Xue Dagui was so angry that he smashed his hoe against the wattled courtyard wall.
He bought 54 kilograms of glutinous rice. There were only two pots at home for making malt sugar, so they could only make 18 kilograms of glutinous rice a day. It would take three days to finish making all the glutinous rice.
That afternoon, the last of the glutinous rice had almost turned into malt sugar without any moisture.
Yu Hongyan was sitting at the entrance of the stove, taking care of the fire inside. Xue Yifu was still busy with the things in the workshop under the shed on the other side. The others were all staring at the dark brown malt candy in the pot. When the malt candy was pulled into a white one, the sugar-making process would be considered complete. The next day, they could pull and plate the candy to sell in town.
Since it was almost done, Jiang Yue and Xue Yan had nothing else to do, so they went to the stove under the shed to check the pot.
Xue Dafu chuckled as he watched the two kids. “Sifu, tomorrow, let Erfu go to town with you to sell the candy. It will save you the trouble of peddling on the streets. If that happens, who knows when they will be sold out.”
“Okay.” Xue Sifu chuckled and had no objections. This was his first business deal. Although the business was small, it could hopefully earn them some money.
As soon as Xue Sifu finished speaking, Li Qingshu’s mother’s voice came from outside, “Erfu! Erfu!”
Before Xue Erfu could reply, Li Qingshu’s anxious and angry voice came from outside. “Mother, what are you doing? Erfu just wants me to make more money by selling oil!”
Jiang Yue and Xue Yan looked at each other, knowing that something had happened to the rapeseed oil.
Jiang Yue and Xue Yan followed after their brother as he strode out of the room.
Xue Dafu and the others also walked out quickly.
Xue Yifu stopped busying himself under the shed and quickly got up to go out to take a look as well.
Xue Sifu was busy cooking the sugar in the pot, so he didn’t come out.
Xue Erfu was Yu Hongyan’s husband. Since this matter concerned Xue Erfu, how could Yu Hongyan sit still in front of the stove? She had been replaced by Li Hehua to take care of the fire on the stove. As for her, she quickly walked out, not caring if her stomach was bulging or not.
“Yes, that’s right.” It was the voice of Li Qingshu’s father. “Forget it. Don’t make it difficult for Qingshu and Erfu to meet each other in the future. It’s fine as long as they had a good childhood together.”
“Why should we forget it?!” Li Qingshu’s mother shouted. Her voice sounded like she was about to cry. “Our family is counting on the money from selling those vegetable seeds to make a living. Now that we can’t sell the oil at all, how can our family live? If he didn’t ask Qingshu to sell the seeds, would Qingshu sell them? I know he’s kind, but what should I do? What should I do…” She even started crying.
In fact, she was crying from anxiety.
He didn’t really blame anyone.
When Jiang Yue and Xue Yan walked to the entrance of the courtyard, they understood that Li Qingshu’s family was counting on this money to survive because the oil they had extracted couldn’t be sold.
At this moment, not far from the entrance of the courtyard, Li Qingshu, and his father were blocking his mother, not allowing her to come and find their brother.
Erfu walked to Li Qingshu’s side with his long legs in a few steps. He was just as anxious when he heard about the news. “Qingshu, what is going on? What do you mean that the oil can’t be sold at all? Didn’t my oil sell?”
“Er Hu, I’m sorry.” Li Qingshu felt so guilty that he didn’t even have the face to see Er Hu. “I didn’t know my mother would come. I just turned around and she ran all the way here.”