CHAPTER 65: CHAPTER 65: THE MEDICINAL WINE WORKS

"Come, come, you siblings, come quickly and have some lianggao."

Aunt Luo stood on the edge of the field and shouted, "I brought it over to you, I just made it, it’s delicious."

"Aunt Luo, what is lianggao?"

Is it a type of pastry?

Chun An ran over quickly. It was great; they were just thinking of eating the pastries his sister made, and now Aunt Luo brought some over.

"It’s a rice pudding made from rice." Aunt Luo scooped a bowl and poured a bit of brown sugar syrup into it, handing it to him: "Try it and see if you like it."

"So sweet, so fragrant, I love it."

Chun An was delighted: "Thank you, Aunt Luo."

"What are you thanking me for, come on, Chun Ning, the rest of you come and have some too."

"Okay."

For Chun Ning and the others, it was their first time trying this dessert called lianggao.

"Aunt Luo, how do you make it? I’ll have my sister make it too. My sister’s pastries are really delicious."

"Yes, yes, I’ve tasted your sister’s pastries before," Aunt Luo laughed: "This one is just soaked rice that’s ground into a paste, cooked with alkaline water, chilled in a water jar, and served with a bit of brown sugar syrup. It’s very simple; mine can’t compare to your sister’s."

It sounds quite simple indeed, and his sister should be able to make it.

"You kids plan to dig this field up to plant sweet potatoes for the autumn? It might take you ten to fifteen days to finish," Aunt Luo said, "When your Uncle Luo returns, he can help you dig for an hour."

"Uncle Luo’s foot hurts; we can’t let him help us."

Chun Ning remembered this matter.

"Speaking of this, we have to thank your sister," Aunt Luo said happily, "The medicinal wine your sister gave me, I took it home and applied it on Uncle Luo; it really worked. See, he’s gone to haul again today."

"Didn’t sister say Uncle Luo should rest more? Why is he back at it as soon as he’s slightly better?"

"Your Uncle Luo just can’t sit still. He said he feels up to it, so he went," Aunt Luo said, "The medicinal wine your sister gave, it’s really effective. You should ask your sister if she can sell some to us; most of his brothers who haul with him have the same ailment, and some old haulers can’t even walk now."

"Okay, I’ll ask my sister when I get back."

Chun Nuan knew that when her younger siblings went back to cut the stalks and dig to prepare for planting autumn sweet potatoes, she nodded.

Aunt Luo had mentioned it to her, saying that the soil in that sandy field isn’t fertile, but it can be used.

After harvesting the grains, they released the water, then cut and dug the stalks to plant autumn sweet potatoes. By early October, after harvesting the sweet potatoes, they could plant wheat and rape, so long as the fertilizer was sufficient, the soil wouldn’t need to rest.

She’d been busy making pastries these past few days and hadn’t had time to manage the fields.

She didn’t expect Chun Ning to take the younger siblings to work on it.

But it was hard on them, their faces were all sunburnt red.

"Sister, I want to eat lianggao."

Chun An had one bowl of the lianggao Aunt Luo made and still craved it, and as soon as he saw Chun Nuan, he shouted.

"Lianggao?"

Chun Nuan was taken aback, she was sure she’d never made this kind of pastry before.

"Aunt Luo knows how to make it..." Chun An hurriedly recounted the process Aunt Luo taught for making lianggao.

"Okay, I’ll ask Aunt Luo about it and make some for you when the time comes."

"You little glutton." Mrs. Huang heard her son talking about wanting to eat something again and was both amused and exasperated: "Your siblings are working, and you are only thinking about eating?"

"Third Aunt, Chun An worked too, he ran back and forth quite a bit today, he was also tired." Chun Ning said, "And Chunyan and Chun Shu, they were cutting stalks all day and got blisters on their hands."

"Let me see." Chun Nuan quickly wanted to check her sisters’ hands when she heard they had blisters.

"Sister, it’s nothing, it’s nothing."

The blisters were quite painful and looked scary, but they didn’t plan to let their sister know. Why did Brother Ning have to mention it?

"Let me take a look, you need to apply medicine if necessary."

Chunyan had three blisters on her right hand, and one of them had even opened up.

Chun Shu had two blisters on her right hand as well.

"No more planting sweet potatoes in that sandy field." Chun Nuan’s nose tingled: "Planting sweet potatoes won’t fetch much money; I can earn money to support the family."

The partnership with Old Master Zhang and Zhao Minghua’s teahouse should be enough to support the family.

"But we can’t rely solely on you, sister. By planting grains and vegetables, we save money by not having to buy them," said Chunyan. "It’s okay, sister, we’re just being useful instead of idle. Besides, Aunt Luo said Uncle Luo would help with the digging."

"Uncle Luo’s leg isn’t well; don’t let him work."

"That’s what we said too, and then Aunt Luo mentioned..." Chun Ning remembered: "Sister, Aunt Luo asked if there was any more of the medicinal wine you made and if it could be sold to them. She said many haulers have leg pains, and some can’t even walk."

"Did it work?"

"Yes, it worked. Uncle Luo has gone to haul again."

"That Uncle Luo..."

Sick and hauling again? That’s not right, I’ll have to talk to Aunt Luo tomorrow.

Chun Nuan has some of the medicinal wine, but not much, only a pound of it in total. She had given some to Aunt Luo, so now there’s not much left.

Since they want it, she could sell it to them cheaply.

Everyone is poor, and the family tradition has always been not to exploit the poor. Her great-grandfather and grandfather often didn’t charge for consultations and medicine when helping the poor.

Of course, times have changed, and the Xiao family can no longer afford such charity.

But making the medicinal wine affordable for them is doable.

The next day, Chun Nuan put all the medicinal wine into a small clay pot and took it to find Aunt Luo.

Coincidentally, she saw Uncle Luo.

"Chun Nuan is here." Uncle Luo called into the house, "Dear, Chun Nuan is here."

"Coming, coming." Aunt Luo hurriedly ran out of the house, "Chun Nuan, why are you in the village so early?"

"Is Uncle Luo heading off to work?"

"Yes, there are many boats these days, so I’m heading out early."

"Uncle Luo, let me check your pulse."

"This..."

"Oh, come on, she’s offering to check your pulse, you should hurry up and not waste time." Aunt Luo trusted Chun Nuan’s medical skills.

Her husband was in so much pain a few days ago that he couldn’t help but groan, couldn’t walk without support, and after using the medicinal wine Chun Nuan gave, he significantly improved in two days. By the fourth day, he went to haul again.

Uncle Luo sat down, and Chun Nuan took his pulse.

"How is it?" Aunt Luo asked anxiously.

"Uncle Luo, I suggest you rest for another half month before hauling again." Not stop hauling, but rest for a while: "I’ll prescribe a medicine for you. Take it for three days; continue applying the medicinal wine, and then hauling again after half a month will be fine."

"Rest for so long?"

Every day of work earned money, and rest meant no income.

"Uncle Luo, your health is important." Chun Nuan indicated for Aunt Luo to help persuade him.

"Yes, yes, husband, you can’t go, rest for half a month even if you must, the grains have just been harvested, it’s not like we’re starving," Aunt Luo said, "If something happens to you, what will become of us? If you don’t listen, I’ll take the kids and remarry..."

Chun Nuan’s eyes widened, Aunt Luo, is this really the best way to persuade him?