General, Madam Called You To Farm

Chapter 41 – Uncle (1)
 

“780 wen.”

Su Xiaoxiao said.

Su Ergou was surprised: “Jie1, obviously I am the one who collected the money. How do you know?”

1Jie (姐) : older sister.

Su Xiaoxiao said: “The samples were 12 pieces, I gave 1 piece away, you ate 3 pieces, the crushed ones were 6 pieces, and the remaining are 78 pieces left, one piece worth 10 wen.”

Su Ergou admired his older sister so much that he wanted to kneel for her.

“Jie, you didn’t lose your brain, but you lost your broken brain, right?”

Su Xiaoxiao was speechless to her silly younger brother.

“Jie, are we still going to sell the cakes tomorrow?”

“Go.”

“And it’s still the same place, near Jinji?”

“Yea.”

Continue to steal the sales from Jinji.

“Okay!”

Su Ergou was very happy.

It was much easier to sell the cakes than to extort money from people, and he could also eat while selling it, which was very satisfying. “Jie, I like the Meigan Cai cake the most!”

-A bundle of Meigan Cai (梅干菜)
A type of dry pickled chinese mustard. The pickle consists of a whole head of various varieties of chinese mustards and cabbages that has undergone an elaborate process consisting of drying, steaming, and salting. The vegetables are harvested, trimmed before the Qingming Festival, and sun-dried until limp. It is then salted or brined, kneaded until the juices are exuded, and left to ferment in large clay urns for 15 to 20 days. The vegetable is then repeatedly steamed and dried until reddish brown in color and highly fragrant. [Wikipedia]

-Meigan Cai with pork meat filling

It was juicy, salty and sweet, it was so delicious that he wanted to bite his own tongue.

“Is your tongue all right?” Su Xiaoxiao asked.

Su Ergou stuck out his tongue a few times, and it didn’t hurt.

He said, “it’s okay now.”

Su Xiaoxiao said, “Go back and I will make braised pork with preserved vegetables for you to eat.”

-Braised pork with preserved vegetables. (The preserved vegetables is Meigan Cai)

Su Ergou said, “Braised pork with preserved vegetables? What is that?”

Su Xiaoxiao smiled slightly, “You will know after eating it. Let’s go to the market to buy some ingredients.”

The business was very good. She planned to make a little more for tomorrow. So the ingredients wouldn’t last for a few days.

“Miss!”

As soon as she arrived at the entrance of the market, she was stopped by someone.

She looked up and saw that it was the young butcher who sold the meat.

The butcher came trotting all the way, sweating profusely, and said, “You’re finally here, otherwise I’m wondering where I have to go to find you.”

“Looking for me?” Su Xiaoxiao looked at him in amazement.

The butcher smiled embarrassedly and said, “Well, it’s like this, you… the stewed large intestine you gave me yesterday… Do you still have it?”

-Stewed large intestine 

To be honest, he didn’t plan to eat it at first, but it was a pity to throw it away, so he forced himself to taste it.

“It’s… It’s more delicious than what my mother’s made.”

Su Xiaoxiao touched her chin and said, “Are you here to ask me how to make that stewed large intestine, or do you want to buy a bowl of stewed large intestine from me?”

“Ah……”

The butcher was successfully questioned.

Of course… he came to ask for advice on the cooking methods. But when this little village girl said so, he felt that it seemed a bit unreasonable if he didn’t buy a bowl.

“I’ll buy, buy… How do you sell it? How do you sell the stewed large intestine?”

Looking at him, he stuttered.

Su Xiaoxiao smiled and said, “It’s not expensive, 20 wen for a pound.”

The butcher suspected that he had heard wrong.

What… 20 wen? For a pound?

A whole set of pig intestines weighed 20 pounds, and it couldn’t even be sold for 10 coins. How dared she ask for such a price?

The more rare things, the more valuable it becomes. And the only one who could make this kind of stewed dish was her family. Besides, the sugar and salt were expensive, she really didn’t make a random price.

Su Xiaoxiao then continued, “If you buy it, you will only be charged 10 wen.”

The butcher said stupidly, “It… It has become so much cheaper?”

Could it be that this little village girl had taken a fancy to him?

Su Xiaoxiao smiled and said, “Well, then see you tomorrow.”

“Ah, see… see you tomorrow.”

The young butcher turned away and blush.

When Su Xiaoxiao passed by the stall which was selling dry goods, she met the old woman from the last time again.

The old woman opened her mouth and said, “60 wen for meigan cai!”

The last time she sold it for 50 wen, which was her loss.

Su Xiaoxiao chanted ‘oh’ as if she understood and said, “I don’t want meigan cai today.”

The old woman: “……”

——

The ingredients she bought today were not too much, and Su Ergou was working as a tool man2 the whole time. Instead of taking an ox cart, they walked back to the village.

2Tool man / Tool person: generally refers to a person who is used by others as a tool. For example that person will help others willingly, working hard for others, pays when called, and does not ask for rewards emotionally, materially and economically, always like a tool to be used or ordered by the others.

Father Su was not at home. He should have gone to deal with the aftermath of Uncle Cheng’s affairs.

The three little ones were at Liu Shan’s house, and Mrs. Wu was watching them.

“You go get Dahu and the others back.” Su Xiaoxiao said to Su Ergou.

“Okay!”

Su Ergou put down the heavy basket and walked out of the main room. After a while, he came back in panic and loss.

“Jie! Jie! Jie! Someone is coming!”

Su Xiaoxiao was fetching water to wash her hands in the backyard. When she heard this, she slightly raised her eyes and said, “Who is coming that made you so flustered?”

Su Ergou felt it was hard and complicated to explain in a few words, so he just said: “It’s uncle and aunt.”