Border Cook

Chapter 214 Candied Haws
This silence lasted for another two days.

Everything was peaceful, nothing was wrong, and there was no movement.

It's as if nothing has happened and nothing will happen.

This process of waiting for things to happen is the most torturous, and even makes people a little anxious.

"Could it be that Lou Shanzi misheard and reported the wrong message?" Mrs. Lu was quite worried.

"That shouldn't be the case." Xia Mingyue also frowned. "Brother Lou doesn't seem to be a rash person. He won't believe everything he hears. But didn't Brother Lou say that a man named Xue was stirring things up? Since Xue has come to Jinqiu County and intends to stay in Yueran Restaurant for a few days, I guess Zou Fuquan doesn't want to make a move in front of Xue. Maybe he should wait for two days."

"As long as we take precautions, there won't be any problems. As the old saying goes, it's better to be safe than sorry."

Lu agreed with Xia Mingyue's words. "Well, it's almost the end of the year, all the evil spirits will come out, and there will be a lot of trouble. It won't be wrong to be careful."

"Yeah." Xia Mingyue nodded, fiddling with the hawthorn in her hand.

Lu Qiyan bought the hawthorns. The fruits were large, fresh, and red in color. Just by looking at them, one could feel a sour taste in the mouth.

Xia Mingyue tried hard to hold back the saliva that was rapidly secreting from her mouth, thinking about how to avoid wasting these hawthorns.

But right now, I'm preoccupied with things and feel a little full, so I have almost no energy to concentrate on cooking. So I just went to get some sugar and prepared to make some candied haws that don't require much brainpower.

When the weather is cold, the candied haws can be kept for a long time and they taste sweet and sour, suitable for people of all ages.

There are ready-made bamboo sticks at home. Just wash and dry all the hawthorns, use a knife to cut a circle in the center of each hawthorn, you can easily remove the hawthorn seeds, and then string them together with bamboo sticks.

Add sugar to water and boil until all the sugar liquid is melted and turns amber, and when the sugar liquid feels stringy, you can put the skewered hawthorns into the pot, dip them evenly in the sugar liquid, and place them on a plate brushed with a thin layer of oil.

After cooling for a while, the sugar liquid solidifies and a string of candied haws is ready.

The hawthorn is rosy in color, and the sugar coating on the surface is crystal clear. It looks like a painting on the years, making you salivate.

Xia Mingyue invited Jiang Zhuguo, Zhao Dahu and Zhao Erhu, three children, to come over and eat candied haws.

The cool, sour and sweet taste slowly spread in the mouth, filling the mouth with the sweet and sour taste, causing the three of them to squint their eyes, biting and chewing, while exclaiming that it was delicious.

"Aunt Xia, do we have many hawthorns at home?" Zhao Erhu asked.

There are still many." Xia Mingyue narrowed her eyes and smiled, "Just eat as much as you want."

Enough pipe!

"Then can we go out and sell candied haws?" Zhao Erhu scratched his ear and said, "It's close to the New Year, there are many people in the city, and even more people come to the city to buy New Year's goods. Many people bring their children with them. When the children see the candied haws, they will definitely want to buy some!"

Candied haws are much cheaper than expensive dim sum and are a very affordable snack. After all, it is Chinese New Year, so many people are willing to spend their money to buy some for their children to satisfy their cravings.

"It's a good idea." Xia Mingyue nodded.

"What a good idea! Don't make things worse." Mrs. Lu was already overwhelmed by the affairs of Yueran Restaurant and Xia's business. She had no intention of doing anything else at the moment and directly rejected the proposal.

"Mom, just let us go." Zhao Erhu said, "We're walking around the streets, so we can help Xia Ji keep an eye on things, right?" If they encounter any suspicious people or things, it's much better for children to run and report the news than adults!
"That's right." Zhao Dahu also agreed.

Mrs. Lu didn't expect that the two children would have such an idea. She was quite surprised. Seeing that Xia Mingyue also approved of this, she relaxed and agreed to let the two of them go to the street to sell candied haws.

Just do it.

Lu and Jiang Zhuguo helped to tie up a small haystack for making candied haws, while brothers Zhao Dahu and Zhao Erhu helped to wash the hawthorns, remove the seeds, and string them into hawthorn bunches.

There are eight candied haws in a string outside, and Zhao Erhu suggested stringing them into nine and selling them at the same price.

Small profits but quick turnover, economical and good business!
Zhao Dahu said, "I think we should not string so many together, but string four together and sell them."

"Why?" Zhao Erhu was puzzled. "Other people have such big skewers, and you have such a small one. They will definitely go to buy the big ones. Will ours not be able to sell?"

"Others sell a string for twelve cents, but we only sell it for six cents. When we sell it, we just say six cents a string. When others hear that ours is cheaper, they will definitely buy from us first."

Zhao Dahu explained, "And you can buy a string of candied haws for only six coins. Do you want to buy it?"

"But our candied haws only contain four hawthorns even though they cost six coins..." Zhao Erhu was halfway through his words when he suddenly froze and patted the back of his head.

Is he really stupid? Why didn't he think of this?
Yes, the child wants a string of candied haws, and the adult buys him a string of candied haws. The child is happy, and the adult only spends six cents. Isn’t he happy too?

During the New Year, the whole point is to be happy, right?

Moreover, if there are many children in the family, and it is difficult to go to the city, the children want to eat candied haws. Several children have to share a string of candied haws, which makes the eating manners look ugly and the adults will feel embarrassed. The children also feel aggrieved because they can only share one string.

But this small string of candied haws is different. Even if you buy two strings, it is only equivalent to the price of one string. Everyone eats their own without fighting or making a fuss. It looks good on the surface. When you go home and tell your family that you ate a string of candied haws, won’t the other children cry with envy?

As for whether there are four or eight in this string...

Who would care so much?
Besides, the first bite of this candied haws is delicious, sweet and sour. But after two or three hawthorns, the sweetness decreases greatly and the sourness increases sharply. The mouth and the interior of the mouth are almost filled with sourness. At most, you can eat one or two more, and that’s it. If you eat more, you won’t be able to eat much.

The candied haws with four hawthorns is just right!
"Sure." Zhao Erhu's eyes sparkled, and he looked at Zhao Dahu with a lot of admiration in his eyes, "You can actually come up with such a good idea."

"Who makes me the boss!" Zhao Dahu raised his chin, his face full of pride.

As for you, Zhao Erhu, if you want to catch up with me, you have to chase me for another eighteen blocks!

Wow, you feel proud just by saying a word of praise!

Zhao Erhu pouted, but the smile on his lips was so full that it almost overflowed.

But, as I said, his elder brother is his elder brother!
After listening to the argument between the two brothers, Xia Mingyue smacked her lips.

It’s true, these two brothers are pretty good. I’m sure they’ll be good businessmen in the future.

I have some things to do at home these two days, and I have been revising these chapters. Sorry, today's update is a bit late. I will try to update the second chapter before 3 o'clock. If nothing unexpected happens, I can update it at normal time tomorrow~