Chapter 52 – Baking
Tomatoes were too common in the base, so they couldn’t trade them for much. After thinking it over, Xia Lu Nong gave up the idea of trading them with Old Liu.
If they didn’t pick the tomatoes soon, they’d eventually rot on the vine. The two of them grabbed bigger baskets and went back to pick more.
Their tomatoes were particularly sweet and red, which attracted a lot of pests. Some had been pecked by birds, others eaten by bugs. Skipping those damaged tomatoes, they picked about half a basket more, bringing their total to about one and a half baskets of tomatoes.
In addition to tomatoes, the garden had a great harvest of eggplants, beans, and chili peppers. After picking everything, they had half a basket of eggplants, a basket of beans, and another basket of chili peppers.
When they brought everything back home, the corner of the living room was piled high with vegetables.
That evening, when Xia Huo Qu and Yan Xi Nian returned, they were shocked by the sight.
Yan Xi Nian exclaimed, “You got all this from half a plot?”
“It’s not even half a plot,” Xia Lu Nong replied. “We used two-fifths for peanuts, and the rest was for these vegetables, plus a small patch of garlic. All in all, it’s the yield from a bit over two-fifths of a plot.”
Yan Xi Nian looked at the small mountain of produce, clearly impressed. “Your ability is amazing, Xia Lu Nong. With this kind of harvest, you could probably feed the whole base if you had more land.”
Xia Huo Qu said calmly, “Everyone in the base has hands and feet. Who would rely on someone else to feed them?”
Yan Xi Nian raised his hands in surrender, “It was just a figure of speech. We can’t let Xia Lu Nong be at a disadvantage. But speaking of which, what will you do with the beans and eggplants? I remember eggplants don’t dry well—if you sun-dry them, they turn into tasteless, papery stuff.”
Xia Lu Nong stroked his chin. “I was just thinking about that. We can have some of the kids help sun-dry the chili peppers; that can take its time. For the beans, I’ll make pickled beans, and for the eggplants… maybe eggplant sauce?”
Xia Huo Qu nodded. “That works. And what about the tomatoes?”
Xia Lu Nong said, “I have an idea for the tomatoes. Brother, what do you think about roasting them to make sun-dried tomatoes?”
Xia Huo Qu looked at him.
Xia Lu Nong gestured, “The problem we’re facing now is that we have too many tomatoes. The base can’t consume them all, and we can’t trade them either. It’s essentially because there are too many similar food items. If we make them into sun-dried tomatoes, it would be different. We could process them simply and see if we can trade them for other things in the base.”
“If we can’t trade them, aren’t we going to Yacheng town soon? We could exchange them there. If all else fails, sun-dried tomatoes are lightweight; we can bring them back as snacks.”
Xia Huo Qu thought carefully and nodded, “It’s worth a try.”
“Then I’ll give it a go tomorrow and see if I can make something creative with the sun-dried tomatoes.”
The weather at the base was often sunny and rainy, which made it risky to dry the delicate tomatoes in the sun. If it rained on a day they couldn’t set them out, the tomatoes would rot immediately.
Roasting them would be much safer and more convenient.
Everyone encouraged Xia Lu Nong to give it a shot.
Early the next day, Xia Lu Nong took some rice and brought Kong Zhi to the market to trade for a suitable pot.
He traded for a particularly large iron pot, which was tall and deep and had a flat lid, somewhat similar to a soup pot.
Roasting tomatoes in such a pot would ensure more even heating.
After trading for the pot, Xia Lu Nong still had over seven pounds of rice left in his basket, so he went ahead and traded for a large piece of meat.
Kong Zhi didn’t quite understand, “Why trade for meat?”
“Since we’re planning to roast tomatoes, we definitely need to enhance the flavor,” Xia Lu Nong explained. “I thought about it; tomatoes are sweet and sour, but they might not work well as sweet snacks since we don’t have much sugar. If we go for a sweet and sour flavor, it might be more appealing.”
Kong Zhi quietly waited for him to continue.
Xia Lu Nong smiled, “Since we’re processing them anyway, adding meat might improve the flavor of the sun-dried tomatoes. Plus, whether or not they contain meat changes the perception completely. For the same pound of sun-dried tomatoes, without meat we might only trade for a pound of rice, but with meat, we could potentially get three pounds.”
Kong Zhi hadn’t expected him to be so savvy in business, which surprised him a bit.
Xia Lu Nong tightened his grip on the basket. “Anyway, let’s try making a small batch first. If it doesn’t taste good, we’ll just keep it for ourselves.”
Kong Zhi had no objections.
The meat Xia Lu Nong had was a piece of pork with a good balance of fat and lean meat.
He brought it home, washed it clean with rice water, and cut it into small pieces. He then added a generous amount of diced green and red peppers, minced garlic, minced ginger, rice wine, and soy sauce, mixing it all well before quickly stir-frying it in the pot to make a meat sauce.
The chili peppers from Xia Lu Nong’s family were fragrant and spicy, making the meat sauce extremely flavorful and aromatic, which whetted the appetite.
Originally, Xia Lu Nong planned to use this meat sauce for the sun-dried tomatoes, but the enticing aroma was too tempting to resist. He decided to set aside some of the sauce to serve as a side dish for breakfast.
On the table, there was also stir-fried bamboo shoots with cured meat, sautéed eggplants, and dry-fried green beans.
The bamboo shoots with cured meat needed no introduction; with Xia Lu Nong’s cooking skills, they were bound to be delicious.
The bamboo shoots they had chosen that day were particularly tender, and when stir-fried with the cured meat and chili, they turned out both savory and spicy, with a hint of sweetness.
Most notably, the salty and savory flavor of the cured meat elevated the otherwise bland bamboo shoots, giving the dish a sense of richness.
Not only was it impressive for their breakfast, but this dish would also be worthy of a large banquet.
The eggplant was the biggest surprise for Xia Lu Nong.
It had been a while since they last had eggplant, and this preparation was completely different from what he remembered.
He recalled the eggplant being somewhat tough, but this one was soft, tender, and slippery, exuding a rich eggplant aroma. With just a pinch of salt, it tasted fantastic.
The dry-fried green beans, made from their own produce, were plump and juicy. Stir-fried over high heat, they were sweet, tender, and slightly salty, making them quite enjoyable with rice.
Estimating everyone’s appetite, Xia Lu Nong specially steamed a large pot of rice, but even with these dishes, it still wasn’t enough.
Even his usually restrained brother helped himself to four bowls, and the others were no exception.
After finishing his meal, Xia Lu Nong patted his stomach and looked at the empty rice pot beside him, feeling a bit dejected. “It seems we really need to hurry up and go gather supplies; otherwise, we won’t have enough rice.”
Yan Xi Nian laughed, “Oh, it’s not that bad. We’ll get a reward for building the hydroelectric station. Your brother and I each get ten pounds of rice a day. After working for four days, that’s eighty pounds, and with today’s meal, it’ll be a hundred pounds. I’ll have them delivered by evening.”
Xia Lu Nong thought for a moment and replied, “We could wait a few more days, but at this rate, the rice at home will only last about a month.”
Their rice supply was indeed quite ample, but with four grown men in the household, they could consume nearly ten pounds a day.
Plus, they also had to trade rice for fertilizer, seeds, daily necessities, and occasionally trade for vegetables at the cafeteria. They ended up using rice for various exchanges, which meant they didn’t have much left over.
Kong Zhi finished cleaning the dishes and said, “There’s not much going on these days; I can go out and gather some supplies and maybe trade for some rice. I’ll prepare today and head out tomorrow.”
Xia Huo Qu stopped him, “That’s unnecessary. If it really comes to it, we can have your brother Xi Nian take an advance on this year’s profits.”
Kong Zhi replied, “It’s fine; I used to go out alone when I was at our base.”
“Wait a second!” Xia Lu Nong caught on, “What profits?”
Xia Huo Qu remembered, “I haven’t told you yet. Your brother Xi Nian was the one who led the establishment of this base. All the public income from the base, like the grain we pay, is divided, with twenty percent going to him first. The remaining amount is used for public maintenance, like providing supplies to the management committee. For instance, the cafeteria, which generates a lot of income, also has to give him twenty percent of the profits.”
After realizing this, it was the first time Xia Lu Nong had heard of such an arrangement. His gaze toward Yan Xi Nian instantly changed.
He didn’t expect that his brother, Yan Xi Nian, was actually quite wealthy.
Yan Xi Nian laughed, “What kind of look is that, Xia Nong?”
Xia Lu Nong sighed, “I was just thinking, with all that income, how come you still live so poorly?”
“Hey, you little rascal, that stings!”
After laughing, Yan Xi Nian shook his head and explained to them, “Most of my income goes to support the group of scientists in the White Building. Initially, I suggested using the base’s public resources for their support, but everyone disagreed, so I had to bear this cost alone.”
Xia Lu Nong hadn’t anticipated that this was the reason; it certainly required a lot of money.
“Wait a minute.” Xia Lu Nong suddenly realized, “If that’s the case, do you also get to keep all the results produced by the scientists?”
Yan Xi Nian smiled knowingly, “Yes.”
Xia Lu Nong: “…”
He thought to himself, so his brother was never really a great person; it turned out he was still that scheming businessman.
The scientists didn’t often appear in front of everyone, but they had a lot going on.
For example, Xia Lu Nong knew that the truck modifications, seed cultivation, and fertilizer fermentation were all projects run by the scientists in the White Building.
The people at the base had to trade materials to use these results, and over the years, the income from the White Building had to be quite significant.
Xia Huo Qu summarized, “Don’t worry about the grain at home; we really aren’t short. If it runs low, we can let him lend us some first, and then we’ll replenish that gap later.”
He nodded toward Kong Zhi, saying, “You too, Kong Zhi. With your skills, this year’s harvest will definitely exceed your expenses, so you don’t need to rush.”
Xia Lu Nong and Kong Zhi both nodded in agreement.
Xia Huo Qu continued, “The hardest times are behind us now; there’s no need to feel anxious. We can take our time; we’re not lacking in staple foods.”
Xia Lu Nong obediently replied, “I understand. I’ll experiment a bit more with the tomatoes.”
After the meal, Yan Xi Nian and Xia Huo Qu continued their work at the hydroelectric station.
Xia Lu Nong had been wondering why his brother and the others were working so hard, and now he understood. This was all Yan Xi Nian’s enterprise, so it made sense that he was so invested.
Xia Lu Nong stayed home with Kong Zhi to experiment with his tomatoes.
When making sun-dried tomatoes, they should ideally be cut into halves, but since their tomatoes were large, they ended up cutting them into quarters.
These tomatoes had grown in an open environment, so there were occasional wormholes and damage that needed to be cut away. They tossed those parts into a nearby bucket, which they planned to use to feed the chickens later.
The remaining tomatoes were cut up and placed in a large wooden basin.
Before roasting the tomatoes, Xia Lu Nong first salted them lightly to draw out moisture. After that, he marinated them with the meat sauce before placing them in the pot to roast.
The pot was a specially made large one, heated with charcoal from burning wood. He placed more burning charcoal on top of the pot lid.
With heat from both above and below, they aimed to ensure the tomatoes were evenly heated.
As Xia Lu Nong roasted the sun-dried tomatoes, he continued cutting more. Occasionally, he would glance up, eagerly anticipating the finished product.
