CHAPTER 118: CHAPTER 118: SORGHUM STALKS BOILED INTO SYRUP

Amid Xiaomi’s constant longing, autumn harvest finally arrived. While everyone was busy drying and storing various grains, Xiaomi lugged a few sorghum stalks with much effort.

"Xiaomi, the cows at home have food to eat, there’s no need to bring this back." Jiang Xiaoxue carried a small basket on her back, filled with a couple of sorghum spikes that were previously overlooked.

"Big sister, I need this for something," Xiaomi insisted. The sorghum leaves had been stripped, leaving bare stalks that were rather long and unwieldy for Xiaomi.

Jiang Xiaoxue sighed helplessly and reached out to take them: "Let me help you with that."

As she spoke, she also called to Tie Dan behind her to hurry up.

Aunt Jiang Hu was cutting down sorghum stalks, and Xiaomi was anxious, fearing they would dry out in the sun if delayed.

Urged by Xiaomi, the three hurried back home.

"Big sister, could you help me wash that big stone mortar? I’ll need it in a while."

The big stone mortar was usually used to crush corn, and last year it was even used to pound mochi.

Jiang Xiaoxue, without understanding why, still took a basin of water to wash the mortar. Meanwhile, Xiaomi simply rinsed the sorghum stalks and then used a machete to cut the corn stalks into small pieces.

"Xiaomi, what are you doing?" Xiaoxue was puzzled; her little sister was growing up and acting more and more peculiarly.

"Big sister, these sorghum stalks are so sweet, you should taste them. Let’s see if we can extract the sugar from them."

Xiaomi gave her a piece to try. The taste was similar to sugarcane, with plenty of moisture.

However, their village didn’t have sugarcane, and they weren’t sure if it was available elsewhere.

Even though Jiang Xiaoxue was puzzled, she still bit off a piece, chewed on it, and her eyes lit up: "Really, it’s sweet, just like sugar."

Xiaomi poured the cut sorghum stalks into the mortar: "Big sister, let’s mash it together."

Luckily, the pestle was made of wood, so the sisters could lift it together, and with combined effort, they smashed it down forcefully. Before long, there was a puddle of liquid at the bottom of the mortar.

Xiaomi took a large bowl and collected the juice, then continued mashing. After finishing with the few sorghum stalks, they had collected a large bowl of sweet juice.

Not only that, but Xiaomi also scooped some water and continued to mash the pulp again, adding all the juice and filtering it through a fine cloth.

In this way, they now had three large bowls of sweet water. Before her parents returned, she asked her sister to help light the fire and started boiling the sugary water.

They kept it boiling on high heat, without a lid, allowing the steam to evaporate. Once the water had evaporated and the syrup became thick, they lowered the heat to simmer it slowly.

Xiaomi constantly stirred with a spoon. This was her first time doing this, and she wasn’t sure if it would work, but seeing the pot reduce from half-full to less than a quarter, she knew it hadn’t failed.

Jiang Xiaoxue backed away the charcoal fire, leaving only a few sparks, then came to stand by Xiaomi and took a deep sniff: "It really smells like sugar, it’s so sweet."

Xiaomi stood on a stool to stir the syrup in the pot. Having been there the whole time, she hadn’t really noticed the smell herself.

Hearing her sister, Xiaomi quickly asked: "Really? You can smell it? Then we should get it out before it burns, it’s just a little bit."

Jiang Xiaoxue brought over a bowl: "Xiaomi, get down, I’ll scoop it up."

Xiaomi quickly made room.

The sticky syrup filled a small bowl, its gray-brown color resembling mud. Some was left in the pot and on the spoon, so Xiaoxue, unwilling to waste any, added a bit of water, and after a rinse, they had a bowl of sugar water.

She took a sip, and her eyes sparkled: "So sweet, it’s as sweet as store-bought candy."

"Big sister, I want to drink too." Tie Dan hurried over, and Xiaoxue placed the bowl in front of him: "Be careful."

Xiaomi had already placed the syrup on the table and was poking it with chopsticks.

Tie Dan drank a few sips, exclaiming how sweet it was, wanting more, but Xiaoxue stopped him, and then passed it to Xiaomi: "Xiaomi, have a taste too. After all, you made it."

"What did Xiaomi make? Let Dad try too," Jiang Hu’s voice came from outside, signaling it was lunchtime.

"Dad!" Xiaoxue put the bowl on the table, turned around, and ran out: "Xiaomi is amazing, she made sugar from sorghum stalks, it’s so sweet."

Just placing down his hoe, Jiang Hu was stunned and hurried into the kitchen, shock still apparent on his face: "Xiaomi made sugar?"

Xiaomi was testing the syrup’s thickness with chopsticks, thinking it was still a bit thin and could use more simmering, ideally until it could be rolled into a ball with a stick.

Just as she set down the chopsticks, she saw her father standing there with an unhappy expression, leaving her bewildered: "Dad?"

At this moment, her aunt also came in. She first noticed the half-bowl of syrup in front of Xiaomi, surprised: "Xiaomi, is this made from sorghum stalks?"

Xiaomi nodded: "Yeah, what’s wrong, Mom? Dad seems unhappy."

Aunt touched Xiaomi’s head: "It’s okay, Xiaomi, don’t tell anyone about this, okay?"

Xiaomi, utterly puzzled, asked: "You mean about making syrup from sorghum stalks?"

Jiang Hu, having adjusted his emotions, took a deep breath and relaxed his expression.

"Xiaomi, tell Dad, how did you think of using this to make sugar?" he asked while examining the syrup: "This looks like the malt sugar Aunt makes, but not as dark in color."

Aunt nodded; she had noticed earlier as well.

Then both of them looked at Xiaomi.

Xiaomi blinked, innocently looking back at her parents: "I don’t really know, it was just when big sister was cutting sorghum stalks today, I accidentally tasted the water from the stalks, and it was so sweet."

And that was the end of it.

Aunt and Jiang Hu exchanged looks, and Jiang Hu placed his hand on Xiaomi’s shoulder: "Xiaomi, listen to Dad, just say Mom accidentally made this syrup, don’t say it was you, alright?"

Xiaomi didn’t think much of it and nodded, smiling: "Okay, Mom made it."

Then Jiang Hu also instructed Xiaoxue and Tie Dan; Tie Dan being young, if anyone asked, should just say he didn’t know.

Meanwhile, Aunt cooked while inquiring with Xiaoxue about how the syrup was made.

Xiaoxue assisted her mother and recounted the process in detail. What about the main character, Xiaomi? She was already running outside with Dad to the pigsty to watch him feed the pigs.

As for her parents’ concerns, after a brief moment of confusion, Xiaomi then understood the reason. It was for her own protection.

However, judging by her parents’ expressions, it seemed like they weren’t planning to just let the matter drop. She was curious about what they intended to do.

Were they planning to make quiet fortunes, or did they intend to announce it widely, letting everyone earn money together?