Chapter 783 The Craft of Hatching Ducklings
Seeing her mother staring at Xin and sighing with relief, Bai Jingjing couldn't help but say, Sister Wen has always been inseparable from her mother. If she didn't follow her back this time, she must have been sent out by her mother.
Listening to his daughter's inquiry, Bai Yunxi nodded, "It's Xiaowu's first time traveling far away. I'm not worried, so I asked Wenyou to protect him in secret."
Baiyun Xi didn't say much about the specific reason. It would be useless if he did. It would only make one more person worried.
Baiyun Xi soaked her hands in the flower water, smelled the faint fragrance, and raised her eyebrows.
"The peach blossoms are blooming?" It seems a bit early in the season.
"Yaya and I followed Shu'an into the mountains yesterday. We originally wanted to pick some mushrooms. Unexpectedly, we found an early-blooming peach blossom in the sunny part of the mountain stream, so we picked some back. My sister-in-law is also planning to make peach blossom cakes."
Bai Yunxi nodded, soaked in flower water, and applied ointment. After a year of maintenance, her hands looked much better than before.
Even my daughter’s hands are kept white and tender. It’s just that I’ve done a lot of rough work and my knuckles are a bit thick.
This is irreversible.
Spring has arrived, and it’s time to hatch duck seedlings. The roast ducks they made a year ago made them a lot of money, and there are not many ducks left.
In order to increase the number of roast ducks, Xiao Si took Shu An to several villages and towns to buy free-range ducks from farmers.
By the way, anyone who delivers a duck to your door will not only buy it at the market price, but also pay an additional five cents for running errands.
In this way, he can save more time to do other things.
Bai Yunxi looked at Xiao Si as if he had been given a shot of blood and was full of energy. I couldn’t help but sigh, it’s great to be young.
She had promised Xiaosi years ago that she would teach them how to hatch ducklings.
Seeing the boy hesitate to speak several times, Baiyunxi didn't waste any time and took him directly to build the hatching pond.
She used a water kang to hatch her hair, which was different from the fire kang at this time, but it was the easiest way to control it.
Use hot water to raise the temperature. When the temperature drops, add hot water and circulate it back and forth every day to ensure that the temperature is suitable.
Of course, there are some tips, and as long as you master them well, you can hatch high-quality ducklings with a high survival rate.
When they were ready, Baiyunxi began to teach several of them step by step. Whoever learns well and has strong acceptance ability will be given the task of hatching ducklings in the future, and another person will help him.
"First prepare a few round bamboo baskets and warm water. Clean the duck eggs and shake them in the warm water. Listen to the sound to determine whether there are broken shells or cracks..."
Baiyunxi demonstrated to them while picking out broken duck eggs.
"Of course, the job of picking out rotten duck eggs may seem simple, but if you want to miss out everything, you also need experience."
Xiao Si stood nearby, watching the movements in her mother's hands, and blinked, "Mom, what if I didn't pick out the rotten duck eggs?"
"If you don't find it in time, it will smell bad in a few days. Not to mention the waste, if you have a light appetite, you will not be able to eat for half a month.
Thinking of what he had experienced, Baiyun Xi curled his lips almost imperceptibly,
Broken duck eggs may explode under the catalysis of heat, and the smell will make you doubt your life.
The smell of the entire kang pond will not go away in a month.
After listening to her mother's reminder, Xiaosi couldn't help but rub her nose when she thought of the smell of rotten eggs. It would be really uncomfortable if she choked.
"After sorting the duck eggs, place them directly on the water kang. Just one layer is enough, leaving a little space. During this period, you need to turn the duck eggs over to even out the temperature..."
While Baiyun Xi was explaining, the duck eggs on the water kang were laid out.
Baiyunxi handed over the rest of the work directly to them. She watched from the side and made a few remarks from time to time. Only by practicing it yourself can you fully master the craft.
"The ducklings hatch in twenty-eight days. The temperature during this period must be controlled well, especially not to catch cold, otherwise all the efforts will be wasted. So you have to take turns watching, taking over each other's duties during the day and night."
"I will follow you while the first batch of ducklings are hatching, but only during the day. After that, you will be on your own."
A few people listened to Baiyun Xi's suggestion and worked in two shifts. In this way, everyone could take a break and not be overwhelmed by the continuous work.
Hatching ducklings is not very labor-intensive, but it consumes time and energy. Several people had no objections to this. No one was willing to give up on learning a craft.
Looking at the performance of several people, Bai Yunxi is still very satisfied. As long as people are willing to learn, when the duck factory grows in scale and recruits people, they will be the masters and will only be responsible for teaching the craftsmanship and directing the apprentices to work.
No one is willing to give up on days that are bitter first and then sweet.
After the duck eggs are heated for ten days, they have to be sorted again. This time they mainly pick out the white eggs, which are unfertilized duck eggs. Of course, this is also a technical job and requires vision.
"You need to use light to eliminate white eggs, one by one. You see, under the light, you can see blood streaks through the eggshell. This tadpole-like thing is the initial form of ducklings..."
Baiyunxi took the duck egg and explained it to several people under the light.
"As for the white eggs, there is nothing but transparency."
After several demonstrations, the four boys tried to take over and mastered the trick. They became proficient very quickly. In less than an hour, they passed through a thousand duck eggs.
There are one thousand duck eggs, and nearly two hundred of the white eggs alone are removed.
"Mom, what should I do with the white eggs I picked out?" Xiao Si looked at the two baskets full of duck eggs and felt very distressed.
"Naturally, don't waste it. Use this to make preserved eggs, which turn into eggs and taste good."
Seeing the surprised looks on several people's faces, Bai Yunxi couldn't help but laugh.
"This is a derived craft. Of course, it is also very simple as long as you master the method. Preserved eggs are easy to make. You only need plant ash and white lime. There is no secret. Just ask your sister-in-law and others to deal with it. You guys are responsible for hatching ducklings. Don't make any mistakes."
Bai Yunxi looked at the shocked eyes of several people, thought about it, and didn't let them learn.
"Okay then," Xiao Si was regretful that his hands were numb from learning the craft recently, but he didn't force it.
After these days of learning, Xiao Si's knowledge of his mother went from shock to calmness, and now it is not a big deal. Anyway, everything can be easily resolved in the hands of mother.
There is nothing that mother can't handle, and there is no difficulty that can trap her.
Busy days always pass quickly. When the first batch of ducklings hatched, a month passed quietly with the cheers of the crowd.
Teaching the apprentices, she, as a master, would have no place to use her skills. Tasting the preserved eggs and preserved eggs made by Du and her daughter, Bai Yunxi completely became a hands-off shopkeeper.
Since she had nothing to do, she volunteered to go to the county town with the preserved eggs and deliver them to the restaurant.
When Xiao Si and Xie Yu worked together, they agreed that if they came up with any new tricks, they would send them to the restaurant as soon as possible and they would be responsible for selling them.
With the reputation of Nanshan Restaurant, Bai Yunxi took the trouble to just deliver the goods and settle the bill every time.