Qin San Niang picked up an apricot and took a bite. It was so sour! Her face scrunched up like a flower. "Oh dear, no, I can't eat this. You all eat these!"
"Alright, Xiao Er loves sour apricots the most. If you don't eat them, Mom, we will!" After taking a bite of the apricot, Da Wa grimaced from the sourness, but the taste was really not bad! Besides, once you get used to it, it's not so sour!
"Grandma, do you want some apricots?" The child was still thinking of his grandmother, which touched Liu deeply. She thought to herself that her eldest grandson was the most filial, and quickly replied with a smile, "Grandma doesn't want any, they're too sour. You little ones can have them!"
Qin San Niang frowned, as if something flashed through her mind, then shook her head. "Never mind, I'll take a bath first."
Unable to sleep in bed that night, she wandered around her spatial dimension again, watering the wheat in the fields with her mind. Then she went to the room where the fruit was kept and ate an apricot! Ah, these big, sweet apricots are the best! She didn't plan to eat the watermelons and grapes; those were for saving seeds. When she had more land in the future, she planned to plant several acres of them!
Just as she was drifting off to sleep, a sudden inspiration struck her: these apricots could be used to make dried apricots! She had been to the market quite often, but she had never seen any dried fruit, let alone things like green plums, licorice-flavored dried apricots, or candied dates. Now that her family owned a shop, if she sold them there, they would definitely sell well!
Let's do it!
The next day at breakfast, Qin San Niang asked the children if they still had apricots.
The eldest child was a little surprised, thinking, "Didn't Mother say she didn't like sour apricots? Why does she want to eat them now?" The younger children didn't think much of it. There were still many sour apricots from yesterday, and although they liked them, they couldn't eat many. After all, they needed to save room for dinner!
"Then I'll bring it over to Mother later and make you something delicious." Qin San Niang smiled mysteriously.
So she's making something delicious?! That's great! Nothing Mom makes is bad. The children all said they would give their share.
After the meal, the children went to school, and only then did Qin San Niang start tinkering with things herself.
These wild apricots are a bit hard to the touch; the soft ones have probably all been eaten by the children. But these are perfect for making dried apricots.
The apricots were cut in half and the pits removed. Liu helped with this task. She heard that her eldest daughter was going to make dried apricots. Although Liu was curious about what that was, the family was doing well now, and she was happy that it would allow her child to eat better.
Layer apricots and white sugar in a bowl and marinate for two hours, until the apricot flesh softens and the juice is released. Then, put them in a pot and bring to a boil until the apricot flesh is soft, then turn off the heat.
At this point, there is very little juice left, about one-third of the apricot's juice. Soak it in well water to cool, allowing all the juice to cling to the apricot.
This step of refrigerating the food will have a better effect, and that's what Qin San Niang did. When Liu Shi wasn't paying attention, she put the basket into the well water, but put the contents into her spatial storage.
By the second day, when most of the juice has dried, the apricots can be sun-dried. The sun is strong these days, so the dried apricots will be ready in about two days.
The children waited two days before they finally saw the dried apricots their mother had made.
The dried apricots were a beautiful yellow-orange color, much nicer than before, almost like amber. Although the children didn't know what amber was, they figured it was transparent and sparkling, and looked delicious.
"Wow, these dried apricots look delicious! Mother, you're amazing!" The waiter was a sycophant, the kind who couldn't resist the temptation of good food.
"Of course Mother is amazing! These apricots aren't sour anymore!" Seeing the apricots seemingly covered in sugar frosting, A-Nan asked hopefully. She especially loved sweets, but her mother had been forbidding her from eating too much sugar lately, saying she was afraid of getting cavities.
Da Wa and Lu Song, who considered themselves to be big kids, stood calmly to the side, though they also seemed to want some.
Qin San Niang smiled and said to them, "Whether it's sweet or not, you'll know once you try it."
With their mother's approval, the children happily picked out a piece and put it in their mouths to chew carefully.
Oh my god, this is so delicious! I can't believe it was made from those ugly sour apricots! It's soft, chewy, and has a sweet and sour flavor—it's absolutely delicious!
For a while, all that could be heard was the sound of chewing.
After tasting it, Qin San Niang also thought it was quite good. Perhaps because it was made of pure natural fruit pulp, it was even more delicious than the other brand she had eaten before.
Liu had assumed that dried fruit was just sweet dried fruit, and that an elderly woman like her with weak teeth would definitely not be able to chew it. However, she was surprised to find that the dried apricots were very easy to chew and tasted very sweet. These dried apricots with lots of sugar were delicious! It was just a little painful to add sugar! That was white sugar, which was very expensive, costing more than twenty coins per pound!
"Alright, you can't eat too many, or you'll get cavities!" Qin San Niang put away the remaining dried apricots. "You can eat two every day from now on, but no more than that."
Hearing that they could only eat two apricots a day, the children were a little listless, but they knew that their mother was doing it for their own good. And thinking about how they could eat such delicious dried apricots every day, what was there to complain about? They were instantly cheered up!
"Da Wa and Lu Song, go and deliver some to your Aunt Chunhua. Xiao Er, go and deliver some to Mr. He. Anan, go and deliver some to your Uncle Qingshan," Qin San Niang instructed.
If you want to start a business selling dried apricots, you should listen to the opinions of the public, instead of working in isolation.
Sure enough, in the afternoon, everyone came over to say that the dried apricots were quite delicious. They never expected that such sour apricots could be transformed into such delicious treats! It was truly amazing, only Third Sister's skill could save it.
When Wu Chunhua heard that so much sugar had been added, she slapped her thigh and exclaimed, "Oh my god, no wonder it tastes so good! It's full of good stuff!"
Liu smiled and said, "That's right!"
No wonder they were surprised; the apricot preserves wouldn't look good if made with brown sugar, so they had to use white sugar.
However, white sugar is very expensive these days, which increases the cost of dried apricots. But Qin San Niang isn't worried about that, because she has a way to turn brown sugar into white sugar!
This is a method she learned from a physics textbook. Thanks to compulsory education, she is able to explore various aspects of life.
Simply put, there are two methods to make white sugar, or rather, two methods she knows: the yellow mud water sugar leaching method and the activated carbon decolorization method. She plans to try both.
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