After the taro was cooked, the skin was very easy to peel.

When Gu Tangjin’s small taro broke open, it revealed a tender, white interior. A sweet fragrance drifted out faintly. Ji Rongxia took a deep breath, smelling nothing but the aroma of taro.

Ji Rongxia also peeled open his small taro. The inside of his taro was light grey.

“These two are different. Mine is a bit grey. You taste mine and see if it’s delicious,” Ji Rongxia extended his chopstick, and the small taro was brought to Gu Tangjin’s mouth.

Gu Tangjin didn’t decline and lowered his head to take a bite.

“Fragrant, sweet, soft, and glutinous, with a hint of milky fragrance. It’s very different from the taro we usually eat,” Gu Tangjin said after carefully tasting it.

“Really? That sounds delicious!” Ji Rongxia also took a bite of the taro in his hand.

Mhm, mhm, mhm! This taro was very different from the taro he had eaten before.

It was sweet, powdery, fragrant, and delicious, and it truly had a faint milky fragrance.

“You try mine too, and see if it’s tasty,” Gu Tangjin placed his taro near Ji Rongxia’s mouth.

Ji Rongxia took a bite as well.

“This one is a bit crispy. Fragrant and crispy. It’s different from the powdery one, but this crispy one is sweeter. Hmm, it’s a bit like Chinese yams, but it’s not quite the same as Chinese yams… anyway, it’s very delicious!”

The two shared two small taros. This time, Ji Rongxia had roasted four small taros in total, presumably of different varieties.

“Try this one too. This one has a purple skin, and this one looks dusty grey. I wonder what they taste like,” Ji Rongxia used his chopsticks to pick up the other two small taros, one for himself and one for Gu Tangjin.

The purple taro wasn’t as sweet, but the special aroma of taro was particularly rich.

The dusty grey one had a stronger milky flavour.

The four types of taro had different flavours, but they were all delicious!

The two quietly cleaned up the firewood, copper basin, and taro skins before returning to the room to sleep.

When the sky was slightly bright, Ji Rongxia and Gu Tangjin got up and first put the large taro onto to steam.

The large taro was peeled and cut into small chunks before being put into the pot to steam.

This way, even if outsiders saw it, they wouldn’t find anything strange about the taro.

Ji Rongxia selected some small taros, preparing to roast them in the stove later so they could taste different flavours.

After taking care of the taro, Ji Rongxia and Gu Tangjin began making fruit drinks and chive flatbreads.

They were both familiar with making these two items and worked very efficiently.

As soon as the taro chunks were steamed, Ji Rongxia placed the taro on a plate to cool. The roasted small taros were also put into a pottery basin.

Gu Tangjin set up the stall. Today was the big market day. Wuqu Alley wasn’t far from the big market, so there were more people coming and going today. The two quickly sold out of the fruit drinks and chive flatbreads.

When they returned to the courtyard, Yao Tianlan and Gu Cunchai hadn’t woken up yet. Ji Rongxia found a little white sugar in the stove room, picked up a taro chunk, dipped a little white sugar on it, and brought it to Gu Tangjin’s mouth: “Taste this and see if it’s even tastier this way.”

Gu Tangjin lowered his head slightly and ate it.

“Mhm, this large taro isn’t very sweet, but the flavour is very fragrant. Dipping it in a little white sugar is just right,” Gu Tangjin said after carefully savouring it.

“Right? After steaming it, I smelled it and felt it wasn’t very sweet. I thought it would taste better dipped in some white sugar,” Ji Rongxia said, and then he also picked up a piece of taro, dipped it in white sugar, and put it in his mouth.

The sugar was mediocre. The granularity was too strong. The powdery taste of the steamed taro was originally very good, but the white sugar was a bit too jarring.

Ji Rongxia said, “Mhm, next time, we should sprinkle the sugar on when it’s hot after steaming so the sugar melts. That should be even tastier.”

“But if you do it that way, wouldn’t only the places where the sugar is sprinkled be sweet?” Gu Tangjin brainstormed with Ji Rongxia on how to make the taro even more delicious.

“Mhm, then we’ll mash the taro into a paste and mix it with sugar water,” Ji Rongxia suggested hesitantly after a moment of contemplation.

“That way, the taro won’t look very appetising to eat. If we make it into pastries or desserts and use it as a filling, it will look good and taste good,” Gu Tangjin suggested.

“That’s a good idea. That way, we can also say the taro tastes good because we used a secret recipe. Since it’s made into a filling, can anyone really figure out what it is?” Ji Rongxia said in a low voice.

Gu Tangjin nodded slightly: “That’s what I thought too. We still have some glutinous rice at home. If you want to make some, I can grind the glutinous rice into flour for you right now, and we can make some pastries.”

Although their eatery was small, it was well-equipped. They had a small stone mill at home, usually used for grinding flour.

“Sure!” Ji Rongxia’s eyes spun. He said, “No need to make anything too complicated. Let’s roll some glutinous rice balls and eat them. This requires less flour and is simple.”

Although today was neither the Lantern Festival nor any other holiday, no one stipulated that glutinous rice balls could only be eaten on certain days.

Ji Rongxia, being decisive, started immediately. He didn’t wait until later. He quickly steamed the taro, which was starting to cool, added sugar, and mashed it with a pestle. Gu Tangjin, meanwhile, used the stone mill to grind the glutinous rice into flour.

The glutinous rice flour was put into a large basin. He put chunks of the taro mash into it, shook the basin left and right, and let the round taro mash stick to the glutinous rice flour.

Rolling glutinous rice balls cannot be rushed. It must be rolled bit by bit so that the cooked skin tastes good.

By the time the glutinous rice balls were cooked, Gu Cunchai and Yao Tianlan had just woken up.

It must be said that they were sleeping more and more soundly. They say old people sleep less, but the two were sleeping more and more.

When she came downstairs and saw the two young ones bustling about, a flush appeared on Yao Tianlan’s round face. She had worked hard all her life, and now, in her old age, she was enjoying the blessings of her children. The sun was already shining, and only now was she getting up. If she had been this lazy when she was young, the eatery would probably have been long gone.

Gu Cunchai didn’t blush. He just thought he should be more attentive when teaching Xia-ger his cooking skills.

“Eh? It’s not the New Year or a festival, so why are you making glutinous rice balls? Did you not set up your stall today? You have time to make this,” Yao Tianlan asked with a smile when she saw four bowls of glutinous rice balls on the table in the courtyard.

“We did set up the stall. Today was the big market day, and things sold quickly. Many regular customers came. The sun was still early when we closed the stall, so we made some fresh food. We used some glutinous rice. Mom, as long as you don’t mind us messing around, it’s fine.” Ji Rongxia took out the chive flatbread they had saved today and placed it on the courtyard table.

“A good chef needs to be fond of experimenting,” Gu Cunchai was quite satisfied. “It just so happens that we also sell glutinous rice balls in the winter. You can practice now, and you can roll glutinous rice balls with me in the winter.”

Their eatery also did some seasonal business. For things like glutinous rice balls, customers would bring glutinous rice, sesame, and peanuts, and they would make them. The sugar was provided by the eatery, but they would take thirty percent of the finished glutinous rice balls.

This was hard-earned money, gained by having more coming in and less going out. It was the same for the Dragon Boat Festival—customers would bring red dates and glutinous rice, and they would make rice dumplings.

When they made things for themselves to eat, the glutinous rice and sesame brought by customers were usually not too bad. If the quality was too poor, they wouldn’t accept it.

The surplus glutinous rice balls and rice dumplings could then be sold in the shop. It was tiring, but they earned more money.

The reason why their eatery didn’t do breakfast business before was not that they didn’t want to, but that they were simply too busy. If they were to do breakfast as well, they definitely couldn’t handle it, so they reluctantly gave it up.

“Sure, I’ll roll glutinous rice balls with Dad then,” Ji Rongxia was curious about the taste of glutinous rice balls made with taro. He picked up his bowl and said with a bright smile, “Then I’ll try my own skill first!”

As he said this, he used a spoon to scoop up a glutinous rice ball and took a bite.

Mhm!

Ji Rongxia’s eyes widened.

He originally thought steamed taro dipped in sugar was already delicious, but he didn’t expect the taro made into a filling to be even tastier.

It was granular and dense, fragrant and sweet. Combined with the soft, chewy outer skin, eating it truly felt heavenly!

“Delicious! Really delicious,” Ji Rongxia couldn’t help but take another bite.

It was indeed delicious, even better than the sesame glutinous rice balls he had eaten before.

“Let me try too,” Yao Tianlan thought to herself that Xia-ger’s temperament was truly different from her son, the quiet one. How could anyone praise their own cooking like this? But this was also good. The family would be lively, and her son’s personality might open up a bit, so he wouldn’t be so sullen all the time.

She took a bite of the glutinous rice balls and frowned.

The flavour was good, but she couldn’t taste what the filling was made of!

She ate two more bites suspiciously, but still couldn’t taste it.

“What is this made of?” Gu Cunchai asked what Yao Tianlan wanted to ask.

Gu Cunchai also found it strange. The flavour was odd but quite delicious. He had never tasted this kind of filling before.

“This is taro. This kind of taro is a bit different from what we usually eat. The vendor who came from the south said this wasn’t taro from around here. We only got about seven or eight jin (3.5 to 4 kg) in total. We saw them at the big market and bought them all, planning to taste them. We were thinking of planting the leftovers to see if they’d survive,” Gu Tangjin said casually.

Today was indeed the county’s big market day, but they hadn’t gone. With so many people at the big market, how could anyone truly know if they went or not? Gu Tangjin was just casually lying.

“You two went to the big market this morning? And set up a stall? You aren’t tired, are you? I think you shouldn’t cut any tofu today. Take a day off,” Yao Tianlan felt a bit distressed hearing they had done so much work in the morning. Although the eatery would eventually be handed over to her son and Xia-ger, and the more capable they were, the better, she and his father weren’t unable to work right now. While they were still physically able, they always wanted to do more for their children and save more money.

“We’re not tired. We still need to practice our skills. Mom, Tangjin and I want to find more fresh vegetables. If we can grow them, we’ll plant them ourselves. If that works, our eatery can also change to some new dishes,” Ji Rongxia stated the explanation he and Gu Tangjin had discussed.

Gu Tangjin added, “This small patch of land we have isn’t enough for us to experiment with. I’m thinking of going with Xia-ger to his maternal family to buy some wooden tubs and try planting this kind of taro.”

“You two decide on this yourselves. You don’t need to tell us everything. Although Gu Cunchai was a bit conservative, everyone was young once. If the children wanted to explore and create some new dishes and new ideas, he wouldn’t stop them, provided that their basic skills were well-practised.

“When you two go, don’t rush back. If your in-laws are busy with some work, Tangjin, give them a hand. Oh, and are there a lot of glutinous rice balls rolled? Bring some back for them,” Yao Tianlan instructed. Using money to buy wooden tubs felt a bit too formal. Bringing some food would be more appropriate.

Ji Rongxia quickly said, “We rolled quite a bit. I also roasted some taro and put them in a pottery basin. I figured if we get hungry while busy later, we can just peel one and eat it. I’ll take a few roasted taros and some glutinous rice balls back.”

Yao Tianlan thought this was very thoughtful and didn’t say anything more, concentrating on eating.

These glutinous rice balls were best eaten hot! She had to hurry up and eat it!