Chapter 45: Golden Rosaceae Candy
What he saw today was too shocking, and even after Sang Yu returned to the shed, he was unable to recover for a long time.
Sang Xingjia stretched out his hand and waved it in front of her: "Little sister, what's wrong with you?"
He always seemed to be able to notice Sang Yu's abnormality at the first moment.
"No, nothing." Sang Yu didn't plan to tell his family about his discovery. The matter involved so many people, and they knew it would only add to their troubles.
Sang Xingjia wasn't going to let her get away with it so easily. He pressed on, "You were fine before you went to return the ironware. What happened in the canyon?"
"..." This person is really not smart when he should be smart, and is extremely smart when he shouldn't be smart.
"I did see some things, but they have nothing to do with us." That was all Sang Yu could say.
She was not a cold-blooded person who could ignore the tragedy in front of her, but her family's survival was a problem right now, so she had no time to care about other people's affairs.
Especially Sang Yongjing and Sang Xingjia, the father and son, who were well-read in the books of sages. Although they were not very good at reading, their heads were full of benevolence, righteousness, and morality. If they knew the inside story, who knows what would happen.
"Is it unfair?" Sang Xingjia continued to ask.
"Alas..." Sang Yu sighed, crossed his hands behind his head, and looked at the sky through the hole above his head: "Brother, the world is not black and white, nor is there justice everywhere."
Even she doesn't dare to say that she is such a glorious and upright person. Everyone has some dark things in their heart that they dare not tell others.
If this is true for individuals, what about the whole world?
Sang Xingjia was silenced by her words. He imitated her movements and leaned against the wall to look up at the sky. "Little sister, do you think studying is really meaningful?"
Under the influence of his father, he studied hard since he was a child and was very diligent. In the beginning, he was often praised by his teacher.
But this did not bring him any benefits. Instead, he was bullied by his brothers from other rooms. He told his father about it, and his father just asked him to be more tolerant.
From then on, even if he learned nine points, he would only show two points, becoming a mediocre person among his classmates.
He had read a lot of books, was familiar with ancient texts and could write articles. If it weren't for the incident of his property being confiscated and his exile, he should have made a name for himself in this imperial examination.
He still remembered that during the first lesson of his enlightenment, the Master began by explaining to them, a group of young children, the significance of reading, using the passage "cultivate oneself, govern the country, and bring peace to the world" from the Book of Rites.
But as he read more and more books, he became more and more confused.
After his family was confiscated and exiled, he often regretted it and felt that his studies were useless. If he had learned some martial arts earlier, he would have been able to protect his family when the time came.
Startled by his sudden question, Sang Yu turned her head to look at him.
Seeing his eyes flickering in the light of the fire, his face full of confusion, I was shocked, wondering if my brother was having trouble finding his way.
"Studying is of course useful, otherwise why would everyone study so hard to take the imperial examinations?"
The vast majority of scholars of this era studied hard in order to pass the imperial examinations, achieve success and fame, and bring honor to their families.
From Sang Yu’s own point of view, these people’s purpose of studying is too utilitarian, but does studying with utilitarianism not mean studying anymore?
Will the words I read and the knowledge I learned disappear because of utilitarianism? Obviously not, they are all tangible gains.
"Then the purpose of studying is to pass the imperial examination?" Sang Xingjia asked again.
Both his father and the teacher at school often reminded him to study hard and strive to pass the imperial examinations.
He often wondered, wasn't his uncle a living example? He had passed the imperial examinations and served as an official for many years, but one misstep brought disaster upon the entire family, and all his past was in vain.
He didn't want to live in fear in the court like his uncle.
Sang Yu glared and said, "Of course not! Passing the imperial examination is a means to test the effectiveness of learning, not the goal."
"Brother, you've been studying for so many years, haven't you ever thought about what you're going to do after passing the imperial examination? Isn't there anything you want to do?"
This question stumped Sang Xingjia. He had never really thought about it carefully. He just focused on studying again and again, as if everything would come to an end after he passed the imperial examination.
He said no more, just looked at the sky and fell into deep thought, rethinking the meaning of his reading.
Sang Yu looked up at the sky again. Is there any way to save those people? As long as her own safety is guaranteed, she is still willing to help them.
He had a dreamless night. In the early morning, Sang Yu lifted the cattail leaves covering the rice seeds and was surprised to find that they had grown three or four centimeters taller in just one night and had become rice seedlings.
This length was just barely enough, so she immediately prepared to start making sugar.
Soak the golden cherry fruits, which have been previously thorned and seeded and only have the pulp, in light salt water for about ten minutes to remove the astringency. Rinse and drain again, then put them in a pot and put on the fire.
Put the pulp and water into the pot in a ratio of one to three, boil over high heat, and add the cleaned rice seedlings after boiling.
After that just add some twigs and simmer over low heat until the flesh is soft.
When the water in the pot gradually becomes less, you can take it out and filter out the pomace, retaining the juice and continue cooking.
Generally speaking, it is best to use gauze for this step, but now the conditions are limited and gauze cannot be found, so I still use cattail leaves to weave a small funnel for filtering.
Pour the filtered juice back into the pot, continue to simmer over low heat and stir constantly until the juice becomes thick and sticky, similar to honey, and it is done.
If we add some wood ash or lime to neutralize and precipitate the impurities, we can increase the purity of the sugar and get real crystalline sugar, which is granulated sugar.
However, the probability of success of this method is too low, and it takes a long time, so the cost outweighs the gain. Sang Yu never considered it.
The boiled sugar gave off a strong aroma. The people nearby stretched their necks to sniff it and began to drool. It smelled so good that they wanted to eat it.
Sang Yu took the boiled sugar off the fire to prevent it from burning and becoming bitter. Turning around, she saw the whole family drooling. She couldn't help but laugh, "Is it really that fragrant?"
Sang Xinghao nodded repeatedly, looked at her expectantly and asked, "Sister, when can I eat? I only want a little bit."
He knew that this was something that Sister made and sold, but he really wanted to taste it.
The fruit of the golden rose is naturally sweet. He had eaten a few of the flesh when processing it before, and it was sweet and delicious. Now after being boiled, the fragrance is even stronger, and the taste is expected to be even better.
Sang Yu smiled and gently tapped his nose: "Little greedy cat, eat if you want."
The things are indeed made to be sold, but the whole family participates in it and works hard to make the candy, so you should also taste it yourself first.
Sang Yu scooped out a large spoonful and put it into the bowl, then invited everyone to come and taste it.
She picked up a little syrup with the tip of a bamboo chopstick, put it near her mouth to cool it down, and then slowly put it into her mouth. The others also followed her actions and tasted it.
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