Ordinary observers in fast time travel

Suddenly, a heavy rain began to fall, mixed with snowflakes, and it was very cold.

Shi Jia's dates and hawthorns couldn't be dried, but she came up with a solution last night: hawthorn cake!

This was a vague memory she had managed to glean from the sealed knowledge after racking her brains. She didn't know if it would work, but she had to at least try, since the hawthorns were too sour to eat directly.

"Sister-in-law, it's so sour!" Wang Tiehua's face scrunched up like a chrysanthemum, tears glistening in the corners of her eyes as she accused Shi Jia.

"Right? I'll add some sugar!" Shi Jia couldn't help but shiver at her expression. Looking at the reddish-brown, bubbling hawthorn sauce in the earthenware pot, her saliva started flowing uncontrollably.

She picked up the sugar jar, carefully scooped in a spoonful, thought for a moment, then scooped in another spoonful, two spoonfuls, three spoonfuls. She picked up the bamboo spatula beside her and stirred it well.

The sugar added to the hawthorn jam subtly altered the aroma of the hawthorn, making it sweeter.

"Try it again." Shi Jia picked up a small spoon, scooped up a spoonful, and brought it to Wang Tiehua's lips. The latter subconsciously took a step back and said with an embarrassed smile, "Sister-in-law, I, I... need to pee."

Watching her sister-in-law flee through the door, Shi Jia felt a pang of regret. Her gaze instinctively drifted towards the main room, where Wang Tieshan, who was taking care of the child, stiffened and turned his back to Shi Jia without making a sound.

Only the little guy stared wide-eyed at his mother, and he seemed excited to see her looking at him. "Mommy! Mommy!"

It's as if it's saying, "Mom, let me try it!"

Shi Jia was speechless and said, "Little guy, you're still too young, it's not your turn!"

After she finished speaking, she put the spoon in her mouth. The next second, her facial features were all over the place, and she was completely disoriented.

Hiding in the corner, Wang Tiehua couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. Wang Tieshan quickly stopped her, "Xiaohua! Hurry up and pour your sister-in-law a glass of water!"

"I'm coming!" Wang Tiehua nimbly rushed to the table, poured a glass of hot water, and happily came to Shi Jia. "Sister-in-law, have some water."

Shi Jia struggled to swallow the hawthorn jam, took the water glass and gulped down a big mouthful. It was still very sour, so she poured herself several more glasses of water before she felt better.

"It's too sour." Shi Jia looked at the pot of hawthorn jam with a headache, then her gaze fell on the jar of sugar. She wondered if the sugar would neutralize the sourness.
Wang Tiehua nodded, "What a waste of so much sugar. Oh, sister-in-law, what are you doing!"

Shi Jia picked up the sugar jar and poured it into the hawthorn jam, which startled her so much that she rushed over and grabbed Shi Jia's hand.

"It's okay, Xiaohua, just add more sugar and it won't be sour." Shi Jia patted her hand.

"Sister-in-law, sugar is very expensive!" Wang Tiehua said with heartache.

"Yes, once we make hawthorn cake, we can sell it for a higher price." The hawthorns were hard-won, and it took so much firewood to cook them into a paste. She definitely couldn't give up on it.

Most importantly, she finally figured out that the method for making hawthorn cake couldn't be wrong; it must be that there was too little sugar!

Shi Jia's eyes were slightly red as she pursed her lips and stared at the hawthorn sauce.

The sour smell that had filled the kitchen seemed to have subsided considerably, and a sweet aroma wafted from the hawthorn jam. Seeing that the sugar had melted, Shi Jia quickly scooped the hawthorn jam into the molds that had been prepared beforehand.

The mold was borrowed from a neighbor who makes tofu. Shi Jia lined it with some parchment paper to make it easier to cut the hawthorn cake after it cooled.

Because she had never made it before, Shi Jia didn't dare to make too much, so she only spread a shallow layer of hawthorn sauce on the mold, less than five millimeters thick.

She put down the spoon, glanced back, and saw Wang Tiehua with red eyes, holding the sugar jar with a pained expression.

"Try it!" Shi Jia brought the spoon to her lips, which were still covered in reddish-brown hawthorn sauce. The sweet and sour aroma hit her nostrils, and Wang Tiehua subconsciously opened her mouth.

Shi Jia then pushed the spoon forward a little.

"Gulp~" So delicious! Wang Tiehua's eyes widened. "Mmm, sweet and sour!" "Is it good?" Shi Jia asked with a smile.

"Mmm, delicious!" Wang Tiehua was a little conflicted, but she had used too much sugar!

Shi Jia noticed that she was staring at the sugar jar and knew what she was thinking. "Sell these hawthorn cakes tomorrow and buy two more jars of sugar."

"Going to town tomorrow?"

"Go to the prefectural city; you won't get a good price in the town." Shi Jia shook his head, and took the ginseng to sell as well. The New Year was coming soon, and he needed to buy New Year's goods.

"Hmm!" Wang Tiehua was somewhat tempted, but thinking of her little nephew, she didn't say anything.

“Let’s go together tomorrow, and bring Niu Niu along,” Shi Jia said.

"What?" Wang Tiehua's eyes widened. She could go too? Go to the prefectural city?

"Sister-in-law, the roads are difficult to travel in the rain, so maybe we shouldn't let Xiaohua go," Wang Tieshan said.

Shi Jia was taken aback. She had been so happy that she had forgotten about this. However, the words had already been spoken, and her sister-in-law hadn't left Dashan Village since arriving. "It's alright. Tieshan, go ask the village chief to borrow an oxcart and a raincoat later."

"Sister-in-law, let's forget about it. I'll stay home and take care of Niu Niu," Wang Tiehua quickly said. "Besides, Niu Niu is still young. It wouldn't be good if he caught a cold. Let's go when the weather clears up."

"Okay!" Shi Jia breathed a sigh of relief.

However, we still need to borrow an oxcart.

Unexpectedly, the next day was a sunny day, and Wang Tiehua went to the prefectural city as she wished.

"It's been a long time since I've been here. The city seems even more lively now!" Wang Tiehua couldn't help but exclaim, as she loved bustling places.

“The New Year is just around the corner, and people from the surrounding villages are all coming to buy New Year's goods, so it’s naturally quite lively.” Shi Jia noticed, however, that these people who came to the city were even thinner than they had been a month ago.

In the prefectural city, there was a special market for vendors. Shi Jia, along with two adults and a child, found an open space and set up a small stall. She even made a bamboo curtain specifically for this purpose, as it would make the items look much cleaner when placed on it.

Besides hawthorn cake, I also brought some other mountain products to my stall, such as chestnuts, leftover hawthorn berries, red dates, yams, and wild vegetables. Basically, I brought everything I could.

Of course, the main attraction is ginseng, but it has to be sold in pharmacies.

The market was bustling with people, but few stopped at Shi Jia and his group's stall.

Some stopped, asked the price, shook their heads, and walked away.

Seeing this, Wang Tiehua became very anxious. "Sister-in-law, isn't it too expensive? Why aren't they buying it? Should I go ask other people about the price?"

"It's alright, if we can't sell them, we'll just eat them ourselves." Of course, she didn't set the price randomly; she had already asked her fellow vendors about their prices as soon as she arrived. However, there were few vendors selling dried dates or yams in the market, and even fewer selling hawthorn cakes. As for chestnuts, they were already cheap, and the hawthorns were so sour they made your teeth ache, so nobody bought them.

"How can you do that!" Wang Tiehua rebuked Shi Jia with her eyes. "Sister-in-law, how about I learn to call out like them?"

She pointed to the vendor next door who had a nice voice.

"...Kaempferia, delicious and sweet kaempferia, once you've tasted it, you'll rave about it, and once you buy it, you'll want to buy it again..."

"Scallion pancakes, scallion pancakes, children who eat them become smart, top students are praised by teachers, everyone says they are good children..."

...(End of chapter)