Chapter 263 Bread Kiln

Under the influence of Shen Yueyao, Su Daya and Su Erya are very interested in food.

The two of them like to cook delicious food together as a family, and they feel that it is a very warm feeling.

And my heart is full of anticipation.

In particular, they didn't expect that Third Aunt could make candy.

You know, the candies sold outside are very expensive.

In the past, they could only eat a few pieces during the Chinese New Year, and they were reluctant to eat them.

While washing the malt, Su Daya said, "Third Aunt is amazing. I didn't expect she could make sugar. In fact, she can make a lot of money just by making sugar and selling it."

"That's right, our Third Aunt is amazing. Everyone else envies us for having such a good Third Aunt."

“I don’t know what it will taste like.”

"Of course it's delicious."

Su Daya and Su Erya are very confident in Shen Yueyao's cooking skills.

The family had bought glutinous rice before, and Shen Yueyao scooped out some glutinous rice, cleaned it, and then steamed it in a pot.

After Su Erya washed the malt, Su Daya was cutting it with a knife. She went into the stove and saw that Third Aunt was about to light a fire. She said, "Third Aunt, do you need a fire? I'll do it."

Shen Yueyao explained: "Well, you need to steam the glutinous rice. After it's cooked, mix the chopped malt with the glutinous rice and add water to ferment..."

Shen Yueyao briefly explained some details that needed attention.

Su Erya listened carefully.

Su Daya was cutting malt in the yard, so she naturally heard Shen Yueyao's words very clearly.

In this way, they all learned how to make it, and when the family members wanted to eat it, they could make it too, and Aunt San wouldn't have to do everything herself.

If I rely on Aunt San to do everything, she will be tired.

If they saw Aunt San was tired, they would feel sorry for her.

If everyone works together, the glutinous rice can be steamed quickly.

The eldest and second child would also watch curiously from the side.

Shen Yueyao would not require them to read books and study.

Shen Yueyao hopes that they can enjoy the happiness of childhood.

In fact, my childhood was more relaxed and happy in the village. If I return to the capital in the future, I may need to be careful about my words and actions, and I will not be as comfortable as in the village.

So Shen Yueyao would also let the eldest and second children play when they wanted to, and study when they wanted to.

They are only three years old anyway.

"Mom, it smells so good."

Erbao blinked his big eyes and looked at the things in the pot.

Shen Yueyao explained: "This is the aroma of steamed glutinous rice. The glutinous rice is fragrant, and the real fragrance is when malt sugar is made."

Su Daya brought in the chopped malt.

"Aunt San, these are chopped malt."

Shen Yueyao nodded and said, "Pour these into a large basin, add water, and ferment. It will take about an hour and a half (three hours) to keep warm and ferment. It will be fermented and can be filtered to make malt sugar."

Su Erya whispered, "It will take another hour and a half."

Su Erya couldn't wait to make malt sugar.

Shen Yueyao said: "It's already very fast. When it's ready and you eat it, you don't feel time is slow."

But this time is really wasted, I might as well do something else.

Shen Yueyao's expression changed and she said, "Aunt San will also teach you how to make a bread oven. With a bread oven, we can bake all kinds of bread in the future."

Speaking of this, Shen Yueyao was also a little excited.

In this era, there was no electricity or various electrical appliances. If you wanted to make something, you could only use primitive methods.

If I had a toaster, this wouldn't be such a hassle.

However, if you build a bread oven yourself, the bread you make will be more fragrant.

When Su Daya and Su Erya heard this, they were actually very confused.

They didn't even know what bread was.

Never even heard of it.

Of course they know about kilns for firing clay and bricks, and the tiles used to build houses and other things are all fired in them.

Shen Yueyao knew from the expressions of Su Daya and Su Erya that they didn't understand.

Shen Yueyao smiled and said, "Once we have built the bread oven and baked the bread, you will know how delicious the bread is."

Shen Yueyao not only wants to make bread but also cakes.

"But we need to build a foundation first. We still have some stones left over from building the house before, so we can use those."

Shen Yueyao started working as soon as she said she would, and built it together with Su Daya and Su Erya.

Even Dabao and Erbao helped them move bricks.

Afterwards, Shen Yueyao needed some special wood ash and soil to build a bread kiln.

Shen Yueyao put on her backpack and prepared to dig the soil.

Su Daya and Su Erya also wanted to follow.

Shen Yueyao said: "You can just stay at home, it's dangerous to go to the mountains."

If they encounter wild beasts or something, Shen Yueyao has the skills to deal with them, but if she brings Daya and Erya with her, she needs to protect them first.

Therefore, if she goes deep into the forest, Shen Yueyao usually doesn't bring Daya and Erya with her.

Da Ya and Er Ya were also obedient. They only knew that following Third Aunt's arrangements was the right thing to do.

And it is indeed dangerous to go to the back mountain. The villagers don’t allow children to go there.

I heard there are wild animals in the back mountain.

But they knew that Third Aunt knew kung fu, so it would be okay.

Shen Yueyao went to the mountain to dig soil with a basket on her back.

When walking towards the back mountain, Shen Yueyao couldn't help but think of Su Xueyi.

She remembered that when she and Su Xueyi were still somewhat unfamiliar with each other, she went to the mountains one time and Su Xueyi stopped her and gave her the crossbow she had made so that she could defend herself.

She still carries that crossbow with her, but she keeps it in a space.

When she thought of this, she couldn't help but think of Su Xueyi.

Thinking of some of the details of how good he was to her, Shen Yueyao felt warm in her heart.

In order to dig the soil she needed, Shen Yueyao kept walking deeper into the forest.

The deeper into the forest, the more Shen Yueyao could feel the denseness of the trees and the more she could hear the roars of wild beasts.

It's quite shocking just to hear it.

Shen Yueyao had no idea how wide this forest was.

However, after walking for a long time, they finally found the kind of soil that Shen Yueyao needed at the foot of a hillside.

Shen Yueyao dug out the soil and put it on the backpack.

To make a smaller bread Yao, you don’t need a lot of soil.

Since the backpack was not big enough, Shen Yueyao put the things in the space.

After finishing it, Shen Yueyao was sweating all over.

Although there was a cool breeze in the woods, it was a bit stuffy.

Shen Yueyao wiped the sweat from her forehead with a towel. When she was about to go back, she turned around again and happened to see a thorny bush on the edge of the cliff, with bunches of small red berries on it.

"raspberry!"

Shen Yueyao's eyes lit up.

Raspberry, also known as blackberry, is bright red and tastes delicious.

The reason why her eyes lit up when she saw Raspberry was because these things also carried some memories of Shen Yueyao's childhood.

She remembered that in the technological age, she had visited her grandparents' home in the countryside. At that time, there were not many good things, so her grandparents would pick raspberries from the mountains for her to eat.

Shen Yueyao quickly picked some raspberries and planned to go back and give them to Daya, Erya, Dabao and Erbao.

Shen Yueyao picked the raspberries and was walking back along the hillside when she seemed to step on something.

She parted the grass and saw the melon at once.

"Sweet...melon!"

Seeing the melon, Shen Yueyao was so happy.

She had been lamenting the lack of fruit here in the summer, but she didn't expect to actually discover fruit.

Shen Yueyao likes to eat melon very much and feels that eating melon in the summer is also very refreshing.

Shen Yueyao didn't care to be surprised and hurried to pick the melon.

Fortunately, she had space, otherwise she would not be able to carry so many things with just a backpack or even a sack.

Also, when I was walking down the mountain carrying a lot of things, the villagers would look at me and couldn't help asking questions.

With space, you don’t have to worry about carrying heavy things, nor do you have to worry about villagers seeing you and asking questions.

And once you have melons, you can get melon seeds and then plant melons.

You can eat these melons every year.

Eating chilled melon is also delicious in summer.

"Bring these things back. Da Ya, Er Ya, Da Bao and Er Bao will definitely be very happy."

Shen Yueyao returned with a full load, her face full of smiles.

Even though she was sweating, she didn't feel hot.

When Shen Yueyao returned home in the afternoon, there were few people at the village street corner.

Only in the evening will the village streets be filled with people.

Everyone is busy now, and it's also hot at the street entrance.

Most people who want to enjoy the cool air gather under the old tree in the middle of the village. The tree is very big and provides good shade. There are also stone tables and stone benches under it, which makes it convenient for everyone to talk and chat.

It's actually quite boring to take care of Su Daya and Su Erya at home.

The two of them sat under a tree in the yard at home and read.

Both of them have now developed the habit of reading.

When I have nothing to do, I don’t like to waste time, I just like to read.

At first I wanted to learn knowledge, but later I found that reading was really enjoyable.

The stories in the book can immerse them in it, especially some miscellaneous notes, which can help them understand the customs and folkways of different places.

They even thought about whether they could go to such a place to take a look and taste the local food.

At this time, Su Daya and Su Erya didn't know the concept of traveling.

When the two heard the sound, they ran out excitedly.

As soon as she saw Shen Yueyao coming back, she was very excited, "Aunt San, you're back!"

"Aunt San, is this thing very heavy? Let us help you."

Su Daya and Su Erya helped take the things off Shen Yueyao and put them on the ground.

They all felt heavy.

When Shen Yueyao was on the road, she put all the things in the space, and when she got home, she put the things back into the backpack, sack and basket.

"I'm not tired. Auntie San brought you some good things."

When they heard about the good stuff, their eyes lit up.

Dabao and Erbao also ran out of the house.

"Good stuff, good stuff, mother."

"Mom brought some delicious food."

In the past, Shen Yueyao would find some delicious food when she came back from the mountains.

For example, strawberries, they all think they are delicious.

I also collected some seeds so that I could plant strawberries in the field later.

Shen Yueyao smiled and said, "It is indeed a good thing."

Shen Yueyao opened the cloth on the basket and said, "Look, these are raspberries."

“It’s edible and delicious.”

"And these, there are melons in this sack, go wash them and eat them."

Su Daya said excitedly, "Raspberries. I still remember when I was exiled as a child, and we were very hungry and thirsty on the road, my father would find raspberries in the mountains for us to eat when we rested. They were really delicious back then. I haven't seen raspberries since then."

When I was young, my family was exiled and the journey was really hard.

My second uncle could have been fine, but because the journey was too tiring and he was weak, he couldn't hold on any longer.

Thinking of this, Su Daya felt heavy in her heart.

She missed her father too.

I don’t know when my father will be back after paying the bill.

Su Daya felt a little guilty when she thought about how she had been ignorant and made her father angry before.

In fact, Dad is really good to her.

It’s just that most of the time dad doesn’t know how to express it.

Even though mom treated dad like that, he would never eat any delicious food and would leave it for her.

Su Erya was even younger at that time, so I don’t have much impression of her.

"So this is a raspberry. I've heard villagers talk about it before. They said there used to be raspberries like this on the slopes, but as soon as they appeared, the villagers picked them up and took the branches home. Maybe raspberries won't grow anymore in the future."

"Third Aunt is still the best."

Shen Yueyao said: "There are no such things outside the forest. They are only found inside the forest."

Shen Yueyao understood that the villagers usually did not have enough food to eat and did not have many delicious snacks to satisfy their cravings, so if there was anything edible in the mountains, everyone would pick it early.

Just like medicinal herbs, if you dig them too frequently, they may be gone.

So if you want to eat fruit, you still have to grow it yourself.

Su Daya took the things to wash. Su Erya studied the melon and said, "They are all melons, but they are different from squash and cucumbers. They can be used for cooking, right?"

Shen Yueyao smiled and patiently explained: "This is a melon, a fruit, different from the squash that can be stir-fried or made into cakes. You'll know how delicious it tastes when you try it later."

"By the way, mom hasn't come back yet?"

Shen Yueyao also wanted Madam Meng to have a taste of such delicious food.

Su Daya said, "Grandma went to the river to wash clothes."

Shen Yueyao said: "It's not about letting her rest, I can just do some of the work."

In fact, when Mrs. Meng washed clothes, she washed all the clothes of the whole family, including her own clothes.

Sometimes Shen Yueyao felt embarrassed.

But Mrs. Meng didn't think there was anything wrong.

Su Erya said, "Grandma actually likes to go to the river to wash clothes. We like to go there too. It's very relaxing to sit by the river and watch the water flow. It's also very interesting to listen to the villagers talking about their families."

Shen Yueyao could understand this feeling.

On weekdays, villagers don’t have many entertainment activities, so getting together and talking is actually a way to relax.

For them, going to the river to wash clothes is either to work or to relax.

Shen Yueyao said: "Wash the things first, put them aside after they are clean, and you can eat them. I will see how the fermentation is going."

Shen Yueyao went to wash her hands, went into the kitchen, opened the lid of the pot, and looked at the screaming malt and glutinous rice.

“It smells so good.”

Su Daya and Su Erya could smell the aroma of malt in the yard.

Shen Yueyao also smelled a strong natural sweet scent.

This is the natural scent, nothing added.

Shen Yueyao picked up the spoon, scooped a spoonful and took a sip. She couldn't help but feel intoxicated.

It really has a rich malt aroma and a sweet taste.

Su Daya was washing fruit in the yard when Su Erya came in and said, "Aunt San, is it time to make malt sugar?"

Shen Yueyao nodded and said, "Well, it's fermented and ready to be made."

It took her more than three hours to go to the back mountain and back. In this era, people are used to using hours, and one hour represents two hours.