Strawberry Puree

The market bustled with people coming and going. Quite a few had heard Zhao Danshi talking, and Miao Yingzhuo loved gossip. After Zhao Danshi talked up his produce, he figured that within two weeks, Miao Yingzhuo would spread the news throughout the surrounding villages and establish his family's vegetables as premium goods. Only then did he stop talking.

After selling out their vegetables, the two headed home. Once they got off the tricycle, Zhao Danshi did not head toward home. Instead, he pulled Li Ping toward Spoon's house.

Li Ping smiled and asked, "What are we going to his house for?"

Walking shoulder to shoulder with him, Zhao Danshi said, "We're going to buy some grain. We go through rice quickly at home, and the granary's nearly empty. I checked—we'll probably need to have rice milled in another two weeks, so we should buy some first and keep it on hand."

Recently, Blackie and the others, as well as Zhao Wende, had all been eating at their house. They were using up rice and grain quickly, so they definitely needed to buy a batch. Since they had to buy from someone anyway, they might as well keep the money within the village.

Li Ping did not like getting too entangled with acquaintances. "Why not just buy milled rice directly from the rice mill in town?"

"No. It's more worthwhile for us to do business with Spoon." Zhao Danshi lowered his voice. "Spoon's a good person. He has a lot of relatives and carries some weight in the village. If he speaks up for us, we can basically establish a solid public foundation in the village. Aren't quite a few people jealous of our vegetables? We should build up some goodwill first."

"So complicated?" Li Ping put an arm around his shoulders and raised an eyebrow with a smile. "If the overall environment here is bad, should we invest somewhere else? Rural land prices are more or less the same everywhere, and the costs aren't high."

"No need." Zhao Danshi waved his hands repeatedly. "As the saying goes, fallen leaves return to their roots. The old man can't bear to leave this place. If we went elsewhere, he definitely wouldn't come with us. Besides, the people here are fairly simple and honest. We'd run into trouble anywhere else too. We just need to sort things out."

Li Ping had worked for many years and seen all sorts of storms. He did not take a few thousand yuan's worth of disputes seriously. Seeing that Zhao Danshi was unwilling, he did not say more.

As they neared Spoon's house, Zhao Danshi called from afar, "Spoon, is anyone home?"

"Yes, yes, come in." Hearing Zhao Danshi's voice, Spoon's wife, Du Lijuan, poked her head out and greeted them. "Just back from the market?"

"Yeah, we took some vegetables to the market to sell."

Once inside, Du Lijuan made them tea. Zhao Danshi and Li Ping thanked her politely. "Is Spoon here?"

"He went to check the fields. He'll probably be back soon. What do you need? Why don't you sit here and wait for him?" Du Lijuan took sunflower seeds and candies from the cabinet and set them on the table for them. "Here, have some seeds."

"Thanks." Zhao Danshi casually took two sunflower seeds, then got straight to the point. "It's nothing major. I can just tell you. There have been quite a few people eating at our house lately, so I wanted to ask whether you have any extra rice grain. I'd like to buy some from you at market price."

"We do, but it's last year's old grain."

Du Lijuan knew about Zhao Danshi's household. Her Zhao Luxing went to work at Zhao Danshi's home every week and ate there too. Whenever he came back, he always went on about how delicious the food at Zhao Danshi's house was. Du Lijuan guessed that boy had certainly eaten plenty.

Zhao Danshi did not mind. "That's fine. This year's new grain hasn't come in yet. Everyone's grain is old grain."

"How much do you want?"

"Let's start with three hundred jin?" Zhao Danshi smiled. "It's for ourselves to eat, so a little more or less doesn't matter."

"No problem. I have enough for three hundred jin." Du Lijuan readily agreed. "Will you sit here and wait, or should you wait until Spoon gets back and have him deliver the grain to your house?"

Zhao Danshi and Li Ping stood up. "We still have things to do at home, so we won't sit any longer. When Spoon gets back, please give me a call, and I'll come right over."

"That works. I'll tell him when he gets back." Du Lijuan warmly saw them out. "Take care."

After leaving, Zhao Danshi and Li Ping slowly turned around and headed toward their own home.

Li Ping glanced at Zhao Danshi. "I thought you would tell her our strawberries were stolen last night."

"No need." Zhao Danshi waved a hand. "We already beat them up last night, so let it go. We're outsiders, after all. If word gets out, the families of those little punks who got beaten might say we were too ruthless. It's not worth it."

That had been Zhao Danshi's plan the previous night: settle the day's business that same day. If thieves came, beat them up and be done with it. There was no need to rely on public opinion. Those little punks were thick-skinned; a few comments from others would neither hurt nor help, while beating them up was the most satisfying way to vent his anger.

After Zhao Danshi and Li Ping returned, they washed the strawberries clean, sliced them with knives, placed them in clean bamboo trays, and set them in the shade to dry.

Their strawberries were full of juice. Every slice released fragrant, sweet liquid, and the entire courtyard filled with the pleasant scent of strawberries.

Zhao Wende came back and saw the bamboo trays laid out one after another. He asked in surprise, "What are you doing with the strawberries?"

"Making some candied strawberries." Zhao Danshi smiled. "Sit down for a while. I'll have lunch ready soon."

Zhao Wende asked, "Want me to help cut them too?"

Zhao Danshi shook his head. "You don't have experience with it, so forget it."

Zhao Wende could not sit still. "It's not time to eat yet. Should I go check whether the fields need watering?"

"No need. This afternoon won't be too late. The chickens and ducks haven't been fed yet. Just make a trip and feed them."

Zhao Wende had worked farm labor for many years. His hands were covered in yellow-black calluses, and dark mud and grass juice filled the cracks beneath his nails. Zhao Danshi was particular about cleanliness when it came to food, so he generally did not let him handle it. Zhao Wende was simple and kind-hearted, and Zhao Danshi did not want to say it outright and hurt his feelings.

"Alright." Seeing that there was work for him to do, Zhao Wende picked up a bucket, filled it with rice bran and grain, and headed to the back mountain to feed the chickens and ducks.

Before long, Spoon called. "Danshi, I heard you want to buy rice grain from my family?"

"Yeah, I want to buy some. We've finished all the rice at home."

"Then I'll bring it over now? I can use a handcart."

Zhao Danshi thought for a moment. "Spoon, when will your family next have rice milled?"

"In the next few market days or so. Why?"

"I just think it's troublesome to haul it back and forth. When you next have rice milled, why not weigh out a hundred jin and have ours milled too? Then you can have the tricycle deliver it straight to our house."

"That works. Then I won't need to go measure out the grain right now. I'll let you know when I have rice milled at the next market."

"Alright. Tell me when you go to mill it, and I'll go with you."

Spoon readily agreed.

Seeing that it was about time, Zhao Danshi washed his hands and went into the kitchen to cook. The old man came in to help tend the fire.

He was a skilled cook, and even casually stir-fried dishes tasted delicious. The family and Zhao Wende quickly finished lunch. Zhao Wende went back for a nap, while Zhao Danshi and Li Ping continued processing the strawberries.

While they worked on the strawberries, Li Ping also took out the camera to film a video. They might not necessarily use the footage, but if the final edit turned out watchable, there would be no problem posting it on Weibo.

When they went to the market to sell vegetables that day, they had also brought back some ingredients. Zhao Danshi set up a large pot in the courtyard and slowly cooked sugar syrup with the other ingredients added in.

The syrup had to be stirred constantly while cooking, so it would not stick to the pot and scorch at the bottom.

Zhao Danshi was stronger than most people and skilled with his hands. The syrup he made was clear and thick; when lifted with a stick, it hung there, on the verge of dripping without falling.

"It's ready." Zhao Danshi wiped the sweat from his forehead with his arm, then poured in the sliced strawberries. In an instant, the sweet fragrance of strawberries and sugar syrup wafted far beyond the courtyard.

They had processed too many strawberries to finish in one pot. They still had to cook several more batches, then pour the strawberries and syrup together into a large wooden barrel that had been washed and dried, where they would be candied until the following morning.

Dou Dou had smelled the fragrance filling the courtyard and could no longer sit still. He kept babbling from his rocking cradle.

When Zhao Danshi looked back, Dou Dou had already rolled over. His round eyes stayed fixed on Zhao Danshi's movements. When their eyes met, there was even a hint of grievance in his gaze, making Zhao Danshi laugh so hard he nearly broke character.

After Zhao Danshi finished cooking two pots and rested for a while, Li Ping turned off the camera. Zhao Danshi hurried over to pick up Dou Dou. He was covered in sweet fragrance, and Dou Dou nestled in his arms, constantly burrowing against his neck and humming incomprehensibly.

Dou Dou got drool all over Zhao Danshi's neck. Zhao Danshi looked at Li Ping, half amused and half exasperated, then raised an eyebrow. "This little guy is really greedy."

"A little."

Li Ping reached over and took their son. Dou Dou's gaze still clung to Zhao Danshi, his unblinking eyes filled with longing.

"Yah, yah." He waved his little hands and feet, constantly trying to get Zhao Danshi to hold him.

Li Ping did not carry Zhao Danshi's sweet scent, so he held no appeal whatsoever for Dou Dou.

Whichever way Zhao Danshi turned, Dou Dou's eyes followed. When Zhao Danshi leaned closer, he nearly went cross-eyed.

Zhao Danshi could not help laughing. "Alright, Dad will make you some fruit puree. Will that do?"

Dou Dou could already start eating supplementary food. He usually ate egg yolk, but he could not have salt yet, and egg yolks did not have much flavor, so he was not particularly interested in them.

All the ingredients were ready, and there was no need to add anything special. Making fruit puree was simple: he only needed to take washed strawberries, put them in a bowl, and mash them.

A few minutes later, Zhao Danshi came over carrying a bowl with a little sweet-smelling strawberry puree at the bottom.

Dou Dou smelled it and kept trying to wriggle into Zhao Danshi's arms, but Li Ping held him tightly. He was extremely dissatisfied and desperately tried to pry Li Ping's hands apart with both little hands.

"Yah!" Dou Dou's eyes went wide, and he was already getting angry. If they teased him any more, he would probably start biting.

Zhao Danshi laughed helplessly and stopped teasing him. He quickly scooped up a tiny bit of strawberry puree and put it into his little mouth.

Dou Dou smacked his lips, captivated by the fragrant sweetness of the strawberry puree in his mouth. His little mouth moved quickly. Once he finished the puree, he opened his mouth wide like a baby bird and signaled to Zhao Danshi. "Ah!"

"Hahaha, alright, have a little more." Zhao Danshi fed him another tiny bit. "My son, if you keep this up, you're going to get fat."

Little Dou Dou still did not know what being fat meant. With his mouth open, he focused entirely on enjoying the fruit puree.