Chapter 33 Maltose
Dalang and his two siblings took the copper coins and went straight to Liu the peddler's house.
The peddler hasn't come back yet, and his wife Yunniang is guarding the stall.
This was the first time that the brothers and sisters stood under this stall, knocked on the door, handed money in, and bought maltose.
Yunniang was a little surprised to see that it was the four of them. She had never seen them with money in previous years. Not only were they always dressed in rags, they also didn't care about anything. They were dirty and smelly, like beggars.
Now, not only did they use copper coins to buy candy, they also cleaned up neatly. Yunniang was even surprised to find that the four children of Liu Ji's family were all good-looking.
It was the first time for Dalang to come, so he was a little reserved. The other three were even more afraid to speak and just looked at the eldest brother eagerly.
Yunniang took the four copper coins and asked uncertainly, "Do you want four?"
"Yes, four." Dalang replied.
Yunniang nodded, opened the sugar jar, broke four small sticks, twisted four candies and handed them out.
Dalang gave each of the chocolates to his younger brothers and sisters one by one, and he held the last one in his own hand. The four brothers and sisters smiled in surprise and couldn't wait to lick it with their tongues. It was sweet, with a wheat aroma, and tasted better than they had imagined.
No wonder everyone loves to eat it, Dalang thought happily in his heart.
Erlang whispered, "It would be nice if Dad would ask us how to cook tomorrow."
"He will ask again." Dalang knew his father's level very well and was very sure of it.
Even if he wants to get some money out of his father, I'm afraid it won't be that easy.
"Hey, Dalang, wait a minute!"
Yunniang suddenly remembered the straw sandals that Qin Yao had consigned earlier, and hurriedly called the four brothers and sisters back. She took out twenty-five cents and gave them to Dalang, asking him to keep them well and not lose them.
"This is the money your mother earned from selling straw sandals. Tell her that all the sandals have been sold. The total is 25 cents. Got it?"
Dalang and the others knew about this matter, and they nodded quickly to say they understood. Dalang put the money in his arms and asked Yunniang if she was okay. When she said she was, he left.
Halfway through the journey, Si Niang and Er Lang had already finished their candy.
Dalang had one bite left, and seeing the two of them looking at him eagerly, he smiled helplessly and handed the rest to them.
But the two of them shook their heads sensibly. Si Niang looked at her eldest brother with sparkling eyes and said, "Big brother, you eat."
Erlang was drooling with greed, but he insisted that his brother finish the meal himself.
Finally, only Sanlang was left. He held the stick in one hand and used the other hand to lightly protect the candy. He licked it twice and stopped eating.
Erlang curiously asked him why he wasn't eating, and he said, "I want to eat slowly."
A few people just ignored him.
When passing by the river, Erlang wanted to stay there and pick up stones with Jinbao, but actually he just wanted to play.
Sanlang immediately said that he wanted to play here too.
Dalang turned around and asked his sister, Si Niang shook her head, and the two went home first.
Before leaving, Dalang asked Erlang to take good care of Sanlang and make sure he didn't fall into the river.
But now is the dry season, the water in the river has already dried up by more than half, and there are so many people around, so there is no need to worry too much.
There are exposed riverbeds everywhere here, covered with stones of all sizes. Liu Fei and Jin Bao picked up these stones.
Qin Yao was responsible for carrying all these stones back to Uncle Jiu and his team for use in laying the foundation.
She was busy and only glanced at Erlang and Sanlang who were picking up stones with Jinbao on the river bank. She carried the heavy stones to the shore, walked across the wooden bridge, and walked along the slope to the door of her home. The one-way trip took 20 minutes, and the round trip took more than half an hour.
On the river bank, Jinbao saw the candy in Sanlang's hand and wanted to take a bite, but Sanlang refused.
Jin Bao swallowed his saliva, extremely envious, but seeing that San Lang refused to share with him, he snorted to save face, "I don't want it, my mother just bought it for me yesterday, and I'm already tired of it!"
After saying that, seeing that Sanlang still ignored her, she angrily pulled Erlang to turn over the round pebbles.
This stone looks best when used for paving roads, and it is also fun to pick it up. The two children were having a lot of fun while playing and picking it up.
Sanlang looked at the wooden bridge not far away with some worry. He looked down at the sugar in his hand that was about to melt, twisted it twice, fixed it, and continued to look at the wooden bridge.
Qin Yao came back with an empty load on her shoulder. Sanlang was too small and huddled under a willow tree. The weeds around him were taller than him.
Qin Yao didn't notice and continued to walk through the grass to the river. She put down the empty frame and picked up the stone frames filled by Liu Fei and other teenagers.
Seeing her walking past him again, Sanlang seemed to realize that his position was not good, so he moved to the bridge head and stood next to the pier.
Another twenty minutes passed, and this time Qin Yao finally spotted him and asked in surprise, "Sanlang, why are you here?"
The little man with his back to her immediately turned around, his big eyes suddenly lit up, and he handed the candy in his hand to her.
But unexpectedly, after such a long time, the sugar had melted a little and looked a mess.
Without waiting for Qin Yao to react, the little guy lowered his head in disappointment.
"Are you going to leave the candy for me?" Qin Yao squatted down in front of him, put down the carrying pole, reached out to take the maltose from the little guy's hand, and asked with some surprise.
The depressed little guy immediately raised his head and looked at her, and nodded "hmm".
Qin Yao asked curiously: "Then you don't want to eat it yourself?"
Sanlang shook his head and said, "You eat."
The little mouth moved unconsciously and swallowed saliva.
This seemingly messy candy is already the best thing in Sanlang's eyes.
It was also his first time eating it, so how could he not want to eat it?
"Is it specially left for me?"
Saburo nodded shyly.
Qin Yao looked at the expectant little face and smiled faintly, "Then let's eat together."
Sanlang refused and insisted on giving it to Qin Yao. How could Qin Yao snatch food from a child? She tasted his malt sugar politely and gave the rest back to him, saying that she had had enough and asked him to help her finish the rest.
Sanlang did not suspect anything. He took the remaining malt sugar and licked it bit by bit. He followed Qin Yao and gave her a satisfied and shy smile from time to time.
Qin Yao could see that the little guy just wanted to stick to her, but was too embarrassed to say it, so she told him to watch his way and not fall, and then let him do what he wanted.
Picking up another load of stones and going home, Sanlang accompanied her all the way to the wooden bridge, then waited for her to come back and followed her to the river, repeating this process over and over again.
The maltose was eaten up long ago, but the happiness continued.
The short-legged boy didn't walk very fast, and Qin Yao didn't deliberately slow down for him. There was at least a mile between the two of them, one big and one small. From a distance, it looked like there was a small tail following Qin Yao.
It was getting dark. The relatives and clansmen who came to help had been busy all day. As soon as Uncle Jiu called for a stop, they tacitly took their tools and went home for dinner.
In the kitchen, Liu Ji nervously brought a large bowl full of meat into the main room, set out the dishes and chopsticks, put down a pot of slightly burnt rice, and asked the children to sit down, waiting for Qin Yao to arrive before starting to eat.
(End of this chapter)