Song Sanniang's Journey to Wealth

By the time Sanniang was awakened by the fragrance, it was already past four o'clock in the afternoon, and she got up with a thud.

"Mom, what are you cooking? It smells so good."

"Aren't there two pork bones here? I chopped them up and added a few pieces of pork belly. I also took some fruit and exchanged it with your sister Cuihua for a carrot. We stewed them together and you can come and have some."

"Great," Sanniang took the bowl of soup handed to her by Song Ersao. Although there was not much meat in the soup and the color was relatively light, it was also very delicious because it had been simmered for a long time and had the sweetness of radish.

"It's delicious. I'll buy some soup bones tomorrow and we'll make another soup and eat as much meat as we want." Sanniang didn't like fatty meat, so she only wanted to gnaw on the bones with lean meat.

"Okay, okay, tomorrow you can buy some kudzu root and cook it together. It would be even better if you can buy some wolfberry and longan to cook together."

Song Ersao is now a housewife without rice, leaving the house with nothing and no soup ingredients. Of course, before the separation, the mother-in-law was reluctant to put these soup ingredients in the soup, and only when the uncle came back would she be willing to put some in the soup.

"Okay." Sanniang took note of it.

"Mom, let's open a vegetable garden and grow some vegetables, otherwise the land in the backyard will be wasted."

"Okay, I've been thinking about it for a long time. What dishes do you want to eat? I'll go and exchange some with them tomorrow."

"Mom, I'll take care of the planting. I like all the dishes you cook. By the way, let's pickle some sauerkraut and beans. I want to eat salted beans."

Salty dumplings are a snack from Guangdong. The crust is made of glutinous rice flour, and the inside is filled with crushed peanuts, pickled mustard tubers, roasted pork and chopped green onions. It is then fried in oil. It is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, and full of fragrance.

You can also steam it directly instead of frying it, but the fillings may be slightly different in different places. Some have sweet outer skins, while others have fillings made from sugared peanuts, sugared sesame seeds, etc.

In Song Sanniang's memory, Song Ersao also made salted water dumplings, but that was when Old Man Song was still alive. Mrs. Song kept a close eye on it, and Sanniang could only get half of the skin without stuffing.

"I only made saltwater dumplings once, and you actually still remember it, Sanniang!" Song Ersao was amazed.

"Well, of course I remember. I only got half a piece of water dumplings. Mom, we will fill them with sauerkraut, pork, and chopped green onion fillings, as well as sesame, peanuts, and white sugar fillings." There was no pickled mustard tuber at that time, so it could only be made into sauerkraut.

"Sanniang, why do you have such a strong desire to eat? Haha." Song Lao Er also woke up at this time, and wiped his face with the towel in his hand that was like a rag for washing his face and wiping his body.

"Dad, look at how rotten your face towel is. Let's go buy new ones tomorrow. We'll all buy new ones, and also new clothes."

"What are you buying? You have so much money that you don't know where to spend it. We still have to build a house. Stones, labor, and furniture will all cost a lot of money." Mrs. Song said unhappily.

"Buy, buy, buy. It's not like we can't make money. Our Sanniang is a cash cow. She makes so much money, we can buy her whatever she wants." Song Laoer started to protect her again.

"Buy new clothes, buy new clothes!" Fourth Mother and Fifth Mother also shouted behind Song Ersao.

The family chatted and laughed, and went to the backyard together to start cultivating the vegetable garden. The backyard was not very big, about ten square meters. You made ridges, I hoeed the ground, and she watered the ground. The ground was cultivated by the evening.

"Wash your hands and go eat." Song Lao Er gave the order, and the whole family went their separate ways.

After dinner, Sanniang touched her belly and said, "Mom, within half a month, I will probably become a little fat. It's a pity that I never had enough to eat before."

"With your small body, how can you become a little fat boy? Haha" Mrs. Song was amused.

Song Sanniang looked at Si Niang and Wu Niang who were touching their bellies like her, and couldn't help but go over and pick up Wu Niang, who still had a chubby baby belly.

Si Niang was jumping around beside her, also wanting her sister to hold her. The three of them laughed and played for a while.

"Mom, you said glutinous rice flour can be used to make salted water dumplings and meatballs, then can cassava flour be used as well? If cassava flour is colored, it will become crystal clear colorful meatballs," Sanniang suddenly thought.

"Then let's try it later," Song Ersao agreed immediately.

The mother and daughter were kneading the flour, while the other was washing and cutting the fruits. Song Laoer had nothing to do, so he had to help wash the dinner bowls and then continued to chop bamboo to make bowls.

Mrs. Song added boiling water to the tapioca flour. After she kneaded it into a dough, she found a problem. The meatballs would probably be hard and not soft enough. She added some glutinous rice flour and water and kneaded it again.

Finally, divide it into five balls, add orange juice, mulberry jam, peach juice, and wormwood juice respectively, and leave one ball without adding anything to make it transparent. Roll the dough into strips, cut into pieces, roll into balls, and add a little tapioca flour on the surface to prevent sticking.

When these colorful balls float up in the boiling water, it means the success has been achieved.

"It's so beautiful, mom you are so awesome" Sanniang couldn't help but praise her, but suddenly she discovered a fatal problem: there was no refrigerator.

It takes time for the milk jelly to solidify. If you make it in the morning, it may be too late. If you go out to set up a stall in the afternoon, not only can you make more, but you can also set up the stall longer than in the morning.

When you have saved a little more money, you can rent a shop directly in the town and copy the Cantonese-style dessert shop, so that you will have a stable output.

When Sanniang asked the question, the couple were stunned. When they heard that they were going to open a shop, Song Laoer rubbed his hands and said, "How much will it cost to open a shop? What if we lose money? Aren't we going to build a house?"

"Yes, business is not good now. Look, your two uncles have to go to the farther countryside to collect grain." Song Ersao was also unsure.

After all, both of them are honest rural people, and earning a few hundred cents a day is already a lot of money for the couple.

Song Lao Er used to help people do bricklaying work, and he could earn one or two taels of silver at best, but it was a big project and took a long time to complete.

It was common for them to carry heavy objects for a long time, be exposed to the sun and rain, suffer from back pain and severe strain. Moreover, all the money they earned had to be handed over to Mrs. Song without a single cent left.

"Mom and Dad, what you said makes sense. Why don't we set up the stall first? If we can earn enough money to build a house in the next two months, we will make plans later." Sanniang didn't want to convince the couple all at once. After all, opening a stall does have risks.

"Okay, that's it. We'll make sweet soup at home tomorrow morning and sell it in the afternoon." Song Laoer made the decision, and the mother and daughter had no objection.