Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 971 - 953. Pickle radishes and pick Ju Zi

Chapter 971: 953. Pickle radishes and pick Ju Zi

The most troublesome paperwork was assigned to the most leisurely Yan Ran, and Lao Song’s family was once again at ease.

At this time, besides the vegetables from the fields, there really wasn’t anything else to sell. On the mountain, only those picking vegetables were left for daily meals. Master Jiang, together with his wife, were happily setting up their nest, not feeling deserted at all.

And now, Du Mei was having a great chat with Lao Song’s Family, noting that the sun was quite warm today, she came down the mountain early in the morning again to help Seventh Uncle and Aunt Lianhua wash radishes.

These radishes were just pulled out early in the morning; she and Aunt Lianhua had just started washing them when she couldn’t resist using her nail to pry open the slightly thick skin and then took a big "crunchy" bite.

Once a bit of the thick radish skin is pried open, it can be peeled off easily, but of course, the radish itself has to put up a fight. The one Du Mei held was easy to peel but was a bit spicy to eat.

However... the spiciness comes later. Right now, she can’t stop eating it; it’s incredibly refreshing! Both juicy and crisp, under the dry winter sun, it couldn’t be more moisturizing.

But her stomach wasn’t too good, and after munching half of it, she finally gave it to Master Jiang.

Jian Xiaokang took it with practiced ease, crunched away for a while, and then paused, "Master Song, how about we make a cold radish salad for lunch?"

"Sure!" Seventh Uncle waved his hand, "Let Qiaoqiao do the chopping. He hasn’t practiced for a while, his hands are getting rusty."

"Qiaoqiao chopping?" Du Mei was reluctant, "Chopping radishes is so dangerous! How can you let a child do that?"

Master Jiang was stunned, "At home, our daughter even chops potatoes!"

"That’s different!" Du Mei said, "Your daughter is fearless, will she be stumped by chopping potatoes? But there are so many of us eating, Qiaoqiao will get tired!"

Recently, with so few people on the mountain, they couldn’t always let Master Jiang and his wife eat alone. Thus, everyone sat together for a big midday meal.

When Qiaoqiao heard that he had a job, he was particularly confident, "Aunt Du, don’t worry! I chop very slowly! Seventh Uncle taught me, when chopping vegetables, put the knuckles against the back of the knife, retreat the fingers with every cut... don’t worry!"

He spoke with such assurance that it put people at ease, so Du Mei didn’t protest any further.

However, Qiaoqiao came over, looking at the full basin of small radishes, and said with difficulty, "Do all these have to be shredded? I may not be able to finish chopping by lunchtime."

"Not all of them." Seventh Uncle casually handed him another small basin, "You chop the big radishes in this basin. We plan to pickle the small ones whole."

Green-skinned radishes, no matter the size, can all be pickled whole. It’s just that the larger ones might not get pickled thoroughly, which is why they went to the fields early in the morning to pull out some of the more suitably sized ones.

By the morning they had cleaned all the radishes and left them out to dry, they could start pickling in the afternoon.

The water from the well was warm and didn’t feel bone-chilling. Everyone, wearing gloves, rubbed and kneaded the radishes, and they successfully scrubbed out a big basin of muddy water.

This work was quite enchanting, and even Teacher Tang, who normally only spoke and never labored, couldn’t resist joining in after finding a pair of gloves.

Of course, what she was doing wasn’t washing radishes, but breaking the leaves off the radishes—

That "snap" sound was particularly crisp and soothing!

Once the radishes were all rinsed clean, the preparatory work was considered done.

Several large clay jars for pickling were already prepared. The reason they hadn’t started earlier was that the peppers in the greenhouse hadn’t yet ripened.

Now that they had finally matured a little, though still not enough, at least there was enough to add some flavor.

At that thought, Seventh Uncle called out again, "Tantan, when you have time, go to the town and buy a few dozen pounds of chili peppers for me? We need all sorts: big ones, small ones, thin-skinned ones, thick-fleshed ones. We’ll pickle them directly."

"The small ones are for the spiciness, and you can just pick up a big one and eat it whole. It’s delightful!"

"Okay!" Song Tan took out her phone: "I’ll contact someone and ask them to set aside some good ones for tomorrow."

Meanwhile, the radish leaves that had been plucked couldn’t go to waste. Even though they had grown long, tall, and a bit old, as long as you pick out the bad and old leaves, washing and drying the rest to pickle with the radishes still makes them taste great!

With many hands, such work didn’t feel tedious. Amidst the chit-chat and laughter, everything was quickly taken care of. Just then, a calling voice came from the door:

"Wu Lan! Wu Lan!" It was Li Lanhua calling her:

"I heard your family has taken over Shitou Slope? Did you see the tangerine trees there? Are you free after lunch? Let’s go pick tangerines!"

"Huh?" Wu Lan was stunned: "There are tangerine trees on Shitou Slope?"

"Yes!" Li Lanhua was very sure: "Their village loves to plant tangerines. The ones sold by the tricycles calling around, that’s their produce, two yuan per pound."

"Are they sour?" she asked cautiously, as it seemed that hardly anyone in Yunqiao Village grew tangerine trees.

"Not sour!" Li Lanhua declared with certainty: "Our local tangerines have thick skins, but they’re quite flavorful, only a tad sour. You’ll definitely like them... Are you coming? After lunch, I’ll call for you."

Wu Lan turned around to see everyone, from Aunt Lianhua to Teacher Tang to Du Mei, all with glittering eyes!

Obviously, the idea of picking tangerines by hand was very appealing to them.

She decisively replied: "I’m in! I’ll be finished eating by 12:30; we can go together then!"

"Great!" Li Lanhua had successfully found some companions, now also in high spirits: "Bring a few big bags, at one yuan per pound. Just our family alone is going to pick thirty to forty pounds."

"Thirty to forty pounds?!" Wu Lan was astonished: "Can you finish so much? Won’t some go bad?"

But Li Lanhua was confident: "Why not! Our local tangerines keep well; even if you keep them until the New Year, they’ll still be fine. And besides, it’s only one yuan per pound. Come New Year’s, those sugar tangerines sell for six to seven yuan each!"

Indeed! At only one yuan per pound, it felt like a loss not to take advantage of the deal. Wu Lan nodded in agreement: "We have a lot of people in our family; I’ll also pick more to keep."

Song Tan, on the other hand, found it amusing. She was planning to plant tangerine trees on her mountain next year, but it would obviously not be competing with those from Shitou Slope. So she simply wondered:

"At one yuan per pound, can you make money from it?"

"Psh," Li Lanhua said offhandedly: "They’re not really grown as a serious orchard, just a patch of land near their house that would be empty anyway. Spend a little money to mess around with some tangerine saplings— see, in a few years, won’t it make money?"

Then, she spoke of the specifics: "It’s just an old lady living alone there. She can’t sell the tangerines herself once they’re picked, so she just lets anyone who wants them come and pick. It’s a yuan cheaper than if someone came to sell them at the door."

Song Tan listened, deep in thought.

It was Seventh Uncle who got an idea: "Pick more and we can make some candied tangerines for Qiaoqiao! He wanted to eat hawthorns last autumn, but we forgot to buy them."

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