In the past, Junior Ms. Qian would never have thought of selling sugared hawthorns, but there had been many changes in the family over the past year.
First, Five had gone to the city to trade candy for money, then they had earned money by cooking food for those serving, and finally, they made money by selling ginger.
Each task was very hard, but they earned a lot, and unlike farming, which depended on the weather, Junior Ms. Qian felt that selling things was an easy way to make money.
As long as the product was good, even if it didn’t sell, the family could consume it themselves. The worry of a wasted trip seemed trivial to Junior Ms. Qian, for in the winter, what everyone had most was idle time.
Even now, as the Zhou Family planned to build a house, there wouldn’t be much trouble finding people to go to the county town.
Junior Ms. Qian had already planned it out—if Zhou Xi couldn’t spare the time, then they could take Datou and Daya with them.
The siblings, with Datou being ten this year and already half-grown, and having been to the county town so many times to help sell, Junior Ms. Qian felt quite confident in them.
With that in mind, Junior Ms. Qian called over the kids who were playing wildly in the courtyard and had them clean the remaining yam beans, while she boiled water to peel them.
Zhou Erlang then told Ms. Feng to help out, and looking at the bamboo sticks they used to skewer the yam beans, he went to the woodshed, found a thick block of wood, and started drilling holes into it.
He intended to make a wooden board for inserting the sugared hawthorns, to avoid getting burned each time.
Soon, night fell, but no one went to sleep; instead, they squatted in the kitchen, watching by the light of the fire as Junior Ms. Qian made the sugared hawthorns.
As there were quite a few yam bean skewers this time, Junior Ms. Qian hesitated for a moment then gave each child another skewer, even the youngest Zhou Si siblings got one each.
Everyone received the coveted sugared hawthorns and dispersed contentedly.
Manbao rushed back to her room with her sugared hawthorns to share with her parents.
Old Zhou, who was becoming increasingly fond of sweets, grabbed Manbao’s hand and bit off two pieces, patting her head affectionately, "My good girl, you’re much better than your three brothers. Those rascals would never think to let their parents eat first."
Manbao, who had been feeling a bit sorry for herself, immediately puffed out her chest with pride upon hearing this and, after hesitating for a moment, pushed her hand forward bravely, "Dad, if you like them, eat another one."
Old Zhou replied with a smile, "It’s too sweet; I’ve had enough for today. You can give me more another time."
Manbao quickly withdrew her hand and said joyfully, "Don’t worry, Dad, next time my sister-in-law makes more, I’ll save some for you."
Manbao then turned to Ms. Qian and snuggled up to her, "Mom, you eat one more too."
Ms. Qian glanced at her husband, who shook his head slightly, and smiled, "Mom doesn’t need any more. Go ahead and eat, but remember to rinse your mouth and go to bed early; you still have to go to school tomorrow."
Manbao nodded happily, deciding to go to bed quickly so that she could have another skewer when day broke.
Of course, she had to share the fine things with a good friend, so the next day Manbao crouched in front of a row of sugared hawthorns and picked out two of the plumpest ones, planning to give one to Bai Shanbao.
Junior Ms. Qian stuck the remaining sugared hawthorns into a hay mound for Zhou Xi and the others to take to the county town.
This time, Datou and Daya went with them, and they would be responsible for selling the sugared hawthorns.
Each member of the Zhou Family was very busy, from Zhou Dalang to Zhou Silang, these four had to stay home to build the house, while Zhou Wulang, Zhou Liulang, and Zhou Xi had to go to the county town to sell ginger.
Manbao still went to school, feeling very, very busy herself.
The very busy Manbao gave Bai Shanbao the sugared hawthorns, and for Bai Shanbao, it was his first time tasting such sugared hawthorns, and he was overjoyed, "This is so tasty; I want more."
Manbao then invited him, "We have a lot more at home, and my sister-in-law can make many, many tasty things."
Bai Shanbao drooled and indicated he wanted to go home with Manbao.
The Zhou Family warmly welcomed the little master from the Bai Family who had come for a visit, knowing he was here for the candied hawthorns. Junior Ms. Qian brought out all the remaining candied hawthorns for them, letting them eat to their heart’s content, and even said, "Start with these, and later I’ll have Second Son and the others go pick some Chinese yams and make another pot. The young master can take some home to enjoy."
Manbao was overjoyed, and the little ones like Second Son and Erya were also thrilled. They had been wanting to sneak some candied hawthorns all day, but they hadn’t dared to do so and couldn’t find the opportunity.
Second Son said to Manbao, "Little auntie, it’s great that Brother Bai is visiting our house."
Manbao also thought it was great, so she turned to Bai Shanbao and said, "Why don’t you come to play at my house every day, and then you can tell my sister-in-law that you want to eat candied hawthorns."
Bai Shanbao: "...It’s clearly you who wants to eat them."
"Don’t you want to eat them?"
Upon thinking about it, Bai Shanbao realized he indeed did.
He rolled his eyes and whispered to Manbao, "Then you tell my grandmother that you want to eat our family’s osmanthus cakes."
As for the Bai Family’s pastries, Manbao now wasn’t very fond of osmanthus cakes anymore; she preferred glutinous rice cakes.
But it seemed like a trade, so she hesitated and asked, "Can I mention another item? I actually think glutinous rice cakes taste better than osmanthus cakes."
"It’s clearly the osmanthus cakes that taste better. So just tell my grandmother that you want both glutinous rice cakes and osmanthus cakes."
Manbao agreed, and the two kids reached a consensus.
At dusk, Bai Shanbao, carrying four strings of candied hawthorns, went home and told his grandmother, "The candied hawthorns at Manbao’s house are really delicious, and she likes our family’s osmanthus cakes very much."
Ms. Liu wasn’t blind; she saw clearly what desserts Manbao preferred at their house, so she said, "Aren’t the osmanthus cakes what you want to eat? How come I remember Manbao likes glutinous rice cakes more?"
Bai Shanbao said, "Now she likes both, Grandmother doesn’t believe me, wait until tomorrow when she comes over and you can ask her."
Ms. Zheng couldn’t help but laugh, "It must be you who wants to eat osmanthus cakes, so you made her say that, right?"
Manbao’s tastes were a bit different from those of Bai Shanbao; she liked foods with a milder sweetness, while Shanbao preferred sweeter ones, the sweeter the better.
Ms. Liu was afraid that eating sweets would ruin the child’s teeth, so she always limited the number of pastries he ate.
However, she was open to the occasional splurge from the child, saying, "When Manbao comes tomorrow, I’ll ask her. How many strings of candied hawthorns did you eat at their house?"
Bai Shanbao guiltily held up three fingers, and Ms. Liu confiscated the four strings of candied hawthorns he brought back, saying, "You’ve had enough sweets for today; these can be saved for tomorrow."
After a pause, she asked with a smile, "Will you share with Grandmother and Mother?"
Of course, Bai Shanbao would share. Thus, four strings turned into two, and Bai Shanbao was a bit sad. What was even more upsetting was that today, he could only look but not eat.
Ms. Liu tried a piece; indeed, the candied hawthorn was good, and they were made with Chinese yam. She knew that Chinese yam was good for invigorating qi and strengthening the spleen, and was also helpful for digestion.
After tasting one, she smiled and said, "This is indeed not bad. When they dig out the Chinese yams, remember to buy some from them, and we can make some Chinese yam cakes."
Bai Shanbao already grumbled, "Chinese yam cake doesn’t taste as good as osmanthus cake..."
Ms. Liu was left rather speechless.