Chapter 85: Growing Vegetables in Greenhouse
More than ten days have passed since Xiao Lingchuan left. In October of the lunar calendar, there was a light snowfall in Lucheng.
After the snowfall, Li Haitang changed into a heavy cotton padded coat. She only had to go out for a walk in the morning, which was regarded as exercise. In the rest of the time, she and Aunt Chen chatted around the stove in the big kitchen.
Second Aunt Chen is a good hand at making clothes, making shoes, sewing, and mending.
"Aunt Chen, what shall we eat today?"
There are no fresh vegetable leaves in winter. Here in the Northland, there are radishes, cabbage and potatoes, which are constantly replaced. No matter how skilled the chef is, he can't cook a few good dishes.
"Spread bean sprouts, put some diced meat, stir-fry carrots, it would be great if there were cucumbers."
Aunt Chen and Li Haitang got along for a while, and they gradually let go. The master's house is not busy, if she is respectful and reserved, it will make people feel uncomfortable.
"I heard from Chunniang that there are rich families growing vegetables in greenhouses in border towns!"
Li Haitang went back to her room to tidy up her things. She and Chunniang communicated by letter. Chunniang couldn't get away from her. He Fang had to drink medicine every day, and Chunniang was worried about others brewing medicine.
Miao Fang, who treats tuberculosis, is overbearing. He Fang drank it for a few days, and he obviously felt a change. He had hope for a cure, and his whole body was different.
Seeing the weather getting colder every day, Chunniang asked someone to replace the thick cashmere blankets and furs from the barbarians, and asked someone to send them over. The letter mentioned growing vegetables in the greenhouse.
"Growing vegetables in the greenhouse?"
Second Aunt Chen was surprised. Those rich old men like flowers and plants, and they specially opened up greenhouses for planting. It is really unheard of for them to use greenhouses to grow vegetables.
"You can't eat or drink flowers and plants."
Li Haitang is more practical, she can't be practical if she is not. A few days ago, she especially wanted to eat dumplings stuffed with chives. Unfortunately, no chives could be found in the whole Lucheng.
As soon as the weather gets cold, the barbarians will bring over seafood products, such as large pieces of squid, shrimp, and a kind of sea sausage, which is white and tastes great when fried with leeks!
There is also a fish in the sea called Spanish mackerel. Remove the spines and chop the stuffing to make dumplings. It is delicious!
What surprised her was that the people in Lucheng were not very receptive, and there were not many people buying seafood. Even if the price was reasonable and they had spare money, the people preferred to buy meat and save it.
A few days ago, a peddler came to the door of the house. The peddler went to the border city for the first time to sell goods. Seeing that the seafood was cheap, he thought it would be easy to sell in the city. As a result, he spent a day at the market and sold two catties of shrimp.
The things in the two big baskets could not be sold to keep the cost inside, he was really complaining, and with the heart of trying it out, he ran to the door of a rich family to sell it, and Li Haitang, who was wandering around, bumped into it.
Squid, prawns, and Spanish mackerel are all her favorite foods. To her surprise, a few sea cucumbers were found inside!
"Little lady, you mean this sea worm?"
The shopkeeper almost burst into tears, and secretly scolded the barbarians for being cunning, using sea worms to make up the numbers, which made him almost lose money.
Sea cucumber, that is the best supplement, called sea worm?
Li Haitang confirmed again and again that the shopkeeper did call sea cucumbers sea worms, and told her that no one wanted these things, and giving them for nothing was too much.
"Second Aunt Chen, I think we should also set up a greenhouse."
Li Haitang thought about it. There was an open space at home, which was originally reserved for raising chickens, but there were too many chickens and ducks, and the summer smelled great, so it was better to save it for building a greenhouse.
"Haitang, shall we also grow vegetables?"
Second Aunt Chen soon realized that she knew that the master's family was not arty, so she didn't know why she bought such a yard.
"Yes, I can only eat some cabbage and potatoes now, it's too tasteless."
It was more than two months before the Chinese New Year, and there was still time to grow vegetables. When the savage husband came back, Li Haitang wanted to give him a surprise, at least he could eat some vegetables.
Not to mention anything else, leeks are almost omnipotent, scrambled eggs, fried squid, fried sea intestines, dumplings, everything is fine.
"I heard that it costs a lot of money."
Second Aunt Chen never thought about being able to eat some green leaves in winter. Ever since she followed Li Haitang, her whole family took advantage of the light to eat and drink well, and the faces of several children grew flesh.
"You have to know how to spend money to earn money."
It takes about a hundred taels of silver, and you have to ask someone to guide you. You have to pay attention to growing greenhouse vegetables, and those vegetables are expensive, and the temperature is too high or too low to support them.
Li Haitang is rich, and if he has money, he has confidence. He has always acted vigorously and resolutely. Xiao Taohong temporarily adjusted her trick and replaced it with "The Strange Case of Two Phoenixes". Now it is very popular.
This guy is also good at making money. He sells the story books to other theater troupes and makes a lot of money.
De Quanban left Beidi and returned to Kyoto to continue earning money. The market in Beidi has nothing to do with them. It is really a good deal!
That guy wasn't too heartless, when he learned that she almost met Hades, he sent someone to send one thousand taels of silver as a "consolation fee".
When others earn money, they start with a few copper coins and accumulate little by little. Li Haitang earns money by cheating and robbing houses in the early stage, but in the later stage he is on the right track.
"How about cutting a piece of sauerkraut and stewing ribs at night?"
Li Haitang likes to eat pork ribs, and the family prepares some from time to time. Uncle Chen's legs and feet are recovering, and he goes to the market to buy fresh ones with a walking stick.
"It's cold, let's make a pot to warm our stomach."
Li Haitang immediately expressed his approval. When stewing sauerkraut, add a few prawns to it and turn it into a seafood sauerkraut pot. When it is cold, it would be nice to sit in front of the fire and chat while eating.
Where has the savage husband gone? Have you eaten on time? Li Haitang rested her chin and stared at the corner in a daze.
Seeing this, Second Aunt Chen shook her head. Ever since Xiao Lingchuan left home, this situation basically happened once a day.
The house was quiet. After Li Qiuju and Zhang's three brothers died, there was no news. In the first few days, Li Haitang was still waiting for the official to come to the house. From sunrise to sunset, there were not many new faces in the house.
Before dinner, Second Uncle Chen went out to find someone, and agreed to build a greenhouse the next day. The space was only a few dozen meters in size, and the other party paid five hundred taels of silver for a mouthful.
Second Uncle Chen consciously followed Li Haitang into Lucheng, and he already had some knowledge, but he couldn't help but click his tongue when he heard the price.
"The price is very reasonable, after all, the outside is supported by colored glaze."
This price is acceptable to Li Haitang, but it still hurts a bit. But as a foodie, in the long winter, when there is no food available, and just a few dishes take turns, she is devastated. Daqi already has the technology of making colored glaze, but the technology is immature and chaotic. The only advantage is that it will not crack when exposed to cold or heat. The glazed shed has grass mats on the outside and a stove to control the temperature inside.