Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 235 New Business

In fact, this is just ordinary long beans. I have eaten it at home and in the Imperial College.

I just don't know that the long beans, which originally tasted bland, became sour after the flower buds were tampered. When they were stir-fried with oil and minced meat, they tasted really good. The soldiers in the army would definitely like it.

In fact, this is because there are a lot of long beans planted in Yuanying Manor this year, with sufficient fertilizer, sufficient sunlight, and timely irrigation, so the shelves are full of green long beans. After sending them to the Imperial College and the restaurant, there are still a lot of surplus.

When Hualei returned to Yuanying Manor at the end of July, he saw that the long beans would become old if they were not picked. He had originally wanted to make a batch of sour beans that could be sent to Mobei, so he immediately instructed Tian Changshui, who was in charge of vegetables, to pick all the long beans that were almost ripe and make sour beans.

In fact, it is not difficult to make sour beans. In the past, many places would make this sour beans. Pick the fresh long beans, clean them, and pick out those with insect spots. Dry them in a cool place, and then put the slightly dehydrated and softened long beans into a tight bundle.

Put the long beans in a pottery jar, and stack each layer tightly without leaving any gaps. Sprinkle each layer with an appropriate amount of salt, and then add a few peppercorns and chili peppers. After the layers are completely stacked, insert a few chopsticks to fix them horizontally and vertically to prevent the long beans from floating up. Soak them in the second round of rice washing water, and cover them for about ten days. Of course, if the temperature is high, it will take about seven days, but if the temperature is low, it will take about fifteen days to be thoroughly pickled.

At this time, Bai Yunhe and Butler Bai looked at a pot of fried sour beans with minced meat and a jar of pickled sour beans on the table, and were somewhat silent. It was not that the sour beans were bad, but because they were to be sent to the army. Should they be sent? How much should they send? In the end, it would be up to the Marquis of Dingxi to decide.

Bai Yunhe thought about it and said directly to Hua Lei, "Miss Hua, this sour bean is really good, but it is to be sent to the army. Whether to send it or not and how much to send, I guess we still need to go back and ask my grandfather.

How about this, Miss Hua, let's first decide on the salted duck eggs, and you can send someone to make a batch for us as soon as possible. As for the pickled beans, we'll get back to you tomorrow after we say hello to our grandfather, okay?"

Hua Lei nodded. This was normal. Purchasing large quantities of things, not to mention the amount of silver, was relatively strict even when it was sent to the army. Hua Lei knew that she had sent many things to Mobei before. Many procedures seemed simple on the surface, but in fact, many things sent to the army were tested by special military doctors and only sent to the military kitchen after confirmation.

The two sides agreed that the next day, Butler Bai would come to Yuanying Manor to give Hualei a definite answer, and then Bai Yunhe and Butler Bai went back. After seeing off Bai Yunhe and Butler Bai, Hualei went to the warehouse on the manor and carefully looked through all the inventory in the warehouse.

The next day, Hua Lei was still waiting for Butler Bai in the study room on the farm. At the end of the morning hour, Uncle Fu came in to report that Lord Dingxi Bai had come to the farm in person. Hua Lei was startled and hurriedly stood up to greet him.

At the gate of Yuanying Manor, Lord Dingxi Marquis Bo, who was wearing a scarlet robe, got off the carriage. Looking at the lively scene in Yuanying Manor, he nodded unconsciously. Now the chickens, ducks and geese are all kept in one place, and they are only released to play in the open space and pond at night.

Various vegetables are planted in patches, and they are grown quite well. Although each vegetable plot has irregular shapes due to the pond, it does not prevent the vegetables from growing very well.

Long beans climbed unscrupulously on the racks, round winter melons lay flat on a small bed of straw, and purple eggplants swayed their slender bodies under the branches and leaves. Everywhere you look, you can see a peaceful and joyful harvest scene. Dingxi Hou nodded.

Hualei hurried over and saw that the man was about 1.78 meters tall, tall, a little fat, with dark skin on his face, gray eyebrows, but bright eyes, but there were a lot of white hair on his head, tied with an ordinary wooden hairpin, and his robe was also made of ordinary fabrics. He did not have the momentum of a superior at all, which was very different from Bai Yunhe's extravagant and ostentatious. I didn't see Bai Yunhe today, but the housekeeper Bai who came to the manor yesterday followed behind.

Hualei stepped forward and saluted, "Meet Lord Bai."

The old Marquis Bai on the opposite side smiled and said, "Miss Hua, I'm sorry for being so rude. Butler Bai came back yesterday and said that there were some things he couldn't decide, so I thought that I had nothing to do anyway, so I came here in person today. I hope Miss Hua won't blame me."

Hua Lei smiled and nodded, and invited Lord Bai and Butler Bai into the study. Hua Lei was a straightforward person, so after a few pleasantries, she served Zhao's freshly stir-fried sour beans and minced meat, and also brought a jar of raw sour beans to the table.

Lord Bai picked up the chopsticks and tried it. It was just as Butler Bai had described. The taste was very special, very sour and refreshing. It should be very good with rice. The weather in Xinjiang is hot, with the temperature reaching 39 degrees Celsius during the day. Many soldiers sweat a lot and have poor appetite. The sour and spicy taste is very appetizing.

Lord Bai nodded and asked, "Miss Hua, how much of this batch of sour beans do you have?"

"There are fifty jars ready on the farm. If Lord Bai needs it, and wants it in ten days, I can also make a batch for him. It depends on how much Lord Bai needs. But I took a look at the mature beans on the farm, and I think I can only make about eighty jars." Hua Lei said clearly.

"That's 130 jars. Hmm, the quantity is a bit awkward. Plus, one caravan can't hold all the salted duck eggs, and two caravans are not enough." Lord Bai pondered.

Not enough? Hualei was delighted and said, "Lord Bai, if you think the sour beans are not enough, I have some pickled Chinese cabbage on my farm. Do you want some?"

"Oh, cabbage? Bring it up and let me see?" Lord Bai asked with interest.

So, within a quarter of an hour, Zhao served up stir-fried pork belly slices with pickled cabbage and tofu and sour cabbage soup. Also served was a jar of pickled Chinese cabbage, which was neatly arranged in a circle in a ceramic jar. The plump cabbages were very pleasing to the eye.

This time, Hualei also thoughtfully served a jar of rice wine and two bowls of rice. When Bai Yunhe and Butler Bai came over yesterday, the rice in the farm had been eaten in the morning, and it was too late to cook rice, so no preparation was made.