CHAPTER 160: CHAPTER 159: HARD TIMES

Yu Xiaolian knew that sending letters in ancient times was very inconvenient, but she didn’t expect it to be so inconvenient.

She went to the post station and found out that those official post stations were not open to commoners like them.

Yu Xiaolian had never sent a letter before; she had to ask Zheng Yuanfeng to find someone to help deliver her reply to Jiang Lin.

Thinking that the last time Jiang Lin sent her a letter was through the Escort Agency, Yu Xiaolian decided to visit the Escort Agency.

The Escort Agency people told Yu Xiaolian that there were currently no escorts going to Yangcheng, and they couldn’t deliver her letter.

Yu Xiaolian was anxious. Su Jingyue was missing, and Su Jingchen must be going crazy.

If she couldn’t send the letter, could she spend the cost of one escort to send a letter to Mingxiang Pavilion in Yangcheng?

Head Zhao laughed heartily, then shook his head, "Little girl, do you know how much we charge per escort service? If you only want to send a letter, charging you too much feels like bullying a child; but if I charge less, it’s not worthwhile, so our Escort Agency won’t take this business.

If you trust me, just leave the letter here. If I have business going to the Northern Land in a while, I can conveniently take it for you."

Yu Xiaolian asked, "So is your Escort Agency frequently traveling to the Northern Land?"

Head Zhao replied heartily, "Throughout the year, we’ll go once or twice."

Yu Xiaolian asked again, "If I want to escort a treasure to the Northern Land, how much would it cost?"

Head Zhao replied, "It depends on what kind of treasure you want to escort. Things like size, value, quantity, weight, and distance, and whether the item is fragile—all these relate to the price.

Another thing, the Northern Land road is far; by land, a round trip would take over four months, and less than two hundred taels, we wouldn’t accept."

Yu Xiaolian sighed, spending two hundred taels to send a letter seemed somewhat unworthy.

Forget it, she’d think of another way.

Or, let her father take a trip and send Su Jingyue back?

Forget it, Yangcheng is about to become chaotic, and Yu Xiaolian didn’t want her father to risk going back; if anything happened, it would be unfortunate.

Anyway, Su Jingyue was safe at her place; let Su Jingchen miss him for a while.

Alas, there’s no way around it; times are tough!

Before leaving, Yu Xiaolian gave Head Zhao two taels of silver, asking him to inform her at the Taotao Residence in the east of the city if business going to Yangcheng or Linzhou appeared in a while.

"Taotao Residence?"

Since when did the east of the city have a Taotao Residence? Head Zhao asked, "What does Taotao Residence do?"

"It’s our newly opened grocery store; daily necessities, all-inclusive. If Head Zhao needs anything, feel free to visit in two days; I guarantee you won’t be disappointed."

Upon hearing it was a grocery store, Head Zhao wasn’t very interested; he just wondered why the grocery store had such a peculiar name.

When Yu Xiaolian returned home, the shelves in the two shops had been installed by Yu Changhe and Sun Fengshou; both shops were entirely renewed.

The big pot for making marinated meat was also set up and waiting for Yu Xiaolian’s guidance.

Yu Xiaolian had long copied a braised meat recipe from the Chinese Cuisine Collection. While waiting for the plaque these few days, she not only took care of the chili seedlings but also went to the pharmacy to buy spices.

Things like cinnamon, star anise, Sichuan pepper, laurel leaves, and galangal were all obtained from the pharmacy.

However, it took quite some effort because, in ancient times, cinnamon wasn’t called cinnamon; it was called cassia.

Star anise wasn’t called star anise; it was called naval fennel. Galangal here was called cheap ginger; it took Yu Xiaolian several days to gather the ingredients on the recipe, except for one: chili peppers.

Yu Xiaolian handed the revised recipe to Yu Changhe, asking him to keep it.

In case the marinade was improperly stored and spoiled later, they would need to recapture the ingredients according to this recipe.

Yu Xiaolian added half a pot of water to the pot, then let Yu Changhe put the previously washed pork and ribs in the pot with cold water. They added scallions, ginger, and white wine, and boiled it on high heat.

Once boiling, skim off the foam on the surface and continue blanching for five minutes until all the ingredients are thoroughly blanched. After blanching, drain the water, remove, and wash with warm water to clean off the foam on the surface, drain and set aside.

Yu Xiaolian wrapped the prepared spices in gauze, sealing the opening.

Pour out the water used to blanch the meat and replace it with clean water, then put the blanched pork and ribs in, along with the tied braised meat package.

Then add a suitable amount of soy sauce, salt, and sugar, as well as dried red chili peppers.

"Simmer with low heat for half an hour, then braise for two hours, and it’ll be ready.

The thing to note is that the spice bag needs to be removed after half an hour, or the flavor will be too strong, and the meat won’t be fragrant.

This marinade should be reused five or six times before changing to a new one, otherwise, in such hot weather, it will definitely spoil.

To ensure lasting business, the meat bought daily must be fresh, good quality, can’t be cheap.

Make sure to wash it very clean when bought; not a single pig hair can remain on the pork skin.

This marinade can make not only pork but also beef and chicken; it can also marinate eggs.

Father, you’d better stock up on the items needed from the ingredient list; don’t buy from only one pharmacy, buy scattered, otherwise others will find out our braised meat’s secret recipe."

While Yu Xiaolian was speaking, her entire family was attentively listening beside her, even noting down whether she grabbed a handful or a pinch of each spice.

This was a recipe capable of opening a shop, who wouldn’t want to learn?

"As for chili peppers, I’ve already cultivated chili seedlings. When they grow a bit bigger, I’ll transplant them to that small plot in our backyard to try. If they can bear chili peppers, next year we’ll buy a piece of land in Taohua Village to grow chili peppers."

Speaking of buying land in Taohua Village, while burning the fire, Sun Fengshou eagerly said, "If our family goes back to the countryside to farm, I’ll go back to farm; I’m good at farming, but I’m afraid I’m not good at doing business; I’m not very eloquent."

Yu Xiaolian laughed, "We don’t know what the situation with the chili peppers is yet; we’ll talk about it when they bear fruit!"

Mrs. Sun pulled Yu Xiaolian away from the stove, "It’s too hot here; let your uncle burn the fire; let’s go talk inside."

Mrs. Sun, Yu Xiaolian, and Grandma Sun had just sat down when Zhao Erya came over with a fan to fan them.

Sanya was still young, her eyes didn’t sparkle; she did whatever her second sister did.

When Erya massaged Grandma Sun’s legs, Sanya also massaged Grandma’s legs. When Erya pinched Mrs. Sun’s shoulders, she also pinched shoulders.

Now Erya was fanning, so Sanya hurried to find a fan to fan Yu Xiaolian and them.

Soon the smell of braised meat from the backyard wafted into the shop, Sanya and Su Jingyue sniffed deeply, it was so fragrant.

Mrs. Sun asked Yu Xiaolian, "Once so much braised meat is cooked, can it be sold?"

In this hot weather, if it’s not sold, it will spoil the next day.

Yu Xiaolian actually wasn’t very sure, but there was only one braised meat shop on their street, presumably, it should sell well.

Try selling for a day first; if it doesn’t sell well, she’ll modify the braised meat spices by adding a large amount of Sichuan pepper and chili pepper to turn it into a spicy marinade. Then, besides braised meat, they could also sell spicy duck products.

Modern cuisine is abundant, and spicy duck products have always been at the top of the tides, never retreating.