A Good Country Wife Chapter 99 - 99 Stabilizing1

Chapter 99: Chapter 99 Stabilizing_1

Chapter 99: Chapter 99 Stabilizing_1

Dr. Zheng, in accordance with the agreed-upon ti, made another house call to treat Zhao Erhu, “Young lady, you have taken great care of your husband. The patient’s condition has stabilized for the most part, but I’m afraid he’s not likely to wake up anyti soon. You must be well aware of this. There’s no need to change the prescription this ti; just continue with the dication given last ti for another three days, and then I will adjust the prescription for the patient.”

Lin Yue weighed the three light packets of dicine in her hand, worth three taels of silver. Her heart bled as she handed over the money for the dication. She counted what was left in her hand, only to find a little over three hundred coins remaining. That wouldn’t be enough for the next batch of dicine, and the supply of rice, flour, oil, and salt at ho was low. Furthermore, she needed to simr broth daily to nourish Zhao Erhu’s body, and each of these necessities required money.

“Dalang, I have sothing to take care of at your Aunt Chunxi’s house, so you brothers stay ho and watch over your father. I’ll be back soon,” Lin Yue instructed. With Zhao Erhu’s health now relatively stable, it was no longer necessary for her to keep constant vigil as she had the past two days. Besides, the children were sensible and could be trusted with the tasks she left them.

In two days, it would be market day. Lin Yue and Chunxi had made plans to go to the market to sell goods and then visit the Embroidery Store together. Lin Yue, having never been to the Embroidery Store, did not know where it was located, and Chunxi’s guidance would make the trip much easier. Besides selling her embroidery, Lin Yue also needed to personally pick out suitable embroidery fabric and threads, as such purchases were too specific for Chunxi to make on her behalf. Chunxi did not have Lin Yue’s exquisite embroidery skills and only knew so basic, common stitches. She wouldn’t understand the intricacies of selecting fabric and thread for embroidery, where even slight variances in color could affect the outco of the embroidered piece.

Since Lin Yue planned to sell items at the market, it was ti to start preparations. Chunxi had always sold the pickled vegetables she prepared the previous year and recently added wild vegetables to her offerings.

Lin Yue didn’t have pickled vegetables at ho, nor did she plan to sell wild vegetables. The patch where the wild vegetables grew, though naturally occurring and ownerless, had co to her attention only through Chunxi. It was one thing to pick so for personal use, but it would seem quite dishonorable to compete with Chunxi by selling the sa goods in the market.

Lin Yue, of course, couldn’t do such a thing, so she decided to sell sprouted beans instead, as well as previously processed bamboo shoot preserves and dried bamboo shoots. Initially, Lin Yue had considered harvesting fresh spring bamboo shoots from the mountain to sell at the market, but she lost interest after hearing from Chunxi that they weren’t profitable and sold for cheap. To the local people, bamboo shoots seed unappetizing and unsatisfying; eating too many could even cause discomfort. That’s why, despite the abundance of bamboo shoots in the mountains during spring, nobody bothered to dig them up for consumption.

Lin Yue understood why this was. Zhao Erhu had expressed similar sentints when she first brought bamboo shoots ho to eat. Though delicious, bamboo shoots require a certain finesse in cooking. Moreover, properly frying spring bamboo shoots consus a lot of oil, and the result is only delectable if done so. Given that the villagers were stingey with oil, rarely using enough in their cooking—instead just tossing everything into the pot for a quick stir and boil—it’s no wonder that the dishes, especially bamboo shoots cooked in such a manner, would be unpalatable.

Lin Yue used to love eating fried white bamboo shoots in the spring, diligently fried in lard with so pork, a splash of rice wine, and dried chili peppers. After simring with water and seasoning with salt and mint right before serving, the dish was incredibly delicious—so tasty, in fact, that Lin Yue could consu an entire large bowl on her own. Such a fine delicacy, grown naturally in the mountains without any cost, should not be wasted. With a shortage of oil and spices at ho, Lin Yue planned to prepare the bamboo shoots as a cooked food for market next ti, confident they would sell well. From her perspective, it was one of the most delicious foods imaginable.