The Fortunate Lady and Her Mountain Man

Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Dehydrated Vegetables

"Do I need to remind you all why Ji Mingmao went to my shack? He failed at burglary and nearly beat someone to death. According to the law, that’s enough to have him rot in prison. I treated the victim, saved his life, and spared your son from that fate. Yet, not only are you ungrateful, you’re also this unreasonable. Or could it be, Third Aunt, that you’re just that eager to send your precious son to jail to get a taste of how hard life can be?"

Ji Huan shook her head, an expression of extreme disappointment on her face. "The reason I hit Ji Mingmao today is because I can’t bear to see the Ji Family produce a future descendant who’s a murderer and an arsonist. You can go right ahead and tell Grandpa and Grandma. If they also think Ji Mingmao did nothing wrong, then I’ll just have to accept my misfortune."

Her speech, a mix of threats and justifications laced with lofty legal principles no one understood, left the onlookers—including Mrs. Zhu and her son—completely stunned.

’So she hit him for his own good?’

Ji Huan paid no mind to their thoughts. She stood up, fixed her eyes on Ji Mingmao, and spoke, emphasizing every word.

"I’m sparing you this time. But if you dare to bother Dabao again—if he so much as loses a single hair because of you—I will break one of your legs."

When Ji Mingmao was met with her chilling gaze, he instantly felt as if his right leg was already gone.

Coupled with being terrified by words like "murder" and "prison," his composure completely shattered. He grabbed onto Mrs. Zhu, screaming and crying for dear life.

"Mom, it wasn’t me! It wasn’t me! Gou Dan, Tiezhu, and Dalun were in on it too! They were the ones who bumped the table and made it fall on that little monster! You can’t let them just take me! Mom, save me! I don’t want to go to jail..."

Ji Mingmao clearly had no concept of loyalty. In his panic, he threw all of his little buddies completely under the bus.

The parents of the other children were mostly present, and upon hearing this, their faces twisted in anger. They cursed inwardly, ’That little grandson of the Ji Family is a real piece of trash! I can’t let my kid play with him anymore.’

Ji Huan’s gaze swept over their mortified and furious faces. Without another word, she climbed into the carriage and left.

The adults looked at one another, each breathing a sigh of relief.

’A moment ago, they’d been terrified that Ji Huan would embarrass them in front of everyone. Hadn’t they seen how she’d berated her own aunt and cousin into such a pathetic state?’

’Thank goodness, that Wuan girl is still reasonable. She knows who is to blame and didn’t make things difficult for anyone else.’

As for Ji Mingmao getting beaten, the crowd’s unanimous reaction was: he deserved it! It would have served him right even if she had broken both his legs!

Regardless, this incident made a name for Ji Huan, leaving everyone with the distinct impression that she was not to be trifled with.

Mrs. Zhu didn’t dare to utter another word. She was terrified her son would go to jail, and also terrified that Ji Huan would actually demand money for medical expenses. She could only swallow her anger and suffer in silence, dejectedly helping her son back to the Ji Family home.

On the carriage, Ji Huan looked at the little one, whose eyes were faintly shining. She tapped his nose. "So? Did that help you feel better?"

Dabao had been awake since she started hitting Ji Mingmao. He held onto the side of the carriage to sit up halfway, his small lips pressed together as he watched everything in silence.

Ji Huan could sense he was happy. And though he still hadn’t spoken, there was progress: he no longer averted his gaze as he usually did.

He looked at Ji Huan, and Ji Huan looked back at him, until—

"Okay, okay, stop! I get it, you have big eyes, alright!" Ji Huan’s own eyes were starting to ache. The boy hadn’t even blinked.

"You remember this, Dabao," Ji Huan said, patting his small head. "From now on, if anyone bullies you, you hit them back. If you can’t win, run and find me. I’ll take care of..."

She stopped abruptly mid-sentence.

’How much longer can I protect Dabao? In the end, he’ll have to walk his own path.’

「October arrived, and each day grew colder than the last.」

One day, Hu Liang and Hu Dacheng arrived at the dilapidated shack, carrying two baskets of vegetables on a shoulder pole.

"We’ll be clearing out the garden for winter soon," one of them said. "The town is flooded with people trying to sell off their vegetables before then. The prices are rock-bottom, and they’re still not selling well. Mom said we shouldn’t bother, and that we should just keep them to eat ourselves."

Ji Huan took a look. The baskets were filled with cabbage, spinach, green beans, as well as eggplants, radishes, and cowpeas.

"Why is everyone trying to sell now? Why not save some to eat during the winter?"

"There’s no way to keep them!" Hu Liang said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Only the cabbage and radishes will last for a while in a cellar. The rest won’t make it. They’ll spoil as soon as it freezes."

"So in the winter, you only eat cabbage and radishes?"

Hu Dacheng chimed in, "There are also pickled vegetables and fermented bean paste."

It was only then that Ji Huan remembered. ’Of course. In this era, there are no greenhouses, let alone modern hothouse cultivation.’

’Won’t the long winter be incredibly difficult to get through, then?’

She couldn’t possibly eat this many vegetables anytime soon, and her dilapidated shack didn’t have a cellar. After thinking for a moment, Ji Huan decided to turn them all into dehydrated vegetables.

’Dehydrated vegetables are basically a type of dried vegetable, made by heating fresh ones to remove most of their water content. When you eat them, they’re not only tasty and vibrant, but they also retain their original nutritional value.’

As she thought about this, an idea popped into Ji Huan’s head.

’Dehydrated vegetables are smaller and lighter than fresh ones, rehydrate when put in water, and are easy to transport and store... This could not only solve the problem of having no vegetables in winter, it could be a business opportunity!’

She decided to act at once. She would use these two baskets of vegetables for a test run. If she succeeded, she would tell Widow Xie and her family about it.

’To make *instant* dehydrated vegetables, you have to not only remove the water but also ensure they’re ready to eat after just a quick soak in hot water. Plus, you have to make sure the nutrients aren’t lost in the process.’

’That’s why not every vegetable is suitable. Some are naturally gelatinous or have extremely high water content, so there’s nothing left once they’re dehydrated—cucumbers and tomatoes, for example.’

’The ones Hu Liang brought, however, were all suitable.’

Ji Huan had seen her grandmother do this plenty of times before, so she still remembered all the steps.

She separated the cabbage and spinach, washed them, and set them outside on a sieve to drain. She planned to start with these two today.

Before long, the leaves were dry. She then heated a wok over a low flame until it was just hot to the touch.

She placed the leaves in the wok and tossed them continuously for ten minutes.

Different vegetables required different amounts of time, but the goal was to keep the leaves from changing color too much.

Then, while there was still daylight, she spread the processed leaves onto a mat to dry in the sun for two to four hours before gathering them up and storing them in a dry place.

This method was also suitable for other vegetables that required little to no cooking, such as eggplant, cowpeas, chives, green onions, and garlic.

The leaves could be chopped or left whole. Since this was just a test run, Ji Huan didn’t bother chopping them, just to save herself the trouble.

The next day, when she had a spare moment, she gave them another round of sun-drying and wok-heating, and they were more or less finished.

At lunch, after cooking some noodles, she tossed a few of the dried cabbage and spinach leaves into the pot. After a quick stir, she ladled it all out. The white of the noodles, the green of the leaves, the red of the spinach roots—while the appearance and texture couldn’t quite compare to fresh vegetables, they were easily eighty to ninety percent as good.

Next, she tried dehydrating the radishes.

The process for root vegetables like radishes was different from leafy greens. First, she had to dice the radishes, drop them into lightly salted boiling water for one minute, and then drain them. After letting them drain further in a small sieve, she just had to let them air-dry for a day or two.

The timing was important. If they were left to dry for too long, they would become overly dehydrated, making them difficult to chew and digest.

This method was also suitable for carrots, ferns, hyacinth beans, and sword beans.

The experiment was a success. Ji Huan was just about to visit Widow Xie’s home to discuss producing the vegetables in bulk when the village chief suddenly appeared at her door and handed her something.

Ji Huan stared blankly at the "official document" in her hand. With this, she could send Dabao to the Orphanage.

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