Chapter 004: Pickled Vegetables

Jiang Zhi was taken aback by Chang Jiejun's words, reflecting on her own behavior, which was quite excessive and disrespectful. She thought that just because she had read a bit more than her mother, she could freely criticize her mother.

The pickled vegetables made by Chang Jiejun are a specialty of Sanshan Village, attracting even housewives from Wild Boar Village to seek her expertise. However, when it comes to making pickled vegetables, while everyone knows the methods, some people simply make them delicious, while others end up with spoiled vegetables. Chang Jiejun belongs to the former category, while Li Meihua falls into the latter. Therefore, the pickled vegetables at home are all prepared by Li Meihua, with the subsequent steps handled by Chang Jiejun

In his youth, he was quite averse to farming. After marrying Li Meihua, he opened a grocery store and spent several years in the county town. Now that Jiang Zhi and Jiang Che have grown up and there are no significant burdens, Jiang Xinguo and Li Meihua discussed with their family and concluded that it would be better to return to their hometown, where they could also accompany their parents. Thus, they transferred the store and returned to their hometown

As she grew older, while enjoying the preserved meat and pickled vegetables, Jiang Zhi not only savored the flavors but also understood the complex emotions that the older generation held towards such preserved foods. These items were once the "special products" of an era marked by scarcity, and now they have become delicacies on the dining table

Jiang Zhi and Jiang Che both love to eat rice noodles, so every year Li Meihua brings back a large quantity of rice noodles, dries them, and stores them in sealed bags. When they want to eat, they simply soak them in hot water, which is very convenient

Old man, go away, don't expose my past in front of my granddaughter. You weren't a good person back in the day either; in modern terms, you were involved in human trafficking.

Li Meihua did not hesitate to refuse Jiang Zhi: "You stay at home with Grandma. Besides, you are going to report to the town tomorrow, so take a good rest at home today. I have a task for you: when the sun sets this evening, you can bring the long beans back in. After they have dried today, your grandma can use them for pickling and in the books."

Jiang Zhi stood by the edge of the vegetable field, taking a breath of fresh air, which cleared her somewhat dazed mind. Beside her, Li Meihua had set up several long benches on the cement slab, holding two large baskets, preparing to place them on the benches.

Jiang Zhi's favorite dish is stir-fried meat with pickled vegetables, especially long beans stir-fried with preserved meat or fresh meat. Eggplants are cooked with minced meat, creating a savory and spicy mix with the meat juices, making it an excellent accompaniment to rice. However, Chang Jiejun and Jiang Zhezhizhi are not particularly fond of these dishes, claiming they had too much of them in the past, which harmed their stomachs. When Jiang Zhi was young, she was quite naive, much like a young emperor from a certain dynasty asking his ministers why the disaster victims did not eat meat and instead gnawed on tree leaves. After hearing her mother explain why her grandmother could not eat pickled vegetables, she chased after her grandmother asking, "Why can't you eat meat? Why do you have to eat pickled vegetables? If you don't eat pickled vegetables, your stomach will be fine." Every time Chang Jiejun remained silent, she would gently pat Jiang Zhi's head with a kind smile, and Jiang Zhi always felt that there was something hidden in her grandmother's smile that was very captivating.

Chang Jiejun felt a bit embarrassed as she walked up to Jiang Zhe and pulled the cigarette from his mouth, throwing it into the pond ahead. "You old rascal, why are you bringing up these old stories in front of your wife and grandchildren? Are you just idling around? The eldest and the eldest's family have gone to the fields to help the third one, so you shouldn't be slacking off either. Go lend a hand."

When opening the store, Jiang Xinguo often saw news reports in the newspapers about how vegetables contained pesticides that could be fatal, and how eggs from feed-fed chickens could easily lead to cancer, among other similar stories. Now that he has returned home and no longer needs to tend the store, and since he does not know how to play cards, he finds himself idle and restless. He decided to try growing some vegetables to pass the time, and as a result, he became completely engrossed in it.

Jiang Zhe's cigarette was thrown away, yet he was not angry. With an expression that could not conceal his pride, he walked along the embankment, hands behind his back, humming a little tune, leisurely making his way.

The house of the Jiang family was also renovated from an old building. Previously, there was a large expanse of muddy ground in front of the house. Whenever it rained, the area was filled with mud and water, making travel very inconvenient. Especially since a considerable amount of river sand and red bricks had been piled up during the construction, it was quite messy. After the house of the uncle was completed, the area in front was tidied up, and the muddy ground from the house to the pond in front was enclosed, transforming it into a front yard

Isn't there less rain this year? Your grandfather is worried that the vegetables won't grow well, so he goes to fetch water every evening to irrigate the crops. Now that there is no shortage of water, the vegetables in the field are growing quite well. We have so many long beans that we can't eat them all, and when we take them out to sell, they don't fetch a good price and it's a waste of time. We might as well dry them and pickle them, since you love to eat them anyway. Li Meihua spread out a winnowing basket and poured the nearly dried long beans from the bag onto it. Jiang Zhi gathered around to help spread the long beans out one by one.

Li Meihua smiled at Jiang Zhi and said, "It's nothing, but please don't speak to me so seriously; I'm really not used to it." After saying this, she lowered her head and continued to spread the long beans.

Li Meihua and Jiang Zhizhi could not help but lower their heads and laugh secretly. Chang Jiejun felt increasingly uncomfortable under their laughter and made an excuse that the meat in the pot was almost done, quickly walking into the house.

Jiang Zhe said with pride: "That is because I am exceptionally handsome, and you were captivated by me, willingly following me, weren't you?"

Mom, what are you doing? What are you going to dry? Jiang Zhi walked over and helped to place the dustpan on the stool.

"Xiao Zhi, did you not sleep well last night? Or was it the rooster crowing in the morning that woke you up? Don't tidy up, leave it for me to handle. You should go back to your room and get some more sleep," said Chang Jie.

Chang Jiejun patted Jiang Zhi's hand, smiling with great satisfaction: "Knowing one's mistakes and being willing to correct them is what makes a good child. Grandma was even more disobedient than you back in the day"

For breakfast, Jiang Xinguo prepared rice noodles, topped with braised chicken feet and stir-fried shredded pickled mustard greens. The mustard greens were shredded and rinsed in clean water to remove some of the saltiness without affecting the taste. The rice noodles were made from rice grown by his family, processed at Jiang Aizi's place in Wild Boar Village. Due to his short stature, everyone jokingly calls him Jiang Aizi, and he takes it in good humor, responding cheerfully to anyone who calls him that. Over time, many people have forgotten his real name. Jiang Aizi and his wife are both filial, as they have an elderly mother at home, which has prevented them from seeking work elsewhere. They purchased a rice noodle machine and set up a small workshop. The rice noodles they produce are sold in the town and to rice noodle shops in other townships. Villagers often bring their rice to him for processing, and he charges a small processing fee.

Chang Jiejun heard the voices and came out. After listening to Jiang Zhi and Li Meihua, she finally spoke: "Xiao Zhi, I know you are concerned about your grandfather, which is why you said that. However, next time you do something, make sure to observe and listen more before expressing your opinions. Your mother has not been idle at home; she has been managing everything in the household and the fields, which is quite exhausting. When you return home, try to help out more and be considerate of your mother. Do you understand?"

Li Meihua poked Jiang Zhi's head and said, "Stop laughing, your grandmother has already gone inside because of our laughter. Hurry up and get to work, dry the long beans well, I still need to go help in the fields"

The front and back yards are filled with vegetable plots he cultivated, and he has also planted quite a few things in the land allocated by the village. He enjoys giving away various vegetables he grows to others, having shared them with relatives, friends, and neighbors. In the countryside, who doesn't grow some vegetables for their own consumption? It was only after Jiang Zhe received a lesson that he became a bit more restrained.

Uncertain whether it is true that one thinks of something during the day and dreams of it at night, Jiang Zhi spent the entire night dreaming of various ways to die, such as drowning, dying of thirst, falling to death, and being bitten to death by a zombie. Upon waking, she still remembered quite clearly the various methods of dying, and reflecting on them, Jiang Zhi felt that she had added another way to die: dying of depression

A circle of mint and night-blooming jasmine is planted beneath the wall, and in front of the cement slab and grape trellis, there are two small vegetable plots containing some scallions, garlic, chili peppers, and bok choy. Without a doubt, this must have been done by Jiang Die and Jiang Xinguo.

Jiang Zhi grabbed a green tangerine from the basket on the table, peeled off the skin, and tossed a segment into her mouth. The faintly sour taste stimulated her mind, awakening her a little; she had not expected the tangerine to have such a refreshing effect. With her mouth full of tangerine, Jiang Zhi slowly walked from the main room to the front yard.

In the middle of the yard lies a cobblestone path, which runs from the eaves between the two houses to the entrance of the yard. On the right side of the cobblestone path, there is a small cement area for drying things, while on the left side, there is a grape trellis. The grapevine was brought over by Jiang Zhi from someone else's home last year. Li Meihua thought she was just being silly and paid it no mind, but unexpectedly, it thrived, climbing up the wall. This year, it even bore about ten bunches of grapes, which Li Meihua said were quite sweet. When enclosing the yard this year, they also included this grapevine. Jiang Zhezhong called his two sons to build a grape trellis and placed the grapevines on it. The ground beneath the trellis was also covered with cement, allowing them to sit in the front yard and enjoy the coolness during the summer.

"Mom, Grandpa is getting old. How can we let him fetch water?" Just as Jiang Zhi was about to say more, Jiang Zhe came out with his hands behind his back, smoking a water pipe: "Xiao Zhi, how can you speak to your mother like that? Your mother is very good to me and your grandmother. It's just that I can't sit still and insisted on fetching water to water the vegetables. Besides, the river is right next to the vegetable field; it's just a few steps away, and carrying a load of water is quite easy."

Jiang Zhihong, blushing, said to Li Meihua with guilt: "Mom, I am sorry, I was wrong"

There are many varieties of pickled vegetables in San Shan Village, with the most common being long green beans, eggplant, radish, winter melon, broad beans, and turnips. Some families also use taro stems and Jerusalem artichokes to make pickled vegetables. Jiang Zhi enjoys pickled vegetables made from long green beans and eggplant. The long green beans are dried and cut into small pieces with scissors. Then, long, pointed red chili peppers and garlic cloves are chopped finely, mixed with salt, and poured into the jar. It is important to ensure that no water or oil comes into contact with the vegetables, as this can lead to spoilage. Coarse salt is preferred, and the saltiness must be just right; if it is too light, the vegetables may turn sour or spoil, while if it is too salty, the vegetables will not spoil but will be inedible. The jar should be filled to about 90% capacity, covered tightly, and water should be added to the rim of the jar. After a period of time, the pickled vegetables will be ready to eat. The method for preparing eggplant is slightly different: fresh eggplant is steamed until cooked, dried, and then cut into small pieces. The remaining steps are the same as for the long green beans.

I will go as well," Jiang Zhi responded.

Jiang Zhezhi also interjected, "Indeed, don't be fooled by your grandmother's current appearance as a grandmother; when I first met her, she was a bold and audacious young girl."

Usually, Jiang Zhi eats rice noodles very quickly, often making Chang Jiejun laugh, saying it seems she is afraid someone will snatch them away. Perhaps it is because she had a night full of nightmares, Jiang Zhi's appetite is not good at all. However, fearing that her family would worry, she forces herself to finish the rice noodles. Just as she is about to clear the bowls and chopsticks, Chang Jiejun stops her. Upon seeing Jiang Zhi in the morning, Chang Jiejun immediately notices that she looks unwell, with slightly puffy eyelids, and the rice noodles she usually loves now seem like poison to her.

Jiang Zhi shook her head: "Grandma, I'm fine. I just want to take a stroll in the yard!"

Jiang Zhi held Chang Jiejun's hand, and although she felt embarrassed, she stood up straight: "Grandma, I truly understand my mistake and will never do this again"