After leaving the medical clinic, Xu Anyan did not return to Wenliu Alley. Instead, she headed straight for West Street.
Yesterday, she had seen an old man selling hawthorn berries on Qili Street. She wondered if he was still there today.
Following the street all the way to the end, she finally found the old hawthorn vendor.
The old peddler was sitting there with his head lowered, worrying. He hadn’t managed to sell the sour fruits yesterday, and today didn’t seem much more promising. He had hoped to sell them so he could buy some coarse flour from the grain shop.
He knew that candied hawthorns were made from these fruits, but sugar was too expensive for him to afford, and the profits weren’t that great anyway.
He had gathered these fruits from the mountains outside the city, so they had cost him nothing. He had thought that if he brought them into town, someone might buy them. But after selling them for two days straight, no one had even inquired about them.
“Sir, how much are these fruits?” Xu Anyan asked.
The old man was still deep in thought, but upon hearing someone ask about the fruit, he immediately looked up and saw a young woman.
“Two copper coins per jin,” he replied at once. “How much would you like, miss?”
“I’ll take all of them. Could you deliver them for me? I’ll pay you for the trip.”
Hearing this, the old man hesitated.
“May I ask if it’s far away?”
“Not too far, but not exactly close either. It’s in Wenliu Alley in the county town.”
The old man immediately agreed.
“No problem. I’ll bring them over for you. There’s no need for extra payment.”
He weighed the two baskets of hawthorn berries. Excluding the weight of the baskets, there were ninety-six jin in total, amounting to one hundred and ninety-two copper coins.
Xu Anyan paid him two hundred coins. The extra eight coins were meant as delivery money, but the old man repeatedly refused to take them. In the end, Xu Anyan had to force the money into his hands.
The old man loaded the two baskets onto the cart behind him, and the two of them left Qili Street together.
As they chatted along the way, Xu Anyan learned that the old man, whose surname was Li, lived in Hongliu Alley near the county gates. She remembered that most of the people there were refugees who had fled to the area in earlier years.
Talking as they walked, they arrived at Wenliu Alley in less than three quarters of an hour.
After Old Li placed the two baskets at her door, Xu Anyan realized she didn’t have any spare baskets at home. In the end, she simply bought the two baskets from him as well, paying a total of two hundred and twenty copper coins.
“Miss, will you still need these sour fruits in the future?” Old Li asked tentatively.
Since she had bought everything in one go, he guessed she was doing business. Perhaps there would be more large orders later.
Xu Anyan didn’t dare guarantee how well things would sell, so she answered vaguely.
“I can’t be sure, Uncle Li. But if I need these sour fruits again, I’ll come to you.”
“Good. If you need more, just come find me at today’s stall.”
“Alright. Thank you, Uncle Li.”
After Old Li left, Xu Anyan opened the door and dragged the two baskets of hawthorn berries into the courtyard.
Her right arm still couldn’t exert much strength, but she could manage small tasks. She planned to wash about thirty jin of hawthorns today and let them dry in the afternoon.
Once she had all the ingredients, she could make sugar-coated hawthorn balls. After making them, she would sell them on Qili Street.
The more she thought about it, the more excited she became.
Without delay, she found an unused wooden tub and soaked the hawthorns in salt water for about ten minutes before washing them.
She didn’t plan to remove the cores. It was troublesome, and more importantly, there were no suitable tools here. As long as the fruit was cleaned thoroughly, it would be fine.
Half an hour later, she had finally finished washing them and spread them in bamboo trays to dry.
By the time everything was done, it was nearly noon. Just as Xu Anyan was about to enter the kitchen to cook, the courtyard gate was pushed open.
Immediately afterward came Xiaobao’s cheerful childish voice.
“Mother, you’re back!”
Turning around, Xu Anyan saw Dabao, Xiaobao, and Aunt Wu entering one after another. Aunt Wu was carrying a porcelain bowl in her hands. Needless to say, she had come to bring food again.
“Mother…”
“Mother…”
The two little ones ran toward her, shouting as they hugged her legs.
The impact made Xu Anyan stumble.
Aunt Wu smiled kindly.
“They’ve been talking about you all noon. As soon as they finished eating, they insisted on coming over.”
Hearing this, Xu Anyan’s lips curved into a smile as she looked down at the two little children clinging to her legs.
Now, she also had people who cared about and missed her.
Remembering that Xu Anyan had gone for a follow-up examination today, Aunt Wu quickly asked,
“Xiaoyan, how’s your arm?”
“I went to the clinic at noon for a checkup. The doctor said it’s mostly healed already. As long as I don’t exert too much force, it’ll be fine.”
“That’s good. Listen to the doctor and take care of yourself. Come, eat first.”
Aunt Wu carried the food into the main room.
As Xu Anyan sat at the table eating, both Aunt Wu and Erbao noticed the hawthorn berries in the courtyard.
Curious, Aunt Wu asked,
“Xiaoyan, what did you buy all these sour fruits for?”
Xu Anyan didn’t hide it.
“I’m going to make a kind of snack and sell it on Qili Street.”
“Alright then. If you need any help, just ask.”
“Okay. Thank you, Aunt Wu.”
Aunt Wu didn’t say anything else. Though she was curious, she was also happy.
Ever since Xu Anyan had awakened, she had become polite and courteous. She no longer made a fuss and had become much more caring toward the two children.
Upon hearing this, Dabao immediately asked loudly,
“Mother, are you making candied hawthorns?”
These red fruits looked just like the ones used for candied hawthorns. Surely Mother was making them for him and his younger brother.
As soon as Xiaobao heard this, his eyes lit up.
“Mother’s making candied hawthorns! I can eat lots and lots of them!”
Xu Anyan chuckled.
The two of you are dreaming. With mouths that tiny, how much can you possibly eat?
After Aunt Wu left, Xu Anyan coaxed the two little ones into taking a nap. She truly felt like an old mother now.
Her greatest wish at the moment was to send the two of them to school next year.
Lying on the heated kang bed, Xu Anyan mentally listed the things she needed to do.
This afternoon, she would buy all the necessary ingredients. If she returned early enough, she could make some tonight and take them to sell tomorrow to see how well they did.
Thinking about it, she gradually fell asleep.
Xu Anyan originally planned to leave Dabao and Xiaobao at Aunt Wu’s house, but the two little ones absolutely refused.
In the end, all three of them set out together for West Street to buy ingredients.
This dynasty had neither white sugar nor rock sugar. After some consideration, Xu Anyan chose malt sugar over barley syrup, mainly because it was cheaper.
Barley syrup cost twenty-five copper coins per jin, while malt sugar cost twenty.
Sugar here was even more expensive than flour and rice. After thinking it over, Xu Anyan bought only five jin of malt sugar.
Then she went to a vinegar shop and bought some rice vinegar to use in place of white vinegar. She also stopped by a general store and bought fifty sheets of pre-cut oil paper.
By the time they returned to Wenliu Alley, it was already the fourth quarter of the Shen hour—around four in the afternoon.
The hawthorn berries in the courtyard had already dried.
Xu Anyan put all five jin of malt sugar into a pot, added an equal amount of water and a few drops of rice vinegar, then began heating it to melt the sugar.
Dabao and Xiaobao sat neatly side by side on small stools, watching their mother make delicious food.
While the fire was still low, Xu Anyan hurried to the courtyard and brought in the corresponding amount of hawthorn berries—about thirty jin.
As the malt sugar melted, she continuously stirred it back and forth, afraid it would stick to the pot. When she had experimented at home before, she had made it five or six times before finally getting it right.
When the sugar in the pot began bubbling and could be pulled into thin threads, Xu Anyan finally poured the hawthorn berries into the pot and began stir-frying them back and forth.