BXBX NOVEL Chapter 165 - 165: Braised Bamboo Shoots
Heng Yi looked at Gu Jiu and Wen Yu, “What is it? Just tell us.”
“Do you have anything you need us to do? Well help you do it. You can go into the mountains to hunt. When the time comes, you can give us a little.”
Heng Yi thought about it carefully, “That’s fine. There’s still a lot of wasteland near my village. I plan to buy it to open up more land. There are still a few days before the government office opens. You can help me open up the land. I’ll go into the mountains to hunt. When the time comes, well split the money equally.”
As soon as Heng Yi finished speaking, Gu Jiu and Wen Yu responded in unison.
“Alright.”
“I’m going to fix it!”
The two of them immediately went to tell the others that they were going to open up the wasteland for Heng Yi tomorrow.
Before opening up the wasteland, he had to get the deed to purchase the wasteland. It was something that they needed to look through the book of codes.
Dian Bo also wanted a piece of the deal, so he immediately decided to give Heng Yi wasteland tomorrow. This matter spread quite quickly, and Constable Wang’s team soon found out.
When Constable Wang arrived at Heng Mansion, Heng Yi and the others were having dinner.
There were steamed buns with diced bacon and bamboo shoots, stewed pork with bamboo shoots, and stir-fried bamboo shoots. They were all bamboo shoots, and they were sumptuous and delicious.
Heng Yi met Constable Wang in the main hall, and Constable Wang didn’t try to hide anything. He directly said that they wanted to work for him.
“Alright, I’ll just hunt for a while more.”
“I have to take the wild rabbits and pheasants home.”
Constable Wang felt that it would be a loss for Heng Yi to split the money equally, “You take half, and we’ll split the other half.”
After all, hunting in the mountains was risky.
Being attacked by wild animals, stepping on other hunters’ traps… Danger lurks everywhere.
“Alright.”
Heng Yi wouldn’t push the money out either.
He also had a large family to support and needed to spend money on many things.
When the child is born in August or September, they would have to use up their savings. He did not want to mistreat his child.
The matter was settled.
Heng Yi asked someone to bring twenty meat buns to Constable Wang, “Take them back to satisfy your children’s cravings.”
“Thank you,” Constable Wang did not reject him.
Just like what Constable Qin said, it wasn’t easy for them.
Their pay looked decent and it was indeed decent, but how could it be decent if they had a family to feed?
When Heng Yi came back, everyone had finished eating. Han Qiao ate with him for a while.
Han Qiao particularly liked the bacon and bamboo shoot buns today. She had eaten two. If she had eaten more, she could have eaten two more. However, she knew too well that going too far was as bad as not eating enough. If she ate too much now, she would become fat. It would not be hard to lose weight in the future.
Moreover, if she ate too much with the child in her stomach, it would not be easy to give birth when the time came. It was a life-threatening matter. She would not joke about her health and life.
Heng Yi had an appetite.
Han Qiao rarely ate with him like this. Her family was always together.
Han Qiao gave Heng Yi a bowl of soup.
“You should eat slower,”
“I’ll bring a few buns into the mountains tomorrow. When the time comes, 1’11 roast them with white tea in the mountains.”
“Do you want to bring rice balls?” Han Qiao asked.
“No, I don’t want to bring anything. Steamed buns are enough.” Heng Yi wasn’t picky about food at all.
Han Qiao didn’t force him.
She told Aunt Zhao to make a note to wake up early tomorrow to make steamed buns. The fresh ones were even more delicious.
“My brothers and the others are coming on the sixth day of the lunar month, and you’re still going into the mountains to hunt?” Han Qiao asked.
“I’m not going that day.”
The fifth day of the month, the sixth day of the month.
He could also go hunting in the mountains to earn money.
Heng Yi then talked to Han Qiao about the land reclamation, “Don’t worry about it. Leave it to me.”
“Alright.”
She trusted Heng Yi.
However, since everyone was here to work, they had to take care of their meals.
Therefore, Han Qiao asked Butler Hu to come over and ask his wife to bring two cooks to the manor to cook for Constable Qin and the others.
“There are about ten or twenty people. The three of you can do whatever you want.”
Hu Jiancheng was now teaching the children how to read and write, so it was easy work.
Butler Hu and his wife’s arrogance had long been worn away. They immediately agreed and promised to do what Madam instructed.
“Go pack up and go over tomorrow.”
If the manor wanted to cook, they had to prepare food and dishes.
When Heng Yi and Bai Cha came down from the mountain, they could immediately eat something warm.
Han Qiao felt that she was killing two birds with one stone.
She also brought two sets of clothes, shoes, and socks for Heng Yi, “Let’s buy a carriage in a few days.”
“Alright.”
Buying a carriage was easy. As long as the horses were bought, the carriage could be bought at any time.
“When the matter is more or less settled, 1 also want to stay in the manor for a few days to experience life there.”
“Yes,” Heng Yi massaged Han Qiao’s legs.
Han Qiao yawned comfortably and said in a daze, “Heng Yi, you should sleep early too.”
She fell into a deep sleep under the warm blanket.
Heng Yi smiled.
He hugged Han Qiao and fell asleep.
The fifth day of the first month.
Heng Yi and the others set off early.
Today, there were more people selling bamboo shoots. In the morning, they had collected almost a thousand catties.
The spring bamboo shoots were tender and delicious, but it was not suitable to dry them at this time, so Han Qiao made them into sour bamboo shoots.
When the time came, the sour bamboo shoots would be used to cook the pickled cabbage fish. It would be extremely appetizing.
However, there were a lot of salted duck eggs at home, and the jars were all filled. Han Qiao decided to make braised bamboo shoots.
After peeling and washing the bamboo shoots, she added salt to the pot and blanched them with cold water. Then, she scooped them up and cut them into thick slices.
He added oil to the pot. After the oil was hot, he added onions, ginger, garlic, and spices. Then, he put the bamboo shoots in, added salt and soy sauce, and slowly stewed them.
“Remember to stir-fry it, or it will stick to the pot.” Han Qiao instructed as she watched the cook work.
This braised bamboo shoot was also a very mundane recipe. There was a cellar in this house with a lot of ice cubes. When the time came, they would be sealed and placed in the cellar. It could be stored for a long time.
When it was time to eat, they would heat it up.
In the future, it would also be a dish that no one else would have in a restaurant.
A thousand catties of bamboo shoots were not much left after removing the shells and old skins, but they still needed to be stewed in many pots.
Butler Hu also bought the jar that Han Qiao wanted to use.
He scooped the braised bamboo shoots in before they cooled down and placed them aside to wait for them to cool down naturally before sealing them.
The people in the manor didn’t quite understand why Han Qiao made so many braised bamboo shoots, but after tasting them, no one asked why.
In the afternoon, someone sold bamboo shoots again. This time, there were more than in the morning. The water in the well was used up quickly, and so was the firewood.
“Looks like we need to buy firewood,” Han Qiao murmured.
The children loved to eat braised bamboo shoots. Grandpa couldn’t bite them at all, so he picked up a piece and chewed it slowly. Then, he asked someone to cut it into smaller pieces.
“All-Qiao, what do you think about cutting braised bamboo shoots into buns?”
When Han Qiao heard this, she smiled and said, “Grandpa, let’s try it tomorrow.”
“Sure.”
In the manor, when Heng Yi went down the mountain with a few roe deers, the land had already been divided. It was bigger than he had imagined. Constable Qin and the others were turning over rocks and weeding. The dozen of them were sweating profusely, but they were still very happy.
After all, the Heng family’s lunch was truly sumptuous.
Even their family didn’t get to eat so well during the New Year.
“Heng Yi, you’re back!”
Seeing Heng Yi pick up the roe deer, they were even happier..