The next day, after breakfast, the main focus of today's work was naturally Chen Lan, Xiang Dong, and Er Hu, who, along with all the women collecting mountain goods, would head out with hoes and shovels to dig for wild yams.
The patch of wild yams along the stream at the foot of the mountain slope was quite large. Xiang Dong and Er Hu, along with the women, had been digging for seven or eight days and still hadn't finished. During these past seven or eight days, Chen Lan had been hunting and finding mountain goods near the stream using the system's search function. It was true, where there was running water, there were more animals of all kinds. Needless to say, Chen Lan had a bountiful harvest every day.
The weather had been getting colder day by day; after all, it was the season. This afternoon, the group hadn't been digging for long when snowflakes began to drift down from the sky. Chen Lan, Xiang Dong, and Er Hu immediately led everyone back to the valley from the mountain. As soon as they reached the valley, the snow began to fall even heavier, and in a short while, the ground was covered in white.
Chen Lan told everyone to hand over the wild yams to the aunties in the main kitchen and go home to rest. Not long after Chen Lan got home, while she was doting on the dragon-phoenix twins, her mother-in-law came in with excitement, pushing the door open. As soon as she entered, her mother-in-law doted on her two darling grandchildren for a bit, then said, "Xiao Lan, I have something to discuss with you."
Chen Lan immediately replied, "Mother-in-law, why are you being so polite with me? What is it? Just say it directly."
Her mother-in-law smiled and said, "Xiao Lan, look, it's snowing today, and it's time we started cooking and eating separately. I've discussed it with some of my old friends, and we think that if we distribute grain directly to each household, it would certainly be more convenient. But I'm afraid we might not have enough grain until next autumn harvest."
Chen Lan's interest was immediately piqued, and she quickly asked, "Mother-in-law, have you and the aunties come up with a better solution?"
Her mother-in-law continued with a chuckle, "Whether it's better or not, we'll have to try and see. We were thinking of making sticky bean buns and sticky cakes for everyone."
Chen Lan asked with a hint of confusion, "Mother-in-law, aren't sticky bean buns and sticky cakes also made from grain?"
Her mother-in-law still smiled and explained, "Xiao Lan, it's different. Didn't we harvest a lot of beans in the autumn that we've been storing? If we don't eat them in time and keep them until next spring, they're prone to getting infested with insects. We can use them to make fillings to eat, which will be both delicious and filling. What do you think?"
Chen Lan immediately understood and said, "Mother-in-law, you mean we'll prepare the staple food and distribute it collectively, but if those with big appetites can't eat enough, won't that cause conflict again?"
Her mother-in-law quickly corrected her, "Xiao Lan, you've misunderstood. It's not about collective distribution. We just want to mix those miscellaneous grains and beans with the regular grain and make ready-to-eat sticky bean buns and sticky cakes. This way, they will be delicious and filling. Also, families like yours, Aunt Chen, are from E Province, some are from Xiang Province, and Sun Xiaomei's family is from Chuan Province. They don't know how to make things like sticky bean buns, so if we make them together, it will be more convenient and easier for them to eat."
Chen Lan thought about it, finely processing the edible coarse grains. Not only would it be delicious and nutritious, but most importantly, it would save a considerable amount of grain.
So she nodded and said, "Mother-in-law, I remember making sticky bean buns requires glutinous rice. We didn't plant millet this year, did we?"
Her mother-in-law smiled and tried to please her, "Xiao Lan, aren't I here to find a solution with you?"
Chen Lan thought to herself, her mother-in-law had been beating around the bush, and this was what she was waiting for!
So she didn't dilly-dally any further and asked, "Mother-in-law, approximately how many jin of glutinous rice do you need?"
Her mother-in-law thought for a moment, first holding up one finger, then another. After further thought, she retracted her fingers and said, "Xiao Lan, Changbai Mountain's winter is so long, at the very least, each family should have a hundred jin of glutinous rice for sticky bean buns, right?"
After hearing her mother-in-law's words, Chen Lan's heart ached as if it were bleeding. There were already twenty houses occupied, which meant twenty families. Each family needed one hundred jin of glutinous rice, so twenty families would need two thousand jin. She had just searched the system, and the wholesale price of glutinous rice in the system was three yuan and eighty cents per jin. It was so expensive! She might as well have bought rice directly for the valley!
But how could she tell her mother-in-law? Her mother-in-law had come in so excitedly just now. No matter what, she couldn't let the old lady down!
Then she thought that everyone had worked hard all year. They couldn't let this grain issue dampen everyone's spirits!
So she nodded and said, "Alright! Mother-in-law, do you need it now? I'll go to the storeroom with you right away."
Chen Lan let the dragon-phoenix twins play by themselves and went to the storeroom of the main kitchen with her mother-in-law. Soudan Novel Network.
As soon as Chen Lan brought out the glutinous rice, her mother-in-law immediately got to work. She immediately organized the aunties to wash the rice. It was getting late today, so they only washed two bags of glutinous rice. Washing rice meant rinsing the glutinous rice thoroughly with water. Once the water was drained, they would take it to the next room to grind it into glutinous rice flour using a milling machine. Once the glutinous rice was ground, the aunties would prepare to knead the dough separately. She saw the aunties scooping eight scoops from the glutinous rice bag with a large ladle, and then two scoops from the yellow corn flour bag, and then started kneading the dough with warm water.
Chen Lan thought to herself, this should be a one-to-four ratio, right?
After the dough was kneaded, the aunties carried the basins of dough into the main kitchen to ferment. Next, they started boiling beans to prepare the filling for the sticky bean buns.
Chen Lan wasn't very interested in making the bean filling, so she said goodbye to her mother-in-law and the aunties and went home.
The next day, the snow was still falling, and everyone stayed inside. The women all went to the main kitchen to help. After a day of fermentation, the glutinous rice flour had finally fermented well. The boiled bean filling from yesterday had already been rolled into small, round balls. The aunties had long since prepared all the necessary tools, such as large steaming racks and sieve cloths.
Aunt Xu and Aunt Qian, along with Chuncao, Ruyi, and a few others, started wrapping sticky bean buns. Chen Lan couldn't wrap them; they would break as soon as she touched them. They were too sticky. So she could only be responsible for lighting the fire to steam the sticky bean buns.
With so many people working, a large steaming rack was soon filled. Chen Lan began to light a strong fire to steam. After a short while, the air was filled with the fragrant and sweet aroma of sticky bean buns.
After waiting for a while longer, they heard her mother-in-law say they were ready to be taken out of the steamer. Everyone rushed forward, and the sticky bean buns from one steaming rack were quickly snatched up, one per person.
The sticky bean buns, fresh out of the steamer, were glutinous, fragrant, and sweet, truly delicious.
They also received unanimous praise. Chen Lan thought to herself, how could they not be delicious? This was glutinous rice she had bought at a high price, costing nearly seven or eight thousand yuan that she had painstakingly saved! Thinking about it made her heart ache. She had to eat a few more later.