Chapter 292 You and I Unsealed Together
The New Year’s Eve dinner was extremely sumptuous.
Aunt Zhang heated the kang and put two kang tables together.
Everyone was sitting around the kang in their casual clothes.
Shitou and Anqinghe had just made a snowman outside the gate, and they were arguing and vying to give credit to Gu Xixi.
Shitou: "Sister Xixi, I was the first one to say that you liked snow dolls and wanted to make one, but he just came and interfered!"
An Qinghe: "There is strength in numbers. Without my help in clearing the snow, how could the pile be that big?"
Stone: “I made that pile!”
An Qinghe: “I piled it up too!”
Stone: "I found the nose!"
An Qinghe: "All the decorations in its arms were made by me!"
Shitou: "I can do it without your help!"
Aunt Zhang couldn't help laughing when she saw the two of them, and said to the old doctor, "Now there are more and more people at home, and it's getting lively with all the talking and laughing."
The old doctor smiled and picked up the liquor, "So if you want to have fun, you have to rely on the young people."
Gu Xixi helplessly looked at the two people who were still arguing and said, "Brother An, do you think it's fun to argue with a kid?"
"And Shitou, Brother An is a guest, he is helping you out of kindness, don't take it too seriously."
"Thank you for your kindness. I'll go out and see the snowman after the firecrackers are set off."
After hearing what Gu Xixi said, An Qinghe and Shitou turned around and looked at her at the same time.
An Qinghe said, "That's wrong. Stone and I are opponents and we are competing fairly. How can you say it's boring?"
Shitou also frowned, "Sister Xixi, Brother An is one of us, and we are serious about making snow dolls, so how can we not be serious?"
Gu Xixi pursed her lips speechlessly, "Alright, you guys keep quarreling and making trouble. I can see that your relationship is the result of fighting. I won't interfere."
Aunt Zhang and the old doctor both laughed out loud.
After dinner, everyone set off firecrackers outside, just some simple little poppers and firecrackers.
Gu Xixi stepped over the threshold and saw a huge snowman.
He has a round head, a round face, and a round body, and his height is almost catching up with An Qinghe.
The stone lantern illuminated his face, with pride written all over it.
"This is a surprise that we have racked our brains to prepare. Do you like it, Sister Xixi?"
Gu Xixi moved closer, and when she saw the shape of the snowman clearly, she couldn't help laughing out loud.
Yellow wheat straw is braided into two large braids.
The eyes are made of dried dates dyed with ink, the mouth is carved out of a pumpkin, and the nose is made of a green onion leaf.
What’s even more unique is what the snowman is holding in his arms.
A handful of dry wheat ears with two strings of copper coins hanging on them.
A few thin bamboo sticks were strung with wheat flour buns, red date cakes, and red crabapple fruits.
Aunt Zhang said with a smile, "I was wondering why there were fewer steamed buns and forked cakes in the basket."
She raised her hand and patted An Qinghe twice, "I told you two to stop playing with food!"
An Qinghe knew that Aunt Zhang didn't really hit him, but he deliberately ran around with his head in his hands, begging for mercy: "Aunt, I know I was wrong!"
"These are frozen outside. We can heat them up and eat them later! I'll eat them. I won't waste them!"
Gu Xixi laughed enough and asked, "What were you two thinking, making these things?"
An Qinghe glanced at Shi Tou and asked him to speak.
Shitou cleared his throat and shook his head. "The wheat straw, pumpkin, and green onions are all grown in our fields. We bring them to celebrate the good harvest."
"Red dates represent eyes, and I wish Sister Xixi can see more ways to make money sooner next year!"
"These goodies in my arms, with copper coins tied to wheat stalks, are of course to wish Sister Xixi a lot of money from farming. The rest are Sister Xixi's favorite foods."
An Qinghe concluded, "This is a snow doll customized exclusively for Gu Xixi!"
Gu Xixi smiled and said, "Yes, I like it very much. I hope you can give me good wishes."
She looked around with a smile, bowed and said, "Thank you for taking care of me next year."
It is not advisable to go to bed too early tonight as we are staying up all night to celebrate the New Year.
Everyone played dominoes in the main room until midnight, then came out and went back to their rooms to sleep.
An Qinghe took the initiative to put some heavy things back into the kitchen, and when he came out, he met Gu Xixi coming back from the toilet.
An Qinghe still lived in the small house in the backyard. He remembered an important matter and said with a smile, "I don't know how the Fu tea we made is doing. Why don't we go and take a look while we can?"
Gu Xixi was not sleepy yet, so after a little thought, she agreed.
“I saw once in the fall that the tea cakes had successfully fermented, so I wrapped them up one by one.”
"At this point, whether the fermentation will be successful and whether the golden flowers of Fucha can be produced can only be left to fate."
“So I never opened it again after that.”
The two walked into the pharmacy while talking.
An Qinghe lit the oil lamp and looked at Gu Xixi with interest, "Guess, have we succeeded?"
Gu Xixi thought for a moment and said, "I won't guess. It's a 50-50 chance. What's there to guess?"
An Qinghe winked and smiled, "But I have a feeling. It's a good festive night, and you and I just had this sudden idea. We came together to open the seal. With the combination of coincidences, we will definitely see a good result."
Of course Gu Xixi didn't believe it, she laughed and said, "Then give it a try, don't cry if you fail."
The tea cakes and tea bricks on the shelves are numbered according to the tea tree varieties.
An Qinghe first took down a round tea cake, pressed one hand on the soft paper wrapping it, and looked up at Gu Xixi.
Gu Xixi had no choice but to stretch out her right hand and press it on the tea cake.
An Qinghe said, "The unsealing ceremony is complete, and we can now dismantle it."
The two of them unwrapped the soft paper together.
When seeing the pitch-black tea cake inside, Gu Xixi couldn't tell whether she was disappointed or relieved because "this was only the first time of the experiment and the failure was in line with common knowledge."
She comforted An Qinghe, "It is a normally fermented black tea. It has not gone bad. It is also the first step to success."
An Qinghe frowned and said, "Wait!"
He carefully brought the oil lamp close to the tea cake, and his eyes slowly widened, revealing a look of ecstasy.
"It's not ordinary black tea! Xixi, take a closer look!"
Gu Xixi was startled and quickly bent down to take a closer look.
An Qinghe cooperated and gently shook the lampstand.
Finally, Gu Xixi saw the golden stars reflected by the lights.
An Qinghe urged excitedly, "Do you see it now? Is it the real golden flower?"
Under the warm light, Gu Xixi looked at the tea cake, and small flowers seemed to hatch one after another in her heart.
"I see, it's Jinhua!"
“Although not much, it may be because the fermentation time is still short.”
An Qinghe's face lit up after getting the confirmation, "Does this prove that our method is correct?"
“And the water and climate of Huachidu Village are perfect for making Fucha!”
Gu Xixi straightened up and nodded confidently to An Qinghe, "Well, it's done at the initial stage."
The two continued to disassemble different test items.
Basically all of them have golden flowers, more or less, which shows that the fermentation depth and speed of different types of tea are different.
But more important is the taste.
The next step is to select the tea with the best overall quality.
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