Chapter 198 - 198 Baked Biscuits
198 Baked Biscuits
“Then you…” Qin Xiaoyao was a little hesitant.
“Didn’t Xiaomei say that she wanted to rent a room in the Liu family’s house? Let her go too. As for us husband and wife, it’s fine as long as you’re there.”
The reason was that he had had nothing much in common to chat with the Liu family even if he went.
In addition, the sun was too hot, and he didn’t want to go there under the scorching sun.
Qin Xiaoyao thought about it and nodded.
“Alright,” she said.
A smile appeared on Song Que’s face.
He finally got up from Qin Xiaoyao’s tummy.
“Let’s go to sleep.” Then, Song Que pounced on the woman.
Qin Xiaoyao was stunned for a moment. Then, her face turned ecstatic as she flipped over like a ferocious tiger…
The next day, Qin Xiaoyao followed Song Que’s instructions and went to the textile shop to buy a lot of cloth to store at home.
She then took the time in the afternoon to get Wang Xiaomei to help her start a fire and make some dried biscuits.
Considering that the shelf life of these dried biscuits was only a few days longer than that of ordinary pancakes, Qin Xiaoyao made three baskets worth of biscuits before stopping.
After making the biscuits, Qin Xiaoyao let everyone have a taste.
In the end, the response was not very good.
In the room, Song Que took a small piece and tried it too, but he also felt that the taste was a little unsatisfactory.
“No worries. It doesn’t taste good because I didn’t add any seasoning.”
“If I prepare some chili oil, crush two century eggs and mix them in, the biscuits will definitely taste good if we eat them with the seasoning,” Qin Xiaoyao said.
Song Que thought for a moment.
“You can try,” he said.
Qin Xiaoyao’s eyes lit up.
“Then I’ll go make it now!” After saying that, she took a piece of remnant biscuit, put it in her mouth, and went out.
Then, she called Wang Xiaomei over and went to the kitchen to get busy.
Qin Xiaoyao took this opportunity to make not only some chili oil but also some chili sauce.
The taste was naturally not as good as that mass-produced by some reputable household name before the apocalypse, but it still had a unique flavor.
After that, when the finished product was presented, it received unanimous praise from everyone.
After Song Que had a taste, he was also very satisfied.
“This one’s not bad. It’s perfect for the biscuit.” The man was not stingy with his praise.
“Hehe! That’s good! Then I’ll make more and send some to Father and the rest later!” Qin Xiaoyao immediately said.
“Mm-hmm.” Song Que approved of her idea.
Only then did Qin Xiaoyao leave the room again.
By the evening, Qin Xiaoyao had already achieved a bountiful result.
Qin Xiaoyao selected a basket of biscuits, a large jar of chili sauce, and a large basket of century eggs before returning to the Qin family with Eldest Sister-in-law Qin.
It wasn’t that she wanted to make this trip, but Eldest Sister-in-law Qin insisted that Qin Xiaoyao go back with her.
She said that her family was waiting for Qin Xiaoyao.
Qin Xiaoyao only found out about the details after she followed Eldest Sister-in-law Qin out of the courtyard.
It turned out that Eldest Sister-in-law Qin was worried about that child.
Yes, according to the news from the Zhang family’s village, Madam Zhang was about to give birth.
And now, the entire Qin family was worried about this. They hoped that Qin Xiaoyao could go back and discuss it with them.
Qin Xiaoyao pondered for a moment after hearing what her eldest sister-in-law said. She realized that it was almost time for the birth.
Hence, she said, “Let’s go. We’ll talk at home.”
Divorcing Madam Zhang was something Qin Xiaoyao had suggested at the beginning, and she had helped her family carry out that task.
She had to finish what she started, so she really had to go over. She could at least give her father and the rest some ideas.
“Mm-hmm!” Eldest Sister-in-law Qin’s heart instantly felt at ease, and she quickly followed her young sister-in-law.
When they returned to the Qin family’s house, everyone was there.
Seeing that Qin Xiaoyao had brought so many things, Qin Dazhuang grumbled about how much his daughter had brought, but he couldn’t hide the smile on his face.
“My family has baked three big baskets of these biscuits, so I’ve brought one basket over.”
“The biscuits are very dry. They can be eaten directly without heating.”
“When you eat it, dip it in some of the spicy sauce I made. It tastes very good!” As Qin Xiaoyao spoke, she introduced the items to everyone.
“Or you can add two century eggs in the chili sauce and mash them. It’ll taste even better if you eat them with the biscuits!”
“Good! My daughter’s century eggs have always been delicious!” Qin Dazhuang immediately said.
He loved century eggs the most. If it weren’t for the fact that he was too embarrassed to get his two sons to go to his daughter to exchange century eggs, he would have eaten several of them every day.
“Younger Sis is so considerate!” Qin Dahu added.
“Younger Sis still thinks of us!” Qin Erhu was also smiling.
“What are you saying? We’re family. If I don’t think of you guys, who else should I think of?” Qin Xiaoyao scoffed.
She suddenly thought of something and looked at her father.
“When I came over, I saw three pigs still in our pigpen?” she said.
Qin Dazhuang’s expression turned grim.
“Mm-hmm!” he replied.
Now, it was even harder to sell pork. The family would only slaughter the pigs during the big market fair.
Those three pigs at home would probably take more than ten days to be slaughtered.
If it were in the past, raising three pigs at home would not be a big deal.
However, water and food were precious now. The cost of raising those three pigs was not low.
Qin Xiaoyao frowned as she recalled what Song Que had told her last night.
“Three is too many, and raising them is also a waste of food. Why don’t we slaughter one tomorrow?”
“Send some of the pork to Fortune Mansion, and my family will take the rest,” she said.
If Qin Xiaoyao told her father and the others that the locust plague was coming and the locusts might suck the pigs’ blood or even bite them to death, they would definitely not believe her.
She could only find an excuse to let them deal with the pigs in advance.
They could kill one tomorrow and another the day after for the market fair.
If there was only one left, it would not be so troublesome to deal with, even if there was a locust plague.
Qin Xiaoyao couldn’t be blamed for worrying about this. The pigpen of the Qin family was in the courtyard, and two of the four sides were open.
When the locusts came, it would be difficult to keep the insects out.
“Why does your family need so much pork?” Qin Dazhuang asked immediately.
When he heard his daughter say this, he was naturally a little touched.
However, he was more concerned about her reason than feeling touched in his heart.
He didn’t want his daughter to do things that would harm her own family’s interests just because she wanted to help her maiden family.
Qin Xiaoyao chuckled.
“Some will be turned into cured meat, and some will be eaten,” she said.
“Also, Big Girl’s family is moving house tomorrow. I also want to send some meat over.”
The Qin family’s father and sons exchanged glances.
They had also heard that the Liu family had bought a courtyard house in the illegal construction area.
Yesterday, Eldest Sister-in-law Qin was still muttering at home, asking if she should make a trip to the Liu family’s place.
“Then that’s fine!” Qin Dazhuang said.
Following that, he looked at his eldest son and eldest daughter-in-law.
“In that case, you two should also make a trip there at that point,” he said.
The Liu family was on good terms with his daughter, and now they had moved to town.
Since the Qin family had heard about it, they would also join in the celebration.
“Alright!” Qin Dahu and his wife quickly answered.
Only then did Qin Dazhuang and Qin Xiaoyao start discussing the matter of slaughtering pigs.
“Of course, it’ll be based on market price. Otherwise, I don’t want it!” Not surprisingly, Qin Xiaoyao didn’t agree with her father giving her a lower price.
Her family made a living by selling century eggs, distributing bean sprouts wholesale, and selling water. They were earning a lot of money every day.
On the other hand, her father’s meat stall business was not doing well, and he did not deliver goods to Fortune Mansion every day. It could be said that the Qin family’s income was greatly reduced.
“But you haven’t finished those meat you bought earlier and turned into cured meat, have you?” Qin Dazhuang asked.
He was just afraid that the Song family would have a bad opinion of his daughter if they saw her doing this.