381 Boiling
Liu Guixia took a bite and her eyes immediately lit up. “It’s much more delicious than before!”
Jiang Yue then poured two spoonfuls of sweet red beans into the bowls of Yu Hongyan, Li Hehua, Xue Yifu, Xue Sifu, and Xue Yan’s bowls. Finally, it was her turn.
“Jiang Yue, you really take after your family well, you’re treating us like royalty!” Yu Hongyan smiled and said, “Sifu, it would be good for us to sell this kind of ice. It should be eaten this way. Even if it was cold just now, it was tasteless. How could it be so delicious with just one change?”
Xue Sifu laughed as he ate, “Jiang Yue really is our lunar treasure. She’s so good at making delicious and different food. If we can really sell this in town, it’ll definitely sell well.”
As he said this, Xue Sifu’s mind was spinning quickly. He hoped that the method of using the blanket to keep the ice from melting was actually real.
He didn’t lack anything else except for a way to preserve the ice.
Xue Yifu finished eating first, but Liu Guixia didn’t really let Xue Yifu, the first person to finish eating, bring ice to Xue Da. She made Xue Yifu go back to making wooden basins.
Liu Guixia didn’t let him leave until Xue Sifu was the second to finish.
“Give your grandfather more.” As Liu Guixia spoke, she started scooping up the crushed ice for Xue Da. She poured a few scoops of sweet red beans into the small bowl of crushed ice. It looked especially delicious.
It was also especially pleasing to the eye. On the crystal clear ice, there were red, rustling sweet red beans. It looked good from any angle.
“This big bowl is for Xue Da and Xue Darong. You can take it along with you. When you come back I’ll pack another for Xue Dagui. There aren’t a lot of sweet red beans left, so that’s all we can give. Tell them that they can add whatever they have at home too. Go go. If you don’t hurry up, this ice will melt soon. I hope they’re all at home.” Liu Guixia said.
“Okay.” After Xue Sifu finished speaking, he went to deliver ice to his grandfather and Xue Darong’s house. When he returned, he went to deliver ice to Xue Dagui. Fortunately, they were all home.
After sending everything, Xue Sifu, Liu Guixia, and Li Hehua kept the dried rice noodles in the yard.
The rice noodles were thin, and the sun was strong, so it didn’t take a whole day to dry them.
Then, the three of them set up the especially big pot in the courtyard. The ice in the big pot had melted a lot, and there was a lot of water left.
Once the pot was set up, the three of them put some firewood under the pot and started to boil the water.
There was saltpeter in the cold water so they had to boil it. The ice inside had melted into water, and as the water was boiled down, the saltpeter would slowly crystalize.
This was what Xue Yan had said. He mentioned that he had read about it in a medical book.
Although the sun was about to set, it was still quite hot. Coupled with the fire, the ice in the pot began to melt rapidly.
There was no one who needed Yu Hongyan’s help. Therefore, Yu Hongyan stood by the side with her big belly and watched. She also chatted and laughed with the three of them while they worked.
Jiang Yue and Xue Yan were still in the central room. There was still a small basin of ice left in the central room. It was the second small basin of ice that had just been made. The first one had been smashed and eaten, and the third one had been hidden under the quilt by Li Hehua under Jiang Yue’s silly idea.
Even though the second basin of ice was placed in the central room and had not been exposed to the sun, it had already melted a lot due to the high temperature. There was even a lot of water on the surface.
Jiang Yue didn’t care about the ice in the small basin. Instead, she went to find some hemp rope. After that, she squatted down in front of the bamboo tubes that she was going to use to make popsicles.
