Chapter 161 Tastes Better
In the past, Xiao Qian would never have thought of selling candied haws, but a lot has changed in the family over the past year.
First, Lao Wu and his friends went to the city to resell candies to make money, then his family went to the place where they served to cook to make money, and finally they made money by selling ginger.
No matter which one it is, it is very hard work, but you can earn a lot of money. And unlike farming, which depends on the weather for your livelihood, Xiao Qian thinks it is easy to make money by selling things.
As long as the food is good, they can be eaten at home even if they can't sell it. As for the worry of making a wasted trip, Xiao Qian doesn't think it's a big deal at all, because in winter, what everyone has the most is free time.
Even if the Zhou family wants to build a house now, it is not a problem to spare some people to travel to the county town.
Xiao Qianshi has made all the plans. If Zhou Xi can't spare the time, then let them take Datou and Daya with them.
There are two brothers and sisters. Big Head is ten years old this year and is already a teenager. He has been to the county town so many times to help sell things. Xiao Qian has great confidence in them.
Thinking of this, Xiao Qian called all the children who were playing in the yard over and asked them to wash the remaining yam beans while she boiled hot water to peel them.
Zhou Erlang asked Feng to help. He looked at the bamboo sticks they used to string the yam beans, went to the woodshed to find a thick piece of wood, and started drilling a hole.
He planned to make them a wooden board to stick the candied haws on so that they wouldn't get burned every time.
Not long after, it was dark, but no one went to bed. Instead, they squatted in the kitchen and watched Xiao Qian make candied haws by the firelight.
Because there were quite a lot of yam beans strung together this time, Mrs. Qian hesitated for a moment and then gave another string to each child, even the three brothers of Zhou Si, the youngest, got one.
Everyone got the candied haws they had been longing for and left satisfied.
Manbao took her candied haws and rushed back to her room to share them with her parents.
Old Zhou liked eating candies more and more. He grabbed Manbao's hand and bit off two candies in a row. He touched her little head and said with satisfaction: "Good girl, you are much better than your three brothers. Those bad boys didn't even think of giving it to their parents first."
Manbao, who was feeling distressed, puffed out his chest with pride upon hearing this. After hesitating for a moment, he steeled his heart and extended his hand forward, saying, "Dad, if you like it, have one more."
Old Zhou said with a smile: "It's so sweet that it hurts my teeth. That's enough for today. Please give it to me later."
Manbao immediately withdrew his hand and said happily: "Don't worry, Dad, my sister-in-law will make it for us in the future, and I will leave it for you."
Manbao looked at Qian and leaned close to her, "Mom, you should have another one too."
Qian glanced at her husband, shook her head slightly, and said with a smile: "Mother doesn't want to eat anymore. Go and eat quickly. Remember to rinse your mouth after eating and go to bed early. You have to go to school tomorrow."
Manbao nodded happily and decided to go to bed quickly so that he could eat another skewer in the morning.
Of course, good things should be shared with good friends. The next day, Manbao squatted in front of a row of candied haws and picked two of the fattest ones, intending to give one to Bai Shanbao.
Xiao Qian stuck the remaining candied haws on the haystack and asked Zhou Xi and others to take them to the county town.
This time, Datou and Daya will also go along, and they will be responsible for selling candied haws.
Everyone in the Zhou family is very busy. Zhou Dalang, Zhou Silang and Zhou Zhoulang have to stay at home to build the house, while Zhou Wulang, Zhou Liulang and Zhou Xi have to go to the county town to sell ginger.
Manbao still goes to school, she feels that she is very busy.
Man Bao, who was very busy, gave the candied haws to Bai Shan Bao. It was the first time for Bai Shan Bao to eat such candied haws. He was very surprised and said, "It's delicious. I want to eat more."
Manbao invited him, "I have a lot more at home, and my sister-in-law can cook a lot of delicious food."
Bai Shanbao drooled and said that he wanted to go home with Manbao.
The Zhou family extended a warm welcome to the young master of the Bai family. Knowing that he was there to eat candied haws, Xiao Qian took out all the remaining candied haws and gave them to eat as much as they wanted. She also said, "Eat first. I'll ask Ertou and the others to pick some yam beans and make another pot. You can take some home to eat."
Manbao was very happy, and Ertou and Erya and the other little ones were also very happy. They had been wanting to steal some candied haws today, but they had never dared to do it and could not find a chance.
Ertou and Manbao said, "Aunt, it's great that Brother Bai is here as a guest."
Manbao also thought it was a good idea, so he turned around and said to Bai Shanbao, "Can you come to my house every day from now on? And then tell my sister-in-law that you want to eat candied haws?"
Bai Shanbao: "...It's obviously you who wants to eat it."
"Don't you want to eat?"
Bai Shanbao thought about it and he really wanted to.
He rolled his eyes and whispered into Manbao's ear, "Then tell my grandmother that you want to eat our sweet-scented osmanthus cake."
As for the Bai family’s snacks, Manbao doesn’t like osmanthus cake very much now. She prefers glutinous rice balls.
But this seemed like a deal, so she hesitated and asked, "Can I say one more thing? I actually think glutinous rice cakes are more delicious than osmanthus cakes."
"Osmanthus cake is obviously more delicious, so tell my grandmother that you want to eat glutinous rice balls and osmanthus cake."
Manbao said it was okay, and the two children reached a consensus.
In the evening, Bai Shanbao took four strings of candied haws home and told his grandmother, "Manbao's candied haws are especially delicious, and she likes our osmanthus cake very much."
Mrs. Liu wasn't blind; she could clearly see what kind of snacks Manbao preferred at their house, so she said, "You want to eat osmanthus cake, right? I remember that Manbao prefers glutinous rice cakes."
Bai Shanbao said, "She likes to eat both now. If grandma doesn't believe me, wait until she comes home tomorrow and ask her."
Zheng couldn't help laughing, "You must have wanted to eat osmanthus cake, so you asked her to say that, right?"
Manbao's hobbies are a little different from Bai Shanbao's. She likes to eat food with a light sweet taste, while Shanbao prefers sweet food. The sweeter it is, the better he likes it.
Mrs. Liu was afraid that the child would damage his teeth by eating sweets, so she always limited the amount of cakes he could eat.
However, she also accepted the child's occasional spoiled behavior, so she said, "When Manbao comes tomorrow, I'll ask her, how many strings of candied haws did you eat at her house?"
Bai Shanbao held up three fingers guiltily, and Liu confiscated the four strings of candied haws he brought back, saying, "We've had enough sweets today. Save these for tomorrow."
She paused and then asked with a smile, "Are you going to give it to Grandma and Mother?"
Of course Bai Shanbao gave it to him, so the four skewers became two. Bai Shanbao was a little sad, and what made him even sadder was that he could only look at them today but not eat them.
Liu took a bite and found that the candied haws were indeed delicious. Moreover, it was made with yam. She knew that yam could replenish qi and strengthen the spleen and aid digestion.
After taking a bite, she smiled and said, "It's not bad. Tomorrow they'll dig up some yams. Remember to buy some from them and bring them back to make some yam cakes."
Zheng agreed.
Bai Shanbao had already muttered: "Yam cake is not as delicious as osmanthus cake..."
Liu was speechless after hearing this.
(End of this chapter)
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