On the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, it was Little New Year.
That day, the Mo Family did not set up their stall and gave all the village helpers a day’s wages, letting them take turns watching over the vegetable patch to prevent theft or mischief.
After having breakfast early in the morning, the whole family got busy.
Mo Qingze used a cloth strip to tightly wrap a small broom onto a four or five-meter-long bamboo pole for cleaning cobwebs and dust from the roof and corners. Lizhong followed behind him with a broom to sweep off the dust clinging to the walls.
Mo Yan dismantled a few quilt covers from the beds to wash and air them. Liyan was also kept busy, tidying and thoroughly cleaning all the jars and bottles in the kitchen, while Xin Er was responsible for drawing water from the well, assisting.
The youngest, Zhenzhen, had it easy and just had to tend the stove to boil water. From time to time, he would throw in a couple of potatoes or sweet potatoes, roasting them before peeling and giving them to his sisters to eat.
After the two families worked together to finish all the cleaning, they had a simple lunch and then began preparing the offerings for the evening kitchen god ceremony.
The ceremony required offerings like dates, candied melon, eggs, and alcoholic beverages. The dates, eggs, and wine could be placed directly on plates, but the candied melon required some effort to make.
In Great Chu, the candied melon used for the kitchen god ceremony was made from roasted corn mixed with maltose, resulting in a crispy and sweet treat. However, the candied melon Mo Yan had in her previous life was made from glutinous millet, maltose, and sesame seeds.
After asking the children, none of them had tasted such a thing, and all were eager to try. Thus, Mo Yan decided to make both corn and glutinous millet sesame varieties, making extra as snacks for them.
The maltose was purchased from the store just yesterday, weighing seven or eight pounds, enough to make a large quantity of candied melon. Due to the low temperature, it had solidified into one big lump.
Mo Yan used the back of a knife to break the maltose into small pieces in a ceramic basin, then put it into an inner pot with added water, asking Xin Er to light the fire to melt the maltose.
The outer pot was not left idle, either. After heating the pot, Mo Yan poured over two pounds of salt into it. Once the salt changed color, half a pound of corn was added, and she began stirring with a spatula. The salt not only prevented the corn from burning but also made it turn out even crispier.
When the corn popped and crackled fragrantly, and no more popping sounds could be heard, it was done and ready to be removed from the pot. The roasted corn was sifted to remove the salt, so it wouldn’t taste salty when eaten.
After frying ten batches, once all five pounds of corn kernels were done, Mo Yan started to fry the glutinous millet.
Compared to corn, glutinous millet had smaller grains and was easier to fry, often taking less than a moment in the pot to be ready. The fried glutinous millet was whiter than rice and crispy and fragrant. As soon as the first batch was done, Zhenzhen ran in, took a bowl out, and ate it.
"Sis, this is delicious. It’s even better mixed with brown sugar!"
Not long after, Zhenzhen ran in with an empty bowl, exclaiming how tasty it was.
Upon hearing this, Xin Er, who couldn’t wait any longer, took a bowl, filled it halfway with the fried glutinous millet, added some sugar, mixed it, and after tasting the first bite, couldn’t bear to put the bowl down.
"Sis, it’s really delicious. You should have some too!" exclaimed Xin Er as she scooped up a spoonful and offered it to her sister’s mouth.
Mo Yan laughed and took a bite, finding it quite good. She asked Zhenzhen to get a clean bowl, filled it, mixed in some sugar, and had him take it to Liyan.
As the kitchen required no further assistance, the idle Liyan took up needle and thread in her room, sewing quilt covers that Mo Yan had cut a few days earlier.
As Zhenzhen bustled in and out with the bowls, Mo Qingze and Lizhong couldn’t help but sneak into the kitchen. The fragrant smell of fried glutinous millet and corn made them feel hungry again, and they cheerfully took bowls to serve themselves some.