Reborn Ugly Girl Farming to Support the Family

Zheng Xiaoman ran down the mountain, threw the pheasant into the yard and ran into the village.

She ran all the way to the Zheng family's old house, holding onto the door of her grandparents' room and breathing heavily.

Grandma Zheng was sewing shoe soles in the house and was frightened by her granddaughter's hurried look.

"Hey, Xiaoman, why are you running so fast? What happened?"

Zheng Xiaoman bent over and breathed heavily, then raised her hand and waved to her grandmother.

Grandma Zheng understood that nothing serious should have happened.

She stood up and poured a glass of water. "Hurry up and sit down and drink some water. Why are you running so fast?"

Zheng Xiaoman took the cup of water, sat on the stool, and took a sip to moisten his throat.

She didn't dare drink a lot of water after doing intense exercise.

Finally, after she regained her breath, she took another sip of water and asked, "Grandma, where's my grandpa?"

"Your grandfather should have gone to talk to someone under the big tree in the village."

Zheng Xiaoman put the cup on the table and said, "Grandma, I have something to talk to my grandpa about. I'll leave first."

"Hey, run slower."

Grandma Zheng watched her little granddaughter come and go in a hurry, with a helpless smile on her face.

"This girl, really."

Zheng Xiaoman finally found her grandfather under a big tree. Old man Zheng saw his granddaughter coming and waved to her.

"Why is Xiaoman here?"

Zheng Xiaoman walked to her grandfather under the gazes of the other old men and whispered in his ear, "Grandpa, come with me quickly, there are good things."

Old man Zheng now has a certain understanding of his granddaughter's luck. When he heard her say there was something good, his eyes lit up and he stood up.

He said hello to a few old friends, then walked back holding Zheng Xiaoman's hand.

"Xiao Man, what good stuff have you found?"

Zheng Xiaoman looked around to make sure there was no one else around, then she whispered to her grandfather, "Grandpa, I found something that can be used to make sugar."

Old man Zheng stumbled and Zheng Xiaoman was so scared that he quickly held his arm.

Old Man Zheng's eyes widened. "What? Xiaoman, can you say it again?"

He couldn't believe his ears. What did his granddaughter find?

Zheng Xiaoman could only whisper again, "Grandpa, I went up the mountain today and found something that can be used to make candy."

This time, Old Man Zheng was finally sure that he had not misheard, and that his granddaughter was talking about making candy.

He felt as if his feet were floating, as if he was walking on cotton.

They don't produce sugar here, so the shop sells sugar at 60 cents per pound.

The money for one pound of sugar is enough to buy two pounds of pork.

If they can produce sugar themselves, can they sell it?

Old man Zheng was dragged to the mountain by his granddaughter. When he saw the large field of beets, he was dumbfounded.

He pointed at the pile of leaves and asked uncertainly, "Xiao Man, is this what you said can be made into candy?"

Zheng Xiaoman nodded affirmatively, then dug out another beet and handed it to her grandfather.

Old man Zheng frowned and looked at the thing in his hand. Is this sure not a carrot?

As if seeing through his thoughts, Zheng Xiaoman quickly said, "Sir, this is not a radish. The inside of this root is sweet. If you don't believe me, try it."

Old man Zheng cut a piece with a knife and put it in his mouth with doubt. Hmm, it was indeed a bit sweet.

"Granddaughter, how can this be made into candy?"

Zheng Xiaoman thought for a moment and said, "Sir, I haven't tried it either, I just heard about it."

Old man Zheng...

It seemed that he was happy a little too early.

"Ahem, well, okay, I'll help you dig up all these vegetables first, and then you can think of how to turn them into sugar."

The grandfather and grandson worked on the mountain for a whole day and only dug out more than half of it.

Zheng Xiaoman was sweating profusely as he sat aside, "Master, let's talk about the rest tomorrow."

Suddenly she remembered that they had to go to town to sell food tomorrow.

She then quickly told her grandfather what she had discussed with her mother.

Old Man Zheng thought about it and agreed, "Okay, then I'll go to town with you guys tomorrow morning. When we come back in the afternoon, we'll go to the mountain again."

The two men worked hard to carry all the beets down the mountain.

As the cargo could not be transported all in one trip, Zhou Chunfeng and Zheng Qingming, who was going home from school, also came over to transport the cargo several times.

After returning home and looking at the vegetables in the yard, Zhou Chunfeng asked, "My daughter, what kind of vegetable is this? I have never seen it before. Can I eat it?"

Zheng Xiaoman sat on a small stool to catch his breath, "Mom, this is not for eating. This vegetable can be used to make candy."

"What?" Zhou Chunfeng screamed.

Zheng Xiaoman quickly asked her to lower her voice, "Mom, please lower your voice. Don't startle people."

Zhou Chunfeng quickly lowered her voice, "Xiaoman, you said this vegetable can be used to make sugar? Is it the kind of white sugar we eat?"

Zheng Xiaoman shook her head. She only knew how to make syrup, but she didn't know how to make white sugar.

She heard that the process of making sugar from beets is very complicated, so she simply passed it up.

"Mom, this dish can only be boiled into syrup, not white sugar."

Zhou Chunfeng was a little disappointed, but even if it was made into syrup, it would still be a delicious thing that most people couldn't eat.

"Daughter, tell me what to do and I will do it."

Old man Zheng also looked at his granddaughter expectantly. If this thing could really make sugar, he would definitely open up a few acres of land on the mountain to plant it next year.

"Mom, wash the rhizome, cut it into slices, and then boil it in a pot for about 25 minutes. Then wrap the rhizome slices with gauze and squeeze out the juice.

After that, you must cook it slowly over low heat. If the heat is too high, the sugar will become bitter.

When most of the water has been removed, and you see the sugar juice becomes a line when you pick it up with chopsticks, it should be ready.”

Zhou Chunfeng wrote down everything her daughter said, "Okay, I'll go try it now. By the way, how many vegetables do you need to cook a pot of sugar?"

Zheng Xiaoman remembered that three beets made up one pound of sugar. The roots of beets were large, and one weighed about two pounds.

"Mom, just try to make a pound of sugar from three vegetables."

"Okay, then I'll try it first."

Zhou Chunfeng picked up a few beets of similar size and brought them into the kitchen. The rest could not be left outside as they would easily go bad.

Zheng Xiaoman and his colleagues moved the remaining beets into the cellar. The cellar was cool and shady, so the beets could be preserved longer.

The family had a simple meal in the evening. Except for Zheng Xiaoman, everyone else stayed in the kitchen.

Even Zheng Dashan asked his eldest son to move a stool to the kitchen, and he sat on the stool to watch his wife cook candy.

Old man Zheng didn't go home either. He wouldn't be able to sleep until the sugar was cooked.

Not to mention the two little ones, when they heard that the family was making sugar, their eyes lit up as they looked at the pot.

Zheng Xiaoman ignored them and took two sets of pig offal to wash them.

In the evening, you should simmer the pig offal over low heat so that the soup will be more flavorful.

Zheng Qingming helped her get the fish baskets back, and all the baskets were full.

She put the loach in a water tank for two days to remove the fishy smell.

I have some leftover dried loaches at home, so I’m going to use them to make a dish tomorrow.

All the remaining small fish must be processed and used to make fish sauce tomorrow.