The days always pass quietly from people's fingertips, never stopping. This winter was a prosperous winter for bean paste buns and bean sprouts. Especially the bean paste bun, since the strong launch of the bean paste bun by Yipinlou and Ruyi Restaurant in the capital, it has swept the entire aristocratic circle.

It is said that even the venerable son loves to eat bean paste buns, and he must eat them once every three days to be satisfied, otherwise he will lose his temper. In this way, this bean paste bun is even hotter.

Yipinlou and Ruyi Restaurant simultaneously implement limited sales, only selling 2,000 bean paste buns a day, 20 wen each, but the stewards of each prefecture have to come early to queue up to buy it. Naturally, the treatment of customers who consume in restaurants is different, bean paste buns can be ordered and eaten casually, if you want to take out, you can, but one person is not allowed to exceed five bean paste buns.

After half a month, suddenly one day, there was a small steamed bun shop in the capital, a fragrant bun shop. Every day, as soon as the boards on the doors and windows of the steamed bun shop were removed, three disabled men came out and shouted "sauce meat buns out of the pot", "soup dumplings out of the pot", "bean paste buns out of the pot", and then turned back to the shop to wipe the tables and chairs, waiting for the guests to come to the door.

As a result, soon a small servant or mother-in-law of a large family brought a food basket into the door, bought steamed buns or bean paste buns and left in a hurry. At the same time, diners will come to the door one after another, ordering a bowl of hot egg drop soup or millet porridge, and then ordering steamed buns or bean paste buns, and a small plate of small pickles served in the shop.

And the person in charge of serving the bun filling and bean paste filling in the kitchen is a middle-aged man with an amputated left leg. He was always accompanied by a boy of twelve or thirteen, his son, who was responsible for delivering things to him, spreading messages inside and outside, and taking care of him. The two women in the kitchen who helped make the buns and bean paste buns were his wife and the wife of one of the three disabled men outside.

The shopkeeper of this shop, sitting on a special wooden chair with wheels, is not luxuriously dressed, but his body exudes a sense of luxury and elegance, and his appearance is also very good. Every day, ten tall guards escorted the shopkeeper in the morning, and then escorted him back after noon.

On December 19, when I woke up in the morning, there were scattered snowflakes in the sky, and by noon, it was snowing heavily. Due to the heavy snowfall, there are not many customers in the shop of a wisp of incense buns, only a few regular customers.

The noble shopkeeper sat behind the counter, crackled for a while, and looked up and asked the guys in the store, "Which of you wants to go back to your hometown for the New Year?" ”

The three of them couldn't say back, indicating that there was no one to worry about at home, and the child was handed over to a safe person to take care of.

The shopkeeper nodded and ordered: "The proprietor means that if you don't return to your hometown, you will take your respective children over and spend the New Year in the shop." After the year, if you want to keep your children by your side, it's not impossible, as long as you don't delay the work of the owner, and you can take care of the children. ”

The three big men were excitedly not knowing what to do, only to hear the door ring, the thick curtain was lifted, and there were customers in the shop. They hurried to move to greet the guests.

It was Bu Qi and Bu Yuyan who came in.

Bu Qi untied the cloak on his body and handed it to the guy in the shop, and said, "Second brother, hurry up and serve steamed buns and hot soup, I'm hungry." Do you have any alcohol? There is a pot of wine scalded. ”

Bu Yuyan stood at the door, and while letting Xiao Xing slap the snowflakes on her body, her mouth was not idle, "Second brother, I want to eat bean paste buns and sauce meat buns." ”

The shopkeeper sitting behind the counter smiled gently, "You two, why are you here again?" Sooner or later, Miss Gu's shop will have to make the two of you poor. ”

The brother and sister sat down at the table closest to the counter and said in unison:

"Whoever eats poor can't eat poor ancient girls"

"Whoever eats poor can't eat poor Sister Shu."

With that, the brother and sister looked at each other and laughed out loud.

The regulars got used to this, settled the bill and left.

But after a while, Bu Wu and Bu Liu came together, shouted to the shopkeeper for the second brother, and then knocked on the heads of the younger brothers and sisters who had already buried their heads in eating steamed buns.

When it was snowing heavily in the capital, it was sunny in Kangxi Town, Huizhou.

On the grange of the ancient mansion, six pigs were killed today, and there were still five big fat pigs left in the pig barn. The men were busy chopping meat, removing bones, cleaning up pigs' heads and trotters, and cleaning their guts and intestines. The women were busy in the kitchen, stomping chopped green onions, cutting shredded sauerkraut, shredded radish, washing and slicing cabbage, and refining oil in a large pot over low heat......

Qing Shu took his two maids, first went to the vegetable cellar to see the cabbage and radish that had been saved, and then went to see the pickled sauerkraut in the seventy vats, wondering whether it would be sold at the same price as the bean sprouts, or if it should be sold higher.

Whether it is bean sprouts or sauerkraut, this year is the first year on the market, and it is understandable that the price is more expensive, because the consumer group is the rich. Next winter, the price will definitely fall a little, although someone will learn to do it, but her mouth is strict, the correct method can't be passed on, the taste is not necessarily right, and she can still maintain a high profit for a year. As for the future, she wants to make sauerkraut a must-have dish for ordinary people in winter like modern times, and she will no longer point to it to make money.

As soon as Qing Shu walked out of the room where the sauerkraut tank was placed, Steward Wu came over, saying that someone had come from the front, claiming to be sent by the young man, and went to the house first, and then found this place under the guidance of the housekeeper, indicating that he wanted to see her.

Qing Shu thought of the golden hairpin and golden step shake made by the Treasure Pavilion entrusted to Zhou Boyan, and hurriedly went to the front to meet the guests.

Zhou Dachang, a thin man in his forties, is not dressed luxuriously, but the material of his clothes is dark silk. He said that he came to Kangxi Town on the order of Yan Gongzi, first, to send New Year's gifts to the ancient mansion, second, to bring the cook over to learn how to cook with sauerkraut from the ancient kitchen lady, and third, to pull away the sauerkraut. Explaining his intentions, he handed over a letter.

Qing Shu's eyes were on fire at that time, and Zhou Boyan hadn't forgotten to ask for the sauerkraut stubble, which was really annoying. When Xiaojuan took the letter and handed it over, she took it in her hand and tore the sealed cover with fire, pulled out the letter inside, shook it open, and then raised her eyebrows. It turned out that there was a silver ticket of 2,000 taels in the letter.

Qingshu admits that she is very money-obsessed. The silver ticket of two thousand taels quickly extinguished most of the fire in her eyes, and her heart said: You know each other.

She took the silver ticket away and read the contents of the letter. I saw that it was written in the font of Dragon Flying and Phoenix Dance, and she must be asked to accept the silver ticket and teach Chef Zhou how to cook with sauerkraut. Also, he asked her to give him at least half of the sauerkraut and let his people pull it back to the capital, and he would be grateful. As for what she had entrusted to her, the masters were still correcting it, and asked her to wait a little longer.

After reading the content of the letter, and thinking that the words were still sincere, Qing Shu decided not to get along with the silver, so he should do this, and asked Zhou Dachang and Chef Zhou to stay, and eat a pig-killing banquet on Zhuangzi at noon.

Because of the need to deploy pig blood, Xu Sanniang was also transferred to Zhuangzi today. When the pig's blood is adjusted, the women will be commanded by Xu Sanniang to fill the blood sausage. Fill the blood sausage, take two-thirds of it to be frozen, and assign two people to cook it, occupying a large cauldron.

In a large pot next to it, two large pig's heads that were unloaded in half have been boiled, just waiting for them to be cooked, and then put sorghum rice in the soup and boil porridge.

There is also a large pot in which the meat bones are boiled, and when the meat bones are half-cooked, the sorcert can be cut down.

By noon, the qiē was almost ready, only the stir-fry was missing.

So, a table was set up for Zhou Dachang and Chef Zhou in front, and Steward Wu was waiting to accompany him.

There is also a table in the small courtyard that Qingshu uses when he comes on weekdays. Here, she has to bring her maid to eat.

The pork liver drizzled with condiments, the shredded and seasoned pig ears, the hotly fried pork lungs and pig tongue, the meat bones stewed with sauerkraut, the meat slices fried sauerkraut, and the thinly sliced fried pig blood sausage were placed on the table.

Seeing that these two were very keen on sauerkraut, they only ate sauerkraut, but did not eat the meat in sauerkraut, so he thought of what Qing Shu had said, and said with a smile: "What do you two think of this dish?" ”

Zhou Dachang replied with a smile, "I have nothing to say, I have been to many places from south to north, and it is the first time I have eaten such a dish, it tastes good." ”

Chef Zhou also agreed, "The taste is nothing to say, this dish is more popular than the big fish and meat when it is put in a big family." ”

Steward Wu smiled: "That's a good thing. The masters of rich and noble families are accustomed to eating big fish and meat, especially during the Spring Festival, they eat greasy big fish and meat every day, and they must want to eat greasy dishes. However, this season, there are few greens to eat, and the cooks must have a terrible headache. ”

Chef Chow nodded yes, and then asked what this particularly greasy and appetizing dish was on the table.

Steward Wu waited for them and asked, "This is sauerkraut." ”

Zhou Dachang paused for a moment, and soon said with a happy face: "Haha...... Today, our old brothers and sons are blessed, the sauerkraut that the son has never eaten, but it is cheaper for our old brothers and sons first. ”

Chef Zhou's eyes lit up, and his eyes stuck to the sauerkraut, muttering: "So this is sauerkraut, okay...... As expected...... Sour and flavorful...... Good dish, good dish......"

Full of wine and food, as soon as he got off the table, Chef Zhou urged Steward Wu to quickly arrange for the cook to teach him to make sauerkraut.

Steward Wu smiled and arranged for him to come to the ancient mansion tomorrow afternoon, and then the kitchen in the mansion would arrange a qiē and then teach him.

As soon as this matter was settled, Zhou Dachang and Chef Zhou took their leave and returned to the inn where they stayed in the town.

Qingshu didn't drink alcohol, and he finished lunch and got off the table earlier than them, and pulled a cart of pork and bits and pieces more than a quarter of an hour before them.

When I returned to the house, I placed two large vats in the courtyard where the sun could not shine, put the meat of the four pigs in it, covered it, and pressed it with a heavy object. A large vat of sauerkraut was brought in and placed in the utility room next to the kitchen, and a pot of meat and bones stewed sauerkraut and two pig blood sausages were moved into the kitchen.

Xu Sanniang washed her hands, hurriedly lit a fire, poured the meat and bones stewed sauerkraut into the pot and heated it, put the two blood sausages on the drawer and steamed them, and took twenty white flour steamed buns and bean paste buns that were steamed and frozen yesterday, and also put them on the drawer to steam.

Because Qingshu had explained before leaving, no one in the house was really hungry, and they all ate some pastries and the like.

As soon as Qingshu came back, Qingyang ran over and asked her if she had come back with blood sausage.

Qing Shu pinched his nose, "Bring it, bring it, I'll bring it to you when it's hot later." ”

Qingyang happily said that he wanted to eat with Mr. Lu.

Qingshu said yes. When their sister and brother entered the hall and sat down, Gu Qiang handed over a gift list, saying that it was a gift list for the New Year's gift from Yan Gongzi.

Qing Shu opened the gift list and glanced at it casually, two brocades, two satins, dark blue and dark purple, suitable for men's colors. A set of pen, ink, paper, inkstone. Forty boxes of dim sum at Yi Pin Xuan. Two catties of famous tea. 100 catties of white flour, white rice, glutinous rice, and yellow rice. One hundred catties of mountain goods, including sun-dried mushrooms, black fungus, wild vegetables, four live hares, and eight live pheasants.

Qing Shu closed the gift list, "Butler, how do we arrange our return gift?" ”

Gu Qiang cleared his throat, "Miss, Yan Gongzi said that you don't need to return the gift much, as long as you have eight catties of fruit wine." He quickly finished speaking, and quickly stood with his eyes and nose and nose and heart.

Hearing this, Qing Shu couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth and secretly cursed a nasty ghost. But then again, some time ago, Zhou Boyan came back from the south and brought a lot of kelp and dried fish to the ancient mansion, and now there is this New Year's gift, it stands to reason that their ancient mansion should give people a good gift in return. However, Zhou Boyan lacked nothing, and what they sent was not enough. She glanced at Qingyang, who was sitting beside her, bowing his head and saying nothing, "Okay, give him eight catties of fruit wine, it should be a New Year's gift from Gufu to him." ”

As soon as these words came out, Gu Qiang was obviously relieved. And Qingyang, although he didn't raise his head, he still maintained a posture of bowing his head, but he unconsciously bent the corners of his mouth, so that Qingshu showed him a straight look.

Qing Shu thought it was funny, but he didn't say anything, and instructed Gu Qiang, "Ask Zhou Dachang when he will return to Beijing, and let him take it back for the New Year!" We don't have to send someone to make this trip. ”

Gu Qiang agreed and retreated.

After a while, Xiaoyu came to pass the word, and the meal was ready.

Qingshu asked Qingyang to go to the front to have dinner with Mr. Lu, and went back to the courtyard by himself. She tilted on the kang for a while, and then sat up suddenly. No, the sauerkraut can't enter people's eyes one by one, she still needs to keep it secret, she has to cut it, cut it all. But, cut it, how to let Zhou Dachang transport it back to the capital?

She stood up, walked back and forth on the ground, and suddenly stroked her palm, and there were. The shredded sauerkraut can be frozen in a ball, and then loaded into a large vat, wooden box or barrel, loaded into a car and pulled all the way back to Beijing. Wait until the capital, and let them stay outside or in a cold room to continue to freeze. Every day, you can estimate the approximate amount of cooking the next day, and then take the sauerkraut dough according to the dosage, and take it to a warm room to thaw it one night in advance.

Qing Shu called Xiaojuan. Xiao Juan, who was sitting outside doing needlework, and Xiao Yu entered at the same time.

Qingshu arranged for Xiaojuan to go to the housekeeper and asked the housekeeper to quickly confirm that no matter whether male or female in the house, who can cut vegetables, the knife must be good, and the filaments must be cut. Besides, quickly send someone to the flavor snack shop and recall all the people in the shop who can cut vegetables. She also asked Xiaoyu to go to Wenlan Courtyard and ask Ding Jiamei how her knife skills were at cutting vegetables.

As a result, the people in the house were in a hurry. The flavor snack shop received the news, except for Gu Yuanhe, who was the shopkeeper who couldn't cut vegetables, Wei Tiezhu, who was in charge of the bean sprouts window, and Wu Xiaoshan and Ning Si, the four people from the other clubs hurriedly ran back to the house.

The number of people who have a decent knife work is counted. Mu Cong, Chen Huzi and his wife, Kang Xuanzhu, Xu Sanniang, Xu Wuniang, Xiaojuan, Xiaoyu, Su's mother and Ding Jiamei are a total of ten people. Xu Wuniang's needlework is also very important, and it is also a major entry in the house, so Qingshu asked Xu Wuniang to go back. In this way, there are nine people left.

As soon as Ding Jiabao, who was sent out to buy kitchen knives, came back, Qing Shu gave an order, and each of the nine people who knew how to cut vegetables took a kitchen knife and cleaned their kitchen knives and improvised boards. And Ding Jiabao and Gu Yuanbao were responsible for peeling the sauerkraut piece by piece, the outermost layer of the sauerkraut was peeled and put in the first pot, the inner one was peeled and put in the second pot, and the middle vegetable core was put in the third pot.

As soon as the sauerkraut over there was peeled, the nine people here began to cut the vegetables, and the shredded sauerkraut cut out according to Ding Jiabao's way of distributing them was also placed in three places. There are thirty-seven barrels in the house, which is enough. These thirty-seven wooden barrels were obtained when he bought the shop before, because Zhang Laodong's family personally begged to come to the door, Qingshu changed his mind and took down the inventory in Zhang's Laodong's shop.

I am afraid that there are not enough wooden barrels on the Zhuangzi, and there are only five or six in total. So Li Dalang drove the cart, went out with Gu Qiang to buy twenty wooden barrels, and went straight to Zhuangzi.

The people who had been busy all morning in Zhuangzi had already rested, and as soon as Gu Qiang came, they knew that they had to hurry up the time to cut sauerkraut. Steward Wu quickly recruited people to ask who could cut vegetables and whose knife skills were good.

In the end, there were only five people here. Except for the old man and two women who work in the kitchen on weekdays, only Kang Shuzi and Zhang Da are among the men. The big man Zhang Dahui cut vegetables, and suddenly aroused countless suspicious eyes.

Gu Qiang explained Qingshu's request in detail, and asked Steward Wu to repeat it on the spot, and made sure that Steward Wu remembered it, so he hurriedly filled the sauerkraut in the vat with twenty wooden barrels. Seeing that it was difficult to pull up a cart, Steward Wu hurriedly asked Cai Tieniu to put on the cart, so twenty barrels of sauerkraut were placed on two carts, covered with oilcloth, bolted tightly, and then pulled the sauerkraut back to the town.

On the second trip, the two carts carried thirty-four empty wooden barrels from the house, and when they returned, the cart carried twenty wooden barrels full of sauerkraut, and the remaining fourteen empty wooden barrels were left for Zhuangzi.

After a busy day and a half, the shredded sauerkraut balls were clumped into clumps, filled with fifty wooden barrels, and all frozen. Qingshu's sauerkraut jar was hollowed out of fourteen.

Zhou Dachang and Chef Zhou looked at the fifty wooden barrels of sauerkraut loaded into the car, and they were satisfied. Gu Qiang instructed them that the one marked on the wooden barrel is the sauerkraut core, which is the most tender part, suitable for stir-frying, and stewed, which is the best part; The barrel is marked with two, which is most suitable for stew; The wooden barrel is marked three, the taste is not as good as the first two, suitable for stomping on the big oil and meat to make the filling, of course, it is also okay to make stews, but the stew time is longer, and the taste is slightly worse than the first two.

Zhou Dachang and Chef Zhou carried three truckloads of sauerkraut and eight small jars of fruit wine packed with one catty, and returned to Beijing with the caravan. The two sides have made an appointment, and half a month later, Zhou Boyan has a caravan coming back from the south, which will turn to Kangxi Town and bring the second batch of sauerkraut from Gufu back to Beijing