Traveling through the Prosperous Pastoral of Peasant Girls

Chapter 7

Chapter 8 Two grandmas do not deal with each other
Before dawn the next day, the father-in-law got into the carriage, and the mother and mother-in-law laid out reed mats at home, boiled water and prepared the preliminary work, and they were waiting for them to return home with a full load.

When the three men went down to the river and dumped two back-block warehouses, they were in a bit of trouble, because the harvest was beyond their imagination. Both back-block warehouses were full, with about four hundred catties of shrimp and about five hundred catties of fish. catty.After a brief discussion, it was decided that all the prawns would be brought back, and only the dark-striped black wolf fish would be left, and the rest would be released on the spot.I originally wanted to pick out crayfish with a large body size and large egg production and put them in the nursery pond, but it was too late today.

This time I got more small miscellaneous fish, especially wheat ears and white striped fish, which weighed more than 40 catties in total. Jin Yang said: "I don't know where there is alum. If you have alum, you can make it. It’s fish, braised fish is simple to make and has a unique taste, it’s a very good appetizer with wine.”

Grandma wanted to go to the river early in the morning to have a look, and she knew what they were harvesting, but unfortunately she went late, and they drove the carriage into Jin Yang's house.Not reconciled, she immediately followed her up.When he entered the door, he saw fish and shrimp all over the floor. He was not interested in black wolf fish, so he went home after chatting for a while and waited for someone to deliver the shrimp to his door.It's a pity that there was no sign of Liu Tao's family until noon, so he led the fat man to Liu Tao's house to settle accounts, but there was no one in Liu Tao's house, so he came to Jin Yang's house again.Liu Tao's father went to the river to show the craftsmen where to build a house. Only a few women were working, and Jin Yang's grandma was also helping to pull shrimp thread.At this time, the prawns hadn't been cooked yet, but Liutao's black wolf fish had been cleaned up, and the discarded fish heads and other poisonous parts were being cleaned up for deep burial.

Grandma yelled as soon as she entered the door, yelling at Liu Tao's mother for being a wolf, for catching so many shrimps, she didn't even give her one.Mom and Liu Tao didn't dare to confront her. Mom could only swallow her tears and wipe her tears. Jin Yang's grandma was always arrogant. She got out of her yard.

"I'm scolding this bitch, not you."

"You can scold anyone you want, but you can't scold at my house, you get out!"

"I won't leave, your family can accommodate this bitch, it's not a good thing..."

One sentence angered the old woman, and she beat her with a cane. Grandma hurriedly used her arms to block, and was beaten several times.Later, I couldn't stand it any longer, and ran out of the gate.Grandma Jin Yang chased her out, and seeing that she couldn't catch her, she closed the gate and went back. Grandma Liu Tao got home, rubbing her sore arm and getting more and more angry, she opened the door of Liu Tao's house and used The sticks were smashed, and all the magnetic bowls and pans were smashed.Later, I was still puzzled, so I rummaged through the wardrobe and the kang head. Thanks to my mother who had prevented her trick in advance and hid all the money in the kang hole, it was not found.

Except for the water tank and iron pot, all the fragile ones were broken, and the family could not live in it, so they had to move overnight. Fortunately, her grandmother did not set fire to get a complete house, and there was no loss of bedding and clothes.

After these few days of drying, the kang surface in the new house was completely dry, and it was ready to live in when it was lit. They were all used to sleeping in the fire pit, and they were not interested in Liu Tao's suggestion of sleeping on the bed.Liu Tao's custom-made furniture and bed have not yet been delivered, but it would be nice to spread reed mats on the floor.Since he didn't go back to the village anymore, he called the long-term worker of Jinyang's family over and set up the stove in front of the house. From now on, this place will be the place for processing shrimp and dried fish.The yard is large enough, and there is no wall to block the ventilation and the ventilation is smooth, which is conducive to the rapid drying of shrimp and dried fish.

The next day, shopkeeper Jin sent someone to urge the goods. First, he found Jin Yang’s home, and the person told him that the dried shrimps were also used up, and the shrimps could still be used for seven or eight days. The Yushanju head office in Beijing also got After getting the news, let them quickly organize the supply of goods, and then send a chef who can cook these dishes to bring the supply to the main store in the capital. It is estimated that these rare dishes will become popular in the capital, and there are many big officials and wealthy businessmen in the capital. Yes, the price of the dishes may double.Jin Yang's mother asked them to come the day after tomorrow to take away the things processed today for emergency use. It is estimated that after two days of short drying, because the shrimps are not dry enough to make shrimps, they are all sold as dried shrimps. Even if there is some moisture, they will not Picky, with these dried shrimps and dried fish for emergency, the follow-up supply will be delivered continuously.

On the afternoon of the third day, Liu Tao's grandma saw someone coming to pick up the goods, but because she had just had a fight with Jin Yang's grandma, she didn't dare to enter his yard, and she scratched her head anxiously outside the door until the pick-up time came. After the man drove the car out, Jin Yang's family closed the door and went back, so she came over to strike up a conversation with him.The person who picked up the goods was named Liu Fu. Hearing that the old woman introduced herself as the old mother of another owner, I answered her politely and told the truth that the goods were 14 catties of dried shrimps and [-] catties of dried fish. A total of [-] taels of silver.

14 taels of silver, if the two families are separated and half of the family is seven taels, no matter what they do, they will blackmail Liu Tao's family for three taels, at least two taels.This time, he asked Big Fatty and his eldest daughter-in-law to accompany him on the horse, and directly killed Liu Tao's new home.

Dad and father-in-law were both checking the net curtains at the house by the river, and they also meant to guard against those craftsmen who went into the water out of curiosity to check the principle of the ecstasy array.When it rained last night, the family covered up the dried shrimps. Liutao and Jinyang were removing the reed mats and turning the dried shrimps to drive away the flies attracted by the dried fish and prevent the flies from maggoting the dried fish. , my mother is not afraid of them because she has her own home.Liu Tao saw them coming towards her house from afar through the fence, and hurriedly whispered something to her mother, which made her grin.

"Second daughter-in-law, you kill a thousand knives, and your family took in seven taels of silver a day, how much do you plan to give me?"

"Why should I give you the money my family earns? Didn't I give you the food every year? Didn't I give you the money for the pension? What else do you want? Besides, it cost my family more than 100 taels to build a house, level a pond, and dig a ditch. I borrowed it." The money from Jin Yang’s family has not been repaid, what can I give you? Fishing nets and so on are theirs. We never pay any money, but each earn ten copper coins per day as a commission. Now we plan to save money to give willow hair Go to school, what can I give you..."

"What, you are working for others, and you borrowed money from others?"

"That's right, if you don't believe me, can you ask Jin Yang?" Jin Yang nodded cooperatively, Liu Tao remembered something, and took Jin Yang to the river.

Grandma couldn't believe it, and kept asking: "Give everyone ten copper coins a day, really?"

"Why am I lying to you? Only my father and I have ten copper coins, why don't Liu Tao and the others give them?"

"Then you can give half to mother-in-law, ten copper coins!" The sister-in-law interrupted in time.

"No, I can't give mine to my mother-in-law. Chai, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar and tea. Why don't you spend money to live? If you want it, go and discuss with your son about his share."

"You bitch, just lie..." As for Liu Tao's mother, even if they were beaten to death, they wouldn't believe it, but they couldn't find any excuses, and there was nowhere for a dog to bite a hedgehog.Now that the second child is not here, the woman has no way to handle it. She can only wait for the second child to come back and talk about the ten copper coins.At this time, Fatty ate the dried shrimps that were air-dried (Jinyang's house) on his own, and his sister-in-law also ate them with a face.

"Sister-in-law, don't eat it. These are from Jin Yang's family. If his family sees them, they will deduct my family's wages if we don't care about you." Mom's reminder is also to remind them that these are not their own. , Don't mess with people you shouldn't mess with, she is preventing them from forcibly taking some away before they leave.

The sister-in-law didn't care about this, she looked at the dried fish and asked curiously: "Second daughter-in-law, are these dried black wolf fish poisonous?"

"It's also poisonous. The first few times you eat it, you'll get nausea and vomiting. If you eat it more times, you'll be fine with your resistance."

Grandma didn't want to chat with her mother anymore, so she said loudly, "Open the door, how about showing me your house?" In fact, the door was half open, and she said that just to vent her anger on her mother.

Entering the house, this opened their eyes. The white walls and exquisite white tiles immediately attracted the attention of the three of them. The three of them were like Grandma Liu who had entered the Grand View Garden. They were surprised, but the furniture was not in place yet. , The reed mat spread by Liu Tao on the tiles is a bit unpleasant to see.They couldn't understand the water outlet device and the vegetable sink on the stove, because it rained lightly last night, and there was already water in the pipes, so my mother showed them how to use tap water, and exaggeratedly washed their hands once .

"Grandma, this is a good thing. Let's pry it off and take it home later, and use it for grandparents..." Big Fatty, who didn't understand anything, exclaimed, looking greedily at this thing that can automatically produce water.Mom hurriedly explained the principle of this device to them, and heard that there was a water cellar behind the house, Fatty was disappointed.

After entering the bathroom, they couldn't understand the toilet bowl carved and polished from the whole stone, and their mother introduced the usage of the toilet bowl to them. A few people took a shit, and the three of them went out covering their mouths and noses.But the grandma derogated: "The latrine is placed in the house. I haven't heard of it since I was born. I eat and drink in the house. Is your family sick?"

For such envy turned into jealousy, my mother could only smile embarrassingly. Looking at the flat ceiling, grandma mentioned again "stuffy, depressive people can't breathe" and went out.

Dad is back, he has already been educated by Liu Tao and Jin Yang, and he has long thought of a countermeasure to deal with grandma.Seeing that the three of them came back together, grandma immediately mentioned money straightforwardly.

"Mom, I earn ten copper coins a day. Do you still want it? You know the money used to build our house, and the dishes and bowls I use now. Even the pickle jars are borrowed from Jin Yang's house. You can help us with the money." Pay it back, if you pay it back, I will give you not a dime of the wages!"

Of course, grandma couldn't agree, even if she agreed, the family didn't have much money. Later, my father didn't give me any money. Copper coins, 430 Wen a month, plus the [-] Wen a month promised in the past, [-] Wen a month without doing anything at home, such a good thing is still a good deal, and only after they agreed to send them away gone.Before leaving the house, grandma forcibly took away two dried fish, and Dapang took one.When they blocked them, the aunt made them succeed by blocking them horizontally.

"Dad, when grandma asks you for money again, you tell grandma, 'Jin Yang's father withheld the money for the dried fish, and won't pay commission for two months' so we don't have to give her any money. , not even a monthly pension of four hundred..."

After hearing this, my parents hurriedly persuaded her: "Let's forget it, we can't find that uncomfortable, if you don't give him money, she dares to set our new house on fire..., can it be exciting?" She better not get into trouble!"

Three days later, the family introduced by my second uncle arrived. The man named Huang was walking on a thick crutch, with one leg limping, but with thick eyebrows, big eyes and sharp eyes, he could have killed him at first glance. human.His wife is also the same age as he wants to be, with slender eyebrows, thin eyes and weak eyes.The daughter, Huang Ying, is 16 years old. She is as beautiful as her mother, and as lively as a lark.In addition to the family of three, there is also a half-sized black dog. This dog has an unusually long body, but its four legs are extremely short. It is a ground dog named Heilong.Heilong is a bitch full of spirituality, she can do whatever Huangying asks her to do, and she won't eat fish or shrimp unless she is allowed to eat it. She doesn't discount Huangying's orders, and the little ones, including Liutao Jinyang, all love her very much.

Dad arranged a room for the couple, Liu Tao arranged for Huang Ying to live with her, and Di Pagou kept watch in the yard until the house in the front yard (by the river) was built before letting the family move there.My father saw that all three members of the family could work, so he set a salary of [-] copper coins per person per day for them, which was nearly three taels of silver in a month.Lao Huang couldn't stop muttering: "Too much, too much."

"Our family has too much work. I can't stay idle from morning to night. Thirty copper coins are not too much..." Dad hurriedly explained to them, and also made them mentally prepared.

The current output is stable, and you can get [-] to [-] catties of shrimp in one night. After excluding the small shrimp and miscellaneous fish, there are still about [-] catties left.Carp and crucian carp are about one hundred catties, and dark-striped black wolves can also pick out one hundred catties.However, the job of picking shrimp is very troublesome. Shrimp are uneven in size. There are three generations of large, medium and small. When the miscellaneous fish in it are mixed, there is no alum to make marinated fish. It's a pity that the immortal was released.Jin Yang proposed to order two bamboo sieves from the bamboo strip maker. After the miscellaneous shrimps were poured out from the back-blocking warehouse and carried on their backs, they would pass the sieves by the river or in the water immediately, and sieve the small shrimps and miscellaneous fish. Going out will not only ensure the quality of dried shrimp, but also ensure the ecological balance of shrimp in the river.

There was no fishing ban in this dynasty, and there was no special organization to manage aquatic products. It was just that the tax official in Xifeng Town heard that someone was selling aquatic products, so he came to see the production, and finally decided to pay a tax of [-] copper coins a year.

The tarpaulin was also brought to the river, and baskets of shrimps were poured on the tung oil cloth and sieved together. This time there were more people, and manpower could be freed up to sieve shrimps and pick up miscellaneous fish. Lively and healthy crayfish with intact appendages, complete body length and high egg holding capacity were also picked out. The small shrimp and crayfish were directly released into the river, and the qualified crayfish were put into the nursery pond.

Even fish can be picked on the oilcloth. Because of the large number of carp and crucian carp, the big ones are also picked out. They have developed a new product, which is fish slippery.I originally planned to make shrimp slips, but the trouble of making shrimp slips was not as high as the price of shrimps, so I gave up.The ingredients of this fish slip are skinless and boneless carp and crucian carp meat, which is mashed into a meat paste with a stone mortar, cooking wine, starch, spices, salt and egg white are added in proportion, and the finished product is fully mixed. Liu Tao made an experiment in her own home , Everyone was full of praise after tasting it.Since it is a finished product, you can put it directly into the pot when you use it, and add seasoning according to your own taste.At first, Liu Tao recommended ten catties to shopkeeper Jin, and asked the person who picked it up to take it with her. At the same time, she also had an instruction manual drawn up by herself, telling the shopkeeper that this fish slip can be used to make soup, croquettes, and dumplings...

Uncle Liu (Liu Fu), who picked up the goods the next day, replied that he would order a hundred catties of fish slips tomorrow, and the price was not low, one hundred Wen per catty.In fact, if you want more, you don’t have it. Where is the output?
This Uncle Liu and his father want to be young, and they also have a daughter who is as old as Liu Tao at home. Now he comes here every night to keep the fish slippery. Back to Fucheng.Because of his kindness, he gradually became acquainted with the two families to the point where they could joke with each other.

Half a month later, Uncle Liu revealed in private that these fish slips had to be used by two branches in Fucheng, so he had to crack the various ingredients added to the fish slips. The production is similar, but the price is only [-] cents a catty for them. You have an old relationship with the shopkeeper, so there is no price reduction for you.

The two felt uncomfortable after hearing this. Other people's goods were the same as their own, but the difference in price was almost doubled. It was obvious that the shopkeeper was at a disadvantage.The shopkeeper has a kind heart, but he can't pretend to be stupid.The two pondered for a day, and the fish skating can only be won by its quality.In that regard, both of them thought of MSG by coincidence.

It is not difficult to make homemade monosodium glutamate, just use the shrimp skin to make it, and grind the shrimp skin into fine shrimp powder.But this can also be cracked by someone with a heart, and once it is cracked, it will not work again.This time it was Jin Yang who thought of the shrimp eggs, because the current green shrimps are still in the breeding period, and the large female shrimps have different numbers of shrimp eggs in their abdomens. These shrimp eggs are attached to the hairs on the abdomen of the shrimps and cooked After drying, it is ground into powder to become natural monosodium glutamate. This kind of monosodium glutamate has a slight river umami taste, and it is not easy to be found in fish slips. Even if you find it, you can't guess what it is.Because it contains a variety of nutrients, it also has a great tonic effect for some frail people.Anyway, these shrimp eggs are mixed together as shrimp bran and sold to the aunt after the shrimp shells are smashed, and it takes a little effort to peel them out without taking up the cost.The only downside of this thing is that it is used in a relatively large amount, which is incomparable with pure monosodium glutamate MSG.

(End of this chapter)