After we finished eating, it got dark.
Zhao Di took the initiative to clear the dishes and chopsticks, then turned around and saw Liu Yingying standing there, looking thoughtful, examining the winter melons in front of her.
"Ah! I've got it!"
"Liu Niang, what have you thought of again?" Zhao Di looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“We don’t lack food, there’s no need to eat these winter melons every day, and you’ll get tired of them too. But it would be a waste if these melons went bad.”
"So, I've decided to make winter melon into candied winter melon, which I can take to the county town to sell tomorrow!"
After Liu Yingying finished speaking, she turned to look at her and said, "You'll come with me then!"
"But...but I've never been to the county town before..."
Zhao Di was in a daze, both curious about how Liu Niang was going to make candy from winter melon and extremely excited about going to the county town tomorrow.
After all, her own parents had never even taken her to town when they were still alive.
Liu Yingying is a woman of action and has excellent practical skills.
With Zhao Di's help, they quickly peeled the winter melon, cut it into strips about the size of a finger, washed it clean, and then poured in a certain amount of white sugar and started stirring.
Zhao Di couldn't help but feel sorry for her as she poured the sugar in like it was free, and weakly reminded her.
"Liu Niang, white sugar is very expensive. Ordinary families like ours can't even afford to buy it during the New Year..."
Liu Yingying smiled dismissively at her, "Don't worry, my winter melon candy is more expensive than white sugar!"
After marinating the winter melon for about twenty minutes, pour it into a pot along with the sugar syrup and start simmering over medium heat.
After cooking, the candied winter melon strips are placed in a large bowl to cool naturally. This process allows the winter melon strips to fully absorb the sugar syrup.
Then pour it back into the pot and stir-fry over high heat until the water in the winter melon evaporates. Then stir-fry over low heat until the winter melon turns white and sandy.
The candied winter melon is now ready!
Liu Yingying picked up a piece of candy and stuffed it into Zhao Di's mouth. "Here, try it first and see how it tastes."
"So sweet!"
The moment the candied winter melon touched her lips, Zhao Di felt as if the whole world had become sweet.
At that moment, two small figures tiptoed to the kitchen doorway.
Upon seeing this, Zhu Jiawang immediately felt indignant and asked with a wronged expression, "Why...why did you steal food from me and my brother?"
Just as Zhao Di was about to explain that she and Liu Niang had not stolen any food, Liu Yingying interrupted her and waved to the two brothers.
"Come here, your older sister and I have just discovered a new way to eat winter melon."
"Forehead?"
The two brothers looked on with curiosity until Liu Yingying handed them a small bowl of winter melon.
Jiafu reached out his little hand, pinched a piece of candy, and put it in his mouth. His eyes immediately lit up, and he looked up at Jiawang.
"Brother, this candy is so sweet! So delicious!"
Since their father passed away, they hadn't tasted sweetness again, but this winter melon candy was even better than the candy their father used to bring back from town...
"Alright, you guys go back to your room and eat. Remember to wash your hands before you go to sleep."
After working late into the night, she was exhausted and turned to walk out the door.
He turned back at the threshold and warned them, "Remember, don't steal any of the remaining winter melon candy!"
In the past, the Zhu brothers would have ignored her words.
But things are different now.
Liu Yingying is really capable of beating them to death!
Early the next morning, Liu Yingying packed the winter melon candy she had made the night before into yellow paper, each package weighing half a pound, and carefully placed more than twenty packages into her basket.
Together with Zhaodi, they arrived at the village entrance to wait for the oxcart to the county town.
Liu Yingying noticed that there were many women with children waiting for the bus at the intersection.
You know without even asking.
Now every household is running out of food, and there's nothing to do in the fields. In order to survive, many women take their children to the city to beg.
After all, no matter how severe the famine was in the countryside, there were still many wealthy households in the city.
If the rich manage to squeeze out even a little bit, it'll be enough for the poor to eat for a long time...
After Liu Yingying greeted several familiar women, Uncle Da Niu arrived in his oxcart, smiling kindly as he spoke to her.
"Xiao Liu, are you and your daughter going to the town or the county seat?"
"We'll have to trouble you to give us a ride to the county."
Liu Yingying smiled and reached out to take out six coins and handed them to Uncle Da Niu.
Uncle Niu glanced at the money in his hand, then quickly tried to return it to her, saying, "Oh! Xiao Liu, why are you giving me so much?"
According to the previous pricing, it cost two coins for adults and one coin for children to go to town.
It costs three coins for adults and two coins for children to go to the county town.
In fact, Liu Yingying only gave one extra coin, but a sesame seed cake also costs one coin, so most people wouldn't give even one extra coin for the fare.
Liu Yingying looked at Uncle Da Niu with gratitude, "Uncle, this is a small token of my appreciation. If it weren't for your kindness in pulling me out of the water when I fell in, I wouldn't be standing here talking to you now."
"You can't say that. We did our duty to pull you out of the river..."
Uncle Da Niu is an honest man; he couldn't bear to leave someone in distress unattended. But faced with Liu Yingying's words of gratitude, he felt somewhat embarrassed.
Liu Yingying and Zhao Di boarded the oxcart.
Uncle Da Niu noticed the basket in her hand, which was covered with a piece of coarse burlap, so he couldn't see what was inside, and he became curious.
"Xiao Liu, what are you and your daughter doing in the county town?"
Liu Yingying explained with a smile, "Yesterday, when we were digging for wild vegetables, we found some wild winter melons on the mountain. I was thinking of making them into candy and trying to sell them in the county town to make some money..."
"What? You're saying winter melon can be made into candy?" Uncle Niu and the others in the car were all astonished.
Two of the women were also fortunate enough to have picked several large winter melons from the mountain yesterday, thanks to Liu Yingying, so their children had something to eat.
Everyone else was using these winter melons as a life-saving food source, but Liu Yingying used them to make candy. It's hard to say whether she was being unrealistic or simply didn't know how to manage money...
Liu Yingying didn't explain much, but simply lifted the coarse cloth covering the basket and took out a packet of winter melon candy, handing it to Uncle Da Niu.
"Uncle Da Niu, I remember you have a grandson at home. Please take this back for the child to eat. It's just a small token of my appreciation."
"How can that be! No, I can't accept this..." Uncle Niu said, embarrassed, and refused repeatedly.
Everyone knows that Liu Yingying did this to express her gratitude to Uncle Da Niu for saving her life last time. The two aunties who were talking earlier also tried to persuade Uncle Da Niu.
"Uncle, since this is a small token of Sister Liu's affection, please accept it!"
"Yes, I think Sister Liu's family definitely has plenty of these things, so you can just take them without worry."
Liu Yingying frowned slightly, but still didn't say anything more.
In the end, Uncle Niu couldn't refuse her and had to accept the bag of winter melon candy.
The oxcart moved slowly forward, gradually moving away from Taoyuan Village.
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