"Gentiana, Strychnos Nux Vomica, Cortex Fraxini." Having picked out the appropriate amounts of the last few herbs needed, Lin Xiaoguai breathed a sigh of relief and began to make the medicinal pills.
By the time the required pills were done, it had already been over an hour. Lin Xiaoguai found some small porcelain bottles to store them, planning to send them to her brother tomorrow.
The pills she made were brain-nourishing tonics, greatly beneficial to Lin Xiaoxue, whose body had yet to recover from her recent bout of meningitis.
She was also worried that Lin Xiaoxue, whose health had finally improved, would weaken again because of the illness.
After busying herself for half the day, she stretched lazily and began to wander around her space.
Over the years, she had sporadically developed the space, and the new, boundless fields in the space had been transformed, filled with a diversity of crops, presenting a spectacular sight.
Sometimes Lin Xiaoguai felt that owning this space was somewhat wasteful. Although she utilized all of its land, it was purely out of the older generation’s frugal mindset, and the harvest could only be stored in the warehouse space, taking up room. She was a woman without ambition, neither considering setting up a supermarket chain nor cultivating a culinary kingdom.
Looking at the vibrant scene before her and thinking of the stockpiled produce in the storage space, she momentarily felt the urge to do something, but it was just an idea, with no clear plan of action.
After purchasing two toys from the exchange store, suitable for Little Niangao to play with yet not overly astonishing, Lin Xiaoguai exited the space.
Shen Chi had business to attend to outside, so she went to the kitchen to take the ready dough out of the bowl and began to make dough-based food.
She had never been too concerned with the appearance of food; as long as it tasted good and looked simple and pleasing, that was enough. But today, Little Niangao reminded her that while she might not mind, Little Niangao, still a child, certainly would.
After all, it wasn’t that she couldn’t make appealing-looking food; it just took some effort. Making a child overjoyed was well worth it.
Flower buns, little piggy milk buns, bunny buns, rose buns, butterfly buns... these were all without fillings, but she added some special extraterrestrial ingredients, ensuring the flavors would be far from bland. Lin Xiaoguai planned to store them in the fridge for her son to have for breakfast, and of course, they could serve to impress his friends.
Lin Xiaoguai usually preferred not to restrict Little Niangao’s childlike nature.
It was a pity there was no oven; otherwise, there would be many more varieties of pastries, and Little Niangao’s delight would be immeasurable.
After packing the prepared buns into disposable containers and placing them in the fridge, Lin Xiaoguai started to make dumplings. Although Shen Chi liked baozi, even the tastiest food could become tiresome with excess. This time, she planned to make dumplings, prepare some minced meat sauce with eggs, knead some noodles, because, though father and son didn’t fancy soup noodles, they loved the richly flavored Zhajiang noodles.
Besides these, Lin Xiaoguai also made some shrimp dumplings and shaomai until the fridge was packed full before she stopped.
When Jiang Xiaomei arrived, Lin Xiaoguai was cutting up the hawthorn cake into pieces. Seeing her, she immediately stuffed a piece of the hawthorn cake into her mouth, "Try this, how’s the taste?"
"Not bad, just a bit less rock sugar," Jiang Xiaomei said after eating it.
"I can’t help it, both Little Niangao and Shen Chi don’t like sweets," Lin Xiaoguai said helplessly.
"Is that so? The kids in my class love sugar. Just last week, a boy rolled around on the floor in pain from a cavity, causing such a scene that we had to go to the hospital. That child’s family isn’t well-off, and they were relentless about the medical expenses. I almost couldn’t take it and almost paid out of my own pocket," Jiang Xiaomei sighed.
She loved her job as a preschool teacher; even though the kids could sometimes be headache-inducing, they were very cute. However, it was distressing for her to deal with unreasonable parents.
"How come the child has cavities if the family is not well-off?" Lin Xiaoguai had experience in this area; when she was young, she hardly ever got to eat sugar except during festivities, and even during those times, she had to watch out for her nieces and nephews, barely having the chance to get cavities herself.
"They spoilt the child too much," Jiang Xiaomei said as she pinched another piece of hawthorn cake to eat. "That boy has two older sisters. To have him, his parents lost their jobs, and now, they barely scrape by, yet they pamper him like a little emperor."
"Is having a boy or a girl that important?" Jiang Xiaomei sighed and looked at Lin Xiaoguai enviously. "Xiaoguai, you’re so lucky to have had Little Niangao as a son on your first try."