[Pride and Prejudice] Mary's Pride and Prejudice

Chapter 24 Canned Fruits

Then the little fat man gushed out his feelings about the navy, the sea, the artillery, the narrow cabin and the unpalatable food.

"Is life in the navy really that hard?" Jane couldn't help asking.

"I think so. I've read some biographies. The distance from the land made them have no fresh vegetables and fruits, and even the drinking water often deteriorated, so sepsis often ran rampant for a period of time." Elizabeth said.

"Fresh vegetables and fruits can prevent sepsis," Mary said.

"Yes, there was such a saying decades ago," Mr. Alfred, who had been silent all this time, said suddenly, "As early as more than 100 years ago, there were captains who asked sailors to eat oranges and lemons. A famous doctor wrote in his thesis that citrus and lemons could prevent sepsis because sailors ate the fresh fruit, and the sepsis was greatly reduced. But he later contradicted his own statement, saying that the sepsis was caused by these fruits. "

"How is this possible?" Mary wondered.

Mr. Alfred smiled helplessly: "This doctor found that boiling and concentrating the juice will not help prevent sepsis."

That's because it would destroy the vitamin C in the fruit, especially now that most of the pots are copper pots. Mary opened her mouth, she didn't know how to explain the truth to people.

"However, more than ten years ago, the British Navy required a fixed ration of three-quarters of an ounce of lemon juice for each crew member every day," Mr. Alfred said to Mary in a gentle voice, "the scurvy that plagued the British Navy for hundreds of years It's been suppressed now."

"God bless." Jane crossed herself.

Elizabeth patted Jane's hand: "Fresh fruit is not easy to preserve. It must be a huge expense, but it's not worth mentioning in front of human life."

Mary was still thinking about what Alfred said just now, because the shelf life of fruits at sea is too short, the navy can still guarantee the supply near the English Channel.But now the British navy dominates the world, and they are all over the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans.Places far away from the land are not so tolerant to ensure supplies. The doctor boiled the fruit juice to condense it for easy preservation.

A year flashed through her mind, as if struck by lightning, and the field in the dark was ablaze—canned food, canned fruit!

In her previous life, she often bought discounted fruit, but because she always forgot to eat it, she often put it badly, even if she kept it in the refrigerator for a long time, it would not be fresh. Later, she found a tutorial on the Internet to make the fruit into cans.This way she doesn't have to buy those expensive fruits when they are not in season.Canned fruit is also entertaining guests!Her move was even emulated by her colleagues later!

"Why have I never thought of this?!" Mary stood up from her seat suddenly, and several people who were talking suddenly stopped to look at her.

"Mary!" Elizabeth called to her, "what's the matter?"

"No," Mary realized that she had lost her composure. Her face was flushed. She sat down again and smiled at her caring sister. "I'm fine. I just thought of a way to store fruit for a long time."

"Really? How to do it?" The little fat man asked curiously.

"Well," Mary organized the language: "It is to put the fruit in a sealed container, then seal it, and then sterilize it."

"Uh..." The little fat man didn't quite understand it, but he understood the general meaning, and he couldn't help but doubt that something so simple could really work?People have been looking for this answer for so many years, but most of them have returned without success.

Mr. Alfred paid tribute to Mary: "If it can be successful, it will be the gospel for all those who drift on the sea."

"Yes, I have to think about how to do it." Mary laughed dryly, and several people didn't take her words seriously.But Mary couldn't restrain her excitement any longer. In order to avoid the friends in the car from seeing her as crazy, Mary had to lower her head again and again to show a smile that could not be hidden.

Canned fruit hadn’t come out at this time, and she had never heard of it or seen it in any store. At this time, Britain had almost become the World Trade Center. People never mention it without mentioning it!Strange goods to live in! ! !

As for the problem of maintaining vitamins just mentioned, canned fruit will destroy a large part of vitamin C after high temperature, but in this era when fruits cannot be preserved for a long time at sea, canned fruit is the best way to supplement vitamin C.

An hour and a half later, the carriage stopped in a small town called Spring, where the three boys were going to get off. They bid farewell to the three sisters politely, and boarded another carriage that came to pick them up.

Elizabeth waved goodbye to them by the window, turned her head and said, "It's an interesting journey. I think we should get in touch with more different people so that we can learn more interesting things."

The Bennet family has no son who goes to public school, and the daughters have no experience of going out to study, so they are very interested in the interesting school life that the little fat man said.

"Is there really a way to preserve fruit?" Elizabeth asked Mary. "The method you said is very similar to making jam, but I think sailors probably prefer fresh fruit."

"Believe me, Liqi, my method is not inferior to the taste of fresh fruit." Mary explained the steps of making canned fruit. After hearing this, Elizabeth thought it was very feasible, and Jane also said that she could help.The discussion among the three of them was in full swing, and even if a new passenger entered the carriage later, they did not arouse their interest anymore.

The carriage dropped them off at Meridon. Since it was a postal carriage, it detoured through several small towns, so the journey took them nearly four hours.The turbulence of the journey made them a little tired, but they looked rosy because of their mental excitement.

There was already a coachman waiting here to take them home. Along the way, Mary asked the coachman some questions, such as: did Kitty and Lydia often come to Meryton by car, and where did they go when they were not at home? ?

The coachman knew that Ms. Mary had been very strict with her two younger sisters recently, so he didn't dare to hide it. Ms. Mary was relentless in withholding her sister's pocket money. Who knows if making her angry would result in her wages being deducted?

"Miss Kitty and Miss Lydia used to come to Meridon to watch the performances of the touring troupe a few days ago, but after the troupe left, they came less often, mainly because there was an extra slide in the house, and the two ladies often invited friends to come. Play."

Since a slide was installed in the store, it unexpectedly attracted a lot of children to play. Parents are embarrassed to let their children play for nothing, so they always buy something to eat, or ask the servants to bring some takeaways home.Indoor slides are limited by the space and size, and cannot carry too many people at the same time. Therefore, many wealthy families have found craftsmen who make slides for food stores to re-create them in their own homes, and slides have become popular for a while.

Mary specially asked a familiar craftsman to make one in Meridon. Because the store in Meridon is very small, the slide was placed outside, just at the corner next to the food store. This slide is actually cheaper than the two in London. Be big.

Kitty and Lydia also like to play, but at this time girls are wearing skirts, and it is easy to slip skirts down their thighs when playing on the slide. It is fine for younger children, but Kitty is 13 years old and Lydia is 11 years old , are all young girls, so it is not decent.Mrs. Bennet paid for one to be repaired at their house in Longbourn. The two children were playing like crazy, and they even invited friends from the neighborhood to the house to play.It is said that she had an argument with her friends over playing on the slide, and Lydia tore her clothes!Seeing that the two children still didn't care, Mary decided to give them a good lesson.

When the carriage entered the gate, Kitty and Lydia were standing with their parents at the door of the corridor, looking very well-behaved.

Mary would not be deceived by such illusions. The first thing she did when she came in was to randomly check the homework of the two younger sisters. Unexpectedly, the homework was completed, which was probably due to Miss White.Then Mary decided to give them a quiz in class. This was her teacher's big weapon in her previous life. Once she used this trick in class, she would be dead everywhere. Sure enough, the two younger sisters were sweating profusely in the test.Mary confidently gave the two younger sisters more homework, ignoring their wailing and pleading.

Kitty and Lydia were crying with anger, but there was nothing they could do. If they couldn't finish their studies, they couldn't leave the room. Mary would lock them in the room, no matter how they smashed the door, the servants didn't care, Banner Mrs. Te has nothing to do with the tough Mary.

Instead, Jane persuaded Mary: "It's not the best way to tie them at home to study. It's still based on persuasion, and they will be obedient."

Elizabeth also said: "Even if you become a well-educated Confucian, you may not be able to understand people, but an illiterate person may be understanding. I think it is not all good for their growth to let them immerse themselves in learning and not contact the outside world."

Mary was shaken by what she said. She had no experience in educating children. Although she had taken care of children younger than herself in the orphanage in her previous life, she only needed to take care of the children's food, clothing, and sleep. The heavy work keeps her busy like a spinning top, so she has no time to worry about whether the children will grow crooked. In fact, the rebellious period seems to be the patent of those children who can eat and drink well.

Mary has no parents, and her outlook on life was established by her life in the orphanage and school education, so when educating her children, her first thought was to let them learn, and the busy study would make them rebellious I grow up directly without any time, and I will cherish the occasional leisure time to enjoy a peaceful life.

But she ignored the current situation. She was not a parent. She came from the high-pressure policy of her parents with a higher status, and the high-pressure policy of her sister who was equal to her. Obviously, the latter was more unacceptable.Kitty and Lydia may temporarily bow their heads due to the situation, but the grievances in their hearts cannot be expressed, so everything Mary does will have no effect on establishing the correct three views for them.

Can parents discipline them?Thinking about the unreliable parents, Mary felt so tired that she didn't love her. Whose credit was it for Jane and Elizabeth to become such excellent people?Servants and those professional teachers?Mary really didn't know what to do with the two children!

In the end, Elizabeth suggested: "It's better to let them act with us. I think precepts and deeds are the best way."

This sentence ignited a bright light for Mary. In the past, the age gap between Kitty and Lydia and the two elder sisters was a bit big, and they could not get together, but they have begun to be ignorant at this age. What women are willing to pursue, let them see the standard configuration like Jane?Even if they don't learn everything, only one-fifth of it is progress for them.

What's more, there is an opportunity now. Mary is going to make canned fruit at home, and Jane and Elizabeth are going to help. It just so happens that Kitty and Lydia are also called. The friendship to offset their resentment?

The author has something to say:

I thought that everyone couldn't wait to watch the plot, so I hurried to make the plot go faster, but do you want to see them get rich more?Let's speak enthusiastically. If you want to see more plots about making a fortune, I will delay the main plot by two chapters.