They've all separated, so what does it matter to me if they get poorer and poorer?

Chapter 10 Zeng Xiaoyan's Craving

While making konjac tofu yesterday, watching it set in a large bowl, Xu Zhichun thought of jelly.

Wouldn't it be better to sell jelly along with konjac tofu?

The harbor warehouse has a huge collection of books. Last night, she spent a long time flipping through them before finally finding the recipe for making jelly using traditional methods. She's a very hands-on person, and after studying it carefully a few times, she understood it and decided to give it a try.

What she lacks now is raw materials. She can use agar seeds, creeping fig fruit, or grass jelly. She doesn't remember creeping fig fruit or grass jelly, but she seems to have seen agar seeds on the mountain before, and there are quite a few of them. She plans to go look for them today.

Following the faint impression in his memory, Xu Zhichun spent a good half day searching and finally found the stone flower seeds in a mountain hollow.

A large patch of densely packed shrubs and wild grasses grew, with round, lantern-like fruits hanging from the branches.

The seeds of the stone flower are short, about half a person's height, making them particularly easy to harvest.

Once you have the agar seeds, all you need is lime water.

Well, there's lime in the harbor warehouse too. She took out a pound or two and said she bought it last year to disinfect the chicken coop and hadn't finished using it yet.

To prevent chicken plague in the summer, many families in the village buy lime to disinfect their chicken coops, and it is indeed effective.

All set, let's try it today.

Before long, Xu Zhichun had picked half a basket of agarwood seeds, weighing about two or three pounds.

Today is just a trial, that's enough.

After gathering some pig feed, Xu Zhichun returned home.

Unexpectedly, Zeng Xiaoyan was loitering in front of her house, carrying a chicken in her hand.

Seeing her return, Zeng Xiaoyan ran over with a beaming smile: "Sister-in-law Zhichun, you're finally back! Look, I brought a chicken. Shall we kill it and have it for lunch? Your chicken is so delicious!"

She couldn't stop thinking about it, and despite her efforts to resist, she couldn't help herself, so she simply bought a chicken and brought it over.

She even specially chose a big rooster, which was extremely heavy.

Xu Zhichun was speechless and choked with emotion.

As he invited her into the house, he put down his basket and carrying basket, and said with a smile, "Isn't this a bit inappropriate? You bought chickens and brought them to my house to kill; what if your family found out?"

Zeng Xiaoyan disagreed, "I've already spoken to my mother-in-law, and she didn't object. I don't care what others think; this is my own money. Once it's cooked, we'll eat half, and I'll take the other half back. Aunt Zhu wasn't home either; I don't know if she's back yet. I'll go call her to join us."

Look how clearly this arrangement is done!

Xu Zhichun couldn't help but ask again, "Did Aunt Liang really not say anything?"

"Of course, why would I lie to you?"

"Okay, I'll boil some water now, and then we'll kill the chicken and stew it for dinner."

"okay!"

"Go and see if Aunt Pearl is here."

After she left, she could get some dried lily bulbs, goji berries, and dried shiitake mushrooms from the harbor warehouse to stew with the chicken later.

"I'll go right now." Zeng Xiaoyan, without suspecting anything, happily went off.

Aunt Zhu'er had just returned from the vegetable garden when Zeng Xiaoyan pulled her over.

Killing a chicken to eat is always a happy thing, and the three of them chatted and laughed as they busied themselves.

Xu Zhichun took the opportunity to introduce the konjac tofu to the two of them: "Later, we'll use half a chicken to make soup and the other half to make konjac tofu. You two can try it and see how it tastes. If it's good, we can make and sell this konjac tofu, how about that?" Zeng Xiaoyan and Aunt Zhu'er were very surprised and delighted. "Zhichun (Sister-in-law Zhichun), you've already come up with a business idea? That's great!"

Zeng Xiaoyan was even more smug: "Looks like I really made the right choice coming here today, haha!"

Sister-in-law Zhu'er smiled and said, "Then I'll make the soup and cook the dishes. Zhichun, you tell me how to do it."

There's an earthenware pot at home, which is perfect for simmering soup.

Half a chicken was chopped into pieces, the blood was washed away and put into an earthenware pot, along with soaked goji berries, dried lily bulbs and shiitake mushrooms.

Xu Zhichun's family ran out of radishes, so Zeng Xiaoyan went to Sister Zhu'er's vegetable garden and picked one for herself.

When she returned with the radishes, the konjac tofu had already been cut into small pieces and stir-fried with chicken.

Cut the radish into chunks and stew it in a soup pot. Stir-fry the konjac tofu and chicken pieces until they change color and become fragrant. Add the dried chili peppers cut into sections and simmer with water.

When it's almost done cooking, add a large handful of garlic sprouts, stir-fry quickly for a few seconds, and it's ready to serve.

Zeng Xiaoyan sniffed hard, "It smells so good! Aunt Zhu'er's cooking is really good!"

Aunt Zhu smiled and said, "I do everything according to Zhichun's instructions. Zhichun is even better at it."

Xu Zhichun waved his hand and laughed, "All I can say is that I definitely can't do as well as Aunt Zhu'er."

The rice was steaming and stewing in the pot, which would take at least half an hour to cook. Xu Zhichun then said, "There's another delicacy from my hometown that I'd like to make today. I don't have any brown sugar at home. Do you have any? Just a little bit will do."

The harbor warehouse not only has brown sugar, but also white sugar, rock sugar and all kinds of sugar. If Zeng Xiaoyan and Aunt Zhu'er hadn't come, she could have made it herself and added sugar to taste it.

As long as the product can be made, that's fine.

Zeng Xiaoyan hurriedly said, "I still have more than a pound left. I usually drink brown sugar water with it. I'll go back and get it right away."

Xu Zhichun grabbed her arm and laughed, "Let me finish. Look here, these are the lantern fruits I just picked. The dish I was talking about is made with these lantern fruits. It tastes great with a little brown sugar water. We can sell them together with konjac tofu."

"Lantern fruit" is what the locals call it, and Xu Zhichun, following local custom, also called it that.

Zeng Xiaoyan had never seen them before and was very curious, so she took two and examined them in her hand. "How do you cook these? Are they used in cooking?"

Aunt Pearl exclaimed in surprise, "There are plenty of lantern fruits on the mountain. They don't taste good when eaten raw. Sometimes the children pick them and throw them around to play. Do you think they'd taste good when cooked?"

Aunt Pearl had a look on her face that said, "I'll try it next time."

"Of course not," Xu Zhichun said with a smile. "You'll see when I do it. It's very simple. The key is to get the timing right. If you get it right the first time, you'll succeed. If you don't get it right the first time, you can do it a couple more times."

Zeng Xiaoyan smiled and said, "In that case, I'll go back and get the brown sugar first."

Xu Zhichun quickly replied, "A little is enough."

"Okay, I know!"

After Zeng Xiaoyan returned home, Xu Zhichun and Aunt Zhu'er were also busy, selecting and cleaning the lantern fruits.

There weren't many snacks to eat in the countryside, so Zeng Xiaoyan would occasionally buy two catties of brown sugar, give half a catty to her mother-in-law, and keep the rest for herself. When she craved something sweet, she would make two bowls of brown sugar water, one for herself and one for her husband.

As for others, they have no share.

It's not that she's stingy, but it's hers to begin with. It wouldn't be right for her to give it to her once and not give it to her again. She's not happy to give it to her every time, so she simply doesn't give it to her.

Her in-laws didn't say anything, but her father-in-law asked her mother-in-law to tell her that it was best for her to eat these things in her own room, and not in front of others, as it wasn't appropriate.

(End of this chapter)