Old Man Chen was silent for a moment, then said, "Alright then, I'll go ask someone later."
Normally, the people in charge of these matters are the yamen runners of the county government. Their family has some connections with the leaders of those yamen runners, but they don't know if this matter will be resolved.
Chen Kai was worried that the saltpeter at home wouldn't be enough for them tomorrow, so he said, "Dad, let's take all our oxcarts out to Dishuang later."
Old Man Chen nodded. Of course, the more saltpeter the better. His family had two oxcarts, plus his uncle's and his daughter's, so four oxcarts could bring back quite a bit of frost.
After discussing tomorrow's arrangements for a while, they went about their own business.
Chen Kai saw that Sanya and the others were about to go to work, so he called out, "Sanya, come here for a second."
Sanya walked over and asked, "Uncle, is there something you need?"
Chen Kai said with a smile, "Sanya, go and cut some reeds for me. I want the tough ones, not the soft and brittle ones. Cut a lot of them, we'll use them as straws tomorrow."
Sanya asked in confusion, "Uncle, what's a straw? How do you use it?"
Chen Kai said, "A straw is just a tube that you can stick into water to blow bubbles, or you can use it to drink water."
Sanya suddenly realized and said, "Oh, Uncle, now I understand. We often break off reeds and blow bubbles in the water, it's so much fun."
At this moment, Wu Xiaobao ran over and said, "Uncle, let's make popsicles. You said that once the bamboo tubes were finished, you would make popsicles for us to eat."
Chen Kai said with a smile, "Okay, okay, let's go make some popsicles."
After they arrived in the kitchen, Chen Kai looked at the bamboo tubes they had made; the thickness was just right, and the height was also acceptable.
Chen Kai asked Zhou Kai and the others to bring over a large basin and said, "Whatever flavor of popsicle you want, just fill the bamboo tube with the corresponding flavor of juice, but don't fill it too full, and put the small wooden sticks in too."
Chen Kai then asked Zhou Kai to bring over a small wooden basin, and then placed the juice they had prepared in bamboo tubes into the small wooden basin.
In a short while, the small wooden basin was filled. Chen Kai then had Zhou Kai and the others pour water into the large wooden basin, and then threw the saltpeter into the water.
After about half an hour, the juice in the small wooden basin froze. Zhou Kai exclaimed happily, "It's frozen! It's frozen!"
Xiao Bao took out a bamboo popsicle tube and tried to pull the stick out, but he couldn't get the popsicle out. He looked anxiously at Chen Kai.
Chen Kai said with a smile, "Xiao Bao, pat around the bamboo tube with your hand, and the popsicle will be ready in a little while."
Following Chen Kai's instructions, Xiao Bao patted the popsicle with his hands, and sure enough, the popsicle was ready in no time.
Xiao Bao happily ate his popsicle, saying between bites, "Uncle, eating like this is so much fun! It's much more fun than eating from a bowl."
Zhou Kai and the others also took out the popsicles they wanted to eat, unmolded them, and happily began to eat them.
Chen Kai said, "After you finish eating, bring a wooden basin, fill it with water, and place the bamboo tube filled with juice upright in the water. Make sure the water doesn't submerge the bamboo tube. After a while, you can take the popsicles out."
While eating his popsicle, Zhou Kai said, "I'll go get it in a bit."
Chen Kai said, "Bring all the saltpeter you have at home in a bit, and we'll continue making popsicles."
After Zhou Kai and the others finished their popsicles, they happily ran off to work.
Chen Kai said, "It seems we'll need to leave one more person at home tomorrow. We need to reuse the saltpeter, otherwise we might not be able to keep up with the demand."
Xiao Bao said gloatingly, "I wonder who's unlucky enough to be chosen to stay home tomorrow."
Xiao Tian said, "I think it's Fifth Uncle."
Chen Kai also thought it would be his fifth brother, since his fifth brother was the most unlucky person in the family, apart from his second brother.
Then they continued making popsicles. They made a lot of popsicles, and everyone in the family tried them. They all gave them rave reviews and thought the popsicles would definitely sell well the next day.
Chen Kai and the others were eating popsicles when Zhou Shi returned. Seeing her youngest son with his mouth red from the cold, she said with concern, "My dear son, don't eat so many popsicles. They're too cold. What if you get a stomachache? Xiao Tian, you guys should eat less too."
Xiao Tian had just finished a mulberry popsicle when his grandma scolded him, but he still grabbed another one and kept eating. He didn't care; he just wanted to keep eating.
Chen Kai said while eating his popsicle, "Mom, don't worry, we'll be careful."
Chen Lao Er's wife just returned in the oxcart. She got off the cart and said, "Mother, the restaurant owners all want us to deliver more goods tomorrow. I'm worried we won't have enough people to deliver the goods. Maybe we should add another person?"
Zhou nodded and said, "Alright then! Add one more. If that's not enough, let them arrange it themselves tomorrow."
Chen Kai said with a smile, "Second sister-in-law, come on, have some popsicles, we just made them."
Not long after, Sanya returned, bringing back a whole bamboo basket full of reeds.
Sanya put down the bamboo basket, then ran over and asked, "Uncle, I've already cut the reeds. Do I need to cut them up?"
Chen Kai laughed and said, "Sanya is really smart. She just wants to cut them apart, but she wants to cut them neatly, and they all have to be the same length. First, cut the reeds at the joints, and then cut them into pieces of the same length."
Sanya said happily, "Okay, then I'll go find someone to help me cut it."
After the reeds were cut, Chen Kai asked Sanya to find some thinner wooden sticks and some very small scraps of cloth.
After Sanya found the items, Chen Kai said, "Watch me do this first. First, wet the small pieces of cloth, then stuff them into the reed tube. Then, carefully use a small stick to pry the small pieces of cloth out of the reed tube. Once the small pieces of cloth are out, the reed tube will be empty and the water absorption will be smooth."
There's a layer of stuff in the middle of the reed stalk that needs to be removed, otherwise it won't absorb water properly. He did a good job on this one; he removed everything inside without breaking the reed.
Xiao Bao took out a reed and said happily, "This is fun, I want to make one too."
Chen Kai said with a smile, "Okay, then you guys take your time. After you're all done, Sanya, wash the reed pipes with clean water and then scald them with boiling water to disinfect them."
Sanya poked at the reed tube as she said, "Okay! I understand, Uncle."
Chen Kai said, "Now that we have straws, we can let them hold the straws and drink from them tomorrow. They've never seen anything like it before, so we can raise the price a bit."
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