Chapter 144 (1/2)

Chapter 144: 144

Originally, Madam Mao had heard from a relative, who worked at Zhenxiu Restaurant, that the recipe for the blazingly popular roasted chicken in town was created by a little girl from Dongshan Village, whose surname was Yu . She didn’t quite believe the story at the time . How could an eight to nine year old girl, who had been sick and weak for many years, know how to cook food?

However, when the Yu Family recommended the Zhou Family’s chickens to Zhenxiu Restaurant, their chickens, which had previously sold poorly, not only completely sold out but they also caught a bunch of chicks in the spring . They said that they wanted to expand their chicken raising activities!

If her family’s ducks still couldn’t be sold, due to the poor circ.u.mstances of the year, they would likely become a deficit for her family . Madam Mao decided to take her chances, despite only half-believing the stories, and come over to ask for help . She didn’t expect that the Yu Family’s youngest daughter truly had a gift for cooking . Within a few days, the little girl created ‘osmanthus duck’, which was a novel dish that sold very well .

It was said that this osmanthus duck not only had a tantalizing flavor but it could also nourish the body in many ways . It was rumored that if you ate it consistently it could alleviate fevers, expel toxins, nourish Yin, repair the lungs, moisturize dry areas, and beautify the skin!

Madam Mao knew that her husband didn’t have a natural gift at doing business like the Zhou Family’s brothers . Other than raising ducks, he wasn’t good at much else . Her eldest son had tuition fees and all of the other expenditures at home depended on them selling ducks to pay for them . In the past, she could only sell one duck for every two chickens in town . With that, they could barely make ends meet . This was also the reason why she had to haggle over every ounce or copper .

Now it was different . With this new dish and her relations.h.i.+p with the Yu Family, even if her family raised even more ducks, they wouldn’t have to worry about selling them! Madam Mao felt immensely grateful within her heart towards the Yu Family for their benevolence and care . This basket of duck eggs was her way of sincerely thanking them .

After she saw off Madam Mao, Madam Liu fretted about the basket of duck eggs . Duck eggs did not taste as good as chicken eggs . No matter how you prepared them, they would always have a slight fishy taste . Apparently, they could only just use some coa.r.s.e salt to preserve them . When the peak farming season came along, they could add another dish to their table then!

“Mother, give these duck eggs to me, and I’ll prepare them!” On the other hand, Yu Xiaocao wasn’t the tiniest bit worried over the eggs . In her past life, century eggs and lean meat congee and century eggs stir fried tofu were both her favorite foods to eat . The best salted and preserved duck eggs also had rosy red yolks, delectable golden yolk oil, and a delicate flavor…’ah, can’t think about it anymore, going to start drooling soon . ’

Xiaocao always did what she promised! The next day, she took some Sichuan peppercorns, Chinese cinnamon, fennel, fresh ginger, fine salt and added it to some cold water and let it all boil for around twenty minutes . Afterwards, she poured the mixture into an earthenware jar and placed the duck eggs, which were washed clean, into the mixture and sealed the jar shut .

When Madam Liu saw her doing this, she said that she was only making regular salted duck eggs . Using spices like this would be a waste, so she shouldn’t do it . Traditionally, when preserving duck eggs, people usually used some red soil and mixed it with water until it became viscous and gooey . Some coa.r.s.e salt was then added and the whole mixture was used to coat the eggs and marinate them .

Xiaocao laughed, “Mother, I’m making five spice seasoned salted duck eggs . This type of duck egg has a rich fragrance and a savory flavor . I guarantee it will be better than all of the other salted duck eggs you’ve tried, just wait and see!”

“Don’t we have a whole basket of duck eggs? Why did you only marinate half of the basket?” Madam Liu asked as she helped her daughter .

Xiaocao thought for a bit and replied with a different question, “Mother, are we able to get some quicklime around here? And huangdan powder…”

“Huangdan powder? Isn’t that used by Taoist priests to concoct pills for immortality? Don’t tell me that you plan on using the rest of the duck eggs to make immortality pills? That doesn’t seem right, I’ve never heard of immortality pills needing duck eggs . . . ” Madam Liu was quite puzzled by her question .

When she heard Madam Liu’s words, Xiaocao felt relieved . It looked like quicklime and huangdan powder were all obtainable .

Surely enough, Madam Liu continued, “Quicklime is not hard to get ahold of! A lot of townspeople in town use lime to paint their walls when they build a new house . Your youngest maternal uncle knows how to lay bricks, so we can send a letter to him to get you some . As for huangdan powder, you should probably be able to buy some at a pharmacy . ”

Quicklime was used to build houses ah! Wasn’t Third Young Master Zhou at the docks overseeing the factory construction? Finding him would be perfect! The docks also seemed to have a small pharmacy too, but she wasn’t sure if they had any huangdan powder for sale . Yu Xiaocao was burning with anxiety and started to prepare to go to the docks .

After she finished breakfast, Xiaocao drove the donkey cart along with Xiaolian onto the road to the docks . Just as they left the village entrance, they saw the fat figure of Yu Heizi appear .

Previously, Yu Heizi was considered a hooligan in Dongshan Village who caused trouble all day long . Using his large and fat figure to his advantage, he bullied all of the other children in the village . After being scared witless by the little divine stone, he unexpectedly did a 180 and dropped all of his bad habits .

“Brother Heizi, are you going to the docks? Come up, we have room for you!” Yu Xiaocao didn’t have any ill will towards the reformed Yu Heizi . After all, they were family . She couldn’t pretend not to see him just because she disliked his mother!

Yu Heizi avoided Xiaocao’s eyes and chuckled sheepishly, “Ahhhh, I’m going to the docks to see if there’s any work for me to do . . . it’s okay, I should lose some of this fat on my body, so walking there is better!”

Yu Xiaocao giggled, “Losing weight doesn’t happen all at once . Our donkey cart moves fast, and the earlier you get there, the more opportunities you’ll have! Stop dawdling, quickly come up ah!”

Yu Heizi didn’t try to decline her offer again and clumsily climbed onto the donkey cart . Little Gray was still quite calm and didn’t decrease its speed despite having a fat Heizi added to its load . Heizi praised the donkey sincerely, “Xiaocao, your donkey was raised very well! When you first bought it, it was so skinny that it looked like a bag of bones . It was also so sick that it was at death’s door . Everyone said that you guys were wasting money . I didn’t expect this donkey to be so st.u.r.dy and healthy after being raised by you . ”

“Little Gray actually wasn’t that sick, it’s just that there isn’t a good vet in town . You also know that I learned some medicine from Doctor You for a few days . I can definitely treat animals without a problem!” Xiaocao replied mildly .