LGSLAW : Chapter 37 – Pickling Plums

Thank you for the kofi support ?

Knowing that the housewarming would be in a month, Miao He focused on tending to the vegetable garden.

The new vegetable garden had expanded several times over. During the two months of house construction, the land had been prepared but only partially planted because the workers were always around.

However, it was already August, and it was too late to plant Miao He’s favorite watermelons on a large scale, as it would arouse suspicion. Therefore, they mainly planted vegetables for the teahouse.

Cucumbers, bitter melons, eggplants, long beans, and radishes, which had longer growing periods, were transplanted to the new vegetable garden and were doing well. These were added to the supply list for the teahouse, significantly increasing the variety and quantity of vegetables. Manager Jin was so pleased that he raised the vegetable prices again. The total monthly income was now around three taels of silver. Previously, Miao He had also dug up some raspberry, dewberry, and mulberry plants from the mountains. These were low shrubs and were planted along the fence from the main gate to the courtyard entrance. Wild grapes and pomegranates were placed outside the kitchen windows. Naturally, all these plants had been replaced with improved varieties.

The new house was surrounded by mugwort and chrysanthemums. When Yang Dalang went to the pharmacy to sell ginseng, he asked the shopkeeper for recommendations. The shopkeeper said the scent of these plants could repel mosquitoes, insects, and ants. They also produced cheerful little yellow flowers. Upon learning this, Miao He was delighted and immediately used the seeds he bought to grow a circle of them around the house. If anyone asked, he could say they were dug up from the mountains.

Apart from the vegetable garden, Miao He also planted areas of mung beans, peanuts, and ginseng with bellflowers.

Among the medicinal flowers brought back from the mountains, only bellflowers were the easiest to grow, thriving with normal fertilization and looking nice. Miao He chose to continue growing them. Ginseng had a good price and could be used in cooking. This was his first time trying to grow it without relying entirely on Magic Soil, using fertilization as an experiment. If successful, it would provide a stable income.

However, the fertilizer he used still had the help of Magic Soil. With the expanded vegetable garden, Miao He simplified his method: he placed a piece of Magic Soil under the new plum tree by the house, using the fresh green leaves as fertilizer. With Magic Soil’s enhancement, this method was effective.

After finishing with the vegetable garden, Miao He turned his attention to the plum trees.

The trees were now bearing small plums with orange-red skins and yellow flesh, sweet and tart, not the large red-fleshed variety. Seeing them, Miao He remembered pickled plums and suddenly craved them.

Turning to Yang Dalang, he smiled, “Let’s go to town! We’ll buy some jars for pickling fruit and making fruit wine. I also want to get a deeper pot and a flat pan. We have three stoves but only one wok, which isn’t enough.”

Yang Dalang readily agreed. Anything to make the young master happy wasn’t a waste.

So they packed up and headed to town. Upon arrival, Miao He dealt with the most expensive item first. At the blacksmith’s shop, he found out that making the pot he wanted would cost nearly a tael of silver, and the second item for roasting meat, though differently shaped, was the same price.

Before leaving, they had calculated that they had just over six taels of silver left. Although they earned three taels a month, spending a third of their savings in one go made Miao He hesitate.

“We’ll order them,” Yang Dalang said without hesitation.

Despite Miao He’s protests, they ended up ordering both. Miao He warned, “If you plan to go hunting again, you need to let me know first.”

Yang Dalang patted his head. “Okay.”

They then bought sugar for pickling plums and some other essentials. With Magic Soil’s help, they saved on rice and flour, so household expenses were low, and they wouldn’t starve. But Miao He, used to saving money, felt uneasy without cash on hand.

On the way back, they took Uncle Ma’s donkey cart because they had bought several jars. They ran into people returning to the village.

Aunt Yu, who was also on the cart, asked, “Isn’t this Dalang and Brother He? Did you go out to buy jars? Is the new house ready? When’s the housewarming banquet?”

Miao He replied politely, “It’ll be a while. The house is still missing some things.”

Aunt Yu agreed, “That’s true. Finishing a new house is tiring, but living in it will be nice! Haven’t seen you two lately, I guess you’ve been busy with the house. You know, that plot of land you sold to Miao Li, he’s building a house on it now!”

Miao He glanced at Yang Dalang. “Really? I thought they were going to plant soybeans. Dalang even helped tear down the old house.”

Aunt Yu, who had always suspected something was off with Miao Li’s family, became even more interested when things didn’t add up.

She shook her head authoritatively. “Who knows why Miao Li bought the land. After you left, Aunt Li cried her heart out over that house. But now, they’re making a big fuss building a new one, almost as if they’re afraid people will laugh at them for being greedy over an old house. They’ve left very little space for soybeans.”

Miao He chuckled inwardly. “What about the village chief? Isn’t the workshop in urgent need of soybeans?”

Aunt Yu seemed to relish the misfortune. “What can he do? This situation has made him look bad. He praised Miao Li’s family for supporting soybean planting, but they turned around and built a house! Many people are laughing at him behind his back.”

Aunt Yu didn’t know that the village chief’s big nephew, Miao Gui, also lost his chance to work at the workshop. The busy village chief ended up with nothing to show for his efforts!

So, how could the village chief be happy? He felt he had done his job and completed his tasks. Even if Yang Dalang had leveled the house, Miao Li’s family could still get the same plot of land. If Aunt Li hadn’t exposed the plan by crying, Miao Min could have asked Brother He to connect with the Liang family. But because of Aunt Li’s mistake, the blame fell on him, damaging his reputation!

The village chief couldn’t accept this logic and looked grimly at Miao Jue. “Mr. Miao, this isn’t what we agreed on.”

Miao Jue, whose thoughts were unknown, sighed, “Well, regardless of other matters, I had agreed earlier because of the potential for increased business. Now… please don’t worry, Chief. If the workshop expands in the future, Miao Gui will still have opportunities.”

Could the village chief afford to fall out with him?

All he could do was avoid Yang Dalang as much as possible lately.

Miao He knew nothing about this and didn’t think it concerned him. He just chatted with Aunt Yu to pass the time.

Back home, the first thing they did was hang the cowbells bought at the blacksmith’s shop on the frame Yang Dalang had prepared by the gate. After attaching a pull string, their homemade doorbell was complete.

Since the courtyard was in the middle of a wasteland, some distance from the fence, and they couldn’t move the fence inward because of the vegetables planted around it, they needed a way to hear visitors at the gate. This doorbell solved that problem temporarily. Yang Dalang mentioned he would ask Old Liu, a fellow hunter in the village, if his smart dog had puppies. If so, they would buy one or two. A dog’s barking would replace the doorbell.

Miao He was skeptical. Last time, to catch mice, Yang Dalang brought home Dabai. Look at Dabai now, just rolling around on its cat tree. (Rolling Dabai: ???)

With the doorbell done, Miao He eagerly started pickling plums and making plum wine.

First, they had to clean the jars thoroughly, scalding them with boiling water several times. They bought two sets each of large, medium, and small jars, a total of six. Such dangerous work was not for Miao He; Yang Dalang sent him to gather plums with Magic Soil.

Despite the hassle, Yang Dalang loved seeing Miao He like this. It seemed easy for him to be in a good mood and interested in the little things in life. The originally monotonous life was now full of details, flavors, and colors. Thinking of this, Yang Dalang worked faster.

Meanwhile, Miao He, in charge of picking the plums, threw some Magic Soil under the plum tree, gathering a batch of firm, crisp plums suitable for pickling. After that, he let Magic Soil nurture the next batch longer for sweeter, more mature plums suitable for winemaking.

He washed the two large baskets of plums, dried them in the courtyard, and by late afternoon, the skins were completely dry. By then, Yang Dalang had finished washing and drying the six jars.

The rest was simple. For the plum wine, just put the plums and sugar in the jar, seal it with oiled cloth, and wait. When the cloth puffed up slightly, vent the gas, and repeat. In about a month, the wine would be ready, and it would taste even better after six months.

Pickled plums were quicker. Score each plum with a cross to help the flavors penetrate, then mix with minced ginger and sugar in a jar. In a day, you’d have sweet and sour pickled plums to eat.

Four large jars were for wine, and two smaller ones for pickling.

The next morning after breakfast, Miao He was happily munching on a small jar of pickled plums, his eyes squinting with pleasure.

The plums from Magic Soil were fragrant, crisp, and sweet, with a lively tartness and a hint of ginger spice. Just one bite was incredibly flavorful!

The little black cat meowed pitifully at Miao He’s feet. But no, cats couldn’t eat plums. Miao He had a colleague who always posted about his cat at the office and declared he wouldn’t eat anything his cat couldn’t eat.

When Yang Dalang came over, Miao He popped a plum into his mouth. “Tasty, right?”

Sour, but indeed delicious. “Yes. I’m going hunting today.”

“Today?” Miao He blinked in surprise. So sudden?

With a few days free from delivering vegetables and cakes, Yang Dalang had planned this break. He patted Miao He’s cheek, plump from the plum seeds inside. The young master seemed to have gained some weight, looking healthier and fairer.

“I’ll be back in about three days.”

Miao He quickly put down the pickled plums. “Wait, let me get some ginseng slices for you. You should take them this time! And why didn’t you buy some better hunting gear when we ordered the pots?”

Seeing Miao He bustling around like a top, fetching ginseng slices, boiling water to avoid drinking it raw, kneading dough for cakes, and checking Yang Dalang’s hunting gear, he finally sent him off at the door.

Yang Dalang couldn’t help but pull him into a hug and kiss him deeply. The sweet and sour taste in his mouth mirrored his heart. “If anyone calls at the gate, ignore them unless it’s Aunt Yang.”

Dazed, Miao He blushed. “You, you be careful too.”

“Yes.”

With that, Yang Dalang left, taking Miao He’s good mood with him.

Miao He lay dejectedly on the wooden floor of the main hall, losing interest in the pickled plums. Dabai, thinking he was playing, kept pouncing on him enthusiastically.

But Yang Dalang was out there working hard, so he couldn’t be lazy. Forcing himself up, Miao He inspected the vegetable garden.

With the garden fully planted, progress on the fruit trees had slowed significantly. Miao He tried to dig up a tree root like Yang Dalang but quickly got exhausted and had to give up. Thankfully, they had already planted over sixty fruit trees: peaches, plums, pears, apricots, persimmons, and chestnuts—a considerable amount. In winter, when vegetables couldn’t be planted, they could focus on this.

With no more fruit trees to work on, Miao He turned to Magic Soil. Rice, wheat, and mung beans were now regular consumables. Whenever he had free time, he would gather some to store, as they kept well when dried.

Miao He also visited Aunt Yang’s house, bringing pickled plums in exchange for a half-basket of eggs. He decided to make pickled plums for Master Liang, Manager Jin, Doctor Ji, and Li Ming. Since he didn’t have enough porcelain jars, he went to town to buy more small ones. A few days later, he would deliver them with the vegetables.

Another summer fruit was peaches. But this year’s batch, grown with Magic Soil, was too high-quality to give away. They would save them for next year.

For their own consumption, Miao He picked a large basket of peaches. The sweet, juicy, and tender peaches didn’t stimulate the appetite as much as pickled plums but were filling enough for a meal. Without Yang Dalang around, Miao He didn’t feel like cooking, so he made do with peaches.

This led to trouble three days later.

When Yang Dalang returned, Miao He was picking mung beans under a tree. Hearing the commotion, he saw Yang Dalang approaching.

Seeing him home safe, Miao He was delighted and quickly stood up to greet him.

But a wave of dizziness hit! He grabbed the tree trunk for support, nearly falling.

Yang Dalang’s relaxed expression turned severe!

He immediately questioned Miao He, who confessed he had been eating irregularly.

This time, Yang Dalang didn’t let it slide and insisted on calling Uncle Lin.

After examining him, Uncle Lin, who didn’t even have time to praise the new house, beamed.

“Congratulations, Brother He. You’re expecting (a baby)! Almost three months along now.”

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D-day10 !! ?o?.(??? ??)

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