Chapter 26: Pickling Sour Cabbage

Mother said three yuan is enough; otherwise, Mother would have to take the ox cart every morning and sneak into the County to sell them. Not to mention the danger, the ox cart fare would also cost quite a bit. Selling them directly to Educated Youth An now actually saves a lot of trouble.

An Yinan didn't expect that so many vegetables would only cost three yuan. However, she didn't take the money, instead stepping aside. "Brother Li, please take it. It won't look good if others see. When I go to ask Auntie Li for vegetable seedlings in the spring, I won't pay for them."

Brother Li realized that it was indeed inappropriate for him to decline in the courtyard of the female Educated Youths, so he agreed. "I'll tell my mother when I get back and have her plant more later."

"Good. By the way, take these fruit candies back for Huzi. Every time Beibei goes over, Auntie Li gives him delicious things. I can't spare my hands right now, so Brother Li, please take them over for me." An Yinan stuffed the half-bag of fruit candies she had prepared earlier into Brother Li's hand, then waved to urge him to leave quickly.

Li Xiue let out a "pfft" sound from the side. An Yinan turned back and wrinkled her nose; that little girl's small gesture had none of the ruthlessness she showed when hitting Sun Xiaoqin.

"You get along quite well with the village." There was no mockery intended; Li Xiue was a person who was gentle to the bone. Her temperament was very peaceful, and she saw many things clearly, yet she also had the capacity to tolerate others. She didn't mind suffering small losses, but she was never ambiguous about major matters.

"Hey, it's a mutually beneficial thing, so why put on airs? Mutual benefit, why not?" An Yinan also had a good mindset; after all, if someone wronged her, she would take revenge right then and there.

Li Xiue smiled gently, though her hands didn't stop moving. "You certainly have a good mindset."

"No, no, no, it's you who has a good mindset." An Yinan extended her index finger and shook it from side to side.

Li Xiue laughed once more and felt a bit closer to An Yinan. Previously, she felt that the group of three was not easy to approach, and since she had nothing to gain from them, she hadn't thought about getting close.

Having helped out unintentionally this time, she found Educated Youth An to be quite interesting.

An Yinan was nimble; she quickly snapped the flawed outer leaves off the cabbage and handed them to Li Xiue, who split them in half and set them aside.

The two of them busied themselves for about an hour and finished splitting all the cabbage.

To pickle sour cabbage, the vegetables don't need to be washed, as it aids fermentation.

They carried the split vegetables into the room. Boiling water had already been prepared in the pot. First, put the root end into the hot pot, wait eight seconds, then put the whole head into the pot, wait three seconds, and immediately take it out.

After all the Chinese cabbage had gone through the hot water, An Yinan walked over to the large vat and began to stack the cabbage from the first layer, leaving no gaps at all.

"Eh, aren't you adding salt?" Li Xiue noticed that An Yinan hadn't added a single bit of coarse salt and was just stacking them neatly and directly. She was quite fast, having already filled half the vat.

An Yinan shook her head. "You can add salt, or you don't have to. However, sour cabbage with salt doesn't spoil easily. If you don't add salt, it can still undergo a chemical reaction quickly if sealed well. The sour cabbage will be crispy and sour in a month. When the time comes, I'll make some and have you taste it."

Li Xiue had thought An Yinan forgot to add it, which is why she gave a reminder. She didn't expect there was such a way to pickle them, which actually saved a lot of coarse salt.

But she watched carefully; An Yinan placed every head of cabbage very firmly. Those heads of cabbage looked as if they were standing in a military formation...

"That would be great. If the method is good, I won't add coarse salt either. Coarse salt is expensive, and I have to go to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to scramble for it every year," said Li Xiue.

An Yinan thought for a moment. "It depends. You can divide it into two small vats, one with salt and one without. Eat the one without first, as it spoils easily."

Li Xiue had helped her, and she didn't want to harm her. She was only doing this because she had a space, and one vat would be moved directly into the space.

In the past, she was very careful, but later she gradually discovered that Beibei didn't really care about the quantity of things in the house, focusing at most on how many Work Points he earned each day and how much knowledge he had learned.

So she let go and moved things back and forth.

"That's also a way. Let's do it like this this year. Later, I'll take a look at your sour cabbage and decide for next year." Li Xiue hadn't planned on doing it this year either; the main thing was to see what An Yinan's sour cabbage was like. If it was good, she would try it next year; if it wasn't, she wouldn't waste the cabbage, as cabbage was the only food for the winter.

With only three heads of cabbage left, all the other cabbage went into the large vat. An Yinan brought two large stones from the corridor, placed one in each large vat, and pressed the cabbage down underneath.

An Yinan ladled out the water used to scald the cabbage and poured it into the two large vats, basin by basin. The water had to submerge the cabbage, or the cabbage on top would rot.

Afterward, she used thin plastic prepared in advance to seal the mouth of each large vat and tied the plastic with hemp rope, making the entire large vat airtight.

"Is that it?" Li Xiue asked.

This was the first time she had seen this method. She had learned the method of pickling sour cabbage from the village. She was a Southerner; when she first came to the countryside, she could only soak dry rations in hot water every day during the winter, and only later did she learn about pickling sour cabbage.

"Yes, no matter which method of pickling sour cabbage you use, it must be left for over thirty days before you can start eating it. This is a knowledge point you must remember." An Yinan was working and talking, and without thinking, she blurted out the chemical reaction she had learned during exams in her past life...

"Haha, Educated Youth An, you are too interesting." Li Xiue smiled. The three words "knowledge point" were truly a bit distant for her.

There were quite a few female Educated Youths at the Educated Youth Point, but too many could not hold on and married people in the village, while some married better and married into the City.

She was twenty-two this year and didn't know what to do in the future. There was no hope of returning to the City, and she was unwilling to marry just anyone. She would just take things one step at a time.

"Don't go back to eat tonight. You helped me all afternoon, so just have dinner here. Since I'm interesting, you should chat with me more." An Yinan smiled.

In this era, food was a very precious thing. Generally, people wouldn't go to someone else's house at mealtime; that would be considered ignorant.

She was thinking about going back, but An Yinan had asked her to stay for dinner. Looking at her sincere eyes, it wasn't just polite talk.

"I'd better go back and eat; the Educated Youth Dormitory will start cooking soon." Li Xiue refused. It wasn't easy for the two siblings either. She heard from villagers that their parents had both passed away, and even though they had two brothers in the military, while there was some support, it wouldn't be much.

Although An Yinan didn't know what she was thinking, she knew about the affairs of this era.

"Don't refuse. Otherwise, I'll have to send it to you after I'm done cooking; how troublesome that would be. I'm making dumplings tonight; why don't you help me mince the cabbage?" An Yinan insisted, handing the cabbage over directly, and she handed over two heads.

She walked into the corridor again and took out a jin of pork belly.

"Mince the meat too, okay? I'm going to Auntie Li's house to get some vegetables." An Yinan left with peace of mind.