Chapter 217 Candied Hawthorns Galore

The remaining hawthorns were deseeded, strung together, coated with melted sugar syrup, and made into candied hawthorns. By the time I finished, it was already dark. I collapsed onto the bed with a thud and swung my legs to rest.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Jiang Chao leaning against the doorframe and said irritably, "You've exhausted me, are you satisfied now? There's so much, how are we going to finish it all?"

"You have a personal space, right? Things won't get damaged if you put them in there. Besides, there's always An'an."

No wonder he bought so many hawthorns; it turns out it was for An'an. Now everything makes sense.

"Okay, I'll send it to An'an, Bai Ye, and Li Chen tomorrow. Dinner... I'll leave it to you. I'm going to get some sleep now."

Looking at the girl resting with her eyes closed, Jiang Chao thought to himself: Would you dare to eat the food I made?

Fortunately, there were frozen dumplings in the refrigerator. They could be boiled and eaten without any skill required. He went back to his room and fiddled with the clock for more than two hours before going to the kitchen to cook. After cooking the dumplings, he woke someone up.

"Ah, I slept so well, what time is it?"

"It's 9 o'clock, looks like you're not planning to sleep tonight!"

"How could that be? I sleep perfectly well. Oh, it's the smell of dumplings. I can smell them. Pork and chive filling, my favorite."

Even though they spent New Year's Eve and New Year's Day at the Bai family villa, the two of them made over a hundred dumplings by themselves. Now they came in handy, and dipped them in sesame oil, garlic sauce, and vinegar, they were incredibly delicious.

The next morning, the girl got up early, rolled up the fruit leather that had been baking on the stove overnight, cut it into 3-centimeter lengths, wrapped it in glutinous rice paper, and then put it into a gift box.

The candied hawthorns wrapped in glutinous rice paper were inserted into straw sticks. The two of them, one carrying a bamboo basket and the other carrying a straw stick, hurried towards the Bai family villa. Along the way, they naturally attracted many children. The very generous Yunxia teased them for a while and then gave each of them a candied hawthorn.

"If you start a business selling candied hawthorns, you're guaranteed to lose everything."

"That's not necessarily true. Children's and women's money is the easiest to earn. All kinds of fruit, coated with syrup, are displayed on a glass counter, and their value instantly goes up. Believe it or not, people will buy them even if they sell for 1 or 2 yuan each."

There is no shortage of poor people in this world, nor is there a shortage of rich people. In universities, there are many rich kids. Jiang Chao has seen people who eat well every day and wear luxury brand clothes, such as Gong Yang, who is so disgusting that he wants to beat him up. Therefore, he believes what the girl said!

Even if he agreed in his heart, he still refused to back down and stubbornly said, "If the location is bad, everything you say is useless."

"Jiangcheng is so big, it's not easy to find a good place. Let's hurry up, if Aunt Wu and the others go out too late, no one will open the door for us."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Chao patted his pocket and said casually, "I have... a key!"

Originally, he didn't want to take it, but seeing that his mother was almost in tears, he didn't want her to feel like she had found a second spring in her life and become estranged from her own son, so he had no choice but to take the key.

"Wow, I didn't know you were prepared all along. I'm relieved. Slow down and enjoy the scenery along the way."

"There's no scenery to speak of in the dead of winter!"

"The world is never short of beauty, but it lacks eyes to see it. Look, there's a little wild grass blooming in the crack of the paving stones."

Following the direction of her finger, Jiang Chao saw a small grass, so low it was almost touching the ground, with a yellow flower blooming inside. If one didn't look down carefully, they wouldn't notice it at all. Jiang Chao's eyes narrowed slightly, thinking to himself that she was right.

"Playful and fickle, don't make excuses for yourself, hurry up and go."

That stubborn fool, don't think no one saw the amazement in your eyes. Yun Xia raised an eyebrow, hummed a little tune, and skipped after him.

Upon arriving at the villa, Jiang An opened the door. He learned that Aunt Wu and Bai Jie had gone to visit relatives.

"Sister Xiaxia, there are so many candied hawthorns!"

If some of the straw hadn't fallen off along the way, the straw sticks would have been completely covered. "Here, have one to try. I made it myself, and the ingredients are much better than what you get elsewhere."

The glutinous rice paper melts in your mouth, the sugar coating is crunchy with every bite, and the hawthorn is sweet and sour. Together, they make a delicious and appetizing treat. "Wow, this is so delicious! Brother, do you want one too?"

"No need, you've eaten enough, An'an. Eat less, or you'll get cavities!"

"Okay, that saves me the trouble."

Seeing that his lips were covered in sugar stains from chewing, it really didn't seem like he could control his mouth.

Hawthorn candy and candied hawthorn skewers were packed into gift boxes and sent to Bai Ye's house. Uncle Zhang said he had gone to visit relatives. Yun Xia stroked Xiao Hua for a while, then turned and went to Li Chen's house. Aunt Liu was overjoyed to see her and gave her a bunch of sparkling jewelry.

"Aunt Liu, these are too valuable, I can't accept them."

"I bought these for you on my business trip. They're pink, light blue, and light purple—all girly styles. I don't wear them. If you don't accept them, do you expect me to take the train back? I've already torn up the receipts. Don't worry, these are all niche brands, not expensive at all. They're much cheaper than the beauty cream you gave me."

After she said that, Yunxia felt embarrassed to refuse. The box contained a variety of jewelry, including necklaces, earrings, hair clips, and bracelets, mostly in light colors, giving it a fresh and youthful feel.

"Xiaxia's other hair clips are really pretty. Mom, you have the best taste when it comes to choosing gifts. Here, try this candied hawthorn that Xiaxia made herself."

"Oh, it's delicious! It's just as good as what you buy outside. Ah Chen, look at them. They just whip up some random stuff and it's better than what you buy outside. And you? Durian-flavored cake, I feel nauseous just smelling it from afar."

Wow, a durian-flavored cake?

It's amazing, truly amazing, but the desserts he brings for tasting each time—strawberry, mango, kiwi, etc.—are all just normal fruit flavors!

Perhaps noticing the girl's confusion, Liu Yunjuan smiled helplessly and said, "He's a bully at home. He makes all sorts of things, like durian, canned herring, stinky tofu, and snail rice noodles. The pastries he makes are so smelly that I had to rent an office building outside to work. Little Zhang suffered a lot. He was forced to taste several kinds, and his face turned pale and then green. He couldn't eat much for two whole days."

Having his embarrassing moment exposed, the boy looked up at the roof. Seeing his expression, Yunxia immediately understood what Aunt Liu had said and realized she wasn't exaggerating. "Hey, Li Chen, you'd better solidify your skills and not develop into a culinary disaster!"

She didn't want to lose that fragrant, soft, and chewy fruit-flavored cake!

"Don't worry, Xiaxia, I know you don't like the smell of these stinky foods, so I never intended for you to try them."

"So...you forced Xiao Zhang to eat it, and forced me to smell it?"

Li Chen awkwardly touched the tip of his nose and said helplessly, "The person who smells the most and eats the most is your own son, okay?"

Yes, as the creator of the "dark cuisine," he was present throughout the entire process and tasted the most of the finished products. Some of the flavors, once they got on his clothes and hair, couldn't be washed off even after three showers.

Yunxia thought to herself, "No wonder!" For a while, the boy always had a strange smell on him. She mistakenly thought he had body odor and even gave him a bottle of shower gel with added ingredients!