"No more joking around with you, Iām here to get the maltose and sesame seeds."
"If you want to make candied hawthorns yourself, donāt make them like the ones sold outside." Ye Ziāan called after her as she walked away.
"Then how should I make them? Do you have any good ideas?" Yang Chuxia asked, holding two packages and turning back to look at him.
"You can hollow out the hawthorns from the middle and remove the seeds," Ye Ziāan suggested thoughtfully. "You can fill the center with cream or jam, like the kind used in cakes."
"Ah, thatās a great idea," Yang Chuxia laughed. "Iāll give it a try. Old monk, you just keep meditating."
"Haha, you little imp in need of discipline..."
After Yang Chuxia went out, she asked someone to find a small knife, then dug out the seeds from the hawthorns, leaving a hole just right for stuffing.
Once she finished, she went to the kitchen and melted the maltose with water. Then she rolled the skewered hawthorns in the mixture, coated them with some roasted sesame seeds from a basket, and set them aside to cool.
"Mom, when can we eat them?" Yangyang asked eagerly, staring at the skewers of hawthorns, feeling his mouth watering.
"Just wait a little longer," Yang Chuxia patted him.
After she had coated all the hawthorns in sugar, Yang Chuxia turned around only to see Yangyang already holding one skewer in each hand. The other children were doing the same.
"I knew you couldnāt wait!"
Yang Chuxia chuckled, then went back to clean the pot, added water, and burned two handfuls of grass. She then placed the green persimmons they had picked into the pot.
"Mom, do the persimmons need to be cooked too?" Lele asked.
"No, these persimmons just need to soak in warm water, keeping this temperature. By the day after tomorrow, theyāll be crisp and ready to eat."
"Is it that simple?"
"Itās not that simple. Sister-in-law Li said someone needs to keep an eye on the water temperature, not too cold or too hot. If itās too hot, the skins of the persimmons change color and they soften, which wouldnāt taste good."
Noticing that all the kids had sugar around their mouths, Yang Chuxia called out, "Alright, letās go to the front yard. Once youāre done with whatās in your hands, no more, or your teeth might hurt and you wonāt be able to eat dinner."
"Got it!"
The children called out together.
"Sis, your candied hawthorns taste much better than the ones sold outside," Yang Xiayun commented.
"Exactly, and thereās something sweet in the middle, without any seeds."
"It was your cousinās idea."
"I didnāt expect Cousin to be such a foodie, haha," Luo Linyu laughed. "I heard from Yangyang that the mountain is fun, Iāll go tomorrow too."
After leaving the kitchen, it was starting to get dark, so they rested in the front yard for a while before the maids set up dinner.
After dinner and some small talk, everyone went back to their rooms to sleep.
~~~~
"Mom, should we pick the chrysanthemums now or in the afternoon?" The next day, Yang Chuxia accompanied Yang Xiayun and the others to the mountain. Ye Ziāan stayed at home with the three younger ones; only Yangyang and Lele went along.
"Just pick them into the baskets when you see them, but keep the yellow and white ones separate."
"In that case, Iāll put the yellow ones in my basket, and Brother can put the white ones in his."
They picked chrysanthemums as they strolled along, and since it wasnāt far, they soon reached the mountain.
"Weāll stay at the foot of the mountain and wonāt go up further, otherwise I wouldnāt dare let you come," Yang Chuxia said to Dongyang.
Dongyang looked around and said, "I didnāt expect there to be so many fruit trees here. Did you buy all of them?"
"I bought them together with the manor," Yang Chuxia replied as she supported him. "Up ahead are the jujube trees."