TATLC Chapter 19 – Spicy Cabbage

TLN: “辣白菜” (là báicài) is a type of spicy fermented cabbage, similar to kimchi but typically simpler and less complex in flavor. It is sometimes called “Labaicai” in English, but “spicy cabbage” is also widely used. While it shares similarities with Korean kimchi, Chinese là báicài often has a milder, sweeter taste and may use different seasonings. For consistency with the setting, I’ve chosen to keep it as “spicy cabbage” rather than “kimchi.”
(If you prefer “kimchi” for readability, I can adjust. Let me know!)

Grandma Shen finished making the first batch of clothes. Her stitches were very fine, and she didn’t waste much of the fabric that was sent to her. From about one-third of a bolt of cloth, she made two sets of adult clothes and one set of children’s clothes, in large and small sizes.

When the clothes were brought home, Chen Xiaocai and Chen Xiaomai were overjoyed.

Some of Chen Xiaocai and Chen Xiaomai’s clothes had been altered by Chen Xiaomi, whose sewing skills were honestly quite embarrassing.

After putting on the new clothes, Chen Xiaocai became very cautious with his movements, afraid of getting them dirty.

Lu Lin wore his new clothes the very first day they received them. His previous clothes were hand-me-downs from Chen Xiaomi, patched over and over again, and Lu Lin really wasn’t comfortable wearing them.

After this first successful cooperation, Lu Lin trusted Grandma Shen much more.

As the saying goes, “Don’t trouble two masters with one task.” Lu Lin cut some more fabric and left an old cotton quilt at Grandma Shen’s place, asking her to take apart the quilt to make winter clothes.

Chen Xiaomi had hunted quite a few rabbits and foxes. The pelts could be exchanged for money. Chen Xiaomi took the intact furs to sell, while the damaged ones had been set aside.

Chen Xiaomi had originally planned to piece the damaged pelts together as a winter blanket, but now that they had money, that wasn’t necessary anymore.

Lu Lin picked out some of the pelts and asked Grandma Shen to sew them onto the collars and cuffs of the winter clothes to make them warmer.

Grandma Shen didn’t expect Chen Xiaomi to be so rich and could buy so much fabric at once.

For villagers, making just one piece of clothing was already difficult. She didn’t expect Lu Lin to bring so much fabric in one go, plus those fur pieces. Although the pelts were damaged, they were still genuine fur!

Cotton-padded clothes required more work and materials, so Lu Lin raised the price a bit.

After the first successful cooperation, the subsequent cooperation went more smoothly.

Over the next ten days or so, Lu Lin gradually brought back eight cotton-padded clothes from Grandma Shen.

Four were adult-sized, and four were child-sized.

Looking at the clothes, Chen Xiaomi said, “These clothes are really well-made!”

“Yes!” Compared to what Chen Xiaomi made, they looked much better. Finding Grandma Shen had definitely been the right choice.

“I can’t believe she made so many clothes,” Chen Xiaomi remarked with amazement.

“Grandma Shen is experienced, so she’s probably more efficient at making clothes,” Lu Lin said.

Lu Lin had been trying to avoid people when going to Grandma Shen’s place, but news spread quickly in the countryside. With Chen Xiaomi and the others wearing new clothes, they were quite eye-catching.

Lu Tong saw Lu Lin wearing new clothes and felt bitter inside.

During this year’s autumn harvest, the Lu family had more work to do because they were missing the labor from the second son’s family. She had been forced to work in the fields and was extremely jealous of Lu Lin who managed to stay out of it all. She had been hoping for Lu Lin’s misfortune, but instead, Chen Xiaomi treated him well and even gave him with new clothes.

…

At the Shen household.

Grandma Shen looked at the copper coins she had earned and felt extremely happy.

From making clothes for Lu Lin, Grandma Shen had earned three hundred and fifty wen in total, which made her very happy.

“Grandma, Lu Lin-ge is very generous!” Shen Chi couldn’t help saying.

Grandma Shen nodded and said, “Yes! With this many copper coins, we can buy more rice and flour.”

The feeling of hunger during winter was really terrible.

Shen Chi’s eyes shifted as he said, “Granny, I heard people saying that Chen Xiaomi found a ginseng root in the mountains and sold it for a lot of money.”

Previously, when Chen Xiaomi spent ten taels of silver to find someone to marry into the family, the Chen brothers had the same reaction. But after Lu Lin joined the household, he first sold some marbles and made money, suddenly adding six taels of silver, so Chen Xiaomi became more generous when buying things.

In the village, few people would speak with Chen Xiaomi. Chen Xiaocai wasn’t popular with the children either, and no one approached Chen Xiaomi, who wasn’t quite right in the head.

There were still many curious villagers though. Who wouldn’t want more silver at home? So some people started asking Lu Lin about it.

Lu Lin secretly told these people that Chen Xiaomi had dug up ginseng in the deep mountains.

This casual comment from Lu Lin quickly spread, and soon half the village knew that Chen Xiaomi had found such a treasure in the mountains.

“It’s strange, since Lu Lin joined the Chen family, the Chen brothers’ lives seem to have improved. The old woman from the Lu family who said Lu Lin was an unlucky star was probably wrong. He might actually bring good fortune.”

Shen Chi nodded and said, “Maybe.”

Grandma Shen brought out a jar of spicy cabbage and said, “Take this cabbage to the three Chen brothers sometime. Thanks to them, we were able to earn so much money this time.”

Grandma Shen figured that among the three Chen brothers, Chen Xiaomi only focused on hunting, Chen Xiaocai was just a half-grown boy, and Chen Xiaomi didn’t know much about anything. The three brothers had no land and mostly ate wild vegetables they foraged.

Their daily meals must be quite rough, and as a man, Lu Lin probably didn’t know how to prepare much food either.

When Lu Lin received the spicy cabbage that Shen Chi delivered, he was delighted. Recently, he had been busy building the kang and hadn’t had time to cook properly. They had been eating rather coarsely, and while the three Chen brothers could endure hardship and make do with whatever they had, it had been difficult for Lu Lin with his picky taste. The jar of spicy cabbage arrived at just the right time. Spicy cabbage went very well with rice.

The cabbage in this world was all natural and tasted quite good.