Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 408: Cooking a big pot of rice, mixed noodles and cabbage stewed with tofu

"Then you can eat together with Master Lu and Liushun Qixi. Only when you are full will you have the strength to work."

Shen Yu thought about the north wind by the canal, which was much colder than that in the county town, and felt a little insecure, so he quickly took it.

Just as she was about to say a few more words to Li, she saw Liu Shun driving his carriage approaching and stopping.

Shen Yu quickly said to Li: "The car is here, please go back quickly, it's cold outside."

He and Qixi hurriedly got on the carriage.

When we arrived at the canal construction site, people who had been recruited to serve as river workers had already started to come here.

With the first glimmer of clear morning light, Shen Yu saw that everyone was carrying bundles of firewood of varying sizes, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, although the men complained all the time, they still did what they promised and did not go back on their word.

When all sixty people had arrived, the yamen runner sent to supervise began to call out the names with the roster. Lu Lang stood aside with his hands behind his back, watching silently.

Shen Yuze, along with Liushun and Qixi, divided the firewood brought by the servants into whole loads in front of the guardhouse, tied them up neatly, and moved them to the big mule cart and stacked them securely.

After distributing everything and counting the quantities, Shen Yu was quite satisfied.

Although some people had complaints in their hearts and only brought a small bundle of firewood.

But some of them carried it out seriously and cut off the biggest bundle.

After dividing it equally into twenty full loads, there was still half a load of firewood left.

While everyone was clearing the weeds and shrubs on the embankment of the canal, they secretly watched Shen Yu and the other two busy at work in front of the guardhouse.

I saw Miss Shen, who was wrapped warmly yesterday, also wearing a coarse cloth jacket and a headscarf, and they joined in distributing and bundling firewood.

Only then did I truly believe in my heart that the little cook was not just talking casually.

She didn't lie to anyone. She really wanted to divide the firewood into loads and sell them.

As a result, those who chopped more wood could not help but criticize those who were lazy and only chopped a small bundle while they worked. In the end, those lazy and unwilling ones were forced to swear to heaven and earth that they would chop more tomorrow, and only then would everyone let them go.

After the firewood was divided, Liushun and Qixi went to collect the weeds cleared by everyone, and transported them back to the guardhouse along the embankment with a cart. Shen Yu had already started kneading dough to prepare breakfast.

Fortunately, there are usually quite a few customers in the restaurant. Although cooking for sixty people sounds like a lot, it is not too difficult for Shen Yu to do it.

The guardhouse looks very simple from the outside, but after closing the rough doors and windows, it is very windproof. If a fire is lit, it will be even warmer.

Shen Yu secretly felt lucky that he had prepared well and brought a short jacket that he usually wore when busy in the kitchen as a replacement. If he was still wearing a thick long jacket with a front opening, he would definitely sweat in the house.

Today's breakfast is mixed flour pancakes and cabbage stewed with tofu.

Although it is a mixed flour, it is mainly made of wheat flour, mixed with bean flour and millet flour, to make pancakes that are chewier and more filling.

Home-cooked pancakes and stewed vegetables are cooked in one pot with rice.

When there are few people eating at home, we use a big pot to stew vegetables and put a circle of pancakes along the edge of the pot.

When the dish is cooked, the pancakes are also ready. It is both convenient and delicious.

But there are many people eating on the construction site, so this cannot be done. The dishes and rice must be cooked separately.

The three of them worked together in perfect harmony. Liu Shun usually never went into the kitchen, so he was only responsible for the two large stoves, while Shen Yu and Qi Xi were responsible for cooking.

Although it had not frozen yet, the water from the canal, after being clarified and scooped into a large basin, was still freezing cold. It was a far cry from the hot water available all day in the restaurant.

As soon as Shen Yu stretched his hand into the water, he was frozen and pulled it back.

She looked at the pile of firewood that had been brought back from the embankment and was piled in front of the guardhouse.

These firewoods are mainly weeds and low shrubs lying on the ground. Although they are very dry and easy to burn, they are not resistant to burning.

Even if it is sold, the price is 20% lower than ordinary firewood, and most people are unwilling to buy this kind of grass. It has no selling value at all.

In other words, the weeds cleared from the embankment can only be used when cooking.

As Master Qian said, the firewood on the embankment can be used to cook and boil water. Even if you cook all day long, it will never be used up.

Shen Yu wiped her hands on her apron and discussed the matter with Liushun and Qixi.

The two men pulled a small cart to the embankment and brought back a few large stones.

In the guardhouse, a triangular stove was built with stones, a large deep soup pot was placed on it, filled with water, and a fire was started with firewood underneath.

After the stones are heated, they can keep warm for a long time. Boil a pot of water indoors, cover it with a lid, and the water will stay hot for half a day.

In this way, when washing vegetables and dishes, you can scoop a ladle of hot water from the soup pot into the basin, and the water in the basin will not be so icy cold.

And there is always a pot of water boiling, so the working men can have hot water to drink whenever they are thirsty.

Liushun and Qixi both praised this method. Everyone no longer had to suffer from the cold while working, and hot water could also be supplied, which had never been seen on previous construction sites.

Shen Yu smiled but said nothing, thinking: "It's just that I'm afraid of the cold and think the water is too cold, so I came up with this idea."

Shen Yu kneaded the dough, and the water in the big soup pot began to heat up slightly.

Liushun and Qixi quickly followed Shen Yu's instructions and peeled off the wrinkled and dry old leaves on the cabbage.

Peel off the hard layers of cabbage inside and put them in a basin of water to wash.

As for the cabbage core further inside, since it has been wrapped tightly, just put the whole core upside down in a basin of clean water to rinse off the mud and sand on the tip of the leaves.

After finishing all these, Shen Yu also chopped the onion and ginger, cut the tofu into cubes, and cut the fatty pork into several thick slices and then cut it into small pieces.

Because the food expenses were so little, Shen Yu only bought a small amount of things like peppercorns and star anise, planning to add a few more grains when the time came to use them sparingly.

Qixi went to cut cabbage while Liushun sat on a small stool, added firewood to the big stove, lit it, and then pulled the bellows skillfully.

When the fire was burning and the pot was heated, Shen Yu put the chopped pork directly into the pot and stirred it with a large spatula.

Because the fire was so high and there was so little meat, the small pieces of fat, white pork soon shrank into light yellow lard, and a small pool of pork gradually appeared at the bottom of the pot.

Seeing that the oil was a little too little, Shen Yu scooped a small half tablespoon of vegetable oil from the oil tank and added it in. Then he added the chopped onion, ginger, and two or three peppercorns.

Although there are not many seasonings, at least it has flavor, Shen Yu comforted himself.

After the aroma came out, Shen Yu scooped in a large spoonful of bean paste and stir-fried it twice.

Qixi brought over a bamboo basket of chopped cabbages, lifted the basket, covered the bottom of the basket, and added all the cabbages into it.