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Chapter 101 – Three treasures (1)
On the way back, Su Ergou didn’t say a word and remained silent. He was so silent that people would forget that he was the little bully who followed Father Su to cause trouble.
When they arrived at the village, it was almost afternoon. Wei Ting and Father Su were in the field, and the three children went out to play with Meizi and Niudan.
Because of the matter of selling recipes, Su Ergou didn’t take a bite of the food that Su Xiaoxiao brought with her.
He plunged into his own room.
Su Xiaoxiao thought for a moment and decided to make him his favorite braised pork with preserved vegetables.
-Braised pork belly with preserved vegetables.
Pork belly with douchi was a pre-cooked dish. Braised them for a while first, then soaked the Meigan cai and put them on the steamer tray. They will be ready soon.
-Pork belly with douchi (black bean sauce)
-A bundle of Meigan Cai (梅干菜)
A type of dry pickled chinese mustard. The pickle consists of a whole head of various varieties of chinese mustards and cabbages that has undergone an elaborate process consisting of drying, steaming, and salting. The vegetables are harvested, trimmed before the Qingming Festival, and sun-dried until limp. It is then salted or brined, kneaded until the juices are exuded, and left to ferment in large clay urns for 15 to 20 days. The vegetable is then repeatedly steamed and dried until reddish brown in color and highly fragrant.
Su Xiaoxiao cut scallions and sprinkled them. Originally, she planned to call Su Ergou to eat, but after thinking about it, she directly brought the braised pork with preserved vegetables to his room.
Su Ergou sat sullenly on the bed alone.
After transmigrating for so long, this naive younger brother had always been carefree, and it was the first time for Su Xiaoxiao to see him so sad.
Su Xiaoxiao knocked on the door and said, “Ergou, it’s time to eat.”
Su Ergou turned his body sideways, and raised his sleeve to wipe his face.
Su Xiaoxiao walked forward and looked at the back of his head strangely, “Are you…… crying?”
“I’m not.”
Su Ergou choked up and said.
He really cried.
He didn’t cry when he was beaten with a stick for her, he didn’t cry when he was held down by people on the ground, even when he took cold water to bathe, or when he was so hungry that he almost lost consciousness, he didn’t cry. However, just because she sold a few recipes….
This kid cried.
Su Xiaoxiao was doing business to make a living. So it didn’t make much difference to her whether she sold snacks or recipes.
But it was different for Su Ergou. He really liked selling snacks.
When the recipes were taken away, it felt like someone just had cut off a part of his heart.
He stubbornly turned his face away and tilted his head to prevent his older sister from seeing him crying.
Su Xiaoxiao sat down beside him and gently hooked his fingers, “Are you blaming me for selling the recipes?”
Su Ergou’s tears couldn’t stop falling down: “No, It’s me who is useless! If I hadn’t been caught by them, then you wouldn’t have handed over the recipes!”
Su Xiaoxiao sighed and said, “This…… How can I explain this to you? It doesn’t matter whether they caught you or not, I will still sell the recipes. First, it’s true that I don’t want you to suffer from any harm. Secondly, I also have my own plans.”
Su Ergou cried, “You’re lying! You obviously don’t want to sell them!”
Su Xiaoxiao said softly: “For real, I didn’t lie to you. I didn’t sell them before, because I was waiting for an opportunity to raise the price. If I sold them easily, the people from Jinji would think that they had bought at a high price. And if they wanted me to cooperate with them again, they would definitely press the price to the lowest. But if I sold them when I was ‘cornered’, then no matter what price I offered, it would look like it was my lowest price. Well, there is no one who doesn’t like to take advantage, you can treat it as a means of marketing and negotiation.”
“I just didn’t expect them to attack so quickly.….. Does it still hurt?” Su Xiaoxiao raised her hand and touched Su Ergou’s cheek.
Su Ergou wiped his tears and said, “My heart hurts.”
Su Xiaoxiao: “……”
Su Xiaoxiao said, “What I said just now, do you understand?”
“I understand.….. the recipes are gone…… ah……” Su Ergou wailed loudly.
Su Xiaoxiao: You’re not listening to what I say ah……
“In the future, there won’t be any cakes to sell anymore…… whoaaa……”
Su Ergou was extremely sad, he felt that there was no future in life——
Su Xiaoxiao patiently said, “We still can sell our cakes ah. Jinji sells Jinji’s, and we sell ours. There is no conflict. Besides, even if they take the recipes, they won’t be better than us. On the contrary, they may make these snacks become more popular. Besides, the market is so big that there is no end to it. Don’t forget that we still have business from the academy.”
“But it will soon be swallowed up…… Then our family will be poor again……”
Su Ergou cried very sadly.
“No, it won’t.” Su Xiaoxiao quickly diverted his attention. “Don’t you like to eat braised pork with preserved vegetables? I made a big plate, it’s all for you.”
“I can’t eat——” Su Ergou sniffed and looked at his older sister tearfully, “Jie1, What did you make?”
1Jie (姐) : Older sister
Su Xiaoxiao smiled, then she handed a large plate of braised pork with preserved vegetables and a pair of chopsticks to him: “Eat it while it’s hot. It won’t taste good when it’s cold.”
“Jie, you eat it too.”
“I won’t eat, you can eat.” She wanted to lose weight.
“Oh.”
Su Ergou wiped away his tears and began to eat.
——
After coaxing her younger brother for a while, Su Xiaoxiao was sweating all over.
“Coaxing people is tough physical work.”
That being said, who exactly was the child?
He was harder to coax compared to the three little cuties.