Juhua was constantly picking red chili peppers to dry and grind into powder.
Now that it was autumn, the chili peppers were turning red particularly fast, and she could pick quite a few each day. She also pickled the leftover tender cowpeas with chilies. In addition, she sun-dried plenty of young Huang Gua and tender melons, then tossed them into the sauce crock to be preserved.
Since she had planted an abundance of Huangdou, she made more sauce this year as well, adding plenty of dried shrimp.
One day, as she was washing and setting out some more freshly picked red chili peppers to dry, the little Black Dog suddenly began to bark wildly at the courtyard gate. She looked up and saw Li Changxing, holding two strings of crucian carp. He was standing there smiling at her, his eyes twinkling in his dark, ruddy face.
"Juhua, drying peppers?" he called out.
