Chapter 73 - Silently Enduring (1/2)

Although wheat flour was replaced by coarse grain flour, the shepherd’s purse pancake was baked until it was a golden-brown color in the cauldron. The charred aroma was accompanied by the delicate fragrance of the shepherd’s purse, and tasted extremely delicious. The family had never eaten such food before and was immediately conquered by the tempting taste.

Madam Liu silently remembered it within her heart and said with a smile, “I never thought that bean flour and millet flour could make something so delicious even without adding wheat flour. Cao’er, is this method also something that the deity taught you?”

Yu Xiaocao, who was eating the pancake with relish, was stunned when she heard her mother’s question. She immediately answered, “I don’t know either, maybe? Anyways, I just knew how to do it when I woke up. It seems like someone in my dream told me that we can dig for this kind of shepherd’s purse right now and the cooking methods for them. Father, Mother, try the shepherd’s purse steamed buns. It should taste better than the flatbreads.”

When she was making the shepherd’s purse steamed buns, Xiaocao also made pan-fried tofu [1] and stir-fried chili pepper [2]. She had used one teaspoon of the less than one catty of vegetable oil that her maternal grandmother sent over, which made Madam Liu’s heart ache. Moreover, she also used two handfuls of wheat flour to make the outer skin of the steamed buns, which seemed a bit too wasteful in Madam Liu’s opinion.

She glanced at buns in the steamer basket and hesitated. Then, she took one and gave it to Yu Hai and said, “I ate two pancakes and drank a big bowl of the shepherd’s purse soup, so I’m already full. Husband, you should try one and leave the rest for the children. By the way, Xiaolian, go to town tomorrow and bring some steamed buns for your older brother. While you’re at it, take the baskets that your father made to the general store in town.”

Last time, Yu Xiaocao had gone to town in a rush with her father when she pretended to be sick before the New Year. So, when she heard that there was a chance to visit town, she immediately volunteered, “Why don’t I go to town tomorrow with Little Shitou? Xiaolian can stay at home to work on her embroidery…”

Seeing her eager expression, Yu Hai couldn’t bear to reject her and repeated advised her, “You can go, but your have to be careful and don’t talk to strangers… Little Shitou, you have to take care of your older sister and make sure she doesn’t get lost!”

As he spoke, he ripped the steamed bun in half and gave the bigger portion to his wife and said, “Let’s have a taste of our daughter’s cooking. If it tastes good, we can dig more shepherd’s purse and make buns to sell at the wharf in the future.”

Xiaocao nodded in approval when she heard his words. Her father was quite business savvy!

It took about three hours to get to town from Dongshan Village. So, Xiaolian, who lived in the same room as Xiaocao, had woken Xiaocao up at the break of dawn.

Since the siblings were going to town, Xiaolian had woken up early to prepare breakfast so that their stomachs would be filled before leaving. For breakfast, they had sweet potato porridge [3], which was cooked until it was soft and mushy. The flatbreads from yesterday were also re-baked in the pot.

Xiaocao drank a full bowl of porridge and ate a piece of pancake, and then wiped her mouth and said, “I’m full! Little Shitou, hurry up. I’m not going to wait for you if we’re late!”

Madam Liu wrapped the three remaining pancakes in a cloth bag so that they could eat it when they get hungry later. After thinking about it, she took out a purse from the bottom of the rattan box. She took out twenty copper coins from it and gave it to Xiaocao, while saying, “Here, take this. It’s your first time going to the town market. If there’s anything you want to buy, then buy some…”

Although the twenty copper coins wasn’t a lot, they were extremely precious to the Yu Family, who only had two hundred copper coins left. Twenty copper coins was enough to buy more than two catties of wheat flour, or more than four catties of coarse grain flour. Xiaocao want it, but Madam Liu forced it into her hands and said, “It’s okay, take it! Just bring it back if you don’t spend it.

After that, she turned around and got five shepherd’s purse steamed buns for eldest son, Yu Hang. She wrapped them all in the same cloth bag. Xiaolian got five embroidered pouches from her own room and instructed, “Go to Zhenlong Embroidery Workshop and give these to the boss lady. After that, go buy me some silk threads, which cost ten copper coins. You can buy candies with the remaining money…”

Yu Xiaocao’s mouth twitched a few times. She had the mentality of a woman who was nearly thirty years old, so can she not be treated like a kid?

After being repeatedly cautioned by their family, the siblings finally embarked on their journey to town. Shortly after going, they saw Madam Mao sending Qian Wen, who was carrying a small bag, out the door.

“Where are you siblings going?” Yesterday, Madam Mao had used the shepherd’s purse to make soup. It tasted really good, so she planned to take her children to dig some more back to make steamed buns for her children.

Little Shitou beamed excitedly, showing his pearly whites. As if he was afraid that others wouldn’t know where he was going, he loudly replied, “My second sister and I are going to town to bring some steamed stuffed buns for my older brother!”

Qian Wu, who was standing behind Madam Mao and rubbing his sleepy eyes, instantly became energetic when he heard him, “Mother, I want to go play in town with Little Shitou!”

“What is there to play?! If you’re not careful, you might be kidnapped by an abductor! Today, you’re coming with Mother to dig for shepherd’s purse, or I won’t give you dinner tonight!” Madam Mao pushed Qian Wu, who was throwing a tantrum, into the yard and turned to talk to her eldest son, “Be careful on your way. When you come back next time, Mother will make delicious food for you!”