Chapter 53: Sourness
This braised pork, how should she put it. It lacked sufficient seasoning, so the flavor fell short in many ways. However, it was cooked over a large wood stove with fresh pork, tender and suitable, with a moderate balance of salty and savory flavors, making it passable.
‘Next time, if I stew this meat again, I’ll need to buy more spices from the store in town beforehand.
Su Mulan planned like this as she finished her bowl of noodles.
After eating, she steamed some sweet potatoes and began drying another batch of dried sweet potatoes. After finishing the busy work, she would set off again to continue clearing the land.
She gathered tools such as shovels, sickles, hoes, and the like, filling three large bamboo tubes with water, Su Mulan scooped some white sugar into each tube. When she reached the third tube, Su Mulan hesitated for a moment, then decided to set the spoon down.
At this time, sugar was relatively expensive. She had only bought a small amount for fifteen cents, and needed to save some for other uses. Adults generally didn’t need much additional sugar unless they had low blood sugar levels. Su Mulan kept the two tubes with sugar for Bai Lixia and Bai Midou to drink, while she took the one without sugar for herself.
With everything prepared, leaving Bai Zhuye and Bai Shuiliu at home, Su Mulan led Bai Lixia and Bai Midou to go do their work.
In the scorching heat of midsummer, despite the sky being dotted with fluffy white clouds, which softened the direct sunlight, the oppressive heat of the hottest days of summer still caused people to sweat profusely.
After working for a while, they had to take breaks and drink a few sips of water.
But Bai Lixia and Bai Midou were both sensible children. Even though sweat had soaked their backs by now, they refused to take a break, only bending over to clean up small stones, weeds, and other debris.
Seeing this, Su Mulan wiped the sweat from her forehead. “Both of you, go rest for a while. I’ll finish digging up this tree root and join you soon.”
The two little radishes were exhausted as well. Upon hearing Su Mulan’s suggestion, they nodded, set down their sickles and shovels, and went to rest under the nearby big paulownia tree. They grabbed a bamboo tube and took a sip of water.
“Why does this water taste not sweet at all?” Bai Midou looked puzzled at the large bamboo tube in his hand, shook it, took another sip, and frowned, “It really isn’t sweet at all.”
“Could it be that you’re so used to drinking sweet water that you think this isn’t sweet?” Bai Lixia suggested.
“I don’t think so. It really isn’t sweet at all.” Bai Midou handed the bamboo tube to Bai Lixia.
After taking a sip, Bai Lixia smacked her lips. “It really isn’t sweet at all…”
Curiously looking at the bamboo tube in her hand, she then smiled, “No wonder it’s not sweet. The one you’re drinking from is Mother’s bamboo tube. Didn’t Mother just say not to drink from this one?”
Bai Lixia paused, suddenly stopping herself.
Su Mulan had forbidden them from drinking from this bamboo tube, and the water inside it was without sugar.
In other words…
Bai Lixia suddenly felt her nose tingling and couldn’t help but wipe her nose twice.
“What’s wrong, Second Sister?” Bai Midou noticed Bai Lixia’s unusual behavior and asked.
“Nothing, nothing.” Bai Lixia quickly turned her head away, secretly wiping the corners of her eyes with her sleeve. “Sweat dripped into my eyes and stung.”
“This is the water Mother wants. Don’t mistake it again later, and don’t tell Mother you drank her water, or she might think we’re disobedient and feel upset.”
“Oh.” Bai Midou scratched his ear. “But Mother probably won’t get angry, right?”