Li Jin was away at a meeting in the county and wasn't home. Zhao Sufang had already set the table: a shallow tray of bright red sorghum pancakes and a large bowl of eggplant and potato stew. Li Xiangdong looked left and right but couldn't see a single piece of meat.

"Mom! Where's the meat? Didn't I bring home a big piece of meat?"

"Second brother, I smell milk candy on my little sister's breath. Did you secretly buy her some milk candy?"

The third brother, Li Jiabao, came over and asked Li Xiangdong.

Li Jiabao has a natural talent for food; he can not only easily distinguish the taste of various foods, but is also particularly sensitive to the smell of food.

No matter where Zhao Sufang and Li Jin hid the delicious food, Li Jiabao could easily find it by following the smell.

"Fourth sister, could you stir-fry some meat? We haven't had meat in our family for days."

Li Xiangdong ignored Li Jiabao and took the meat out of the cupboard and handed it to Li Zhen.

Li Jiabao immediately forgot about the milk candy; how could milk candy compare to the aroma of pork!

"Xiang Dong, where did you get this meat from?"

Li Zhen asked Li Xiangdong a question, but her eyes were fixed on Zhao Sufang.

“Zhenzhen, put the meat down and don’t cook it yet. Xiangdong, if you don’t explain things clearly, no one will cook for you.” Zhao Sufang was very insistent on this point.

It seems that if he doesn't give his mother an explanation, he won't be able to eat pork.

"Fifth Sister, go and close the gate," Li Xiangdong instructed.

Li Ping nimbly jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed), barefoot, and ran to the door, closed it, and tightened the bolt.

Li Xiangdong took out the wicker basket and dumped its contents onto the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Wow! Wow! It's candy, Mom! So much candy! I want to eat White Rabbit milk candy!"

Li Jiabao collapsed onto the kang (a heated brick bed), clutching all the candy to his chest.

"Candy, White Rabbit milk candy, Third Brother eats it, I want some too."

The little girl, Pinkie Pie, pointed cutely at the White Rabbit milk candy and said, "I ate one this afternoon and thought it was the best thing in the world. I don't want to drink any more of that greasy stuff!"

"Second Brother, where did you get so much candy? And orange soda too! And malted milk powder!" Li Ping exclaimed in amazement.

Zhao Sufang and Li Zhen were also dumbfounded.

Li Xiangdong put the malted milk powder, brown and white sugar, and orange soda into the large cupboard in the south, where his mother kept her precious treats. He also gave Li Zhen, Li Ping, and Li Jiabao each a White Rabbit milk candy and four colorful fruit hard candies.

"Fifth Sister, Jiabao, you two take the candy and go outside to keep an eye on people, don't let anyone in."

"Okay!"

"Let's go!"

Li Ping and Li Jiabao, with candy in their mouths, stood tall and proud, like victorious generals.

Only Zhao Sufang, Li Zhen, Li Xiangdong, and the little sister crawling around on the kang (a heated brick bed) remained in the room.

"Mom, have a piece of candy, it's really delicious."

Li Xiangdong peeled open a strawberry-flavored candy, put it in his mother's mouth, and quickly told her about how he made money using cicada skin.

"Cicada shells, ah, they're cicada nymphs, and they can make money? Nobody in the surrounding area has ever heard of that before." Zhao Sufang was skeptical.

"Hey, if my ancestors and the surrounding villages had heard of this, would I even have a chance to make this money?"

Zhao Sufang nodded in agreement; her son was right!

“By the way, Mother, Fourth Sister, there’s something else I need to discuss with you. Uncle Yan from Guangming Pharmaceutical Factory said this is top-quality Rehmannia glutinosa.” Li Xiangdong took out a piece of Rehmannia glutinosa to show the two of them.

"Isn't this like a chicken drinking alcohol?"

When Li Zhen was a child, she used to suckle nectar. The villagers called it "Little Chicken Drinking Wine," and no one called it "Rehmannia."

"What is Rehmannia glutinosa?" Zhao Sufang asked, voicing the question that had been on Li Zhen's mind.

“Rehmannia is a precious medicinal herb. Uncle Yan said that we have never found such high-quality Rehmannia in our area before. Uncle Yan said that one pound of Rehmannia costs one cent.”

"What? This wild vegetable, only one cent a pound?" Li Zhen exclaimed in a low voice.

“We don’t need the whole plant, just the rootstock. And Uncle Yan instructed us not to dig up the smaller ones, or they’ll become extinct. Now, after thinking it over, I think only you and Mother can do this job, Fourth Sister.”

“This matter needs to be kept secret. Mother needs to earn work points, so she can only work from early morning to late at night. I think Fourth Sister should take a few days off, and we can dig together for a few days. If anyone asks, just say that Fourth Sister got tired from pushing the cart at the brick kiln and is taking a few days off to rest. She can stay home and help cut pig feed. What do you think?”

Li Xiangdong rattled off his well-thought-out plan in one breath.

Zhao Sufang thought for a moment and nodded, "That's fine. Starting tomorrow, I'll get up at four o'clock and go dig up the rehmannia root. It's just a pity that I can't see at night, otherwise I could go too."

"You should rest tonight. You've been working all day, cooking, and cleaning. It must be exhausting."

"My son knows how to care for his mother now." Zhao Sufang was deeply moved, and a profound maternal love welled up from the bottom of her heart. "I'll go and stir-fry the meat."

"Mother, you are the best."

Li Xiangdong, who never spoke sweet words in his past life, flattered his mother and the effect was unexpectedly obvious.

That's the art of speaking!

People often speak carelessly to their relatives and friends, but who likes to hear unpleasant words?

Li Xiangdong thought to himself, "I must be careful with my words in the future. A kind word warms the heart for three winter months, while a harsh word chills the heart for six summer months."

Soon, a plate of glistening, oily stir-fried pork with chili peppers was ready. The thinly sliced ​​pork belly curled up after being stir-fried at high temperature, and the plump, diamond-shaped red chili peppers were coated with a layer of oil, making them shiny.

The long-lost aroma of oil mixed with the spiciness of chili peppers made Li Xiangdong so happy that he almost cried tears of joy.

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