113 Sweet Barberries!
It was a bustling scene in the first section of the Shao Family.
The dishes served that evening included small river shrimp stir-fried with leeks, pickled cabbage and miscellaneous fish pot, sweet and sour carp, which were all paired with two vegetarian dishes. It was a table full of color, aroma and taste.
The whole family was curious about the new way the fish had been cooked
They believed that Qiao Xuan was skilled at it, and did not hesitate to pick up their chopsticks.
Everyone spoke highly of the dishes.
Shao Junyan and Shao Qing loved sweet and sour carp best.
Qiao Xuan had made them a small portion of shrimp with steamed egg.
The adults loved every dish.
Eldest Uncle said happily, “The fish is really tasty, Ms. Qiao. You can tell the method to your Second Aunt-in-law and Third Aunt-in-law, so they could make some and have a taste of it.”
They could not afford to buy meat, but there were many fish and shrimps in the river. Elder Uncle’s concern for the second section of the family and third section of the family was already deep inside his head, and he subconsciously thought of them in every aspect.
Qiao Xuan, as well as everyone else in the first section of the family, already lost interest in countering those words.
She presented the way of how the dishes were made, with a smile.
She even added many extra steps to how the dishes were made.
Hearing that so much oil was needed, and wine for pickling and salt and seasonings, Eldest Uncle no longer had the motivation of telling the second and the third section of the family about it.
They would not be able to make the dishes in this way at all.
No wonder the dishes were tasty. They consisted of many condiments!
He did not dare to ask his daughter-in-law to share the dishes, because all of these were bought with his daughter-in-law’s dowry money.
Ms. Fang threw a satisfied look at Qiao Xuan, smiling happily.
Soon it was the third day of May.
They were discussing how they should celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.
Shao Yunduan and Qiao Xuan planned to visit the town, whilst Ms. Fang was making preparations for glutinous rice dumplings.
The leaves and the glutinous rice were all well prepared.
They normally made a few glutinous rice dumplings to celebrate the festival in the past and made some eggs for the children.
But they had a lot of money this year, so they decided to make it big!
Qiao Xuan became interested in making glutinous rice dumplings as well.
One day before the festival, Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan went into the town to buy meat, ribs as well as the seasonings for the meat.
They sliced the pork belly and put the rib in seasoning sauce for the dumplings the following day.
In addition to pork belly chestnut dumplings, there were pork belly mushroom dumplings, pork ribs dumplings, and some red bean candied jujube dumplings, eight-treasure dumplings, and alkaline water dumplings, which they stored for half a month after cooking.
In previous years, the Dragon Boat Festival was filled with alkaline water dumplings and bean dumplings. At most, a little chestnut was added, but meat dumplings were never made, so everyone was looking forward to it.
Qiao Xuan felt a bit regretful. She should have pickled some salted duck egg for salted yolk dumplings.
She started to miss salted eggs. Well, she could buy some to make them herself.
On the third day of May, Ms. Qiao went into the mountains to pick the leaves. Shao Yunduan and Shao Xiaoqi as well as Shao Taotao went into the mountains to hunt.
They decided to bring some wild animals back for the festival.
They were also seeking fresh mushrooms for the dumplings.
They were lucky enough to get wild roosters, wild rabbits, mushrooms and yams.
On a large barberry tree, they saw the large-sized fruits hanging.
Qiao Xuan held her hands against the trunk, casting the superpower without disclosing much.
Shao Xiaoqi climbed up onto the tree, picked one and put it into his mouth. His eyes sparkled. “It is so sweet!”
He picked a large bunch of it and said, “Fifth Brother, Fifth Sister-in-law, try these!”