Spring comes to the desperate place

Chapter 141 Hot Sauce

"What about the opera troupe? We farmers don't invite an opera troupe to a full-month banquet. You don't want people to think you're showing off. I think we should just have some fun together and have a simple meal. If too many people come, it will be noisy. What if the child gets scared?"

Since Song Qin said so herself, Song Dazhuang naturally couldn't refute it. He could only try his best to prepare the dishes for the banquet in a luxurious way.

One of the indicators of the luxury of the banquet was the wild delicacies on the table. It just so happened that this season was the season for eating wild delicacies. Song Dazhuang asked Song Chunlin to pick some from the space whatever was available on the mountain behind their house. Naturally, the products in the space tasted much better than those outside.

The day before the full moon banquet, Song Amuo got up early in the morning and started to boil eggs. She put the boiled eggs into soaked sumac water to dye them. After drying, they became bright red eggs. It is a custom to eat red eggs at the full moon banquet. They are boiled and dyed in advance and can be served directly on the table the next day.

The eggs had just been cooked when the aunts who came to work arrived. This full-moon banquet was not as lively as the last time when Song Chuncheng got married. Only some close relatives' families were invited, and not many people came. Song Dazhuang counted with his fingers and estimated that there would be about seven or eight tables.

On the morning of the full moon, Gu Fengyue came with gifts from the Marquis' Mansion. There were two large boxes full of them, one box of clothes, one box of toys, and a small box containing a complete set of red gold bracelets and a longevity lock.

The protagonist of the full moon banquet was dressed up like a lucky doll and was carefully carried out by Song Dazhuang. The little girl giggled in Song Dazhuang's arms and was not afraid of people. She fluttered her little hands and feet and wanted to go down to play. Song Dazhuang was so scared that he didn't dare to let go and kept holding her and walked around among the guests.

"Oh, Yuanyuan is so cute. This is a big red envelope given by your aunt. You can buy candies for it when you grow up." Aunt Wang is Zhou Ning's aunt. It is not considered presumptuous for Yuanyuan to call her aunt. Because of this relationship, the gift she gives is the most expensive.

Aunt Liu also came this time. She prepared a pair of embroidered shoes. The shoes were small and cute, with peonies and a little rabbit embroidered on them.

The rest of the people also gave small clothes and hats that they made by themselves. The gift given by the brothers Wang Qin and Wang Mian was a pair of bright red tongcao flowers. Tongcao flowers were cheap, but they were the most decent gift the brothers could give.

Lu Ming and Fu Nian had already given a silver lock as a gift before, and today they gave two jars of the best rice wine as a gift, to be kept for Yuanyuan to drink when she gets married.

"In Brother Lu's hometown, when a girl is born, they will prepare a jar of rice wine for her. It will be buried in the ground for more than ten years and then dug out when the girl grows up and gets married. This is the daughter's wine."

"Good stuff, I like it, hahaha, daughter's red wine, ah..." Song Dazhuang felt something was wrong halfway through laughing. It turned out that this wine could only be drunk when his daughter got married?

Thinking of the scene of sending his daughter to get married in the future, Song Dazhuang's mood suddenly became not so good.

Yuanyuan in his arms was still a small and soft ball. Song Dazhuang was extremely reluctant to think that such a lovely girl would marry into another family in the future.

Looking at his behavior, Song Amao knew what her eldest son was thinking. Afraid that he would say something shocking and scare the guests, Song Amao smiled and pushed him aside and started serving the dishes.

After the full moon banquet, Gu Fengyue did not return to Beijing immediately. He no longer went to school, and Gu Fengyun found him a sinecure in the army, intending to let him get familiar with the affairs in the barracks first. As for whether he could achieve success in the future, it all depended on his luck.

The baby that had been held by Song Dazhuang finally fell into Gu Fengyue's hands. He carefully took the little girl from Song Dazhuang's arms. The girl was so soft and fluffy that Gu Fengyue was so stiff that he didn't know how to move his hands and feet. Song Amao gave him some guidance on the posture, and soon he could hold the baby properly. However, the posture looked a bit awkward and he didn't dare to make any big movements.

Yuanyuan had just been fed. After she was full, she began to feel sleepy. She opened her petal-like little mouth and yawned with a milky sound.

Gu Fengyue seemed to have seen something new and excitedly whispered to Song Chunlin, "Look, she is actually yawning. Her face is so small and chubby."

Song Chunlin tried to hold back his laughter. He found that Gu Fengyue now looked like a new father holding his only child. It was very funny.

After the full moon, the crops in the fields reached the critical period of fruiting. Song Dazhuang and Song Chunsheng took turns living in the fields, fearing that something would happen in the fields this year like last year. Ever since Song Chunlin told them that Wang Fugui had tried to set fire to their crops, Song Dazhuang made an appointment with Song Chunsheng to take turns guarding the fields.

During the day, other people would go to the fields to check on them. Song Chunlin has also been going out frequently recently. The corn he planted this year is exactly the same as modern corn, except that it is a little thinner and longer. However, the taste is just as good as modern varieties. This is probably because he always waters the fields with spiritual spring water.

He had agreed with Gu Fengyun that once this batch of corn was ripe, a batch would be sent to the Marquis' Mansion first, so that the person in the palace could taste it.

The peppers in June are almost ripe. The varieties that Song Chunlin picked out have a high fruit-bearing rate. The Song family can harvest a large basket of peppers almost every day. These peppers will be taken to the workshop. Song Dazhuang hired Aunt Liu and Aunt Wang to be responsible for chopping the peppers in the workshop and making chili sauce. The wages are paid on a daily basis, twenty-five copper coins a day.

This wage is already considered high in the surrounding villages, and it is just chopping peppers. The work is much easier than doing hard labor. Many people are jealous of Aunt Liu and Aunt Wang, and some people even ask indirectly, wanting to know when the Song family will recruit again.

Song Dazhuang rejected some people who came to ask for jobs. Now the crops in the fields have not been harvested yet, and he plans to hire people after the harvest. Having lived in the village for three years, Song Dazhuang knows some of the situations in the village very well, but at least he knows which family in the village is hardworking and which family is usually lazy and dishonest.

There is still some time before the first batch of grain is harvested, and Song Dazhuang already has several candidates in mind.

When Lu Ming and Fu Nian learned that the Song family had opened a workshop, they always wanted to work there. As two grown men, they felt embarrassed to eat and drink for free at the Song family all day long, so they wanted to do something within their ability to help everyone.

Song Chunlin looked at the two of them and thought for a while. Making hot sauce requires a lot of ginger and garlic, so he gave the job of peeling garlic and peeling ginger to the two of them.

Lu Ming and Fu Nian knew that they could also work, so they happily went to get the baskets. Lu Ming couldn't see, so he was responsible for peeling garlic, and Fu Nian was responsible for peeling ginger. While the two of them were talking, they had almost finished the work.

The prepared chili sauce cannot be eaten immediately. It needs to be left for a while to ferment. When there was too much chili sauce at home to store, Song Chunlin waved his hand and indicated that there was no need to chop the peppers. The remaining peppers were dried and crushed to make chili oil.

Lu Ming rarely asked a question when hearing about something new: "What is oil-splashed chili? Does the name mean that it is poured with oil?"

Song Chunlin smiled and answered him: "That's right. As the name suggests, chili peppers are chili powder that has been splashed with oil. However, the oil is also particular. Not all oils can be used. I have to add some of my exclusive secret recipes."

The exclusive secret recipe that Song Chunlin mentioned is a bunch of spices. He first throws onions, carrots, scallions, coriander, cinnamon, star anise and bay leaves into the oil pan and fry them slowly over low heat. After the aroma comes out, he filters out the residue. He turns off the heat after burning the oil in the pan. He waits until the oil temperature drops a little before scooping the prepared chili powder with a spoon. In order to prevent the chili powder from getting burnt, Song Chunlin stirs it with cold oil in advance.

With a sizzling sound, the hot and pungent smell overbearingly swept everyone's nasal cavity. It was the first time for everyone to feel such a strong spicy taste, and everyone could not stand it. However, as the hot oil was poured into the chili powder, the taste became mellow and rich again. Looking closely at the large bowl, there were white sesame seeds floating on the shiny red chili oil, which looked very appetizing.

Song Chunlin then poured some balsamic vinegar into it to stimulate the final aroma, and the fragrant and spicy chili oil was ready.

Song Chunlin picked up a steamed bun, tore it in half, poured a layer of bright red chili oil on it with a spoon, and then handed it to Song Dahao, who could eat the spicy food the best.

"Uncle, eat!"

Song Daha looked at the red steamed bun and swallowed his saliva instinctively. Under the gaze of everyone, he lowered his head and took a big bite. The spicy taste rushed straight to the top of his head. After a while, his mouth felt hot and as if it was swollen.

But the taste made people get more and more addicted the more they ate, and the taste became more fragrant the more they chewed. Even though his mouth was swollen from the spiciness, Song Dahao was unwilling to let go and actually finished a large steamed bun with oil and chili peppers.

"Wow, so refreshing! Delicious!" Song Dahao's evaluation was simple and plain but useful.

Seeing how happily he was eating, others also picked up their steamed buns and started eating them with oil and chili peppers.

Everyone was amazed by his humble words.

"With this spicy oil, I think I can eat ten more big steamed buns!" Song Dazhuang said shamelessly.

Song Chunlin was hesitant to speak. How should he tell his father? There are so many ways to eat chili oil, and dipping it in steamed buns is just the simplest one. Moreover, the chili powder he used is just a simplified version. It is said that the types of chili powder used in the complete version are very particular. However, his conditions are limited, so being able to restore this one is already good enough. For the ancients who tried chili oil for the first time, this was already the ultimate delicacy.

That night, everyone's dinner became oil-splashed noodles. This was the first time that Auntie Song made it, but it was surprisingly successful. Except for those who couldn't eat spicy food, everyone else, including the youngest Song Xiaobao, put a spoonful of chili oil in the noodles.

The whole family held huge bowls of noodles and ate them with a slurp. If they felt the noodles were too spicy, they would drink a sip of milk to remove the spiciness.

Among the group of people, Fu Nian, who looks the most gentle, is actually the one who can eat the spiciest food. His bowl of noodles is the reddest among all the people. Lu Ming looks like a rough man, but his ability to eat spicy food is not even better than Song Xiaobao. The extremes of these two people also make everyone marvel.

After finishing his noodles, Song Dazhuang put the bowl on the table, stretched out his whole body on the chair, and rubbed his belly with his big hands. He had eaten so much that he was full without realizing it.

"Wow, this noodle is really delicious, fragrant and spicy. Chunlin, tell me, how are you going to sell this chili and chili oil? Are you going to set up a stall or put it in the sauce shop?"

Song Chunlin: "It's too troublesome to set up a stall, so let's put it in the sauce shop first. Let's not put too much in for the first time, let's see how the market reacts."

Since Song Chunlin said so, everyone naturally agreed. So the next day, the Song family members worked together to collect all the red peppers in the pepper field and spread them out in the yard to dry. The sun was shining brightly those two days, and the peppers were almost dry after a few days of drying.

Song Dazhuang specially went out to buy a huge stone mortar, put the dried chilies in it and pounded them into powder, then poured the powder into a huge ceramic basin for later use.

The spices used by the Song family were all from Song Chunlin's space, as was the oil. Song Daha was the first one to feel something was wrong about the Song family having so many endless supplies of materials.

Song Dahao became dull because of his injury, but he is not stupid and is even smarter than Song Dazhuang. As he gradually regains consciousness, he finds that his family seems to be led by Song Chunlin. Whenever Song Chunlin says he wants to make chili oil, Song Dazhuang makes it for him. The strangest thing is that Song Dazhuang actually asks Song Chunlin how to sell chili oil, where to sell it and how much it costs.

In his opinion, this kind of thing was extremely unbelievable. The head of the family, Grandpa Song, was still alive, and his brothers had not separated. Sometimes he didn't understand why the Song family members listened to Song Chunlin so much.

However, although he still had doubts in his mind, he did not ask immediately, but planned to observe for a while.

As the chili sauce finished fermenting, the chili oil was also ready. The family gathered together again to package the chili oil. Song Dazhuang first sent a small batch to the sauce shop in the town.

When the owner of the sauce shop heard that it was hot sauce, he immediately shook his head and refused to buy it.

"We have never seen or eaten this thing before. It doesn't count if you say it tastes good. It has to be said by the people who buy it that it tastes good."

"My chili sauce must be delicious." Song Dazhuang was not convinced. He took out two steamed buns, opened a bottle of chili sauce and chili oil, tore the steamed buns into small pieces, dipped a little and handed them to the shopkeeper.

"Come, eat it. Once you have tasted it, you will know that what I said is true."

The shopkeeper looked at the red steamed buns. The two hot sauces smelled very different. One was purely spicy, while the other was very salty and fragrant. But the same thing was that both of them made him salivate.

The shopkeeper tried to eat one dipped in oil and chili peppers. It was because it looked like a lot of oil was used in it and it smelled very greasy.

The shopkeeper thinks that anything that can be put into so much oil must be delicious.