CHAPTER 108: CHAPTER 108: RAPESEED AND RAPESEED OIL

With a swift motion, Jiang Hu sliced the cucumber in half, tossing the pieces to Xiao Hei and Xiao Mi.

"Eat up, okay? Stop pestering the chickens and rabbits all the time, will you? They’re our source of income."

Jiang Hu sighed. While they were mischievous, chasing chickens and rabbits, they hadn’t caused any real harm, and had even chased away predators like weasels, snakes, and mice.

Yet, they just loved to play, teasing the livestock, especially Xiao Mi, who was always scaling walls and roofs. Catching her for a scolding was nearly impossible.

This time, though, Jiang Hu threw the cucumber, and before it hit the ground, Xiao Hei caught it with an upward snap.

Xiao Mi wasn’t left behind either; she sprang from Xiao Hei’s back, grabbing the cucumber mid-air, landing as she munched it down with crunching sounds, then effortlessly bounced back onto Xiao Hei.

Watching this, Jiang Hu shook his head in exasperation, "Seriously, Xiao Mi, can’t you walk on your own? You’re a cat, after all, why do you need Xiao Hei to carry you everywhere?"

Except when scaling walls or chasing chickens and rabbits, Xiao Mi was rarely seen walking on her own.

But Xiao Mi didn’t care at all, munching on the crunchy cucumber, padding a few times on Xiao Hei’s back, meowing twice, and off they went, Xiao Hei wagging his tail joyfully.

Jiang Hu shook his head helplessly at these two little creatures, thinking to himself, genius!

In Jiang Hu’s estimation, these two had definitely surpassed Iron Egg in intelligence!

Just as Xiao Hei walked Xiao Mi to the door, Xiao Xue came in, wiping sweat, as Xiao Hei greeted her with a couple of whines before dashing off again on another frolic.

Xiao Xue stood at the door for a moment, watching Xiao Hei and Xiao Mi head into the fields, letting out a resigned sigh, "Xiao Hei and Xiao Mi are too clever, they’re definitely off to hunt field mice again."

Field mice were plump and, unlike the ugly rats, were round and somewhat cute.

Most importantly, field mice were edible. Ever since Jiang Hu roasted the first one the duo caught, they developed this new interest.

Jiang Hu was used to it by now, "It’s fine, the field mice eat the crops. Let them catch them as long as they don’t trample the grain."

Xiao Xue nodded, washed her hands, and was munching on a cucumber Iron Egg had given her. Just as Jiang Hu finished preparing the cucumber, she joined him to mix the salad.

Though Xiao Xue wouldn’t turn five until next month, she was definitely the best cook among the sisters, already managing to make simple home dishes with ease.

Skillfully chopping the seasonings and mixing them with the cucumber, she then started the fire, having Jiang Hu watch it as she fried some peppers with just a little salt and coarse bits, creating a simple version of tiger-skin peppers, perfect with rice.

The porridge was nearly done cooking, and the steamed buns were set. Just as they finished these tasks, sounds of their parents returning home came from outside.

Jiang Hu hurried outside, "Dad, Mom, Big Brother, you’re back!"

Each had a full load on their backs, and Jiang Hu even had a large burlap sack laid across his basket.

Jiang Hu wanted to help, but looking at his own thin arms and legs, he hesitated and stepped back.

"We’re back, Jiang Hu, fetch a scoop of water for Dad, I’m parched."

Jiang Hu tipped his basket, pouring the sack and sheaves of wheat into the yard, then helped unload the backs of Second Mother and Jiang Yu.

Jiang Hu quickly returned to the kitchen, taking the opportunity to scoop a gourd of Spiritual Spring water, bringing it outside.

Jiang Hu was truly thirsty and downed the gourd in one go. Jiang Hu quickly poured another scoop, with Second Mother and Big Brother each taking a sip.

Xiao Xue didn’t come out, but upon hearing the commotion, she started serving the rice and bringing out the buns, placing a large bowl of them on the table, alongside the cucumber salad, fried peppers, and pickled vegetables.

After drinking the water, Jiang Hu emptied all the sheaves of wheat and quickly spread them out with a rake, allowing the sun to dry them a bit longer.

"Looks like keeping those seeds from last year was the right decision. Second Mother, look, these wheat stalks are much larger than in previous years."

No matter how tired, Jiang Hu felt joyful seeing such good crops, and it seemed to wash away his fatigue like magic.

Second Mother was equally pleased, "Yes, we’ll definitely have a greater harvest of wheat this year."

"Dad, Mom, can we keep a bit more wheat at home this year?" No matter that Jiang Yu was now attending school, he still worked without complaint.

During this holiday stretch, he had been up before dawn with their parents, mowing and carrying wheat without a fuss.

Jiang Hu felt that ever since his Big Brother started school, he seemed more composed and stable than before, always working or reading, even on school holidays, tirelessly dedicated.

For instance, right now, despite having just come back from the fields, sweat pouring from his brow, he didn’t rest but joined Jiang Hu in spreading out the freshly harvested wheat stalks for drying.

Without looking up, Jiang Hu nodded, "No problem, we’ll keep extra two hundred pounds of wheat this year. When you want noodles or dumplings, your mom can make them for you."

Jiang Hu was increasingly unworried about the family’s livelihood. Both grains and vegetables brought in good income.

Especially the rapeseed, which fetched a high price, even more than rice or wheat. Last year, he sold it directly to Tongfu Restaurant, where the price was notably high.

Before winter ended last year, he had planted two more acres of rapeseed. Once the wheat was harvested, it would be time for the rapeseed, too.

Thinking of rapeseed, Jiang Hu remembered another thing, "Second Mother, we’ve got a lot of rapeseed this year. How about we keep a hundred pounds to press our own oil?"

Second Mother paused in her movements with the bamboo rake, "We don’t know how to press oil ourselves."

Jiang Hu wasn’t worried, "No problem. Didn’t Manager Liu mention last year that he takes his oilseeds to be pressed in the county? We can pay for the service and have him help us send ours along for pressing."

They had been collaborating with Manager Liu for nearly two years, having sold a considerable amount of grain to the restaurant last year, too. It seemed unlikely he’d refuse such a small favor.

Second Mother nodded, "Sure, Master Zhang mentioned that cooking with rapeseed oil is particularly good for meat dishes. We’ve been growing it for two years but haven’t used it ourselves yet."

Others didn’t know what rapeseed oil was, and even though the chef Zhang from the restaurant had mentioned it and they had tasted food cooked with it, they assumed it was simply because he was a chef that the food was delicious. So, there wasn’t much anticipation in their conversation.

However, they didn’t notice that Jiang Hu’s eyes sparkled when rapeseed oil was mentioned.

Great! Finally, we can have rapeseed oil!

She wasn’t averse to cooking with animal fat; in fact, stir-fried vegetables with animal fat were particularly delicious!

But, animal fat wasn’t suitable for cold dishes, and even for stir-fried meat, vegetable oil made it more refreshing!

Unfortunately, she hadn’t yet found a safe, aboveboard way to use the various oils from her own space openly.

The most she could do was sneak in a bit of sesame oil while making salad, like today’s cucumber salad.