The maltose that the old man made was very concentrated and viscous, so it had to be diluted with water before it could be used to roast chestnuts.
Yesterday, on the day of White Dew, I went to buy groceries and ran into an old man selling maltose at the market. I made sure to ask him to keep some for me.
I went grocery shopping this morning and waited for a while before I finally got my turn.
Water had already been added to the pot. Maltose was added only after the water was heated. Not all of Bailu's syrup was poured in; only a little over a pound was added, since the syrup couldn't be made in one go.
You wouldn't need that many chestnuts to roast a batch.
She held the spatula, stirring the undissolved sugar and water while occasionally stealing glances at the silent man tending the fire.
The handsome face, illuminated by the crimson firelight, lost some of its coldness and gained a more angular and three-dimensional quality. Even his indifferent lips appeared exceptionally sensual. After the wounds healed, his entire face was breathtakingly handsome.
"It's so beautiful..."
The man looked up at the sound.
Bai Lu quickly looked away and cleared her throat. "Um, I mean, this maltose smells so good! Even with water, it's still so sweet. You can smell it even without drinking it... It's definitely much better than making syrup from white sugar. Roasted chestnuts should have this kind of syrup added; it would taste amazing..."
Xiao Cheng looked at her slightly flushed cheeks, her hands flailing about in both directions, and her eyes deliberately fixed on the spatula.
His voice was deep and mellow as he spoke: "It is quite sweet."
Bai Lu felt her face getting even hotter, but she forced a smile and turned around: "Right? I think so too."
"Don't you really like sweet soup? I'll make you a cup of maltose syrup after I've made the syrup."
"No need," Xiao Cheng refused.
"Yes, yes!" Bai Lu was afraid he would be embarrassed: "You're so busy and you still help me with the fire. Even if you don't drink the sugar water, you should eat two pieces of candy, otherwise you won't have the energy to work this afternoon."
They've even come up with a reason.
Xiao Cheng raised an eyebrow slightly, said nothing, picked up a piece of wood as thick as an arm, and held one end in each hand.
With a "crack," it broke in two.
It was slowly stuffed into the stove hole, and soon the sound of crackling sparks breaking could be heard.
Bai Lu knew he had the strength to work again.
But last night, he drank the maltose syrup in several gulps, clearly he really liked it!
Do you now prefer roasted chestnuts?
After all, he ate faster than he drank sugar water in the morning, swallowing it whole without chewing it properly.
Bai Lu thought about it more and more and felt that she had found the truth. There were still some chestnuts left from the roasting in the morning. After she finished making the syrup, she would put them all in his pocket so that he could take them to work and eat them.
Xiao Cheng had no idea what Bai Lu was thinking, but he felt that her gaze was overly friendly.
This left him helpless.
"The house next door will be completed in less than a month," he said.
"Fifth Aunt's house," Bai Lu gently reminded her, her face beaming with a smile as warm and gentle as the sun.
Xiao Cheng glanced at her and remained silent for a moment.
He parted his thin lips slightly and began to recite the name of his first neighbor, who also had a code name—
Fifth Aunt.
Apart from Xiao Dazhuang, Luo Shiliu, their families, and Lao Hu, Xiao Cheng rarely interacted with outsiders.
Coupled with his taciturn and aloof personality, he rarely interacted with his neighbors, almost never.
Bai Lu thought he was really great for being able to say the name "Fifth Aunt" even though he was reluctant. She reached out and took a piece of malt candy from the bucket, and personally put it to his lips: "Here you go."
"It's so sweet!"
Xiao Cheng: "..."
He wanted to take back those two words.
It's not like I'm a three-year-old child, why would I need a reward?
Maltose is nothing but sweetness...
Bai Lu put the sugar in his mouth, then withdrew her hand and continued stirring the maltose in the pot, which was already half melted.
"It can be built in less than a month. That's so fast. Did you hire more people to build the house?"
In the morning, she saw six or seven new faces, all of whom called her "sister-in-law" along with Luo Shiliu and the others.
They must have known each other before.
Xiao Cheng chewed the maltose haphazardly, swallowed it, and nodded slightly: "Fifth Aunt hopes to take possession of the house as soon as possible."
Having more manpower does indeed allow for faster construction.
What Bai Lu was worried about was whether Xiao Cheng would want to collect Li Chengbin's debt again since the project was completed so quickly.
In his previous life, Xiao Cheng, Luo Shiliu, Xiao Dazhuang, and Wang Hao did indeed go to Li Chengbin's house the night before last.
But Li Chengbin was not at home at the time; only his wife, Sun Huiping, and his ten-year-old son were there.
Wang Hao asked Sun Huiping where Li Chengbin was, and Sun Huiping said she didn't know, that he hadn't returned.
Xiao Cheng and his group waited for five minutes before leaving.
They didn't step into Li Chengbin's house at all; they even asked questions outside, through the big iron gate.
Before she left, Sun Huiping and her son were fine, but the next day, news of the accident came.
Li Chengbin's ten-year-old son was fine, but both he and Sun Huiping were shot and are now in the hospital.
Xiao Cheng and Luo Shiliu and a few others became scapegoats.
Sparks began to fly between the big boss's and Li Chengbin's territories, gradually escalating into a gang war.
The big boss thought he had thrown Xiao Cheng out as a pawn, but little did he know that everything was exactly what his father-in-law, Li Chengbin, wanted to do: get rid of Xiao Cheng and cut off the big boss's right and left arms.
The trajectory of this life has changed.
Li Chengbin and Sun Huiping were still shot and are currently in the hospital, while Xiao Cheng is unharmed. Li Chengbin's father-in-law will certainly not give up until he achieves his goal.
He knew, of course, that Xiao Cheng hadn't done it, but the big boss's influence was too great and the situation was too complicated.
Even though he was the deputy mayor of Nanshi, he had to think twice before taking action, and could only start with Xiao Cheng.
They've been plotting countless schemes in the shadows, waiting for Xiao Cheng to fall into them. Li Chengbin's debt is simply a dead end.
Bai Lu will not allow Xiao Cheng to touch it again.
"Then once you've built your houses, you can finally take a good rest for a while," she remarked casually.
Xiao Cheng actually had another private order, which was collected by a local tycoon in Nanshi, bypassing the big boss.
Collecting 300,000 yuan in debt, I get a 5% commission.
The debtor is the owner of the Longcheng dance hall next door. Luo Shiliu has investigated and there are no major problems.
I was working under a big boss before, so I was hesitant and didn't take the job.
After the incident with the hunting rifle, he wavered.
He didn't want to tell Bai Lu, but he remembered how angry she had been last time, and what she had said...
"Knock knock knock—"
The knocking interrupted Xiao Cheng and Bai Lu's thoughts.
Xiao Wei, who was blowing bubble gum in the room, ran to open the door. It was his fifth aunt, Wen Xiuyun.
Wen Xiuyun came to find Bai Lu.
After visiting a few times, they became familiar with each other, and when they saw Xiao Cheng walking out, they smiled and greeted him.
Xiao Cheng nodded slightly in acknowledgment and then went out the door.
The start date for construction is fast approaching.
The maltose syrup for White Dew is also ready.
A sweet aroma wafted out, and Wen Xiuyun sat in the courtyard waiting, without going into the kitchen.
Xiao Wei went to the kitchen to tell Bai Lu, then ran back to his room to play with bubble gum stickers.
Bai Lu quickly packed her things and came out.
Wen Xiuyun couldn't wait to explain her purpose: "The roasted chestnuts are all sold out, and we really don't have enough left. Many people couldn't buy any and kept asking me if we had any left."
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