Chapter 258: Seventies Treasure Appraisal System (32)

After Qin Zheng went out on his driving route, Xie Yang's life didn't change much; it was as comfortable as ever.

But her state of mind had changed.

Previously, she felt Qin Zheng's income was enough to support the family, and she had grown accustomed to freedom, not wanting to be constrained by working at a factory.

Or perhaps she had grown tired of chopping wood in the previous plane, and wanted to slack off a bit in this one.

Plus, she had earned a few bonuses from doing good deeds last year, and then picked up some unexpected wealth at the Recycling Station, so her savings were quite substantial, and she simply didn't plan on getting a factory job.

But the situation at He Ximing's home suddenly gave her a sense of crisis.

What if Qin Zheng also suddenly had his post adjusted and his wages lowered, and there was another child in the family; could life still be lived so carefree and comfortably?

After all, the windfall from the Recycling Station was an invisible income that couldn't be brought to the table for now.

In the eyes of outsiders, their family relied entirely on Qin Zheng's salary. If his income were to plummet, wouldn't it arouse suspicion if they still lived as carefree a life as ever?

Xie Yang pondered that she needed to find a source of extra income that could be made public.

But joining a factory was out of the question; she was currently pregnant, and even if she wanted to take precautions and share the burden of supporting the family with Qin Zheng, she wanted a job where she could sleep until she woke up naturally.

Unfortunately, the Reform and Opening-up hadn't happened yet. As for the black market, she could have tried it before, but now... she looked down at her belly, which had grown like it was being blown up like a balloon over the past two months, twitched the corner of her mouth, and decided it was better to just stay put.

"Xiao Xie! Xiao Xie!"

While Xie Yang was watering her small vegetable patch on the balcony, Feng Juan, who lived on the first floor, knocked on her door.

Feng Juan's husband was the captain of the transport team where Qin Zheng worked, and was also one of the examiners for Qin Zheng's entrance exam; he thought highly of Qin Zheng, and Feng Juan had also taken good care of her after she became pregnant, so through back-and-forth, the two families had become quite close.

"Sister Feng, what's the matter?"

"Xiao Xie, do you still have any of that Chili Sauce you gave me the day before yesterday? My younger sister is pregnant and has been craving spicy food lately. She had a bite of the Chili Sauce you gave me at my place yesterday, and she even scraped the bottom of the jar clean, saying she hadn't felt this satisfied in a long time; before that, she would throw up everything she ate. If you still have any, could you spare me some?"

"No problem! I happen to have one jar I haven't touched yet, why don't you come in and get it?"

Xie Yang stepped aside and invited her into the house.

As a fellow big-bellied woman who had experienced the morning sickness phase, she understood Feng Juan's younger sister perfectly.

However, she herself wasn't particularly fond of spicy food; her recent tastes leaned more toward sour, and she even liked to add two spoonfuls of vinegar when cooking braised Fish, turning the braised Fish into sweet and sour Fish instantly.

Whenever Qin Zheng was home, he would tease her, saying she was almost pickled in vinegar.

"No, no, no, I just came up to ask first. If you have it, that's great. I'll go home and get some things, and I'll be back up in a moment."

Feng Juan hurried downstairs and back up, her hands full with ten eggs and a bunch of long beans she had grown herself.

Xie Yang refused to accept them.

Feng Juan insisted on giving them: "Your Chili Sauce is fresh and goes well with rice; my man likes it too. Next time you make more, I want you to help me make an extra jar; I can't just eat yours for free. Take it, take it! If you don't take it, I'll be too embarrassed to ask for the Chili Sauce."

Feng Juan's words opened up a new line of thinking for Xie Yang.

The Chili she grew was growing extremely well; she hadn't even finished picking the ripe ones, and new tender ones were already growing. She couldn't finish eating the fresh ones, which was why she used them to make Chili Sauce.

Since the neighbors had this demand, and her family had more fresh Chili than they could eat, she could totally sell them!

Although she wouldn't be selling them for money, but for eggs and other supplies, her family ate eggs every day, and they relied on eggs for nutrition when there were no other meat dishes.

Although her nephew would bring her a basket of eggs whenever he returned to the countryside on his days off after starting work, and her maiden family would occasionally have someone bring a basket over, she still had to spend money to buy them once they were gone. Therefore, trading Chili Sauce for eggs was no different from selling them for money.

After a moment of thought, Xie Yang agreed.

Three days later, another batch of Chili in the vegetable patch ripened. Xie Yang picked them and stir-fried two jars of Chili Sauce, trading them with Feng Juan for a jin of eggs and two honeycomb briquettes.

A few days later, Feng Juan came to the door again, saying with a wry smile: "My younger sister has a friend who is also pregnant and hasn't been able to eat lately. My sister shared a few spoonfuls of Chili Sauce with her, and it turned out to be very appetizing. She kept asking my sister where she bought it, and my sister had to push it off on me. So now she's begging me to buy two more jars. She had my sister bring over a bag of Brown Sugar, will you take it?"

Xie Yang: "..."

Could this be considered opening up the Chili Sauce market?

But no matter how well the Chili grew or how high the yield was, she only had one row of six plants in her private plot; no matter how big the market was, the output was only this much, and once sold, it was gone.

Though, after the Reform and Opening-up, she could let her maiden family try contracting a few acres of mountain land to grow Chili, and she could teach them how to make Chili Sauce; that would also be a way to make a living.

For now, she could only sell what she had, keeping things small-scale and prioritizing safety.

Once the Chili harvest season was over, weren't there still the mature long beans? She wondered if Sister Feng and the others would like some pickled Sour Long Beans.

"Like them! How could I not!"

That day, Feng Juan, who had come to trade for Chili Sauce, was delighted when she heard Xie Yang ask if she liked Sour Long Beans:

"My man loves these sour and spicy side dishes! The Supply and Marketing Cooperative only has pickled mustard greens and dried radishes; they don't sell Sour Long Beans. If you know how to make them, that would be great! If you don't have enough long beans, I'll provide the materials. We grew a lot of long beans this year; I was planning to dry them to stew with meat for the New Year, but if you can make Sour Long Beans, I'll dry fewer."

This way, she would only have to pay a little for the labor.

Xie Yang had no objections; she really didn't grow many long beans, as she only had one-tenth of a mu of land.

And since both she and Qin Zheng liked Tomato—which were delicious in stir-fried eggs or soup—she had planted more Tomato plants.

Both Tomato and long beans needed trellises and took up quite a bit of space; as one grew, the other waned, so if she planted more Tomato, naturally there would be fewer long beans.

Since Feng Juan provided the materials, Xie Yang didn't wait for the long beans in her own plot to ripen; she used the ones Feng Juan brought to pickle a jar for her first.

The rice-washing water diluted with Nutrient Solution was clear with a hint of cloudiness, which was perfect for pickling Sour Long Beans.

Main System: 【...】

Host, you really have played around with the Interstellar Nutrient Solution to the extreme.

Xie Yang was also in the habit of adding some garlic and radish when pickling Sour Long Beans; firstly, to enhance the flavor and freshness, and secondly, because these two things also tasted very good when made into pickles.

Making Sour Long Beans in the height of summer meant they were fully fermented in three days, but that was also when the nitrite content was at its highest, so Xie Yang waited another week before taking them out to eat.

That evening, she stir-fried some Sour Long Beans with a few slices of cured meat; it was fresh, fragrant, and appetizing. She kept half a portion for herself to eat with rice and sent the other half to Feng Juan to taste, while also signaling that "Trading is possible."

Sure enough, the next morning, Feng Juan came to the door carrying a full basket of long beans and six Salted Duck Eggs.

"Xiao Xie, your skills are truly excellent. The pickled Sour Long Beans are sour, spicy, and especially fresh. Last night, the dish of stir-fried Sour Long Beans with cured meat you sent us was so good that even our youngest, who dislikes pickles the most, added an extra bowl of rice."

Xie Yang smiled: "I'm glad you like them."

"Of course I like them! So, I've brought the materials; you pick out some tender ones to eat fresh, and you can do whatever you want with the rest."

Feng Juan placed the items on Xie Yang's table, needing to take the basket back home:

"The Salted Duck Eggs were brought by my younger sister; four are to trade for the Sour Long Beans, and two are for you to eat. Once the next batch of Sour Long Beans is pickled, I'll bring more chicken and duck eggs to trade with you."