Since Zhu Dahu and Zhu Erni came to our home, the house has become much more lively.
Whenever Mu'er and Ze'er didn't have homework, the four of them would play together, sometimes playing hide-and-seek, sometimes catching bugs.
Their laughter filled the entire courtyard, and their arrival brought even more life to the place.
Whenever the two children had something to eat, Xu Han would never be stingy and would always share some with them.
At first, neither the brother nor sister dared to eat, but after doing it many times and following their parents' instructions, they finally dared to accept the things Xu Han handed them.
However, the brother and sister were well-educated by their parents and never fought with Ze'er and Mu'er for food. No matter what it was, they would only take a small taste, or they would only eat when Mu'er and Ze'er had finished eating.
Perhaps they've always been like this since childhood, because they have a clear understanding of their own identities, which is why they have this subconscious behavior. This scene made Xu Han feel a pang of sadness.
With all the household chores taken care of by the servants, Xu Han no longer had to do housework, giving her more time to do other things.
Having just picked some fresh pears, Xu Han immediately thought of making some pear syrup.
Autumn pear syrup is good for moisturizing the lungs and is very suitable for children to drink in the dry autumn season. It is also a good choice when children have a cough.
Without further ado, Xu Han called Granny Ma, and the two of them carried a basket of pears to the backyard.
"Madam, have all these pears been washed?"
While getting water, Xu Han replied, "Yes, I washed them all. There are many people in our family, so I plan to make more pear syrup. When the weather is dry in autumn, the elderly and children can make a cup of pear water to drink in the morning and evening. It's sweet, soothes the lungs, and relieves coughs."
"Haha, that's great! Children are weak, so drinking more of this is good for their health."
I've seen other people drink this before, but it's too expensive for me to buy for my child.
"We made it ourselves today, using ingredients from our own farm, so we feel safe drinking it. From now on, the two little masters can have it whenever they want."
Xu Han smiled and said, "Yes, I'll bring you a can after I finish making it. You can drink a cup every morning and evening. It's good for the health of the elderly."
Upon hearing this, Granny Ma repeatedly refused, saying, "No, no, these are for the two young masters. We are too old to need them. Giving us such good things to drink would be a waste and a disservice to such good things."
"How is it a waste? Older people like you need to drink this even more. Autumn weather is dry, and drinking a cup of pear syrup in the morning and evening will help prevent coughing."
"Don't worry, we made a lot today. Those kids won't drink that much pear syrup anyway, there's plenty for them."
Before Granny Ma could refuse again, Xu Han instructed, "Wash all these pears thoroughly. I'll go ask Grandpa Zhao for some medicinal herbs. We need to add some herbs to the pear syrup to make it more effective."
"Oh, you go ahead, I can wash these myself. Don't worry,"
After Ma Pozi finished speaking, she began to get busy, while Xu Han turned around and went into the backyard.
When Grandpa Zhao heard that Xu Han was going to make pear syrup for the children, he immediately stood up to prepare the medicine.
To make autumn pear syrup, choose fresh pears that are in season. In addition, add an appropriate amount of Chinese medicinal herbs during the process to ensure that the autumn pear syrup is effective.
Grandpa Zhao prepared the necessary ingredients—fried fritillaria cirrhosa, licorice root, monk fruit, and loquat leaves—in a specific ratio and handed them to Xu Han.
She also added, "In addition, when you're making it, cut some ginger and red dates and put them in to simmer together. After the pear shreds have completely dissolved, filter them out and continue simmering."
"Okay, Grandpa Zhao, I understand."
Xu Han took the medicinal herbs handed to her by Grandpa Zhao and then turned and went to the kitchen.
Just then, Granny Ma had finished washing all the pears and was now waiting in the kitchen for Xu Han to give her instructions on what to do next.
Xu Han instructed, "Let's cut all these pears into thin strips, the thinner the better, so that they can be cooked faster."
Old Ma chuckled and said, "Alright, Madam, leave these to me. I'll chop them up finely and neatly."
Xu Han picked up the kitchen knife next to her, pulled up a chair and sat down, saying, "I'll help you with this. We're making a lot, so it'll be faster if two people chop together."
As time went on, Granny Ma got to know Xu Han better. The new master was not the kind of person who was high and mighty, and did not look down on servants like them. She thought to herself, "Since the lady wants to help, she really wants to help, and she is definitely not just being polite."
So Granny Ma stopped saying anything, and the two of them sliced pears together, chatting casually.
Half an hour had passed by the time all the pears were cut.
Xu Han poured all the chopped pears into the pot and then started to boil the pear juice.
While simmering, she added the medicinal herbs that Grandpa Zhao had just prepared, and also remembered to add ginger and red dates.
Pears have a high water content, and after heating for a short while, the pear shreds slowly melted, and a lot of pear juice was cooked out in the pot.
Seeing that the pear juice was almost ready, Xu Han took out a wooden basin and began to filter the pear juice with gauze.
Granny Ma was responsible for filling the gauze with pear juice, while Xu Han was responsible for squeezing out the water from the pear juice in the gauze and filtering out the pear pulp.
The filtered pear pulp was no longer usable, so she put it all into a wooden basin to feed the chickens, ducks, and geese at home.
After filtering the pear juice twice until there was no residue left, Xu Han poured the pear juice back into the pot and continued to boil it.
After simmering for about another half hour, the water in the pear juice had slowly evaporated, and the juice had become thicker and darker in color.
Once the pear juice in the pot turns from small bubbles to large bubbles, the pear syrup is ready.
The prepared pear syrup should be poured into jars while it's still hot; otherwise, it will become more viscous as it cools down, making it harder to pour.
A large basket of pears yielded three full jars of pear syrup. Xu Han put the newly made pear syrup into the cabinet.
Then, the tools for making pear syrup were rinsed with warm water so that the pear syrup water could be drunk when the servants returned for lunch.
Just as she finished rinsing the utensils, Xu Han picked up a cup of pear syrup and started drinking it. She smacked her lips and said it tasted pretty good.
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