn't even have any clothes to change into. She needed to buy some cloth to make two sets of clothes.

The outer garment is made of coarse cloth, which is resistant to dirt and wear, while the lining is made of a cost-effective cotton and linen blend.

Xia Mingyue specially bought two pieces of fine cotton cloth to use as cage cloths.

Then I went to the grain store and bought some staple foods such as white flour, sweet potato flour, corn flour, etc.

Finally, I went to the grocery store and bought two flat baskets, a broom woven from sorghum ears for sweeping the kang, and a pound of coarse salt...

After a busy day, my wallet was almost half as light.

Xia Mingyue also needs to buy a handy kitchen knife, a larger spatula, and an iron pot that can be used for cooking and frying.

The money Lu Qiyan gave was far from enough.

Make money!
Xia Mingyue clenched the rough porcelain bowl with three large cracks.

In the next few days, Xia Mingyue would go to talk to Lu whenever she had time, or take a walk on the street to quickly understand the surrounding environment.

Because the west of the county seat is the direction towards the border, many soldiers' families settled in Xicheng District.

Because of this, although Xicheng District is not as prosperous and wealthy as Dongcheng District, it also has a large population and is very lively.

Seeing that he had a general understanding of the situation in the vicinity, Xia Mingyue made contact the night before and went to the butcher shop early the next morning.

"I want this small piece of front shoulder meat." Xia Mingyue picked out a piece of meat and gestured to Hong the butcher. "Okay." Hong the butcher asked as he cut the meat, "It's only been a few days, and Captain Lu is back again?"

Nowadays, there are frequent battles on the front lines and the military pay is relatively generous, but most of those who can move with the soldiers to Jinqiu County have no jobs at home and no way to make money, so naturally they cannot spend the money very easily. Only when those who have worked hard for them come back will they be willing to have a good meal of meat.

"I didn't come back, I just bought some meat." Xia Mingyue didn't explain too much.

That means he was craving for meat and bought more than a pound at once.

Tsk, the young lady looked so gentle and like a good housekeeper, but I never thought she was actually a spendthrift.

Butcher Hong complained in his heart, but he still weighed the meat with a smile on his face.

Butcher Hong charged fifty-five coins for one pound and two ounces of front shoulder meat.

The price of pork has increased slightly in the past two days.

After buying some green onions, ginger and garlic, Xia Mingyue started to get busy.

Chop the stuffing, mince the onion, ginger and garlic, add eggs, pepper powder, an egg and pepper water and stir in one direction into a sticky stuffing.

Knead the dough, roll it into a dough ball, roll it into a long strip, spread a layer of filling evenly on it, roll it up neatly from one end, roll it into dough again, use a rolling pin to roll it into a round cake the size of a palm when you stretch out your five fingers, and put them into the pot one by one.

The hot oil made a sizzling sound as soon as it touched the dough. The originally snow-white dough quickly turned a brown layer and gave off a fragrant smell.

Turn it over, fry it slowly over low heat, remove it from the oil when it is fully cooked, and then put the dough back in...

After working for half a day, Xia Mingyue made a small basket of meat patties.

Picking up a few, Xia Mingyue walked towards the next yard.

Mrs. Lu was picking and washing cabbages in the yard, preparing to cook lunch.

Even if the cabbage is stored well over the winter, the cabbage stalks and leaves will begin to become watery and rot as the weather gets warmer.

Mrs. Lu peeled off almost half of a cabbage, and the remaining part was barely edible.

After asking the two brothers Zhao Dahu and Zhao Erhu to feed the rotten cabbage leaves to the chickens in the yard, Lu began to peel garlic and cut cabbage.

"Mom." Zhao Dahu and Zhao Erhu asked while they were busy, "What do we have for lunch?"

“Noodles in soup.”

A mixture of sweet potato flour and white flour.

"Eat this again?" Zhao Dahu frowned and moved closer to Mrs. Lu eagerly, "Mom, I want to eat crispy pork."

"I want to too." Zhao Erhu nodded.

The fragrance of the crispy pork I ate a few days ago is still in my mind and I can’t get rid of it.

"I think you two look like little pieces of crispy meat!" Mrs. Lu rolled her eyes at the two brothers. "You have to wait for your father to come back before you can eat the meat. Have you forgotten again?"

Zhao Youcai's military salary was not low, but his two sons, who were half-grown children, had huge appetites. It was unknown how much grains and noodles they ate. Mrs. Lu was also planning on buying a property for her sons to marry off in the future, so she was reluctant to spend more money.

"Then... can I have an egg?" Zhao Dahu cautiously tested, "It's getting warmer now, and chickens lay more eggs than in winter."

"Half is fine." Zhao Erhu chimed in.

　Two updates a day these two days~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)