Chapter 36, The 36th Inn, Almond Milk
"Ahe, what are you doing?" Zheng Dong yelled at Fang He, who was running over, "Don't you know that appearing like this will scare people to death? What if you scare Yun Niangzi?"
Yunyin said she wasn't scared. She had noticed the little figure a while ago, but didn't know what it was up to and hadn't asked.
Fang He walked up to Yun Yin, knelt down and said, "Miss Yun, please buy me. I don't eat much and I'm easy to feed."
This time, Yunyin was genuinely frightened by her and quickly lifted her up, saying, "Speak properly, don't kneel down all the time. Where is your mother? How did you get out here?"
"I just bought some sauce. From now on, whenever I need sauce, I'll buy it from your mother. You don't need to worry about her not being able to support you."
Fang He lowered her eyes and said, "But with me here, my mother can't get married. It's too hard for her to raise me alone, and I don't want to be a burden to her."
Yunyin was astonished by her maturity. No wonder people often say that children from poor families mature early. Even an eight-year-old like her was already thinking about supporting a family and knew about selling herself. Although she didn't know where she had heard that, she still said to Fang He:
“Ahe, if I were a bad person, do you know what I would do if I got your indenture? I would exploit you until your last bit of bone marrow was drained, and you would never be able to break free.”
Fang He was frightened by her expression at this moment, and even Zheng Dong, who was standing next to her, trembled and said, "Madam Yun, you are too scary. If I didn't know your character, I would have been scared by you."
Yunyin shrugged and said, "I'm not kidding you. I've heard a lot of stories like this, so Ahe, don't sell yourself to others so easily."
Fang He shook her head and said, "I'm only selling myself to you. I know you're a good person. I want to follow you and don't want to be a burden on my mother."
Yunyin: "Ahe, do you know that selling children under the age of 10 is punishable by law? Both the buyer and the seller will be punished. For example, if you sell yourself, your mother will also be punished."
Fang He looked disappointed and cried, “What am I going to do? Even if my wife buys our sauce, we will still be short of money. I was sick before, and all the money my mother had worked so hard to save was used up. My mother and I work hard to farm, but we can only eat three-tenths of what we need. My mother will definitely not be willing to use the money from selling the sauce to buy rice. She said she wants to save it for my dowry.”
“If my mother gets sick in the future, I worry that she won’t be willing to spend money on treatment. My mother is my only family. I don’t want that to happen, but I can’t do anything about it.”
“I don’t want to be a burden on my mother, and I don’t want her to save up for my dowry, but she thinks that girls should have a dowry. She didn’t have a dowry back then, and was looked down upon by the Fang family. Later, they even kicked my mother out.”
Zheng Dong didn't understand: "Why would Sister Guilan tell you these things? We poor families don't have the means to prepare a dowry. A quilt and a chest are already a very good dowry. She just had bad luck in marrying someone. Your future husband will definitely not be like that."
Yunyin also stepped forward to comfort her. Seeing that Fang He was still sobbing, she said to Zheng Dong, "Why don't we go and call her mother?"
Before the two could make a move, Zheng Guilan rushed over in a flurry. Seeing that Fang He was alright, she breathed a sigh of relief and slapped her on the bottom: "Where did you run off to, you little rascal? I've been looking everywhere for you."
Zheng Dong coughed and told Zheng Guilan what had just happened. He said, "Sister-in-law, you should have a good talk with Ahe. How can she sell herself like that?"
Tears streamed down Zheng Guilan's face as she sobbed, "It's all my fault. She must have overheard what I said earlier and thought I was going to sell her."
She hugged Fang He and cried, "How could your mother sell you? I asked Sister Xiu before because I wanted to see if I could work for someone else's family, not because I wanted to sell you."
Fang He's dark eyes were very serious. She said, "I know, Mother, I know you don't want to sell me or send me back to Dazhu Village, but it's been too hard for you to raise me. If Lady Yun can buy me, I can help you out."
Zheng Guilan's tears wouldn't stop, but the younger Fang He had already made up her mind. She looked straight at Yun Yin and asked, "Miss Yun, can you buy me?"
Looking into those precocious eyes, Yunyin sighed and said, "I'm really sorry, there's no work here that I can do for you."
She glanced at the heartbroken Zheng Guilan, and felt sorry for Fang He, who was so young and already had to worry about making a living. She couldn't bear it and said, "Perhaps I can hire your mother to help look after the restaurant and do mundane things like washing vegetables and dishes. The monthly wage is three hundred coins. How about that?"
"Of course, I will still pay for the sauce. You can make the sauce directly at my shop, which will save you the trouble of carrying it around."
Yunyin eventually felt pity. She would be building an inn later, and she would need people. Using Zheng Guilan would be a good option.
Zheng Guilan never expected such a good thing to happen to her. This time she was a bit quick-witted and quickly thanked her, saying, "Then thank you very much, Madam Yun. I will definitely do my best."
Yunyin nodded and said, "You can go to work tomorrow. If you're worried about Ahe, you can bring her along."
Zheng Guilan thanked him again, and even Zheng Dong, who was standing to the side, was filled with envy: "This is a good job. Sister-in-law Guilan, you must do it well and not let down Lady Yun's good intentions."
"I know, I will do my best and make sure that Lady Yun's money is not wasted."
The next morning, the fruit Yunyin bought arrived. After checking it and finding no problems, she gave the remaining money to Zheng Dong, and Zheng Guilan arrived with Fang He as well.
Yunyin introduced her to Zhang Lin and said to Zhang Lin, "From now on, you can leave the washing of vegetables and dishes to her, and you can be in charge of pulling and selling noodles."
Zhang Lin nodded in agreement, and Zheng Guilan, being perceptive, immediately helped tidy the table. Yunyin told Fang He to go play aside, and then called Zheng Guilan over, saying, "Since the weather is nice now, let's wash the mulberries. I need to dry some; come and help me."
Turning to Zhang Lin, he said, "The weather is getting hotter and hotter, so noodle soup isn't selling as well. Make less soup and go pick some locust leaves and flowers from the mountain behind. We'll make locust leaf pottery later."
"Also, you can prepare more cold noodles, as many people like them."
Zhang Lin readily agreed. After Yunyin finished giving the instructions, Zheng Guilan had already taken a basin to wash the mulberries. She also rolled up her sleeves and washed the hundred pounds of mulberries together.
Some of the washed mulberries were dried to make dried mulberries, some were dried and used to make wine, and the rest were used to make jam. Of course, fresh ones were also essential. She would pop one into her mouth while drying them, and soon her tongue would turn black. Her open mouth was enough to scare people.
After processing the mulberries, Yunyin moved on to processing the apricots. There are many ways to eat apricots; besides making jam and canned almonds, they can also be made into almond yogurt.
The almonds left over from this large basket of apricots are perfect for making this dessert.
Peel the almonds that have been soaked overnight, add water and grind them with a stone mill to extract the juice. After straining out the residue, add glutinous rice flour and rock sugar to the remaining almond water and heat while stirring until it becomes a paste. Pour it out and sprinkle with dried osmanthus flowers. A bowl of fragrant almond pudding is ready.
The almond milk is delicate and smooth, sweet but not cloying, with the sweet taste of almonds in your mouth and a very silky texture. Yunyin made several bowls for everyone to taste, but Zheng Guilan waved her hands repeatedly and said, "How can I eat this? This is what my wife brought to sell."
Yunyin shoved the bowl into her hands, then handed a small bowl to Fang He, saying, "I made this so that people would eat it, and I also need you to taste it."
Zheng Guilan was still a little reserved. Seeing Zhang Lin eat it in one bite, she also fed him a spoonful. As soon as it entered her mouth, the almond milk flowed down her throat. She couldn't taste anything. The spoonful of almond milk disappeared in her mouth.
She ate another spoonful, this time tasting it carefully. It was soft, smooth, and the almond aroma lingered in her mouth. She had never eaten anything so delicious. Zheng Guilan was so focused on eating that she couldn't give Yunyin any feedback.
Fang He, who was holding a small bowl, ate carefully and said softly, "It's so delicious. This is the first time I've ever eaten something so sweet."
Fang He, who had never eaten sugar before, tasted something so delicious for the first time, and from then on, almond milk became the most delicious thing in her heart.
Seeing that they were enjoying their meal, Yunyin decided to make the next dessert. A customer who came over to eat noodles noticed what they were eating and asked, "What are you eating? It smells so good."
"It's almond milk, would you like to try some, sir?"
The man was tempted by Fang He and the others' eating habits, so he sat down and said, "Give me a bowl, and another serving of cold noodles."
Yunyin went to serve almond milk, while Zhang Lin went to mix cold noodles. After the guests finished eating the refreshing cold noodles, they drank a bowl of almond milk, and even the hot summer seemed to cool down.
"Wife, can this almond milk be taken away? I'd like to take some back for my wife to try."
The man was from the neighboring Beijiang County. He was in Long'an County to visit a friend and happened to be passing through. It was his first time trying liangpi (cold skin noodles) and almond milk. He pointed to the liangpi he had finished eating and said, "If possible, I'd like to take one of these to go."
If it were Long'an County, the distance wouldn't be too far, and it would be possible to take it away. But the neighboring county is a bit too far away. After thinking for a moment, she said, "The weather is too hot now, and this food will easily spoil if taken away. If you can pay for ice, I can use ice to keep it fresh for you."
The ice was sent by Luo Man. They had stored a lot of ice last winter and knew that Yun Yin hadn't stored any, so they specially prepared it for her.
The man knew that ice was expensive, but luckily his family was wealthy and could afford to pay for a serving. He nodded and said, "Then prepare a few more for me. Oh, and I'll also have some bowl-shaped rice cakes."
Yunyin went back to get ice, filled the almond milk in a bamboo tube, and put it in a woven bamboo basket. She also put a lot of straw mats inside to prevent the temperature from dissipating too quickly.
After seeing the man off, Yunyin looked up at the sky. It was already late, and the person who was supposed to pick up the snacks hadn't arrived yet.
After Yunyin finished preparing lunch, the people who came to pick up the snacks arrived. Xu Fei wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Madam Yun, we've kept you waiting. It's just too hot. You told us to come back later."
"By the way, Lady Yun, the ladies said it's too hot now and not suitable to eat those oily snacks, so I won't be coming over tomorrow."
Yunyin was planning to sell more pastries to make money, and she couldn't hide her disappointment when she heard his words. But the weather was indeed getting hotter and hotter. Thinking of the chilled almond milk, she smiled and said, "It's okay, you can take the pastries back first. By the way, I made almond milk today. Take it back and let your wife try it."
"I will also make a few summer snacks later. You can come and pick them up early in the morning, which will help you stay cool."
She packed the almond milk, which was kept iced, into a food container: "There's ice in here, be careful."
Xu Fei could clearly feel the coolness as soon as he received the pastries. Enveloped in this coolness, he felt much better. He nodded and said, "I will tell the ladies. If they like them, I will come earlier tomorrow."
Yunyin watched the person leave in a car with the food box, hoping they would like it. She was counting on them to help her earn money. Speaking of summer snacks, besides cold rice cakes, there was also cold jelly.
Liangfen is made by kneading a kind of liangfen fruit. She had seen this shrub in the mountains before, but unfortunately the fruit does not ripen until August or September, so it is inedible now. She can only use lianggao (a type of cold rice cake) as a substitute for now.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
