Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 298 The Longevity Chapter is Coming Soon

Shen Yu and Jiang hurriedly went to get some water for washing faces, took some cloths, and asked the few people to wash up.

After cleaning up, the Li family members sat at the table, sipping warm and fragrant soy milk, taking a bite of the crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and a little hot meat pie, and looking at the cart in the yard full of spoils with satisfaction.

When Shen Yu got closer to the cart and took a look, he was almost shocked. Did Li and the others buy all the vegetables from the market during this trip?

I bought three or four kinds of radishes. There were small round red radishes, long green radishes, large short and stocky green-skinned radishes, and a small purple-red radish as thick as a finger.

Not to mention the green leafy vegetables, which Shen Yu saw all looked the same, but upon closer inspection, there were several types that she couldn't even name.

On weekdays, Shen Yu always cooks various dishes for his family to try. Now it’s time to make pickled vegetables, but Shen Yu has become a complete layman.

For several days in a row, as long as the shop was not busy, Li, Jiang and Zheng Sanniang would go to the backyard to work.

The three of them all have their own family-inherited methods of pickling vegetables, and they exchange experiences while washing, drying and pickling.

Shen Yu, Zhou Dalang and Yutao were cooking, frying meat skewers and entertaining customers in the shop. From time to time, one could hear the hearty laughter of three people in the backyard.

While Zhou Dalang was making cakes in the backyard, Yutao whispered to Shen Yu, "Sister may not remember, but when mom pickled vegetables, she always did it alone with us."

"She is slow and we can't help her much. Every year, she has to work from morning till night to store and pickle vegetables for winter."

"Mom always has a stern face when she's working, and we'll get scolded if we're not careful."

"Mom has never been happier than she is now."

After Yutao finished speaking, she looked like a little adult with a look of sorrow on her face.

Shen Yu thought about the past and was deeply touched: "Maybe there was no one to help at that time, and my mother was too tired."

"Look how happy they are now, working together like little girls, it makes people happy just to hear them."

Yu Tao's eyebrows curved: "It's better to have a mother who is cheerful all day long. It would be great if she could always be like this."

Shen Yu tapped Yu Tao's forehead with amusement: "What are you thinking about, little girl? Of course it will always be like this, and it will only get better in the future."

In this way, the three Li family members were busy for three days. During this time, they pulled a cart to buy a cart of cabbage. When the vegetable cellar was full of space, they finally stopped.

This was the largest amount of vegetables Li had ever stored since her birth, so it could be considered a major successful project.

After everything was done, Li happily asked Shen Yu and others to go down to the vegetable cellar to see the fruits of their labor.

The wooden shelves beside the cellar were piled high with Chinese cabbages, and green onions and old ginger were buried in the sand in one corner.

There were radishes buried in the soil next to it, and six or seven pickle jars of various sizes placed in the middle, filling up the not-so-small vegetable cellar, leaving only a passage that was barely wide enough for people to pass through.

Shen Yu looked at the vegetables displayed everywhere and felt that she was like a landlady at this moment. Looking at the vegetable cellar filled with vegetables, she couldn't help but grinning.

Because of the shortage of staff in the store these days, Shen Yu no longer stays in the backyard kitchen to try out new dishes when he has free time like he did in the past few days.

Instead, he stayed in the shop all day long to entertain customers. While he was busy, he also inadvertently heard a lot of gossip.

The most talked-about event is the annual Wanshou Festival on October 28th of this month.

People are speculating about what kind of celebrations the government will hold this year and how temples and Taoist temples will hold prayer ceremonies.

Shen Yudong listened and pieced together half of the sentence, and finally understood why the people in this faraway small county were also so happy when the emperor in the capital was celebrating his birthday.

It turns out that every year on the emperor’s birthday, not only would large-scale celebrations be held in the capital and the imperial palace, but celebrations would also be organized throughout the country.

The government would organize dragon and lion dances, birthday performances, and joyful garden parties. Temples and Taoist temples would hold blessing ceremonies for the emperor's birthday. Officials from all over the country would compete to present gifts to the court, and so on.

The government and the people took a three-day holiday, and the whole country celebrated and the people enjoyed themselves.

In short, the Wanshou Festival is very lively and important, and is known as one of the three major festivals along with New Year's Day and Winter Solstice.

Shen Yu listened to the guests talking about the Wanshou Festival in previous years, which seemed to be even more lively than the Chinese New Year.

I couldn't help but feel excited and curious, looking forward to broadening my horizons and seeing what a fascinating scene it was when all the people rejoiced together in ancient times.

On this day, the tenth day of October, the sky was high and the clouds were light. After the sun came out, there was a gentle warmth, and the wind was clear and cool. It actually felt a little warmer than the previous few days.

After a busy morning with breakfast, everyone had breakfast. Jiang and Li fried meat skewers in the kitchen in preparation for selling them at noon.

The two chatted while working.

Jiang narrowed her eyes and looked through the small door of the shop. The sun was shining brightly in the yard. She sighed, "It's a little spring in October, and it's actually warmer these days. It's a good opportunity to take advantage of the good sun and dry the vegetables thoroughly."

Li had been pickling vegetables with great interest these days. She nodded quickly when she heard this and said, "I turned them over once when I got up early. Now that the sun is out, I'll ask Yutao, Sanniang and the others to turn them over again."

"In two days, it will be completely dry and can be stored away."

The two were discussing pickled vegetables when a man walked quickly into the shop.

As soon as he entered the room and saw where Li was, he shouted happily, "Madam, I'm here to see you."

Li looked inside and saw Qixi, wearing new clothes and holding a large round double-layered snack box, standing in the store with a smile on his face.

Li always liked Qixi because he was sweet-mouthed and hardworking. She was very happy to see him and hurriedly asked him to sit down and poured him some tea.

At this time, Shen Yuzheng and Zhou Dalang were making cakes in the backyard, while Zheng Sanniang and Yutao were turning over dried vegetables.

Seeing that Li was about to pour tea, Qi Xi waved her hand and pushed the snack box she brought to Li, saying as if offering a treasure: "Thank you, madam. You don't have to pour the tea. I drank tea and ate rice cakes for breakfast, so I'm full now."

"My young master asked me to bring snacks to the mistress today."

Qixi emphasized: "This is what the young master brought back from the capital for you. The old lady also ordered this kind of cake box for her birthday. Open it and take a look. It's so beautiful."

Li then stopped on her way to pour tea, and when she heard that Lu Lang had been to the capital and had specially brought her some snacks from such a long distance, she was even happier and hurriedly thanked him.

She happily opened the snack box and asked when Qixi came back.

Qixiren sat at the table, but his eyes looked around: "We arrived yesterday evening, but came back too late, so we didn't come yesterday."

"Madam, why are you and Madam Jiang the only ones in the shop? Where are Miss Shen and the others?"