Transmigrating with a Five Million Dollar Retirement Life

Chapter 142 Hot Pot and Barbecue

The next morning, Song Jiaojiao had Xu Da take Meng An and the others to cut down the sugarcane on the barren mountain. They were to let it sit for a few days after cutting it down, as the sugarcane would become even sweeter after that.

The village chief came to announce early this morning that everyone in the village with land should plant ground peas. After all, the land is just sitting idle anyway. In the past, people might have worried that if the land was used too frequently, the yield of crops would decrease later.

But with Song Jiaojiao's fertilizer, every household can get it into their own soil and no longer worry.

This used up all the potatoes Song Jiaojiao had stored, leaving the space's warehouse almost empty. Song Jiaojiao planned to plant more rice in the space later, so that she wouldn't have to worry about food shortages in case of a famine.

Time flies, and the New Year is just around the corner. The village chief managed to finish building the workshop before the New Year.

The village's greenhouses weren't delayed either; all the vegetables grown by each household were purchased by Sifanglou. This whole affair was spearheaded by Song Jiaojiao.

The Sifanglou restaurant in Yunshui Town alone couldn't possibly handle all the demand. However, winter vegetables can be stored for a couple more days, and the other Sifanglou branches in Nanling County also made a fortune from vegetables during the winter.

As a result, the revenue of Sifanglou in the entire Nanling County increased significantly.

The matter that Song Jiaojiao brought up last time has not been heard from Sifanglou since. Song Jiaojiao thought that perhaps Boss Wang didn't care about such a small profit.

However, Song Jiaojiao still collected a lot of information and prepared to make her own hot pot base. She was going to open the hot pot restaurant, but as for who she would open it with later, she would talk about that later.

New Year's Eve has arrived, and Wang Hefan is not at home this year. Song Jiaojiao always feels that something is missing.

On the table was a hot pot, a dish that Song Jiaojiao had just prepared. The stove used to cook the hot pot was made by Song Jiaojiao herself at the pottery workshop.

Originally, Song Jiaojiao wanted to use iron, but for some reason, the court suddenly restricted the use of iron by the people. Helpless, she had to find a substitute herself.

This small stove is a combination of stove and pot. There is a charcoal outlet in the middle, and the rim is where you cook the hot pot. This is the kind of pot that Song Jiaojiao saw when she went to Kyoto to eat hot pot in her previous life.

Thinking about it this way, it's much more convenient this way, instead of having to carve a hole in the table separately.

Everyone stared at the raw vegetables and meat on the table, completely unsure of where to begin. The pot contained the hot pot ingredients that Song Jiaojiao had prepared over the past two days.

The aroma filled the entire village on the day the ingredients were stir-fried, and it lingered for a long time.

"Mom, how do we eat this hot pot?" Mu Xue asked Song Jiaojiao in confusion.

"Eat it hot! Just put the vegetables you want into the pot like this, and it's ready to eat when it's cooked. Dip it in the sauce Mom makes, and it's so delicious." Song Jiaojiao demonstrated by putting a piece of mutton into the pot. It was ready when the mutton changed color.

The mutton was sold by someone when Song Jiaojiao went to town to prepare for the New Year a couple of days ago, and she bought all the mutton from that vendor.

Mu Xue followed Song Jiaojiao's example, putting in her favorite vegetables, cooking them, and then picking them out.

Dipping it in the oil sauce that Song Jiaojiao prepared for everyone, mmm, it's really fragrant. I never expected that this novel way of eating would taste so good.

"good to eat!"

Hearing Mu Xue's exclamation, everyone started eating. At first, they were a bit clumsy and reserved, but as the food got better and better, they gradually picked up their chopsticks and started eating faster.

In no time, everyone was full and bloated, sprawled out on their chairs.

This year, Song Jiaojiao and everyone spent New Year's Eve in the courtyard. This winter was not cold at all. Even though it was New Year's Eve, it was still very warm to sit around the fire pit at night.

Meng Anmengqi was still grilling barbecue on the side. Hot pot is delicious, but you get hungry again in no time.

Knowing that the New Year's Eve vigil would last until midnight, Song Jiaojiao made preparations well in advance.

This year, my family slaughtered two fat pigs, and the village chief and my third uncle's family each bought one.

One of the piglets she bought last year was female, and it gave birth to a litter of piglets this summer. Song Jiaojiao is raising all eight piglets, and the sweet potato residue and mung bean residue at home are more than enough for these poultry to eat.

Not a single bit will be wasted. Look, this sow is pregnant again now, and she will give birth in early February next year. I wonder how many piglets she will have this time.

"Uncle Meng, how much longer until the sausages are ready?" Mu Xue walked up to Meng An, her mouth watering as she looked at the sizzling sausages on the shelf.

"Second Miss, almost done, it'll be ready soon," Meng An said as she flipped the grilled food.

Even though it was deep winter, Meng An was still wearing a thin shirt, with tiny beads of water on his forehead and a towel draped over his shoulder to wipe away sweat.

"Second sister, quickly wipe your drool." Song Jiaojiao looked at Mu Xue with amusement.

Upon hearing this, Mu Xue quickly wiped her mouth with her hand, but there was no saliva.

Her little face flushed red, and she pouted, saying, "Mom, you're lying to me. There's no saliva at all." Her pouting lips could practically hold an oil bottle.

"Haha, you're already hungry less than an hour after eating hot pot, you're such a little glutton." Song Jiaojiao laughed and teased Mu Xue.

The people in the courtyard chuckled softly.

"No, it's just that the smell is too strong and keeps getting into my nose," Mu Xue said, pouting.

"Second Miss, the sausages are cooked." Meng An's voice came, holding a cooked sausage in her hand.

"Coming, coming!" Mu Xue rushed over upon hearing this, not caring that the freshly grilled sausages were still too hot to handle, and mumbled something indistinctly while clapping her hands in her mouth.

"Wow! It's so delicious. I never thought sweet sausages could taste this good."

Song Jiaojiao made a lot of sausages this time, thinking that none of them had ever eaten sweet sausages before, so she made quite a lot.

In addition, she actually prefers sweet sausages, so most of the sausages in her home are sweet.

I didn't expect Mu Xue to like it too.

Song Jiaojiao saw that the sweet potato peels on the barbecue grill were cooked, so she took a piece and ate it.

The sweet potato noodles were made by Song Jiaojiao herself using sweet potato starch. The baked sweet potato noodles had a crispy outer skin and a soft and chewy texture inside. Paired with the flavors of spicy and sour pickled green beans and scallions, and sprinkled with the barbecue seasoning that Song Jiaojiao made, it was simply delicious.

In her previous life, Song Jiaojiao loved this dish, but it was very difficult to find such authentic sweet potato noodles in the city she lived in.

Unexpectedly, this wish was fulfilled in this dynasty.

"Meng An, your skills are quite good. You have a good grasp of the heat. You are ready to set up a stall." Song Jiaojiao praised Meng An with a smile.

This made the burly man blush, and he shyly touched his head, saying, "It's all thanks to Madam."

Song Jiaojiao taught Meng An how to barbecue, but to achieve this level on his first try requires some natural talent.

Thinking of this, Song Jiaojiao took a sip of the wine she had brewed herself and wondered if she should open a barbecue restaurant. It wasn't really to make money, but mainly because she wanted a place to satisfy her cravings.

Let's drive to town, it's not far. We have all these things at home, so it seems we need to go to town to look at houses.

Song Jiaojiao is not worried about buying a house at all now, as the dividends from the last time are enough for her to buy several manors.