Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 600: Not Going All Out

The restaurant provided free cooking for 1,000 people. Although the rice and flour were provided by the county government, the oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and other items were all provided free of charge by the restaurant.

Moreover, the county government only provided rice and flour, but no side dishes. In the beginning, the restaurant only boiled the rice into porridge and kneaded the flour into steamed buns, which did not cost much.

However, a few days later, Hua Lei asked the restaurant to provide food for a thousand people. People would have no strength if they only ate bland porridge.

So, kimchi, pickled vegetables, fermented bean curd, as well as the three-day-long dishes such as salted pork and vermicelli cooked with Chinese cabbage, and mutton, radish and vermicelli soup, began to be served.

Also, when these people returned home, Hua Lei gave them quilts and asked the restaurant to use mixed flour to make steamed buns.

Each person was given 20 steamed buns. In addition, each person, regardless of age, was given 5 catties of brown rice to take home. Adding other miscellaneous expenses, the total was probably more than 2,100 taels of silver.

Looking at the total amount in the account book, Hualei sighed softly. This amount of money, for her now, is probably just a few hairpins on her head, or a bracelet on her wrist.

However, for these poor people, it can help them get through the most difficult times in the most urgent situations.

Hua Lei felt a little regretful that she only gave rice to the thousand people she was responsible for, and did not give more rice and flour to the other people.

Although the county government did open its warehouses to help out the poor, there were probably too many people to take care of them. I heard that the people in the diwozi only had one bowl of porridge and one steamed bun every day.

When we went back, it seemed like each person took back a pound of brown rice, which was really too little and a bit pitiful. Hualei couldn't help but reflect on herself.

This time, I was not broad-minded enough. I only thought about doing my best, but not going all out. I only saw the thousand people I was responsible for, but not the other people. Hualei felt a little regretful.

In the evening, when talking about this with Rong Jin, Rong Jin hugged Hua Lei and said that she had done a good job. Rice, flour, grain and oil have prices, but sometimes, some invisible contributions are priceless.

For example, they took the initiative to provide fodder to keep the oxen. For example, they took the initiative to provide oilcloth for the people to keep warm. At least, among all the women who came to Mobei Town, Hualei was the best.

In terms of personal contribution, Hua Lei's contribution ranks among the top ten among all officials.

During the day, when Rong Jin, Minister Zhang and Minister Li were inquiring about the relevant matters, Minister Zhang said that several officials' wives did not even give away an old cotton-padded jacket, and they only said that they did not bring it to Mobei at all.

Qian's second sister-in-law was one of those misers who was extremely stingy. Although Qian took out some old clothes and quilts from the maids and servants, the amount was so small that she could only count it on two hands.

Although donation is voluntary and it is understandable that they do not donate, as women from wealthy families, they eat delicious food and wear gold and silver jewelry every day.

When they were asked to take out some old clothes and quilts to give to the disaster-stricken people, they were unwilling to do so. Their character is obvious.

Minister Zhang, who came from a poor family, felt this particularly deeply, so he truly admired Hua Lei's actions.

Especially when the people left, they were provided with at least seven days of food rations, which showed that Hua Lei really cared about the people.

After staying at home for a few more days, Uncle Zhongsheng came to talk to Hualei. He reminded Hualei that if she wanted to tan rabbit skin, she had better start now, before the end of March, as the quality of the tanned rabbit skin would be better.

Also, the rabbits in the rabbit farm have longer fur. In half a month, it will be time to start shearing their fur.

Hualei looked at the weather and decided to adopt Uncle Zhongsheng's advice. Before the weather got hot, she slaughtered a batch of rabbits, sent the rabbit meat to the restaurant, and tanned the rabbit skins for preservation.

After bleeding the rabbit, use a knife to cut straight down the middle of the rabbit's abdomen, cut off the tail, and then cut off the hind legs and scalp. Do not use scissors to cut the rabbit's abdomen to avoid cutting the rabbit's hair.

Then use a wooden scraper to clean the muscles and fat on the skin, and also clean the dirt, feces and other dirt on the rabbit hair.

The rabbit skin just peeled off is called "fresh skin". The key to the initial processing of rabbit skin is to carry out antiseptic treatment on fresh skin. There are three main antiseptic methods: drying method, salting method and salt-drying method.

In Mobei, salt is not as easy to obtain as in Shangjing City, and salt is also very expensive, so Hua Lei used a drying method to make initial processing of the rabbit skin.

Drying is the simplest preservation method to reduce moisture in the skin and prevent bacterial activity. After removing fat from the rabbit skin, trim the uneven edges with a knife and it can be put on the board.

When putting the leather on the board, the hair should face the board and the inside should face out. Nail it with thick wooden sticks, first at the neck and then at the tail. Then stretch the leather to both sides and make it flat by hand. Then nail the nails on both sides. Place it in a ventilated place to dry. Do not place it on damp ground or grass.

When using the drying method, it is important to prevent the rabbit skin from being wet by rain or dew, which will affect the evaporation rate of the water in the skin.

If the drying time is too slow, the harmful effects of bacteria cannot be suppressed, resulting in the deterioration of the rawhide. It should not be placed in direct sunlight, because the temperature is too high and the skin dries too quickly, which will harden the surface.

It will affect the evaporation of moisture inside the rabbit skin, causing uneven drying inside the skin, and will also cause changes in the internal structure, affecting the quality of the finished product.

The advantages of the drying method are simple method, low cost, clean skin, easy storage and transportation. After the rabbit skin is dried, it should be bundled or packed according to grade, color and variety and stored separately.

When storing, the skins should be stacked flat with the hair side facing the hair side, the heads facing the heads, and the tails facing the tails. At the same time, some anti-insect spices should be placed every two or three skins before storing them in the warehouse.

In the warehouse, you also need to sprinkle some insect repellent spices in advance and then stack them. For the top piece of skin, make sure the hair side faces outwards and sprinkle insect repellent spices on it.

After all the rabbit skins were tanned and stored in the warehouse, Hualei felt relieved. When the weather got warmer, she planned to send a batch of rabbit skins back to Shangjing City by ship for processing and sale.

At that time, Liang Xiangyi can also help take a batch to the capital city of Jiangnan for sale.

Raising rabbits and supplying rabbit meat to restaurants as food is one aspect, tanning rabbit skins and making furs is another, and another source of income is shearing rabbit hair.

Rabbit hair is very soft and can be spun directly to make rabbit hair sweaters, or it can be blended with wool to make blended sweaters.