Yu Bing was stunned for a moment before silently apologizing to Xiao Lin. Then, she decisively betrayed him. “Xiao Lin accidentally let it slip to Jiang Chun. Don’t worry, if you don’t want too many people to know about it, Jiang Chun and I definitely won’t tell anyone.”

Letting others know was indeed detrimental. Everyone knew that it would definitely cost a lot to cure blindness. At that time, if those curious villagers brought this matter up, the Xiao family would become the center of gossip. This wasn’t conducive to Xiao Sheng earning money in a low-profile manner.

Xiao Sheng cursed Xiao Lin inside, but he was glad that Yu Bing and Jiang Chun were trustworthy.

At this point, Yu Bing asked the question she was concerned about, “How much does Xiao Li’s surgery cost?”

Xiao Sheng thought of the exorbitant number and lowered his eyes. “I don’t know for sure. I only heard that it costs about 10,000 yuan, but I’ll only know the details after she goes to a large hospital for a checkup.”

When Yu Bing heard this number, she felt a little shocked. 10,000 yuan was exorbitant even in her future era, let alone now. Hence, she comforted him. “It’s fine. She can have the surgery when you save up enough money. As time passes, the medical standards will increase.”

Xiao Sheng shook his head. “Xiao Li can’t wait. The person I asked told me that the sooner Xiao Li undergoes surgery, the higher the chance of her regaining eyesight.”

For some reason, he suddenly wanted to tell Yu Bing about these things that outsiders couldn’t know. Perhaps it was because he also wanted to find someone to confide in to relieve the heavy burden in his heart.

When Yu Bing heard this, she sighed inwardly. “Haven’t you found a sales channel in the city now? I’ll push out a few more new products. With more sales channels, we’ll be able to earn money faster!”

Xiao Sheng smiled and nodded.

After Zhang Chao’s matter was resolved, the supply in the county returned to normal.

Lantern Festival.

In order to thank Yu Bing for saving Xiao Li, the Xiao family invited Yu Bing and Jiang Chun to celebrate the holidays together.

Yu Bing looked at the chickens and fish that had already been killed in the kitchen and couldn’t help but tease Xiao Lin, who was burning the fire, “It’s rare for someone as stingy as your brother to offer chickens and fish today.”

Xiao Lin touched his nose in embarrassment when he heard this. In order to save up for the surgery fees, their family was usually willing to spend money on Xiao Li, but they could scrimp on everything else.

His clothes were full of patches, but he couldn’t bear to buy cloth to make a new one. Every year, Xiao Sheng only used clothing stamps on Xiao Lin and Xiao Li. As long as his clothes could be worn, he would sell the remaining clothing stamps for money.

The weather was cold, so it wasn’t suitable for eating stir-fried vegetables. There was no mutton to cook, so Yu Bing suddenly decided to eat Sichuan spicy hotpot!

Ever since she started to earn money, Yu Bing had never scrimped on food. There were many spices at home.

Yu Bing ran home, took the things needed for the hotpot base, and went to the Xiao family’s house to start making the hotpot base!

Due to everyone’s low tolerance for spicy food, Yu Bing planned to make it mildly spicy.

First, she cut the dried chili into small pieces and shook out the chili seeds in the dry chili seasoning. Then, she filtered the chili seeds with a funnel, leaving only the dried chili shells to pour into the bowl. She added boiling water and soaked them for 20 minutes.

Then, she filled a clean bowl with aniseed, cinnamon, fragrant leaves, seedless grass fruit, and fennel. She added a large spoonful of high-quality white wine to stimulate the aroma of the spices. After stirring it evenly with a spoon, she soaked it for five minutes.

She took out another clean bowl and placed a small pinch of green and white peppers in it. Then, she poured in the white wine that had just been soaked in spices. After stirring it evenly, she soaked it for 10 minutes. This could effectively prevent it from tasting bitter when stir-fried.

Yu Bing took out a piece of ginger and onion, then cut them into pieces. Then, she placed the soaked chili shell on the chopping board and cut it.

She took out a small bowl, then placed sugar and rice wine in it. After doing all this, she was done preparing the ingredients for the hotpot base.

Everyone knew that Yu Bing was preparing a new dish, so they surrounded the kitchen and watched curiously.

Yu Bing first poured the oil into the cold pot and boiled it at 150 degrees heat. Then, she added onions, ginger, and coriander. At this moment, she had to slow-fry it over a small fire to let the oil and the taste of the spices fuse completely. After the spices changed color, she fished them out.

Then, she poured in chili powder and spices and continued to stir-fry them.

About ten minutes later, the water in the chili had been stir-fried dry, and the air was filled with an aromatic and spicy smell.

It made the people in the kitchen cough.