Xu Jiang hurriedly moved the pot off the stove and poured the burnt pancakes into the basket. Then she stared at the burnt pancakes in the basket in a daze until she heard Lou Yunchun's footsteps coming in.
"Are you okay?"
"It's confused." Xu Jiang murmured.
"I'm asking you?" Lou Yunchun walked up to her with a concerned look in his eyes.
Xu Jiang smiled at him, "No problem." But the smile did not reach her eyes.
Shopkeeper Wang also came in and asked, "Are you making pancakes?"
"Well, half of it's still burnt." She was about to take the pot to wash it, but suddenly she hissed in pain. Lou Yunchun quickly took her hand and saw that several of her fingers had been burned and peeled off.
Shopkeeper Wang came over to take a look and said, "It's nothing serious. Just apply some burn ointment. Do you have any here? If not, I'll go get it for you at home."
Xu Jiang shook his head, "No."
Minor injuries like this heal in two or three days, so she never took it seriously.
"Wait, I'll get you a bottle." After saying that, Shopkeeper Wang went home to get the ointment.
Lou Yunchun pursed his lips, pinched her fingers carefully, and asked in a low voice: "Does it hurt?"
Xu Jiang paused and nodded, "It hurts."
Lou Yunchun frowned, and then blew on each of her fingers. His breath was warm and soft, blowing on her fingers and also on her heart, blowing away the cold mist that enveloped her chest.
Lou Yunchun looked up and saw her eyes were red. His heart felt like it was being squeezed hard, and the pain was so intense that he wished he could suffer for her. He hurriedly coaxed her softly, "A Jiang, don't cry. The pain will go away after I apply the medicine."
Xu Jiang burst into laughter, what a fool!
Shopkeeper Wang quickly brought the medicine. Seeing the two basins of batter, he felt it would be a shame to throw them away, so he said to Xu Jiang, "I know how to make pancakes. I'll take care of the rest. Brother Lou, take her out to apply the medicine."
"Then wait and taste the shopkeeper's cooking skills." Xu Jiang didn't bother to be polite with him. He handed the kitchen work to him and went to the shop with Lou Yunchun to buy medicine.
The ointment that Manager Wang brought was mild in nature, probably for the children at home. It didn't hurt when applied to the wound. After applying it on a few fingers, the wound looked shiny.
"This ointment is good. I'll ask him where he bought it later so we can keep some in the store."
"good."
Lou Yunchun took her fingers and blew on them again, then asked, "Does it still hurt?"
Xu Jiang smiled lightly and said, "It doesn't hurt anymore." Then she said to him, "I'm just a little thirsty."
Lou Yunchun quickly made her some new tea, and she quickly shouted, "Just have the cold one."
Lou Yunchun hadn't wanted to give her cold tea, but seeing her eager expression, he brought it to her. Knowing that Xu Jiang's hands were smeared with medicine, he held up the teacup and offered it to her. After Xu Jiang drank a few sips and still felt thirsty, he took the tea away and poured it out, brewing her a hot cup again.
"It's cold, and it's not good to drink too much cold tea."
When the tea was ready, Shopkeeper Wang came out with the cakes and said cheerfully, "Come and try my cooking."
The pancakes baked by Shopkeeper Wang are more cooked than those baked by Xu Jiang. The crust is crispy and smells fragrant.
Seeing that she was staring at him, Lou Yunchun picked up a piece and gave it to her first. She squinted her eyes while eating.
"fragrant."
Shopkeeper Wang said proudly, "After all, I make a living in the rice business. If I can't even make a pancake, wouldn't people laugh at me if I tell them about it?"
Lou Yunchun also picked up a piece to eat, but he felt that Xu Jiang's was better.
Shopkeeper Wang continued, "Speaking of making wheat pancakes, you have to use fresh wheat, especially freshly harvested wheat. Grind it and bake it on the stove, and the aroma is irresistible even to the gods. Every year when I go to Longshang to harvest wheat, the farmers will bake a pancake for me to try first. Eating a pancake in the fields, sitting on freshly harvested wheat stalks, is the real enjoyment."
"That's true," Xu Jiang agreed. "Not only pancakes, but also the sweet mash made from new wheat is delicious."
"Oh, Madam Xu, you know about this sweet mash." Shopkeeper Wang looked at her in surprise. "It's not uncommon for people in our line of work to have heard of it before. How did you get this information?"
"I once heard a traveling merchant from Huating County talk about it. I've also seen some farmers in remote areas of the south brewing similar beer. I've also seen some notes calling it fuzi. It tastes similar to rice wine and is made in the same way. Once it's made, it can be drunk straight up, mixed with other drinks, or used to make eggnog. It's only three points more bitter than rice wine, but the bitterness is clear, and then it becomes sweet again. It's quite unique."
Shopkeeper Wang licked his lips as he listened, and Xu Jiang also felt greedy because of what she said. Thinking that there was still some rice wine in the shop, he asked Lou Yunchun to get some and drink it hot.
Shopkeeper Wang suggested, "When the new wheat is harvested next year, I'll call Madam Xu over and we'll make some to drink."
"That's great." Xu Jiang agreed happily. While Manager Wang was harvesting wheat, she could collect books. Many farming and reading families had rich collections of books, so it was like killing two birds with one stone.
"Oh, you're so busy talking that the pot is still burning."
After Shopkeeper Wang had baked all the pancakes and the rice wine was warm, the three of them sat around drinking and eating pancakes.
After two glasses of wine, Shopkeeper Wang's curiosity was not suppressed. He asked, "Madam Xu, what happened to that horse slave today?"
Lou Yunchun was also curious about this matter, but he wanted to wait for Xu Jiang to speak herself. If she didn't want to mention it, he wouldn't ask. Now that Shopkeeper Wang suddenly asked, he was afraid she would be upset, so he stared at her.
Lovers pay attention to details, but Shopkeeper Wang doesn't have too many concerns. People have to live a rough life to withstand wind and rain.
"That slave kept asking you to redeem him, but who is he to you?" He arrived halfway and didn't know the whole story.
Xu Jiang smiled bitterly, "It's not really a secret, it's just that no one asks about it, so I just don't want to mention it."
She turned her head and looked at Lou Yunchun. Lou Yunchun understood and fed her a glass of wine. Taking advantage of the alcohol, Xu Jiang slowly told her the origin of Ma Twelve.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
