Chapter 684: The Taste of Happiness

r don't worry, although Wen and I have known each other for not long, we are close as brothers and consider each other bosom friends.""Brother Wen has also helped me quite a bit, and I readily accepte...The sun rises and the moon sets, one storm after another, as if in the blink of an eye it's already Lā Bā.

Before dawn broke, Tao Hongying had already gathered Shui Ling, Shui Yun, and the helpful Qiong's mother and Dong Mei. Together they stoked two large pots over the fire.

Then, the eight kinds of grains and beans chosen yesterday were washed clean and added with plenty of water to be simmered.

When the sky was bright, the glutinous and fragrant rice porridge in the pot was also stirred to a thick consistency.

Every household in Xin Cun and Er Cun was like this.

The mischievous boys, rarely waking up so early, were surprisingly active. Sleepily clutching their bowls, they eagerly awaited the Lā Bā Zhōu porridge.

Actually, nowadays life is pretty good. A bowl of porridge with added sugar, it's not a rare treat at all.

But to what season, eating what kind of food, itself brings a bonus of three points of good taste!

A biting wind howled outside, snowflakes swirling in the air. A family huddled together, warming themselves with a steaming bowl of la ba zhou (sticky rice porridge).

This lo-bak-go is no longer just porridge, it's peace, togetherness, and abundance.

This is the feeling of peace and security that the whole family enjoys.

Jia Yin ate the kimchi, pickled cucumbers, and spicy mustard greens that her mother had made herself. She also drank two big bowls of rice wine. Finally, she patted her round belly and walked around to help with digestion.

Li Lao'er originally wanted to rest at home for a day, but Zheng Feng came back early and after saying a few words, he went into the city.

He didn't act arrogantly. After hearing about the location of the Yaochi and its strict defenses, he decided to ask the Marquis for a few men.

But the Marquis, being in the military camp, took half a day even to go back and forth on horseback. He was afraid he would miss the opportunity.

Luckily, the people sent over from Zheng Family Estate earlier, including Zheng Liu and Zheng Qi, went to Quanzhou with Jia Ren. But Zheng Sanjiang and Jiahuan's little servant, Zheng Er, are still in the city and could lend a hand temporarily.

Then, when the sun was high in the sky, Zheng Sanjiang and Zheng Er disguised themselves as a father and son, carrying a basket of pears, and set off…

In Li's courtyard, Wenfu and Wenjuan were doing needlework together, accompanying Old Mrs. Li in conversation.

Mrs. Wen and Wenjuan's due dates are less than a month apart, and now they both have five or six-month bellies that are quite large.

With such weather, they wouldn't dare to wander outside. They just flitted about between the two courtyards, which was some activity at least.

Old Mrs. Li had a large basin of glutinous rice. She planned to pick out the impurities, make it into sticky noodles, then steam bean curd and fry oil cakes.

This is a custom of the northern regions. Even after moving to the new capital here, the family still enjoys this taste.

Because life was too harsh in the north.

The best year at home wasn't even that special, just steamed a hundred or so bean cakes and fried twenty oil cakes.

That was the sweetest, most blissful taste in the memory of the whole family.

Now that sticky rice is readily available in the market, buying a hundred kilograms wouldn't be a big deal. The old woman decided to make a large batch, wanting to send some to relatives and friends for them to enjoy the freshness.

Mrs. Wen and Wenjuan found it interesting and mouthwatering, so they both put down their needles and thread and joined in the bustle, chatting and laughing, making the atmosphere lively.

Li Laotai then said, “Here, sticky rice isn’t called sticky rice, it’s called glutinous rice. It’s not some precious thing. But in our old hometown, this is twice as expensive as ordinary white rice.”

That year, my second son worked as an accountant in the city. His employer gave him a few pounds of reward, and I was so touched that I steamed bean cakes and fried oil cakes for him.

Jia Xi and Jia An were only four years old. After finishing the you gao, they licked each of their fingers.

"At that time, I thought to myself, when life gets better in the future, I'll definitely fry hundreds of oil cakes and let the children eat their fill. "

"Well, today I'm going to make a big batch of fried rice cakes! The children have all flown the coop and it's hard to get them back!"

Mrs. Wen guessed that Old Lady Li wanted her grandson, so she quickly advised: "If this dough can be kept, it's better to freeze two balls."

During the New Year, children always get together. When it's freshly fried and eaten then, that's when it tastes the best!

"Yes, grandma," Wenjuan also said, "Huangan is in the city too. He's getting busier and hasn't come back for four or five days. Stay a little longer, wait for him to come back, and eat some yougao together."

Li Laotai couldn't help but smile and chide, "Rest assured, nothing will happen to your son. Jiahuan loves sticky foods the most, but he's sensible and doesn't say much."

"He couldn't remember how many times his brothers had eaten the rice cakes sold in Luo'an Town, but every time Fu Niuer returned from town, she never forgot to bring a box for Jiahuan."

Wenjuan blushed. As the daughter-in-law, she actually didn't know about these things.

It's no wonder the husband treats his younger sister-in-law so well all day long, she truly is much more sensible and considerate than other children.

Tao Hongying came in from outside, pulling a thick cotton cloak as she went. She fastened it and said, "Mother, I'm going to Ercun for a walk. The new year is almost here. I'll see if there's anything difficult about the workshops or any households."

"Go on, take Funiu with you," Li Lao Tai instructed her daughter-in-law. "This little girl didn't eat less this morning. Be careful, she might gain more weight. By then, she'll be fatter than a pig!"

Everyone laughed upon hearing this.

Jia Yin was also smiling, not angry at all. She ran to hug her grandmother's neck and acted coquettishly for a while before putting on a cloak just like her mother and going out together.

In winter, when it's cold, handmade noodles don't benefit from the sun and autumn winds to dry. They can only be dried in a warm room.

This certainly required a bit more effort, but luckily we had enough manpower so production wasn't delayed.

And because of the Lunar New Year, there is a surge in demand for handmade noodles.

Xiaocui'er was busy all day long, her feet never touching the ground. By day, she managed the workshop and handled village affairs, big and small. At night, she still had to study writing and arithmetic with Hui-niang.

She really wished she had eight hands, so that one hour could be stretched into three.

At this moment, she was organizing her accounts.

Although I can still read a limited number of characters and writing is somewhat difficult.

But she was clever and used symbols to represent things, managing to record everything in an orderly and coherent manner.

Seeing Tao Hongying and Jiayin approaching, she hurriedly stepped forward to greet them.

The Lee family has always been willing to lend a hand to this noodle shop, but they never get involved.

For example, Professor Tao Hongying guided everyone in making hand-rolled noodles and simmering meat sauce. She even instructed the crafting of all the tools used in the workshop, and she painstakingly helped streamline the assembly line process.

But the entire workshop, from buying ingredients like flour and vegetable oil to selling them, she didn't say a word about how much the cost and profit were, or how it was distributed.

The wounded soldiers, veterans, and personal guards of the Marquis from Ercun are undoubtedly brave and loyal.

But many people have families and involve money, so the Li family has to avoid suspicion.

In the end, they put in a lot of effort and were still suspected of lining their own pockets...

After the workshop got back on track, each stage of production was overseen by the oldest and most experienced veteran, a total of five people. They formed an administrative team, in addition to Xiao Cui who acted as the shopkeeper and managed the accounts.

These six people, working together, managed to run the workshop quite efficiently.

Most of the villagers in Ercun worked in the workshops. Managing the workshops effectively also meant keeping the entire village in order.er was thrown into prison.Thinking about the expressions of the Wen family just now, she couldn't help but feel sorry for her senior brother.“I originally thought that my senior brother’s father was j...