The old lady looked at the eleven pounds of white sugar and one pound of sesame seeds that Zhang Hongmei had brought back and finally understood that the child just wouldn't eat; she wouldn't be satisfied until she had enough to eat.
"Grandma, how many eggs do you need? I'm thinking of giving away some mooncakes." He then told the old lady about the brown sugar he had bought at the village supply and marketing cooperative last time.
"So I promised Sister Xiaojiang that I would definitely deliver it to her, and to my third uncle as well. I also have to deliver to the village chief's house, and to Dashan, Erlinzi, Xiaosuo, Shuangcun, Sister Erya, Brother Zhuzi, Brother Jianguo, Shitou Sanya, and Uncle Qingshan, and the principal. It's at least fifty yuan, even if it's two yuan per person, right? Oh, and to the aunties from the Women's Federation too."
The old lady shook her head; this child was truly thorough in every way. "One yuan and two ounces. Do the math yourself. Do you have enough flour? Do you have enough eggs?"
"I have fifty catties of wheat flour, twenty eggs, ten catties of brown sugar, eleven catties of white sugar, one catty of sesame seeds, ten catties of red beans, no goat milk, but I have milk powder. Is this enough?"
"That's enough. This will make over three hundred pieces. Enough for you to give away. But do you have any glutinous rice?"
"Yes, it weighs several kilograms."
"Then you need to grind the glutinous rice into powder first."
"Okay, Sister Erya is home, I'll ask her to help. Grandma, I'll do it and you can give me guidance from the side."
"Let your aunt and grandma help you. You'll need several pounds of soybean oil, and the dough will consist of five ingredients: oil, sugar, flour, eggs, and milk powder."
The glutinous rice had to be soaked in water before being ground into powder using a stone mill. Zhang Hongmei soaked ten catties of glutinous rice at home, drained it the next morning, and waited to grind it.
Once Zhang Hongmei had prepared all the ingredients, the old lady arrived with her daughter-in-law and granddaughter-in-law, carrying a large basin of red bean paste and mooncake molds. Li Cuihua and Er Ya also came, bringing two steamers.
The first step is to knead the dough. Since I didn't have a large enough bowl, I used a short water vat. I put in fifty catties of flour, five catties of white sugar, two catties of brown sugar, cracked in twenty eggs, and added two large basins of milk powder.
Liu Aimin's wife and Li Cuihua were in charge of kneading the dough, while Liu Aimin's mother was in charge of pouring out the milk.
Er Ya tended the fire, Zhang Hongmei was in charge of frying glutinous rice flour, and the old lady mixed the bean paste.
There wasn't a single idle person in the kitchen; everyone was busy.
Kneading dough is hard work; you have to keep kneading it until there are air bubbles in it.
Zhang Hongmei poured six or seven catties of soybean oil into the pot, and Er Ya turned the heat up high until the oil boiled, then turned the heat down to low.
Pour ten pounds of glutinous rice flour into the pot, stir well, and turn off the heat. You still need to keep stirring. Er Ya got up to help Zhang Hongmei stir, mainly because she saw how much effort Zhang Hongmei was putting into the work.
Once the glutinous rice flour had cooled to a paste-like consistency, white sugar was added. The remaining six catties of white sugar were all added in. Zhang Hongmei tasted it and found it wasn't sweet enough. Since the white sugar was difficult to remove, she added five catties of brown sugar. This tasted just right. Finally, she added roasted sesame seeds, and the filling was ready.
Er Ya and the other girl washed their hands, squeezed the glutinous rice filling into balls of about one ounce each, placed them on a board, and set them aside.
The dough was ready by then, and the women worked quickly and efficiently, chatting about everyday things while their hands never stopped moving.
Er Ya, Zhang Hongmei, and the old lady were in charge of pressing the molds. There were several patterns, but since there were only two types of fillings, they chose two different molds.
After pressing, take it out and put it on the steamer. There's no other way; we don't have an oven now, so this is good enough.
It wasn't until almost time to prepare dinner that everything was finally finished. By then, four steamers had been steamed and were being placed on a wooden board to cool.
Then she made four more trays, bringing the total to 376 mooncakes made today. That's enough for Zhang Hongmei to give as gifts, and also enough to give one to each of the other children in the village.
All the mooncakes were steamed. Zhang Hongmei had already eaten two, and only the old lady had eaten one. The others couldn't bear to eat any.
The next morning, Zhang Hongmei began delivering gifts.
First, the old lady has twenty-four yuan, Wang Hongxi has sixteen yuan, Liu Maocai has twenty-four yuan, Dashan has three yuan, Erlinzi, Xiaosuo, and Shuangcun each have three yuan, and Wang Qingshan has two yuan, which makes seventy-eight yuan in total.
After delivering the mooncakes, I asked Stone to notify his friends to come and pick them up. We distributed two mooncakes to each child, totaling sixty-eight mooncakes, and then finished delivering them all.
Stone Sanya and Wang Hongxi's two children were also given money; it wasn't necessary, it was just a matter of giving a few more yuan.
Without stopping, he wrapped two packages for the principal with parchment paper, one package containing eight yuan, and the other containing sixteen yuan. Li Juying's package contained eight yuan. Xiao Jiang's package contained eight yuan.
He rode his bicycle to the village and delivered the gifts to everyone.
The old headmaster looked at the packaging paper, which was soaked with oil and smelled of sweet pastries. "What is this?" he asked.
“We made our own mooncakes. Take them back to my grandma and let her try them. I’ve already had them, and they’re incredibly delicious.”
"Since you said it's delicious, what else can I say? When are you coming over to my house to get acquainted with the place?"
"It's delicious anyway, but the timing is always wrong. I'll definitely go check it out. I'm off now, I still have two people to see off."
"Go ahead, you always rush off like that."
Zhang Hongmei went to the Women's Federation first. Li Juying knew Zhang Hongmei's temperament, so she didn't refuse and gratefully accepted the gift.
When they arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative, Zhang Hongmei came in carrying a paper bag. Xiao Jiang was yawning boredly.
"Sister Jiang, I kept my promise and brought you something delicious!"
"It smells so good, it must be delicious."
"That's right."
Zhang Hongmei saw that Xiao Jiang's eyes were fixed on the paper package; they were truly kindred spirits.
"Hongmei, how much is it? I'll pay."
"Give me back my mooncakes if you give me the money."
"Can I not return this?"
"Then let's not talk about money."
"Thank you so much!" Xiao Jiang happily put the paper package under the counter, waiting to eat it together when she got home. She was sure her aunt would love it.
When Zhang Hongmei got home, there was no food to eat. She felt that eating mooncakes wouldn't help her when she was hungry, so she took out a meat bun and ate it with relish.
I haven't gone to herd sheep these past few days. Since it's still early today, why don't I go to the county to deliver some to Er Yazhu and the others?
What an idiot! Why didn't I think to send it over too? It'll only take two more days.
Why don't we go today? It's okay if it's late.
I gave Er Ya five yuan, Zhu Zi five yuan, and Liu Changhai twenty yuan. I didn't know how many people were in their family, so I gave them more.
The family only had 168 yuan left, so they took out another 8 yuan and gave it to the old lady.
"Grandma, I'm going to the county and city to deliver mooncakes to them. I'll be back as early as tomorrow."
"Go ahead, remember to let Jingze try some."
"Then we should go to the high school in the city to find him, right?"
"Yes, he's a sophomore in high school."
"Okay, I'll definitely save a few extra pieces for him so your great-grandson can have more."
"You think everyone is like you, only knowing how to eat? But it's true that he loves to eat too."
"Hmph! I just know how to enjoy life."
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