Zhang Huai stared blankly at the unusually carefree and happy Li Changyu, and suddenly understood his intentions. He was using the New Year holiday to get closer to Juhua.

Li Changyu was watching Juhua and Jinxiang eat dried bamboo shoots when he felt Zhang Huai’s gaze. He turned, gave him a small smile, and met his eyes directly, his expression open and forthright.

He wasn’t awkward, as he had been on Qinghui’s boat, nor was he agitated, as he’d been when he visited the Zheng family on the day he returned to the village. His expression was unexpectedly cheerful, perfectly matching his mood.

He had been worried about what excuse to use to visit the Zheng family tonight, but then Li Jinxiang and Mrs. Fang finished preparing the dried bamboo shoots. So, he brought his cousins over with a perfectly natural reason. ’Having fun while also taking care of business—isn’t that the best excuse of all?’

Zhang Huai watched him in silence. ’Is he telling me,’ he thought, ’that he’s here to compete for Juhua?’

Qingmu, completely oblivious to the silent exchange between them, held up a piece of dried bamboo shoot. "This stuff is delicious!" he praised. "It’s a little spicy, savory and salty, and really chewy. It’s so easy to snack on, too. Changyu, could we sell this? Do they have it in the cities?"

Li Changyu sidled up to them with a grin. "I’ve never seen it for sale," he said. "I’m sure it would sell well, but we don’t have any to sell right now. We’ll have to wait for spring and have everyone gather more wild bamboo shoots to make a proper batch."

Zhang Huai smiled. "Our village has plenty of resources, but we don’t have the energy to scale up every single product. We have to choose a few main items to focus on. We can make these other things later, once Xiatang Market is more established, just to add more variety to the local specialties we offer."

Li Changyu nodded. "That makes sense. No one has the spare time to run around collecting bamboo shoots just to specialize in drying them. I think our village should still focus on planting more acorn trees for acorn flour, raising more pigs and chickens to sell for meat, and as for things like the spicy cabbage, we’ll have to see how well it sells before deciding how much to plant."

Just as Juhua and Jinxiang were discussing how to make the dried bamboo shoots, a loud KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK came from the courtyard gate, mingled with a dog’s barking and a man’s voice. "It’s me! You dumb animal, don’t you recognize me anymore?"

Hearing Liu Sanshun’s irritated voice, Qingmu couldn’t help but laugh. It seemed their Black Dog’s failure to recognize the boy immediately had made him lose face.

He quickly pulled the gate open, letting Liu Sanshun, Liu Sishun, and Liu Xiaomei inside while shouting at Black Dog to be quiet.

Zhang Huai chuckled. "Sanshun, it seems the dog isn’t too fond of you. They say dogs are the best judges of character. Have you been up to something bad?"

When Liu Sanshun saw that Zhang Huai was, in fact, already there—and had arrived earlier than him—he grew angry, but there was nothing he could do about it. ’Given his friendship with Qingmu,’ he fumed internally, ’it wouldn’t be strange for him to stay here a night or two. But if I start coming around too often, that’s what people will find strange.’

He silently cursed Black Dog. ’That mutt has no judgment! It can’t even tell who’s actually good for Juhua.’

Before he could say a word, Liu Xiaomei’s big eyes sparkled as she called out happily, "Juhua! Oh, Jinxiang is here too! This is wonderful! Come look at the goodies I made!"

With that, she practically skipped over to Juhua, her face glowing with excitement.

She was already in a good mood, but it soared when she entered the house and saw the corner rafters laden with hanging sausages. After all, when those were sold, she would get a share of the profits.

Because of this, Fatty Liu had praised his daughter to the heavens, saying that her "messing around" with Juhua was bringing in more than the entire family’s annual harvest.

As a result, he gave his full support to Liu Xiaomei’s food research and development. For the sunflower seeds alone, she had roasted countless wokfuls in all kinds of flavors. Because she was never satisfied and kept experimenting, she had nearly used up their family’s entire sunflower seed harvest for the year.

Seeing his daughter felt bad about it, Fatty Liu comforted her instead. "What are sunflower seeds for, if not to be eaten? You’ve made so many different flavors, we’ll have more than enough to serve guests."

And so, under the admiring gazes of her parents and brothers each day, Liu Xiaomei felt a great sense of accomplishment. Even as a girl, she was making a real contribution to her family.

Her excited voice drew everyone’s attention, and all eyes turned to the basket in her hands.

Liu Xiaomei walked up to the foot warmer, nudged Little Shitou aside, and said, "Shitou, scoot over a little. I need to talk to your big sister Juhua."

Little Shitou reluctantly moved over. Liu Xiaomei sat down on the long bench, stuck her feet into the foot warmer, and grinned at Juhua and Jinxiang as they leaned in. Then, she began pulling items out of her basket one by one. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

First, there were two small bags of sunflower seeds: one savory, and one slightly sweet.

Next came a small jar of savory paste containing crushed chili flakes, ginger, minced garlic, dried shrimp, and dried bamboo shoots. The moment she lifted the lid and the yellow paper sealing it, an incredible fragrance filled the air, making everyone’s mouth water.

Finally, there was a coarse porcelain bowl filled with small dried fish. They weren’t red-braised; instead, they looked like they had been roasted.

Liu Xiaomei looked at Juhua, a little troubled. "I don’t know what to pack these fish in. Should I use a jar for them, too?"

But no one was listening to her. Li Jinxiang was already calling out to Juhua, "Juhua, hurry and get some chopsticks! We can’t eat the paste with our fingers, and the fish are tricky to pick up by hand, too."

As she spoke, she grabbed two handfuls of sunflower seeds—one of each flavor—and started cracking them open. Gou Dan, Zhang Yang, and Little Shitou were even less reserved, diving right in as well.

Li Changyu, Qingmu, Zhang Huai, and Changyun also crowded around, all praising her creations. The aroma alone was unlike anything they’d smelled before.

Juhua’s eyes were practically glowing. ’There’s strength in numbers, indeed!’ she thought.

She had only given them a general direction; in truth, she didn’t know how to make most of these things herself. She could probably manage the paste, but she had no idea how to prepare the sunflower seeds or the fish. ’That Liu Xiaomei is a genius for figuring it all out.’

Smiling, she cracked open a sunflower seed and called out, "Mom! Mom!"

But her mother wasn’t in the room.

Zheng Changhe watched the group of youngsters and chuckled. "Your mother went to get chopsticks and bowls. She knew you’d want to have a taste."

Just as he spoke, Mrs. Yang came in, carrying several bowls, a handful of chopsticks, and a large jar.

She smiled. "Eating the sunflower seeds is fine, but you should have the paste with some crispy rice. Eating the paste by itself will give you a stomachache."(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to qidian.com to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)