Chapter 22: The Ideal is Plump, Reality is Skinny

The next day, Xiaoxiao instructed her youngest brother to bring back some hawthorn and some branches to make skewers since there were no bamboos in this area, only branches to substitute. Her brother readily agreed, and Xiaoxiao awaited his return, planning to try making candied hawthorn that evening.

After the men left, the women regathered in the main house. Xiaoxiao continued copying books, but suddenly remembered the words of her great-aunt, "Mother, the other day the great-aunt told me to visit grandma. When would be a suitable time for me to go? Being the junior, I don't know much about these customs."

"Ah, actually, it should have been you and your third brother going, but he's not around." Xiaoxiao's mother-in-law always wore a look of worry, making Xiaoxiao frustrated, wishing she could be happier!

"Then I'll just wait for Yang Ming to come back and go with him. He can't keep away forever, right?"

"He can't, he can't. He has to come back for the new year, and the Academy is about to break for holidays. Daughter-in-law, you've had it hard."

"Mother, I'm not suffering. He's doing it all for the sake of his studies, isn't he? If he does well, our family will be better off in the future. Just wait for him to make something of himself." Yet, deep down, she thought it might be better if he didn't come back. How would they get along? It felt odd.

That matter passed, but unexpectedly, her uncle's family was still waiting for Xiaoxiao's visit, hoping that as the wife of the third son who had bought so much meat, she would definitely bring some when visiting her grandmother-in-law. Xiaoxiao was bound to disappoint them.

Evening came quickly; her brother returned with a sack full of hawthorn. Xiaoxiao was thrilled, and after dinner, she hurriedly got her brother started on making the skewers while she began preparing the hawthorn. During dinner, she had boldly declared that she would make a delicious snack for the children that evening.

The two began to get busy in the kitchen. Xiaoxiao washed a pile of hawthorn, cut it horizontally with a knife and squeezed out the seeds, carved out the black parts at the bottom of the fruit, and then threaded them onto the skewers. She beautifully assembled the hawthorn, now just needing to hang the sugar.

However, idealism is plush, reality is lean. She had only eaten candied hawthorn, never made it. Not everyone could immediately be a great chef; without some technique, it was impossible. The key to making candied hawthorn was boiling the sugar, how much water and sugar to add, all these were in proportions and there was also the matter of getting the heat right. Xiaoxiao was clueless about these; she could only keep trying over and over. Watching the previously purchased sugar nearly run out, Xiaoxiao felt deflated. What was she to do? There was hardly any spare money to buy sugar for more trials - sugar was a precious commodity rarely bought by households here.

Yang Dong, seeing his sister-in-law wasting so much, felt pained by the loss of sugar and grew impatient, "Sister-in-law, our family really can't afford this kind of extravagance. Even though you bought these ingredients, that's no reason to squander them like this! Just stop it, why not just eat the hawthorn as it is? Why make such a fuss over this?"

"Do you think I want to waste it? I'm thinking about making it successfully so we can sell them in town or at County. How else are we supposed to repay that five Silver?" Xiaoxiao said, feeling wronged. She didn't want to waste either; she had been trying hard to share the burdens of this family.

Yang Dong, realizing he had misunderstood her, thought she was just fussing to taste something delicious herself—he hadn't expected that she was so dedicated to repaying the money.

"Sister-in-law, I'm sorry, I didn't know that. Let's keep trying. Maybe we'll succeed with one more attempt!"