Chapter 91: Chapter 91 Mooncakes Baked (1)_1 Chapter 91: Chapter 91 Mooncakes Baked (1)_1 Making mooncakes wasn’t something to rush, so in the afternoon, with nothing much to do, Lin Yuan brought out the corn kernels she had acquired during the division of the family assets.
She carefully selected a small basinful of plump kernels, washed them clean with water, dried them in the sun, and set out to make a little snack for the two little gluttons in her family.
She poured oil into the large pot, then added the corn kernels, covered the pot with a lid, and just let it sit on high heat.
When her older sister mentioned there were tasty treats, Xiao Linshuang’s face lit up with anticipation, but just as she opened her mouth to speak, she heard a “pop pop” of sizzling from the pot that scared her so much she plopped down on the ground, and Lin Wei was frightened enough to flee the kitchen.
Is this going to blow the pot up into the sky?
“Ha ha, look at you two!
Ha ha.” Lin Yuan knew this sound would come and had been eagerly watching their reactions, but she still found their dramatic responses hilarious.
Seeing their older sister’s expression, the two girls immediately understood.
It turned out the pot wasn’t going to fly away; their sister had just wanted to see them make fools of themselves!
“Hmph, big sister is the worst!”
Xiao Linshuang hopped up and, calling over Lin Wei, they both pounced on their big sister, tickling and giggling away, bursting into laughter.
Right before the popped corn was ready to come out of the pot, two big spoonfuls of sugar were added and stirred to make it both fragrant and sweet.
Having tired themselves out with play, each girl grabbed a big bowl and sat down to indulge.
Because the popcorn was somewhat hard, Lin Yuan later popped some rice kernels, which turned out to be delicious too, especially after adding sugar to make them sticky, and then she shaped them into balls – creating a snack that was both tasty and fun.
Xiao Linshuang was fascinated by them, pinching one between her fingers and stuffing several more into her pockets before she scampered off to show them off to her friends.
Lin Wei, being a few years older, first carried the treats into the house to let her parents have a taste.
It had been most of the day, and Lin Jiaxin’s leg was no longer very painful; he could now occasionally shift in his seat, something that had never happened before.
Seeing her husband’s recovery in sight, Lady Liu was in high spirits and savored several of the sweet rice balls with relish.
It wasn’t long before Xiao Linshuang returned home, followed by five or six other village kids.
The little girl took advantage of her big sister’s distraction to stealthily grab handfuls of popcorn and stuff them in her pockets before sneaking out again.
A swarm of little rascals quickly gathered around her, sharing the tasty goods.
Smiling from the window, Lin Yuan saw all this and didn’t mind.
She was always generous with friends, and the village children had grown up in the weeds just as they had, struggling for daily meals.
It was hard to believe that just over ten days before, they were in the same boat, and now things had changed so much for the better.
In the evening, Lin Fugui, driving the ox cart, arrived with Lin Changqing.
The cart was loaded with the items Lin Yuan had asked him to buy earlier that day.
Changqing was there specifically to kowtow to his master.
Even though the formal apprenticeship ceremony was waived, the kowtow could not be skipped; the honest Changqing knelt down and firmly kowtowed three times, rising with a dark mud print on his forehead, which amused Xiao Linshuang and her sisters to no end.
Before going to bed, Lin Yuan soaked ten jin of soybeans in a large basin.
This amount was just enough to make more than two slabs of tofu, but grinding the soy milk was going to take some effort.
It would be easier with a man around, or even a donkey.
She would have to ask Lin Fugui again tomorrow to see if he could buy a young donkey in the village for her.
Because she was starting to make mooncakes the next day, she had to prepare the filling ingredients that night.
With Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, many people had already begun making mooncakes to sell, so typical mooncake fillings were easy to find.
Indeed, as soon as Lin Fugui heard that Lin Yuan intended to make mooncakes, he had brought back twenty jin of processed mooncake filling from the town for her.