Chu Qing widened her clear, pure eyes.
She simply could not believe it. Right in front of her, inside that unremarkable bag…
Was it really filled with precious white flour?!
Her brain immediately went blank. She rubbed her eyes hard!
She had seen it correctly! It really was white flour! The kind used to make buns!!
The last time her family had eaten flour was on a New Year’s Eve several years ago.
Her father had taken wheat to the city and ground out two pounds of flour, and it was poor-quality yellow flour at that.
Even so, Chu Qing had eaten it with great relish and remembered the taste for several days.
But now, right before her eyes, there was a huge bag.
A full twenty catties of white flour!!
When Second Uncle Chu saw the stunned look on his daughter’s face, he could not help but step forward and rub her head.
“Guess what’s in those other bags?”
His tone was full of bragging, as if he had completely forgotten the shock he had felt when he first saw those grains.
Only then did Chu Qing come back to herself. She quickly picked up the grain sack from the ground.
Her voice trembled. “Dad, this isn’t white flour too, is it?”
Second Uncle crossed his arms and said proudly, “Why don’t you open it and see for yourself?”
Gulp.
Chu Qing swallowed.
Chu Xun also smiled and said, “Open it and take a look. Tonight, you can eat whatever you want.”
Whatever she wanted!
Chu Qing’s eyes lit up. Trembling, she reached out and tore open the sack.
When she saw what was inside…
Her hands began to shake uncontrollably. “White rice! It’s white rice!!”
The shock of white rice together with white flour hit her so hard that she was completely stunned.
Good heavens.
Just how much silver had Dad and big brother spent?!
Chu Xun smiled and stuffed the bolts of cloth into the room, then pulled the dazed Chu Qing into the kitchen.
He took out two jars from his chest and said with a smile, “Take another look. What do you think these are?”
When he opened the lids, snow-white fine salt and thick brown sugar were revealed inside.
Chu Qing had already been shocked nearly to the point of collapse.
She thought she had built up enough mental resistance.
But when she saw that the jars contained fine salt and brown sugar…
She still lost all composure and sat down hard on the ground.
Her eyes were glazed as she muttered, “Big brother, you and Dad really… really spent money like crazy.”
White rice and white flour were already luxurious enough, but there was also fine salt and brown sugar!
She had barely ever seen those two things in her whole life.
Chu Xun closed the lids and patted his little sister’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry. From now on, we’ll have as much of these things as we want, and eat whatever we want.”
“Big brother!”
Chu Qing’s nose stung, and she threw herself into her big brother’s arms.
Feeling his unique warmth, she could not help wondering:
Would their family really be able to eat white flour buns and rice every day from now on?
She did not know.
But in her heart, she believed Chu Xun would not lie to her.
Her big brother was different now!
…
By afternoon, Second Aunt had also returned after digging up wild vegetables.
“There are fewer and fewer wild vegetables in that area. Today I only dug less than two pounds. Even after cooking, it still won’t be enough for one meal at home.”
There was worry in her eyes. Autumn was nearly over.
If they could not even dig wild vegetables anymore, what would they do in winter?
Not to mention the debt of five strings of cash owed to Squire Liu’s family. They would have to repay it in a month.
Second Aunt’s face was full of despair. As she numbly walked up to the doorway…
She suddenly caught a faint, drifting fragrance in the air.
It smelled like the tempting aroma of white flour buns just coming out of the pot.
“Am I so hungry I’m hallucinating? Why do I smell buns?”
Second Aunt sniffed again, and her throat involuntarily bobbed.
She had not smelled wrong. It really was the fragrance of white flour buns!
And the source of the smell…
She looked toward her kitchen. Smoke was curling up from there, clearly showing that something was being cooked.
Could it really be coming from her own home?
Carrying her basket of wild vegetables, Second Aunt hurried inside and pushed aside the kitchen curtain to take a look.
She froze on the spot.
At the cutting board, Second Uncle was kneading a mound of soft white dough.
He kept grabbing flour from a bowl beside him and sprinkling it over the dough, wasteful beyond belief.
Chu Qing was adding firewood to the stove with great effort, and the fire was burning strongly.
Chu Xun heard the noise, turned around, and smiled at Second Aunt.
“You came back just in time, Second Aunt. The first batch of buns is ready.”
As he spoke, he lifted the lid.
A dozen steaming white buns appeared before the whole family.
“White flour buns!!”
Second Aunt’s expression was wonderfully complicated at that moment: shock, excitement, confusion.
But above all, joy!
White flour buns. How long had it been since she had last seen them?
Only when she went to the city and worked for a wealthy household could she glimpse them from a distance.
But she had never dared to imagine that one day, her own family would have white flour buns!
Chu Xun took two chopsticks, speared the softest, best-looking bun, and handed it to Second Aunt.
“I bought the flour with Second Uncle on the way back. Second Aunt, hurry and taste our handiwork.”
After a brief daze, a little color returned to Second Aunt’s vacant eyes.
She took the bun with trembling hands. “This… this really is white flour buns? It’s been so long… so long since I’ve seen them…”
Like someone handling a priceless treasure, she took a shaky bite.
Instantly, a strong wheat aroma burst in her mouth, rushed through her nose, and seemed to explode in her head.
The sweetness in her mouth spread through every inch of her body.
Delicious! White flour buns were truly delicious!
Meanwhile, Chu Xun also stuffed a bun into Chu Qing’s hand.
She ate even more happily, her little face blooming with a radiant smile.
This was made by big brother.
And it was a white flour bun that big brother had personally handed to me. Hehe, so happy.
Suddenly she covered her mouth, as if she had been burned.
“What is this? So sweet and so hot?”
Chu Qing looked curiously at the reddish-brown sweet syrup inside the bun.
Then she could not help sticking out her soft pink tongue and licking it.
So sweet!!
Her eyes lit up.
Chu Qing swore she had never eaten anything this sweet before.
Chu Xun nearby picked up the jar of brown sugar with a smile.
“I tucked brown sugar inside and made a few sugar buns. You just happened to get one. Sweet, right?”
Brown sugar!!
Chu Qing stood frozen as if struck by lightning.
That precious brown sugar, and her big brother had actually wrapped it inside a bun and given it to her to eat!
She had even gotten to eat something so luxurious?
In an instant, Chu Qing’s vision blurred with tears. Crying, she looked at Chu Xun.
“Big brother… I… I…”
『Ding ding ding!!!』
The system sounded wildly, but Chu Xun ignored it.
He took all the grain out of the kitchen and shocked Second Aunt over and over again.
“This is twenty catties of white rice, twenty catties of millet, and there are still fifteen pounds of flour left, plus a jar of fine salt and a jar of brown sugar. Now our family won’t have to worry about food for half a month.”
Second Aunt stared blankly at the grain sacks piled on the ground.
She was completely speechless. How much money had all this grain cost?!
But this was only the appetizer.
Chu Xun then walked out of the kitchen, lifted the curtain, and brought out a bolt of indigo cotton cloth from the room.
“Second Aunt, little sister, this is cotton cloth I bought for you. It’s just enough to make two outfits. Take it.”
Cotton cloth… new clothes…
Chu Qing was completely entranced.
Big brother had even bought cloth to make new clothes for her.
Big brother… I… I…
With a thud!
Second Aunt’s vision went black, and she collapsed stiffly to the ground.
“Mom!”
“Wife!!”
“Second Aunt, why did you faint?!”
…
『PS: Chu Qing, with her hair tied in twin ponytails, said shyly, “Brother, why do you insist on splitting my hair into twin ponytails?”』