Master Shang also thought that this al suited his taste. Everyone finished with a bowl of porridge.
After the al, Sister-in-law Liu was in charge of cleaning up, leaving only a small basin of atballs.
Since everyone felt a bit full, Master Shang took the three children for a slow walk in the courtyard.
Old Yang just sat to the side watching, "With such a good al, I don’t want to digest it too quickly. It would be a waste."
It was the first ti Jiang Xinyu had heard this reasoning, finding it quite peculiar.
Wei Kaiyun sat with him. Jiang Xinyu went to the kitchen instead.
Today, she had to finish frying everything planned; she had to wash thoroughly at night, or else she’d feel like she was trailing a greasy sll wherever she went.
The three large pots in the main room were all used at once; one pot for frying twists and the other two for steaming bread.
Jiang Xinyu instructed while Sister-in-law Liu operated. After the bread was stead, she suddenly rembered there was no wrapping paper. It didn’t matter when eaten at ho, but if it was a gift for the Village Chief for the New Year, it had to look nice.
"Sister-in-law Liu, there’s no wrapping paper at ho, right?"
"No, you’d have to go to the township supply and marketing cooperative to buy it."
Jiang Xinyu thought for a mont and decided to make a trip to the cooperative in the afternoon; there might be an unexpected surprise.
Once the bread was stead, the two started making the twists.
Sister-in-law Liu was quite skilled at her work; the dough for the twists was just the right softness.
First, they made sweet milk-flavored twists. To prevent the flavors from mixing, they kept the salty ones separate; if sweetness mixed with saltiness, it wouldn’t be right.
They made four trays of milk-flavored twists. By this ti, the bread was ready too, and they began to take it out of the pot.
Since there weren’t that many bowls, they used all the large bowls and lunch boxes in the house, because raisins and dried cranberries were added. So, after taking it out of the pot, there was not only a sweet scent but also the sll of dried fruits.
With only two trays left, they could only be placed on the board.
Old Yang, drawn by the aroma, ca into the kitchen and said, "Ah, my stomach can’t handle any more, or I’d definitely eat one."
"Master Yang, the bread is best eaten when it cools down a bit."
"No, I’ll still wait for the at at lunch." Old Yang shook his head and went out.
Once the main room was tidied up, the two finally started frying the twists.
Now the scent was even stronger. It was so enticing that the three children couldn’t sit still, so Shang Zhenkun simply gave them the day off.
The three kids ran into the kitchen where Jiang Xinyu was making sweet twists. When she saw them co in, she quickly picked a few for them to take to Master Yang and have together.
A full three large basins. Sister-in-law Liu noticed the oil in the pot had decreased significantly, feeling a bit distressed. Nonetheless, she took their employer’s advice and added more oil.
Their cooperation was still quite smooth; one making and the other frying.
"Sister-in-law Liu, we don’t have enough basins at ho. There are two large ones in the storeroom, both clean; bring them out and use them directly."
"Sure, I’ll go get them."
The two worked non-stop until noon, finally finishing all the frying.
Sister-in-law Liu looked at the remaining oil, feeling a bit pained; while delicious, it consud too much oil.
The aroma from their house could be slled throughout the village.
When Jiang Xinyu took a breather in the courtyard, she noticed children lingering outside and beckoned them over.
"Go tell the village children to co, one per household, and I’ll give you so treats."
The kids were delighted to hear there were treats and scattered in all directions. There were thirty-five families in the village; she didn’t have that much to give, just one twist per family.
This took half of them away. Sister-in-law Liu looked even more distressed, but it wasn’t hers to decide.
Jiang Xinyu called out Wei Kaiyun and the three children, asking them to give out the treats when the kids arrived.
However, they could only take them directly ho. "Master Yang, could you take to the cooperative this afternoon?"
"Sure, if you don’t want to go, I can buy what you need."
"No need, I’ll take the kids to have a look. Mainly, I want to buy wrapping paper."
The villagers heard that Teacher Jiang was giving treats to the children and didn’t want to go, but seeing the kids’ eager faces and sll the enticing aroma, they finally agreed.
However, they all brought her sothing in return, so with a bundle of scallions, so with a cabbage, potatoes, sauerkraut, etc.
Jiang Xinyu didn’t refuse; mutual exchange leads to long-term relationships.
In the end, she really received quite a lot. Old Yang specifically took a basin, filled with a few twists, to the Village Chief’s house.
This relationship should be fostered; in the future, if Xiao Wei has anything that needs help, the villagers wouldn’t just stand by, and Jiang Xinyu was doing an excellent job.
"Old Yang, are these twists? I’ve been slling the aroma for ages."
"Brought so for you to taste. They just ca out of the pot, call Sister-in-law and the kids to eat quickly, I’ve got to head back."
"Why not stay for a al?"
"No need, Xiao Wei’s house has plenty of good food; it’s Jianbin’s dad who asked to bring them over." Old Yang explained, not wanting to foster any resentnt.
"I see. I thought Teacher Jiang brought over a lot of items. I assud they were from him."
"Xiao Jiang brought so too. Although Xiao Wei is like this now, he will definitely have no problems. Village Chief Li, if you take my advice, let the villagers get along well with their family, and in the end, you will definitely benefit."
"I know, we’re already benefiting from Teacher Jiang teaching the village children; we’re truly grateful."
"Hehe, in the future, it will only be good for you. They’re only here for a few years, and you should see their characters. Even if they leave in the future, they won’t forget about you."
"Understood."
Old Yang returned with an empty basin. Lunch at ho featured white rice. Jiang Xinyu specifically had the children drink rice soup with added sugar for nutrition.
It wasn’t until two in the afternoon that they finally cleaned everything up. Jiang Xinyu freshened up, took the three kids, and they set off for the township cooperative.
After an hour, they arrived, and Jiang Xinyu noticed many people inside the cooperative. She instructed the three kids to be careful.
In the end, Old Yang held Shi Jing and Jianbin’s hands, while Jiang Xinyu held Jiang Feifei’s.
"Mom, it’s lively here."
"Yes, if you see anything you like, let Mom know; she’ll buy it for you."
"Okay." Although Jiang Feifei agreed, she knew there probably wouldn’t be anything that caught her eye here.
In the end, Jiang Xinyu bought a hundred sheets of uncut wrapping paper and a spool of thin straw rope. She bought two pounds of salt, as they wouldn’t sell more.
As for sugar, that was out of the question, as there was none available.
The pastries were also sold out, given that from the first day of the New Year, people had been visiting. Fortunately, they were buying wrapping paper —anything else at this ti would indeed have been hard to buy.
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