Chapter 101 - 101 Secretly Stealing Honey
101 Secretly Stealing Honey
They had picked all the two mountain red trees and the fruits weighed about 100 kilograms.
When they brought it back, everyone looked over curiously and realized that it was the mountain red that was so sour that one’s teeth could fall off. Then, they just went back to their own business.
When the children saw the red fruits, their eyes stopped moving. They would followed wherever Bai Wutong and the rest went as they wanted to eat them.
Bai Wutong smiled gently and said, “Can you wait a while? In a while, you children will be able to eat delicious candied hawthorn.”
They thought that it would be enough to just chew on a piece of mountain red, but Madam actually wanted to make them some sweet and sour candied hawthorn. The children cheered happily.
There were so many children in their team, so it would take a lot of sugar for each of them to eat a stick of candied hawthorn. Auntie Yang said softly with heartache, “Madam, the children in our village don’t need to eat these. Just give them a wild fruit to try.”
Bai Wutong smiled. “It doesn’t take much sugar to make candied hawthorn. Auntie Yang, don’t worry. Qingfeng will buy it at the market.”
But it still cost money to buy it. Sugar was more expensive than food.
Auntie Yang watched as Bai Wutong took out “some” candy. Her heart ached as she secretly made a decision. When she went back, she would tell her old man not to let the children be so gluttony anymore.
They were not from the 30 families of Qinghe who could casually take out money to buy candy for the children. What would they do if the children developed the habit of asking for candy?
After the mountain red was washed, the bamboo sticks that Bai Wutong asked the villagers to shave were also ready.
Everyone sat down and skewered candied hawthorn with bamboo sticks.
Qingfeng and the others had only seen people selling candied hawthorn. It was their first time making candied hawthorn themselves.
It was clearly a simple skewer of candied hawthorn but Qingfeng seemed to be killing someone. Whereas, Cui Lingyi was elegant as if she was threading a needle. Sheng Huaixuan was different. Looking at so many mountain reds and the rock candies taken out by Bai Wutong, he made a conclusion, “At the current price of sugar, we’ll lose money even if we sell a skewer of candied hawthorn for ten copper coins.”
Bai Wutong smiled and said, “It’s not a loss. It’s a gain for everyone.”
Sheng Huaixuan laughed heartily. “Sister-in-law is right.”
When the candied hawthorn syrup was ready, they could put in the skewered mountain red and coat it.
Bai Wutong inserted the first stick of candied hawthorn into the haystack. Chu Tianbao’s eyes were as wide as the children who wanted to eat it.
Bai Wutong smiled. “Let’s wait a little longer and eat together, okay?”
Chu Tianbao swallowed his saliva obediently. “Okay.”
As everyone prepared the candied hawthorn, Bai Wutong taught Auntie Yang and the others how to make red cakes and rolls.
The red cake and rolls were actually hawthorn cakes and fruit skin. The preparation method was actually very simple.
She only needed to remove all the cores in the hawthorn and cut them into small pieces before placing them into a large pot to boil. Then, dhr would pour them into the mold to cool them down and shape them. After that, shr could take them out and cut them into hawthorn cakes.
The fruit skin was a little troublesome to prepare. The boiled hawthorn paste had to be flattened, rolled after cooling, and cut into suitable small rolls.
Bai Wutong explained in detail, and Auntie Yang immediately understood. She even smiled and said, “It’s so simple to make red cakes and rolls.”
Bai Wutong smiled and said, “It’s the Spring Festival in a few days. We can also go to the mountains to see if we can find some mountain red in the mountains and make some snacks for everyone for the festival.”
Auntie Yang suddenly fell silent. The red cakes and rolls were made with almost 50% sugar and 50% mountain red. How could they afford such expensive snacks?
The candied hawthorns were all done. The children each had a stick of candied hawthorns. Even Stinky, who was less than a year old, had a stick of candied hawthorns to chew.
Chu Tianbao ate a candied hawthorn and immediately narrowed his eyes in bliss. He could not believe that this was the sour little red fruit.
Bai Wutong also ate a candied hawthorn. It was sour and sweet, and the taste of her long-lost childhood made her feel satisfied.
She looked at Chu Tianbao. “It’s good, right?”
Chu Tianbao nodded repeatedly and said, “Wife, can you make it every day in the future?”
Bai Wutong smiled and said, “If you eat too much, you’ll easily get diarrhea. Tianbao’s teeth will also decay.”
Chu Tianbao lowered his head in pity and picked up another piece of red cake and put it in his mouth. The plump flesh and the sour and sweet taste immediately made Chu Tianbao like it. He ate a few pieces in a row and said as he ate, “Wife, it’s so delicious. If I can’t eat candied hawthorn every day, can I eat this every day? I’m not afraid of my teeth decaying.”
Although hawthorn cake was good, eating too much was not ideal.
Bai Wutong stopped him. “You can’t eat anymore. You’ll have to eat your meal in a while.”
Chu Tianbao pouted and looked at the red roll that he had yet to taste. He said pitifully, “I haven’t eaten that yet.”
Bai Wutong took a cut red roll and placed it in his hand. “You can only eat this bit.”
Chu Tianbao could not bear to eat and held the red roll in his palm. He bargained and asked, “Is this really the only bit I can eat? Can’t you give the handsome Tianbao another one?”
Yang Quanzi always praised him for being handsome. Chu Tianbao remembered it and used it himself.
Bai Wutong straightened her face and said firmly, “Not this time. Next time.”
Chu Tianbao asked, “When is the next time?”
Bai Wutong said, “When I buy the candy and there are mountain red fruits, then you can eat it again.”
Chu Tianbao looked at the precious red roll in his hand and wondered when he could eat it.
The candied hawthorns were basically all given to the children. The adults only got to try a piece of red cake or a roll. Although it was only a little, everyone’s hearts were filled with sweetness.
At night, when Bai Wutong fell asleep, Chu Tianbao quietly left the tent.
Huang Zhong had been waiting at the side for a long time. When he saw Chu Tianbao come out, he said worriedly, “Master, will Madam really not say anything if we steal honey now?”
Chu Tianbao went to ask Qingfeng when she could buy candy back and she said that she could only go when the market was open on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. He would have to wait at least two days.
But Chu Tianbao could not wait. After hearing from Bai Wutong that honey could also replace sugar and was even better than rock sugar, he cleverly thought of Huang Zhong.
Chu Tianbao glanced at him guiltily, but it was dark and Huang Zhong did not see him.
He pretended to be calm. “No.”
Huang Zhong believed that it was true, so he handed Chu Tianbao a few anti-plague headgear. “Master, for safety’s sake, let’s wear this to prevent bees from stinging us.”
Chu Tianbao did not want to wear it, so Huang Zhong said, “If Master is stung by a bee, Madam will definitely be heartbroken.”
Then, Chu Tianbao obediently put on all the headgear.
The two of them thought they were very well wrapped up. They carried a bamboo basket on the back and set off.
At the foot of the Honeycomb Cliff, Huang Zhong waved the torch in his hand. “Master, it’s there. Can you fly up and pick it?” Then he said fearfully, “If you can’t, let’s go back!”
Chu Tianbao looked up and frowned. “Is that honey?”
Huang Zhong nodded. Before he could say that honey was inside the beehive, Chu Tianbao flew up with a whoosh.
Huang Zhong blinked and was dumbfounded to see Chu Tianbao’s hand pressed against the huge beehive.
Instantly, a buzzing sound spewed out. The bees guarding the beehive instantly surrounded Chu Tianbao.
Huang Zhong raised his torch and saw it. His heart was in his throat as he shouted, “Master! Run!”