Read Novel Full Chapter 41.1
Chapter 41.1
Chapter 41 1/2
Shen An agreed to share some delicious food with Shen Jin, finally sending the three young men away. After washing their hands with his sister-in-law, they went to the Chen family for dinner.
Dinner was still sumptuous. There were still a few pieces of braised pork with preserved vegetables from noon, and there was still more than half a bowl of preserved vegetables soaked in the savory meat flavor. The vegetarian dishes were also stir-fried with pork belly, rich in both vegetables and meat, with plenty of oil.
After eating and drinking their fill, Sang Luo thanked everyone who helped today, and then everyone went back to their own homes.
Sang Luo took Shen An and Shen Ning to wash the leaves of the divine tree in the mountain spring before it got dark. When they returned home to pack up their things, she took out a handful of sour jujubes from the basket covered with wild vegetables and handed them to the siblings.
Shen An and Shen Ning’s eyes lit up.
“Sister-in-law, did you pick sour jujubes? Are they ripe this year?”
It was evident that they had been longing for this.
“Yes, they’re ripe. If you’re not afraid of sourness, give them a try.” She smiled and handed the sour jujubes to Shen Ning, then grabbed a handful for Shen An as well. “Go wash them and eat.”
The siblings thanked her and happily ran outside.
The children in the village hardly had anything to eat all year round. Whatever wild fruits were available in the mountains at any given time were what they longed for the most. These sour jujubes grew in several mountains on the west side of the village. Although they were very sour, they were still fruits.
This year, she had been so busy with household chores that she hadn’t even thought about these sour jujubes.
When Sang Luo came out with a bucket and a basket of leaves, she saw the siblings facing each other, gritting their teeth, shrinking their necks, and trembling with their small bodies, faces, and hands holding the sour jujubes, which was quite amusing.
But just like that, they looked as if they were beautiful, enjoying the first jujube and then peeling the second.
When Shen Ning saw Sang Luo come out, she peeled one and handed it to Sang Luo. Sang Luo had just eaten, but jujubes had a kind of magic to them. Just thinking about them made your mouth water. She ate one from Shen Ning’s hand, then her facial expression twisted, which made the siblings burst into laughter.
Shen Ning wanted to feed her more, but Sang Luo shook her head. “No more, just try two. They’re too sour. You eat them yourself.”
Shen An and Shen Ning continued eating on their own until all the jujubes in their hands were gone. Then, they were satisfied and helped with the chores.
When they returned to the house to prepare to wash the second bucket of leaves, Shen An casually tidied up the wild vegetables and prepared to tie them up with straw rope. However, when he touched Sang Luo’s basket, he saw a whole basket of jujubes. Even though he was quite fond of them, Shen An was stunned and couldn’t believe it. He tentatively reached in and scooped some out, confirming that they were indeed all jujubes.
Shen An was dumbfounded. Just then, Sang Luo came in, and he made a face as if his teeth were sour. “Sister-in-law, did you pick this many? Are you planning to sell them in the county tomorrow?”
He shook his head vigorously. “These are too sour. Nobody will buy them.”
Except for the children in the village who didn’t have snacks, Shen An couldn’t imagine city people eating such sour fruits.
Sang Luo smiled. “I won’t take them tomorrow. When I come back after buying some things, I’ll process them into something else, and then people will like to eat them.”
Shen An, Shen Ning: ???
Girls are naturally curious about cooking. Shen Ning asked, “How else can you process them?”
Sang Luo was willing to keep a bit of mystery and smiled. “You’ll see tomorrow.”
At this moment, there was no sugar or drying mat at home, so they could only leave the jujubes for another night and deal with them when they returned from the market tomorrow. In a few days, the siblings would have snacks to eat.
Jujube cake—hmm, this should sell well in the county. It should be considered a rare delicacy. She hadn’t seen anyone selling it in the county before. The original owner’s family was quite well-off, and they used to have fruit pastries to eat. She didn’t recall jujube cake from her memories.
Shen An and Shen Ning glanced at each other. In their eyes, their sister-in-law, Sang Luo, was now exceptionally capable.
I come from a wealthy family, am literate, and have a book containing recipes at home.
If she could make such delicious fairy tofu from tree leaves, then why not jujubes that were edible to begin with?
Their eyes lit up instantly. Shen An was excited. “Sister-in-law, does your family’s book have a recipe for making something with jujubes?”
Sang Luo nodded. Of course, there were ready-made excuses for doing this.
The siblings were delighted. This meant that, besides selling fairy tofu, their family could also sell other things for money and food.
“Sister-in-law, there are some in the mountains to the west of the village. I’ll go pick some tomorrow.”
Sang Luo, upon hearing that there were some near the village, asked, “How many?”
Shen An shook his head. “Not many, maybe three trees. We don’t know further in. We dare not go there.”
Sang Luo shook her head upon hearing this. “Then don’t pick them. Other children in the village like them as much as you do. Leave them as snacks for yourselves, and I’ll go into the mountains to pick them.”
She had seen quite a few just today, and in the next few days, more would ripen and fall. If she could pick some, there would surely be more depth. There was no need to compete with the village children for food.
At this moment, Shen An and Shen Ning finally knew that Sang Luo had gone deeper into the mountains this afternoon, and the siblings were a bit nervous.
Sang Luo reassured them. “Mrs. Chen gave me some snake repellent powder. I sprinkled it before I went. Although it was deeper, it was still close to the village. Besides snakes, there shouldn’t be any other wild animals. Just roll up your pants and sprinkle some snake repellent powder, and it’ll be fine.”
She also reminded Shen An and Shen Ning, “Without adults leading the way, you two must not go in.”
If they went deeper, just having snake repellent powder wouldn’t be enough. If they got lost in the mountains, fell, or sprained their ankles, they couldn’t imagine what accidents might happen. Although these two children were braver than others their age, she still had to remind them a few more times.
Shen An and Shen Ning listened to Sang Luo’s words and obediently agreed not to go deeper into the mountains.
Shen Ning was still curious. “Sister-in-law, how can something so sour be made delicious?”
“With sugar. We don’t have any at home today, but when I buy some tomorrow, I’ll be able to make it.”
As soon as they heard about adding sugar, the siblings’ mouths watered again, but sugar was quite expensive.
But they didn’t need to worry about that now. With their household expenses no longer needing to be borne by the siblings, they even had to carefully calculate every few grains of rice they ate. Everything had been planned by their sister-in-law.
With the ingredients for fairy tofu prepared, Sang Luo suddenly felt like she was missing something. After looking around, she remembered, “Where’s the filter cloth at home?”
Every night after using it, she would wash the filter cloth clean and hang it on a hemp rope inside the house. But today she didn’t see it, and only now did she notice.
“It’s with me,” Shen An reached into his pocket. “We were going down the mountain for lunch at noon. It’s not safe to leave it here. I think we need to be careful not to attract attention to it in our house. Since it’s already dry, I just folded it and brought it with me. I forgot to hang it back.”
Sang Luo was surprised by the meticulousness of the little guy.
She gave him a thumbs-up. “Well done. When we have some spare money later, let’s buy a lock so we won’t have to bother with this.”