After harvesting the pumpkins, it’s time to stock up on winter vegetables. The whole family has to get busy for the winter.
With the continuous improvement of people's living conditions in later generations, the custom of stocking winter vegetables in autumn is not only rarely seen anymore, but also rarely talked about. It is only mentioned when reminiscing.
In later generations, due to convenient transportation and greenhouse technology, even in the cold winter, a variety of fresh vegetables were supplied to the market for Chinese people to choose and enjoy. Therefore, except for some special periods, Zhang Yu really didn’t do much
I stocked up on groceries and bought them when I ate them.
Because he has started to work now, my sister-in-law thinks that as he grows up, it is time to learn some life skills, so she has called him to join her since she started stocking up on vegetables. Of course, others have not been left behind.
Although the supply may not be that sufficient this year due to some reasons, the supply in Beijing is pretty good. Although not as much as in previous years, it is still pretty good for this year.
This time period should be the busiest in Beijing, with people queuing up everywhere and mountains of cabbage everywhere.
People line up to buy Chinese cabbage early every morning, and it is very lively with people coming and going.
"This Chinese cabbage is the specialty dish of us old Beijingers. We rely on this cabbage throughout the winter and spring." Zhang Guifang pointed to the pile of cabbage in front of her.
By the time Zhang Yu and his sister-in-law came to the vegetable station with the vouchers for buying cabbage, the queue had already reached a long way.
Seeing this, my sister-in-law gave the voucher to Zhang Yu and said, "Xiaoyu, you wait in line here first, and I'll go see what else is available in other places. Okay, let's buy it together."
"Okay, sister-in-law, you go ahead."
Looking at the long queue, Zhang Yu felt that he might not be able to get in line today. Just when he was about to give up, a seven or eight-year-old child suddenly ran past him and said to an aunt in the queue in front of him: "Mom.
, don’t wait in line here, we have set up sales points of Chinese cabbage at the entrance of the alley and on the roadside, and they will start selling them immediately. My brother is queuing up there, let me call you."
"Let's go, let's go!" After hearing this, the lady in front stopped waiting in line, picked up her things and trotted towards the alley.
After hearing this, several people nearby gave up queuing and ran towards the alley entrance.
And Zhang Yu relied on the results of his recent morning jogging to get ahead of many others and ranked higher in the queue.
But because the queue was quite far at first, my sister-in-law and the others thought it would take a long time, so they didn’t ask him to bring the cabbage bag, and planned to wait a while before delivering it to him.
But after changing the queue, it will be his turn soon. If he goes home to pick it up now, he won't be able to queue up when he comes back. If he doesn't go back to pick it up, he won't have anything to pack.
Just when Zhang Yu felt in a dilemma, he saw the children playing next to him. He happened to know one of them, so he shouted loudly: "Qi Gang, Qi Gang, come here."
"Uncle Xiao Yu, why are you calling me?" Qi Gang, who was playing with a group of friends, heard someone calling him. He looked up and saw that it was Uncle Xiao Yu in the yard, and ran over like a dang.
"You go to the courtyard and call someone for Xiaoyu. When you go back, take a look at who is in my house. You can call anyone and ask them to come over with the things they need to buy cabbage. Then tell them it's my turn soon."
As he spoke, he took out a few candies from his pocket and put them on his hand, using the cover of his pocket, "This is a reward from Uncle Xiao Yu."
Qi Gang looked at the candy in his hand and immediately put it in his pocket, "Uncle Xiao Yu, I'm the fastest runner. Just wait for me, I'll be back soon." He said to his friend and started to run back.
"By the way, when you go back, shout in the courtyard that cabbage has started to be sold at the entrance of our alley, and ask everyone in the courtyard to come over quickly. If it's too late, you won't be able to get there." Zhang Yu thought of something else.
, gave an instruction loudly.
"Okay," the voice came, and the child had already run far away.
After a while, his uncle and his eldest brother Zhao Feng came over with a floor cart, and they happened to be in line with him. They took the purchase vouchers of the whole family and bought a whole cart of cabbage.
The eldest brother was pulling in the front, and he and his uncle were pushing behind. They pulled them to the house and put them at the door first, preparing to dry them in a sunny place for a few more days, and then put them under the eaves and cover them with a few more layers of straw curtains.
Eat for the whole winter.
My sister-in-law came back at this time, looked at the cabbage they bought and said in surprise: "Xiaoyu, are you in line soon?"
"No, I heard someone said that there was a temporary sales point at the entrance of the alley near us, so I ran over there quickly. It's just in time."
"Tell me, how come it's so fast!" After Zhang Guifang finished speaking, she took a piece of cabbage, patted it with satisfaction, pinched it, pinched it a few times, and said, "The cabbage you bought today is pretty good, I think it's quite big.
Yes, it's solid. I pinched it just now and it's crispy and juicy. It will definitely be delicious when you eat it."
Seeing that my sister-in-law was in a good mood, Zhang Yu said, "Sister-in-law, does this cabbage taste the best when used as stuffing for dumplings? Let's eat dumplings today."
"Yes, yes, it would be a pity not to eat dumplings with such good cabbage." The eldest brother also echoed from the side. He knew that as soon as Xiaoyu opened his mouth, his mother would probably agree.
"Okay, then you go get some cabbage and I'll make some stuffing. Let's eat dumplings stuffed with cabbage today."
As she spoke, Zhang Guifang began to wash her hands and prepare tools for chopping stuffing.
Zhang Yu took out a pound of meat from the kitchen and put it in front of his sister-in-law: "Dang-dang-dang, sister-in-law, what do you think this is?"
"When did you buy it? I didn't even get in line yesterday morning." Looking at the meat on the chopping board, Zhang Guifang was a little happy, knowing that she had planned to have a good meal while storing winter vegetables since last week, but because
Due to supply problems, we haven't been able to get meat.
"My colleague queued up at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning yesterday and got a total of 3 kilograms of meat. However, he just met a partner and needed a ticket. Wouldn't he just give me 1 kilogram in exchange for it?" I knew my sister-in-law would ask,
So this is indeed the case, and it just so happens that he has extra cloth tickets.
Zhang Guifang originally only planned to cut out a part and put it into the cabbage stuffing. Zhang Yu chewed the flower seeds after seeing it. If there is anything he is not used to, it is the attitude of people in this era towards meat. That is called attention.
A pound of meat needs to be eaten several times.
"Sister-in-law, please put them all in. There's not much anyway." She said and took the rest of the meat from her and chopped it up.
A meal of dumplings stuffed with cabbage and pork made the whole family satisfied.
There are still a few days of busy work ahead and a lot of things need to be stored.
In addition to cabbage, radish and winter melon are also important items that need to be stored.
There are also all kinds of pickles, which need to be done by my sister-in-law herself. The few of them can't pickle them with that kind of flavor, so they can only do it on the side.
