The supply and marketing cooperative was quite lively today. Xue Fu originally thought it was because of the increased foot traffic brought by the start of the new school term.

As she passed by, she overheard the aunties chatting as they finished shopping and were carrying baskets home. That's when she remembered what day it was.

Ah, today is the Lantern Festival!

Today is the Lantern Festival!

She had forgotten about it.

In modern times, the Xue family, from top to bottom, attaches great importance to the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

The main reason is that the Xue family is large, and the whole family is scattered all over the country. They only come back from all over the country to get together during the Lunar New Year.

Besides the Lunar New Year's Eve when the whole family gathers together in a lively and orderly manner, the Xue family also has a reunion dinner on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

In the morning, no one in the family is allowed to sleep in. Even if they are extremely sleepy, they must get up, eat the glutinous rice balls, and then go back to sleep.

Although feudal superstition is unacceptable, the Xue family still believed that eating Yuanxiao (sweet rice balls) was auspicious and brought good fortune.

Although Xue Fu didn't particularly like eating glutinous rice balls, she felt that eating too many of them was too cloying. Every time her family made glutinous rice balls, they would give her a generous amount of filling, making them very sweet.

She usually only eats two or three pieces before putting down her chopsticks.

But over the years, Xue Fu has gotten used to it.

Psychologically, I always feel that I should eat some glutinous rice balls on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month to satisfy my cravings.

Otherwise, it feels like the Lantern Festival has just passed by in vain, without any sense of celebration.

The reason why the supply and marketing cooperative was so lively today was because of this; Xue Fu now understood the reason.

However, thinking about the fish in the pond, she felt that feeding the fish was more important right now. After she finished feeding the fish, she would come over to see what the supply and marketing cooperative had to sell, and whether they had any glutinous rice balls to buy.

The weather has been exceptionally good these past few days since Xue Fu returned to Qingtang Village from Haicheng. The sun is shining brightly, making it the perfect time for crops to plant and grow.

This kind of weather is also extremely beneficial for fish fry farming.

Xue Fu dared not let those tiny fish fry go without a meal, for fear that the fish fry, each as small as a fingernail, would starve to death if they didn't eat.

Xue Fu did her best in feeding the animals.

Now, she estimated the amount to use, pinched a fistful of fish food, and scattered it on the shore to observe the condition of the fry today.

However, having only brought the fish back for two days, Xue Fu couldn't see any changes with the naked eye and couldn't tell whether the little fish had grown up.

But the little fish seemed to be in good spirits, opening their mouths to look for food while scrambling and playing around.

Xue Fu looked at them and smiled contentedly.

After feeding all three ponds, she squatted by the pond, scooped up water from the pond to wash her hands, and then got up and walked towards the supply and marketing cooperative.

She was thinking about what she should buy.

What do you need to make Yuanxiao (sweet rice balls)? How are Yuanxiao rolled?

Xue Fu's mind went blank.

She has absolutely no idea.

In the past, the glutinous rice balls she ate were always prepared by her family and served on the table, steaming hot, and she could just scoop them up with a spoon and eat them.

She could only distinguish the different fillings in the glutinous rice balls.

However, she thought that making Yuanxiao (sweet rice dumplings) shouldn't be too difficult for Gu Chong.

Her worry was about how to buy the ingredients for making glutinous rice balls.

She knew that the dumpling skin was made of glutinous rice flour, but she wasn't sure if the supply and marketing cooperative sold them.

She had a feeling that there were probably no ones for sale.

These days, glutinous rice flour is a rare commodity and not easy to obtain.

She needs to find a cheaper alternative to glutinous rice flour!

The filling for the glutinous rice balls is also a problem.

Xue Fu often ate two kinds of glutinous rice balls: one with sesame filling and the other with peanut filling.

She estimated that the supply and marketing cooperative probably wouldn't sell sesame seeds.

Although it's not peanut season right now, peanuts and sunflower seeds were available at the supply and marketing cooperatives during the Chinese New Year. You should be able to buy peanuts now.

So... can roasted peanuts be used as filling for glutinous rice balls?

Xue Fu, a complete novice in the kitchen, felt uncertain and had a strange feeling about it.

She soon arrived at the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative, which was still bustling with people.

Xue Fu noticed that the sales clerk at the front desk of the supply and marketing cooperative had a hoarse voice and sounded weak, as if she had been busy all morning.

Today everyone seems to be shopping for things for the Lantern Festival, but Xue Fu noticed that the customs for celebrating the Lantern Festival in Qingtang Village are quite different from those in her hometown.

They don't seem to eat glutinous rice balls or sweet dumplings. At least, when Xue Fu stood next to them listening to the aunties chatting about everyday life and cooking, she didn't hear those words at all.

The custom in Qingtang Village is to have a good meal on this day.

We need to eat meat during the Lunar New Year to ensure a prosperous year ahead.

If it weren't for the "Destroy the Four Olds" campaign a few years ago, which prohibited "feudal superstitions," they would still have offered incense and paper money to their ancestors on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, according to their old customs.

The supply and marketing cooperative also received a lot of good goods today because of the Lantern Festival, mainly half of the pork that was allocated from the supply and marketing cooperative in the town.

Xue Fu saw such a lively scene today because a large number of people were queuing up to buy meat.

Although the New Year's pigs were distributed in the twelfth lunar month, and each household should still have meat to eat, no one would be so extravagant as to eat all the meat they were allocated in just half a month. However, meat is a rare treat that only comes once a year, so of course they would buy it if they could get a ration coupon.

Pork is scarce and expensive; even with meat coupons, they can't always buy it.

Xue Fu didn't join them in buying meat; she knew the Gu family still had meat.

If there's no meat left, Gu Chong will find a way, so she doesn't need to worry about eating meat.

Xue Fu wandered around the small supply and marketing cooperative in the village, but couldn't find the glutinous rice flour and sesame seeds she wanted to buy. She only saw peanuts displayed in the glass counter in front of her, alongside melon seeds.

She wanted to ask the sales clerk, but there were too many people. She tried to squeeze in a question, but her voice was drowned out by the louder voice of the aunt in front of her, and she couldn't get a chance.

So she could only obediently wait in line and ask questions when it was her turn.

When it was finally Xue Fu's turn in line, she immediately asked, "Auntie, does our supply and marketing cooperative have any glutinous rice flour that I can buy?"

"Glutinous rice flour?" The aunt looked up at her and said succinctly, "No."

Xue Fu already knew the answer, and she asked again, "Then what kind of powder do we have?"

The aunt recited her words like a menu: "We only have regular flour, no enriched flour. The same goes for other things, regular corn flour and regular sweet potato flour. We don't sell refined flour. Which kind do you want, young lady?"

Xue Fu hesitated, unsure of what to do, but the people queuing behind her were urging her on.

"Then I'll take sweet potato starch, half a pound will be fine."

She used the process of elimination.

It seems like wheat flour can't be used as a substitute, and cornstarch doesn't seem to work either, so I'll try sweet potato starch...

If that doesn't work, we can wait until Gu Chong finishes his driving practice and goes back to check, then we can come back to buy it later.

"Okay, I've weighed it for you. Is there anything else you need?"

Do you have sesame seeds?

After-sales staff: "No."

As expected.