A young boy from the 1970s, separated from his family, fled famine and led his younger brother into

"Boom!"

That crisp sound didn't seem like a bite on a candied hawthorn, but rather like a bite into the hearts of Aunt Wang and Ya Ya!

Aunt Wang froze, her eyes wide open and her mouth slightly agape, as if she had forgotten to breathe.

Crispy!

Crispy like never before!

The golden sugar coating, as thin as a cicada's wing, crumbles on the tongue the moment it enters the mouth, transforming into a pure yet rich sweetness without any stickiness. Immediately following, the intense nutty aroma of roasted white sesame seeds explodes forth, perfectly blending with the sweetness of the sugar to create a complex and layered fragrance!

Before she could even recover from the aroma, her teeth had already touched the hawthorn inside. The hawthorn, having been pitted, was very easy to eat, and the instant heating of the scalding sugar coating seemed to have neutralized much of its sourness, making it sweet and sour, soft, juicy, and delicious!

Sweet, fragrant, crisp, sour, soft...

Several distinct yet complementary textures and flavors unfold in the mouth, weaving together to create an irresistible symphony of taste!

"Mom... how is it?" Ya Ya asked anxiously, watching her mother. She was practically drooling.

Aunt Wang didn't answer. She just went on fast-forward, quickly stuffing the rest of the candied hawthorns into her mouth, one bite after another! The way she ate it was no longer like she was savoring it; it was more like a refugee who hadn't eaten for three days was fighting over food!

After swallowing the last hawthorn coated in sesame sugar, Aunt Wang let out a long, satisfied sigh. Her face was flushed with excitement, and a fine layer of sweat even appeared on her forehead.

She looked at Su Nianci, her eyes no longer filled with shock and admiration, but with an almost fanatical... worship!

"Amazing...it's truly amazing!" Aunt Wang's voice trembled slightly with excitement. "I, Wang Xiu'e, have lived for over thirty years and made candy for ten years, and only today did I realize...candied hawthorns can be this delicious!!"

She grabbed Su Nianci's small hand with such force that she almost hurt her. "Nianci! No! Little Master! You...you are the living Bodhisattva sent by God to save us, mother and daughter!"

Su Nianci was startled by her sudden enthusiasm and quickly withdrew her hand: "Aunt Wang, you're too kind. Now, do you believe my 'secret recipe'?"

"I believe you! I believe you! I believe you a hundred times over! A thousand times over!" Aunt Wang nodded vigorously, like pounding garlic. "Don't even mention adding vinegar to sugar, you could say you added stones, and I'd believe you!"

Ya Ya, who was standing to the side, couldn't resist any longer. She also picked up a skewer of candied hawthorns that had just cooled down and carefully took a bite.

"Wow--!"

With just one bite, Ya Ya's eyes sparkled with a light as bright as the stars!

"So delicious! Mom! This is so delicious! It's better than anything I've ever eaten!" She was so happy she almost jumped for joy, her little face beaming with unprecedented satisfaction and happiness.

Seeing the mother and daughter looking like this, Su Nianci knew that the deal was done.

"Aunt Wang, it's getting late," Su Nianci said calmly. "We need to hurry and finish processing the remaining hawthorns. Tomorrow morning, we'll use them to earn our first pot of gold."

"Yes, yes, yes! Make money! Make a lot of money!" Aunt Wang was immediately brought back to her senses by Su Nianci's reminder. Her eyes lit up as she looked at the remaining golden sesame syrup in the pot, as if she were seeing not sugar, but shiny "big ten-yuan bills"!

Over the next few hours, this small, dilapidated shack was transformed into a bustling processing workshop.

Aunt Wang was in charge of boiling the sugar, and under Su Nianci's guidance, her skills became increasingly proficient. Ya Ya was in charge of skewering the skewers and dipping them in sugar. Su Nianci, on the other hand, acted like a chief engineer, overseeing the entire process and ensuring quality control.

They turned all the pitted hawthorns into brand new "Sesame Crispy Candied Hawthorns". By the time the last string of candied hawthorns was finished, it was completely dark outside. The straw target was covered with nearly a hundred strings of golden, fragrant "works of art"—a truly magnificent sight.

The rich, sweet aroma even attracted several neighborhood children, who pressed their noses against the door and windows, sniffing and drooling.

Looking at these masterpieces, Aunt Wang couldn't stop smiling. She had a strong premonition that tomorrow would be a day that would go down in their family's history!

"Nianci, Yaya, are you hungry? Auntie will cook for you!" Aunt Wang was in a great mood. For the first time ever, she scooped out a bowl of white flour that she had been saving for a long time from the bottom of the rice jar, and then took out a small piece of cured meat that she couldn't bear to eat even during the New Year from the pickled vegetable jar.

She wanted to use the best things in her home to entertain this "little master" who had brought hope to her family.

Soon, two steaming bowls of soup with cured pork and white noodles, glistening with oil, were served.

Su Nianci looked at the fragrant dumpling soup in the bowl, and her stomach rumbled involuntarily. She knew that this was the highest level of hospitality that Aunt Wang could offer.

She didn't refuse. She knew that the value she had shown today was more than worthy of this bowl of dumpling soup.

"Oh right, my brother... he's still here..." Su Nianci thought of Zhou Wenqian and Xiao Shitou, who were still in the air-raid shelter.

"Oh dear! Look at my memory!" Aunt Wang slapped her thigh. "I was so happy! Don't worry! I'll go pick them up right now! How can we let the children and professors stay in a place like that in this cold weather!"

Aunt Wang was a woman of action. She immediately filled a large bowl with hot soup, grabbed two cornbread buns, put on her cotton-padded coat, and rushed into the night.

Not long after, she returned with a bewildered Zhou Wenqian and a sleepy-eyed Xiao Shitou.

When Zhou Wenqian saw the room full of candied hawthorns emitting an enticing aroma, and then saw Su Nianci sitting at the table, calmly drinking hot soup, he was completely stunned.

He just took a nap in the air-raid shelter, and how did the outside world... become so completely different?

"Professor Zhou, come on! Sit down and have a bowl of hot soup to warm yourself up!" Aunt Wang greeted him warmly.

"Sister!" Little Stone saw Su Nianci and immediately rushed over like a swallow returning to its nest.

Su Nianci patted his little head and put all the cured meat from her bowl into his bowl.

"Aunt Wang, can we... stay here tonight?" Su Nianci asked, this was the question she cared about most.

"Stay! Of course you'll stay!" Aunt Wang declared with a wave of her hand, her voice full of pride. "Don't just stay one night, stay as long as you want! From today onwards, this is your home!"

"Although my house is small, there's a small bed in the inner room. Let's tidy it up, and you two siblings can sleep there. Yaya and I will sleep in the outer room. Professor Zhou... I'm sorry to trouble you, but you can make a makeshift bed by the stove. I'll put out several layers of blankets for you, making sure you don't get cold!"

Aunt Wang arranged everything in a simple yet sincere way.

Su Ci's heart finally settled down completely.

Finally, in this cold city, they had a truly warm "home." Although it was small and dilapidated, it had hot soup, beds, and... hope.

The next day, before dawn, Aunt Wang and Ya Ya excitedly pushed an old wooden cart out the door. On the cart stood a straw target covered with "golden candied hawthorns".

Su Nianci didn't go. She knew that her "little beggar" image, along with him, would only negatively impact business. She chose to stay home, take care of Xiao Shitou, and let Zhou Wenqian get some rest.

They waited until almost noon before Aunt Wang and Ya Ya returned.

Before the person even entered the door, their excited, distorted laughter wafted in!

"Sold out! Nianci! All sold out!!" Aunt Wang rushed into the house like a gust of wind, clutching a handful of crumpled bills, small denominations, and even a few one- or two-yuan notes!

"In less than two hours! Everything was sold out! Many people who missed out are now asking us if we'll be setting up shop again tomorrow!"

Ya Ya, her face flushed with excitement, exclaimed, "Nianci! You didn't see it! Those people were like madmen! They swarmed forward! They almost knocked over our cart! We set the price twice as high as before, from five cents a skewer to ten cents! And they bought them without even blinking an eye!"

It became an instant hit!

A satisfied smile appeared on Su Nianci's lips.

"We...we earned...almost ten yuan this morning!" Aunt Wang counted the money in her hand, her voice trembling. This amount of money was something she had never dared to dream of before!

She shoved all the money into Su Nianci's hands at once.

"Nianci! This is what you deserve! Accept it!"

Su Nianci didn't take it. She simply pulled out a two-yuan note from the pile of money.

"Aunt Wang, this is all I want," she said calmly. "This is what we agreed on: exchanging the secret recipe for temporary food and lodging. The rest is all earned by you and Yaya through hard work."

She paused, then looked up at Aunt Wang with clear and firm eyes.

"However, I have one more small request."

"I'd like to use these two dollars to buy you and Yaya a little bit of your time this afternoon."