Chapter 48 - 48 Roast Duck
48 Roast Duck
As soon as the decree was issued, the people of Shifeng County cheered. Jian Qingqing also heard about this. She planned to open up more than ten acres of wasteland with her family.
The crops she had planted had already sprouted. The sweet potatoes had already grown a small cluster of leaves. They could be cut off very soon. When the time came, there would definitely not be enough land, so Jian Qingqing planned to open up more wasteland.
Jian Family Village had quite a lot of wasteland, but it was not allowed to be developed in the past. Therefore, even if the villagers had sold out all the land due to the great disaster, they could only rent the land of the landowner’s family instead of opening up their own land.
Once this decree was issued, the villagers were all in a state of excitement, especially those whose families had sold out only a few acres of land. Although the wasteland could not be used to grow food for the first few years, once the land was ready, it would belong to them. Therefore, many villagers wanted to open up the land.
Jian Qingqing had her eyes on a sandy land. The sandy land was easy to develop, and it was more suitable for growing sweet potatoes.
She still needed to wait for the spring planting to be over before opening up the land. The oven workers that Jian Qingqing wanted had already been built. Today, she was going to try to make a roast duck.
She first burned the oven, then put the pickled duck in and sealed the opening. Two hours later, the duck had already been roasted until both sides were charred yellow, emitting a rich fragrance.
Xiao Lang smelled the fragrance and ran over. “Sister, it smells good!”
Jian Qingqing looked at his big sparkling eyes and brushed a layer of wild honey on the roast duck. She used a knife to slice it and stuffed it into his mouth.
“How is it? Is it good?” Xiao Lang wolfed it down and revealed a big smile. “It’s so good! Sister, I want more!”
Jian Qingqing sliced a small plate for him. “Take it and eat it with your brothers.”
After watching Xiao Lang leave, Jian Qingqing tasted one slice. The skin was roasted until it was crisp, but the meat inside was very tender. It had the sweetness of honey and the freshness of sauces, so it tasted just right.
It was done, and she would add the roast duck tomorrow!
Now that her stewed meat was famous throughout the county, 100 catties of stewed meat per day was not enough to meet the demand. She decided to take 20 roast ducks to test the water first.
The roast ducks were delicious on the same day. Jian Qingqing changed the time of setting up her stall to noon and simply cooked the stewed meat on the same day.
The two aunties who had been invited to cook for the workers, Jian Qingqing, gave them a raise and asked them to help with the stewed meat. So now Jian Qingqing was not so busy and had a lot of free time to do other things.
Her oven was very big. One oven could roast 10 ducks, and 20 roast ducks were quickly finished.
When Jian Qingqing arrived at the county seat, there were already many regulars waiting there.
“Little Lady Jian, why are you so late today? I thought you weren’t coming. If we didn’t wait for you, we would have left.”
“I’m sorry, there’s a new sample dish today. I woke up early in the morning to make it, so I’m a little late. In the future, the time for setting up stalls will be changed to this time. You don’t have to come so early,” Jian Qingqing quickly explained.
“A new dish? What is it? I’ve never eaten a dish as delicious as the stewed meat cooked by you. I don’t feel comfortable if I don’t eat it for a day! I’ll definitely buy Little Lady Jian’s new dish and try it!”
Jian Qingqing glanced at the person who spoke. It was a customer who came to buy her stewed meat every day. She let out a big smile and said, “Today’s new dish is roast duck. The taste is also very good. I won’t let you down!”
As she spoke, she opened the box containing the roast duck. Suddenly, a sweet and fragrant smell appeared in the air.
“Little Lady Jian, this smell is not bad! This color looks delicious! Little Lady, give me one!”
“I want one too! I want one too!”
…