Chapter 41: Preparing for Winter

Xie Wanniang bought four bars of scented soap, one for each of the four of them. She also purchased two jin of toilet paper, which would last a long time at home. As for salt, she bought the maximum allowed quota for herself, Jiang Yuan, Hao Yu, and Xiaoyang.

At the grain shop, Xie Wanniang originally intended to take advantage of the new harvest to buy more assorted grains, but Jiang Yuan stopped her. He explained that the two storage rooms at home were already filled with the land rent collected by Hao Yu, leaving no space for more grain. Jiang Yuan did not want Xie Wanniang to spend extra money, and she, in turn, did not want to cause more trouble for him and Hao Yu. After some discussion, they settled on buying only rice and peanuts, which they were lacking.

Upon returning to the village, Xie Wanniang’s first task was to render lard and braise pork, spare ribs, pig hearts, and pig livers. The temperature in Tang County had dropped below ten degrees, so the braised meat would stay fresh for several days; otherwise, she would not have dared to buy so much at once. Once the lard was rendered and stored in jars, she gave everyone a bit of the cracklings sprinkled with brown sugar to eat while warm. The rest were set aside in a large bowl to be used for making crackling-and-cabbage buns the next day. The pork, ribs, heart, and liver continued to simmer over a low flame until the flavors were fully absorbed. As for the ducks, they were kept alive to be slaughtered later. The brown sugar and eggs were put away in a cabinet to be used as needed.

For lunch, Xie Wanniang made noodles with assorted grains, topped with steamed eggplant cubes and braised meat sauce—the flavor was incredibly tempting. After everyone finished their meal, Xie Wanniang distributed the face cream and then retreated to her room with her newly purchased fabrics, thread, cotton, and the embroidery materials provided by Mistress Qin. She first made a set of thin cotton-padded clothes for herself and Xiaoyang. Since the temperature had dropped, they had been wearing two or three layers of single-lined garments to keep warm, which, while effective, made movement quite cumbersome. More importantly, they had no spare clothes to rotate.

Once those were finished, Xie Wanniang made thick cotton-padded suits for all four members of the household. The old ones worn by Hao Yu and Jiang Yuan had been sewn by Jiang Yuan’s foster mother while she was still alive. They were old and lacked sufficient cotton, providing little warmth. In this era, winters were far harsher than the northern winters Xie Wanniang had experienced in her modern life. To ensure everyone stayed relatively warm, she decided to make them new ones. Jiang Yuan kept his old suit as a memento, while Hao Yu gave his to an elderly widower in the village. This man had lost all his relatives during the war years and was cared for by two cousins, who would occasionally bring him firewood or water. The old man lived in his own house and worked his own land, but like most in the village, he lived in poverty. Though the suit was old, it was far superior to the man’s own garment, which was five or six years old and stuffed mostly with willow catkins. The old man was overjoyed, and the few villagers who learned of the gift cast envious glances his way.

While Xie Wanniang was busy sewing and fulfilling embroidery orders, Jiang Yuan and Xiaoyang were not idle. Jiang Yuan hunted, gathered firewood, nuts, wild fruits, and mushrooms, while Xiaoyang organized the dried beans, eggplant, and cabbage they had prepared for winter storage.

Wang Xiaozhi also dropped by to help with pickling vegetables and making sauerkraut. Hao Yu and Jiang Yuan were not skilled at this, and Wang Xiaozhi was unsure if Xie Wanniang knew how, so she took the initiative to come over. Reminded by her, Xie Wanniang realized she had been so focused on earning money that she had forgotten such an important task. Sauerkraut! It was her favorite! With her mouth watering, she set aside her needlework, rolled up her sleeves, and joined Wang Xiaozhi in harvesting cabbage and starting the kraut.

Thanks to Xie Wanniang’s foresight in stocking up, they had enough coarse salt, though she still reminded Jiang Yuan to buy more once he returned. Taking advantage of the clear weather, Xie Wanniang, Wang Xiaozhi, and Xiaoyang carefully dug up the stout cabbages from the garden. They cleaned off the dirt, removed the old, yellowed, or damaged leaves, and then set the cabbages out in the sun for two or three days to wilt slightly. This reduced the moisture, preventing the cabbage from rotting during the pickling process and making it easier to handle.

While the cabbage dried, Xie Wanniang had Jiang Yuan prepare the salt, clean water, jars, and large vats. She, Wang Xiaozhi, and Xiaoyang also harvested the rest of the winter vegetables—mustard greens, radishes, carrots, pumpkins, winter melons, and eggplants. Aside from the mustard greens and a few radishes and carrots kept for pickling, the rest were moved to the cellar.

Because of the large quantity of mustard greens, they used a separate large vat for pickling. They pickled the tender greens and chopped the tougher ones to cook with pork as a savory filling. To thank Wang Xiaozhi for her help, Xie Wanniang prepared a variety of delicious dishes every day: steamed buns, dumplings, wontons in bone broth, meat pies, pan-fried buns, potstickers, and vegetable pockets. When they weren't having those, they had noodles, dough flakes, "cat-ear" pasta, or thick soup. She found that mustard greens paired with minced meat made an excellent topping for any dish. She could also mix them with tofu to make vegetarian meatballs, add them to egg and meat soups, or simply stir-fry them with minced meat. Under her hand, no matter how they were prepared, the mustard greens were always absolutely delicious.