Luo Jingyan had already planned it out. After she built a house outside and moved out with Luo Changtian, they wouldn't need the house they were living in now anyway, so it would just sit empty. If Jiang Manyue and Sun Tiantian wanted to live there, she could leave it for them for free. But if Zhuang Feifei wanted to live there, it wouldn't be so easy.
Zhuang Feifei had long had her eye on Luo Jingyan's house. She had previously tried to buy it from Luo Jingyan, but Luo Jingyan refused. This time, she wasn't in a hurry. She would wait for Luo Jingyan to move out, and then the house would be empty, and she would move in then.
Other female educated youths also felt that Luo Jingyan was very comfortable living in a single room, and they also wanted to have a single room of their own.
But such good things usually attract a lot of attention, and they are all afraid that someone will beat them to Luo Jingyan and take over the house. So they thought of talking to Luo Jingyan about the house first.
However, the first person to approach Luo Jingyan about this was Jiang Manyue.
“Jingyan, I heard you’re going to build a house outside. Once it’s finished, you’ll be moving out, and you won’t need this house anymore, right? Can you leave it to me? Of course, you spent money to build the house before, so I won’t stay here for free. I’ll give you back whatever you spent.”
Luo Jingyan smiled and said, "If you want to stay, you can move in after I leave."
Jiang Manyue was a little embarrassed: "How can that be? Tell me how much it cost to renovate the house. I can't just live here for free."
"It's alright, it didn't cost much. You can stay here, no need to pay me. But if the other educated youth ask, just say you gave them ten yuan. Otherwise, I'm afraid they'll have opinions, and they might say this is a house set up by the educated youth, and they'll nag you about it. After all, it's better to avoid trouble. Although we're not afraid of trouble, we don't want to be entangled in unnecessary things, right?"
"Yes, I understand, Jingyan, thank you so much."
"Don't be so polite with me. I've known you since the way I came here. I've always considered you a good friend. Good friends don't need to be so formal."
Jiang Manyue smiled and said, "Jingyan, you're so kind."
Although Luo Jingyan said she wouldn't ask Jiang Manyue for money, Jiang Manyue felt bad and gave Luo Jingyan a packet of honey-glazed pastries that her mother had sent from Beijing.
Luo Jingyan ate two pieces, and Luo Changtian also ate a few. The honey-glazed pastries were sweet, soft, and glutinous with a rich flavor. After finishing three pieces, he wanted to eat more, but considering that there was only one pack, his sister hadn't eaten much, and his parents hadn't eaten yet, he could only resist the urge to stop eating.
Luo Jingyan could see the look in his eyes when he was craving the honey-glazed pastry, so she said, "You can eat it if you want, but this kind of thing is too sweet. Eating too much of it is bad for your teeth. You can't eat too much of it every day."
"Sister, I can't finish it all. You, Mom and Dad, and Grandma Zhang all need to eat."
“It’s alright. I often go to the county town. I’ve actually seen these kinds of snacks at the supply and marketing cooperative. I can just go to the county town and buy some more.”
"Really, sister, you really saw it at the county supply and marketing cooperative?" Luo Changtian's eyes lit up.
"Of course, would I lie to you?"
She actually planned to do it herself.
Luo Changtian then reached into the paper package and took out two more pieces, stuffing one of them into his mouth.
Luo Jingyan reminded him, "Remember what I said, you can't eat too much every day."
"I understand, sister. I will definitely keep it in mind."
He was already overjoyed; he could eat more honey-glazed pastries once his sister bought them.
Luo Jingyan entered the space at night, preparing to make honey-glazed pastries.
To make honey-glazed sesame cakes, you need all-purpose flour, maltose, sugar, cooking oil, water, and white sesame seeds, all of which she has in her space.
To make honey-glazed three-cut pastries, first, use all-purpose flour and an appropriate amount of maltose and cooking oil, add water and stir with chopsticks until it forms clumps, then knead it into a dough by hand and let it rest for a certain period of time.
Next comes making the outer crust. First, mix flour and water to form a dough, then knead in white sesame seeds and let it rest for a certain period of time.
After the dough and wrappers have risen, shape them into raw dough pieces for frying honey-glazed pastries. Heat oil in a pan, add the dough pieces, and fry over low heat until the outside turns golden brown.
Finally, there's the preparation and cooking of the honey.
Mix water, maltose, and white sugar in a pot in a certain ratio, bring to a boil and bubbling. Turn off the heat, add the fried honey-glazed dough pieces, stir well, add some roasted sesame seeds, cover the pot, and simmer for three to four hours until the dough has absorbed all the honey from the pot.
Luo Jingyan made over 30 jin of honey-glazed fried dough sticks this time, enough for him and his family to eat for a while.
The night after she finished making the honey-glazed pastries, she delivered two bags to the cowshed.
People in this era struggled to even have enough to eat, and everyone was incredibly thin. Compared to the current trend of pursuing thinness and considering it beautiful, people back then preferred to compliment others on being fat, and also enjoyed being complimented on their weight, because being praised for being fat was seen as a sign of good health.
No one was worried about being overweight or having high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or high blood sugar. Mr. and Mrs. Luo and Grandma Zhang all ate the honey-glazed pastries made by Luo Jingyan, but they didn't know that Luo Jingyan made them. They just thought that she bought them from the supply and marketing cooperative in the county town.
"This is even tastier than the honey-glazed pastries from Beijing," said Mrs. Luo.
“I think so too,” Grandma Zhang said. She used to be so tired of eating honey-glazed pastries when she was young, but now she really wants to eat them.
Luo Jingyan smiled and said, "Perhaps the chefs here are more skilled than those in Beijing."
“The ones from Beijing are the authentic ones, but this one is definitely tastier than the ones from Beijing.” Mr. Luo couldn’t put down the honey-glazed sesame cake in his hand.
"The authentic version isn't necessarily the best-tasting; the improved version is often even better."
"That makes sense."
Eating sweets helps to make people happy. Several people were eating honey-glazed pastries, chatting and smiling. It seemed that the sweetness had touched their hearts.
After Xue Yanchen arrived at the Shengli Brigade's educated youth settlement, Luo Jingyan naturally had to give him some food. Xue Yanchen ate the sweet and sticky honey-glazed pastries. He wondered if it was because of his wife's filter, but he felt that everything his wife made was delicious. As long as it was something his wife made, not only did his mouth feel sweet, but his heart felt even sweeter.
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