Li Hehua rubbed her shoulders and but the cooled pastries in the basket one by one. She said to Cao Simei, "Okay, da jie, it's done. Let's go to bed now since we still need to get up early and sell the pastries tomorrow."
Cao Simei was also a bit sleepy. Seeing that the pastries are all ready, she felt relieved. She got up and took off her apron, "Okay, let's go and rest. It's getting late."
Cao Simei fell asleep while Li Hehua went and sit at a small table. She bent down and straigten her legs, clenching her fist, and gently beat her legs. After walking for several hours today, her legs are very sore.
Although it was already late, she doesn't feel sleepy at all for some reason. She sat by the oil lamp for a while and thought of selling pastries tomorrow. Naturally, she also thought of the little guy.
It's been almost ten days since she had seen the little guy. She wonders if he can still remember her, does he remember her? The little guy was willing to eat what she fed him last time. She was happy just from thinking about it.
The corners of Li Hehua's lips slowly rise and she decided to go again tomorrow. She wanted to bring something delicious to the little one.
How about making a dorayaki for the little guy? The raw materials for it is not complicated and she happens to have all of them. It taste delicious and sweet. He might be happy after eating it.
Li Hehua immediately took out the ingredients needed for dorayaki and started making it in the dead of the night, borrowing light from the fairly bright candlelight.
She first added the sugar and salt to the eggs and stir it well. She then add honey, milk, oil and other ingredients, and stir it again.
After that, she mixed the flour with baking powder, added it to the previous mixture, and stir it until it became a batter. It still needs to rest for a quarter of an hour.
Leaving the batter at rest, Li Hehua hurriedly boiled some hot water for herself. After doing the dorayaki, she could go straight to bed.
After a brief bath, the batter is ready. Li Hehua lit up a small fire under the stove. She then scooped a spoonful of batter into the pot and spread it into a circle. When the air bubbles on the batter starts to grow and pop, she flip it, fry for it a while, and the dorayaki pancake is ready.
Finally, sandwich the red been paste used to make the make the red bean cake between the two pancakes, and the fresh dorayaki is done.
Looking at the cuke dorayaki one by one and thinking of the little guy eating them happily, Li Hehua smiled. She wrapped these dorayaki in a oil paper and put them in a basket before going to sleep.
Because she slept too late last night, Li Hehua couldn't wake up as early, so Da Ya called and woke her up.
Li Hehua rubbed her eyes and force herself to wake up, desperately saying to herself 'I'm not sleepy, I'm not sleepy', which made her feel much better.
Today's business is the same as usual. When the people in the market began to scatter, the pastries in Li Hehua's basket are almost sold out. Just when she was about to pack up and return, a voive sounded in front of her, "Is there any more pastries?"
It's a man's voice.
Li Hehua looked up and saw a tall, jade-like young man in a sky-blue confucian shirt. Unlike the common people who came to her and buy pastries before, this man carried an indescribable nobility. At first glance, his temperament is not in line with this lively market.
It was Li Hehua's the first time to saw such an elegant and noble person in this small town. With her appreance control instinct, she couldn't help but look at him curiously. However, she immediately remembered that this is an ancient feudal society and people shouldn't look at other's randomly. She hurriedly put away her appearance control nature and treated the man as an ordinary guest and said, "There are only a piece of lotus seed paste pastry and a piece of red bean cake. The others are sold out."
The man was obviously a little disappointed, "No more?" Two pieces were too few.
Li Hehua shook her head, "I'm sorry, the others are all sold out, so this is the last pieces left. However, I'll be back tomorrow. If you want them, you can come earlier." The man thought of the little ancestor at home and sighed. "Then wrapped up these two pieces for me."
Li Hehua nodded, lowered her head and wrapped the last two pieces of pastry in a piece of oil paper and handed it to the man.
The man took the pastries and took out four wen to pay Li Hehua, but he didn't leave immediately and remained standing.
Li Hehua looked at the man strangely and saw that he was staring at her basket, so she couldn't help asking, "This guest, do you need anything else?"
The man pursed his lips and asked hesitantly while looking at the basket : "Boss, do you still more in your basket? That oil paper bag..."
Li Hehua was stunned for a moment. The next second however, she realized the he should have seen the package of dorayaki that she had made for Shulin. He must havr thought that there are still some pastries but she didn't sell it to him.
Li Hehua quickly explained, "This is not for sale, it is specially reserved for the children at home, sorry."
Hearing this, the man's face was a little reddish, obviously more embarrassed than Li Hehua and his voice was much lower. "Sorry, I misunderstood. It's because the child at home are very picky and don't like to eat anything. He only likes the pastries that you make, so I came to buy them on purpose. I arrived late and can only bought two pieces. I'm afraid that these two pieces are not enough for the child. It would be better if there are more so I asked this question, making you laugh.*"
(T/N: Making a fool at out himself, so making her laugh. Similar to that.)
The little ancestor at home was spoiled. He was still not used to the sudden change in environment. He couldn't eat the general course of food and he always lost his temper every day, making him exhausted. Yesterday, a student brought pastries and gave some to the little ancestor to eat. As a result, he unexpectedly ate it deliciously and was clamoring for it after eating. Knowing that it was bought from here, he came over today after school. He didn't expect that there were only two pieces left. This two pieces was definitely not enough for the little ancestor to eat ah...
After listening to the man's words, Li Hehua understood this kind of parent's mentality very well. She shook her head and said it was okay. In fact, she felt that this man was quite a good. At least he was a gentle person when he treated his child.
Seeing that there is also a child at home who doesn't like to eat, Li Hehua bent down and opened the oiled paper bag in the basket. She took out two dorayaki and handed it to the man. "This is for my child to eat so I can't give you more. I'll give you two pieces. Go back and feed your child."
The man was stunned for a moment. He felt embarrased and hesitated for a while. He then finally reached out, took it and said thank you, "Thank you boss, I'll give you the payment." He then reached out to pay.
Li Hehua hurriedly waved her hand. "No, this for your child. If you like it, you can come earlier tomorrow so you can also buy bahulu and hawthorn pastries. By the way, there are also tanghulu that children likes very much." When the man heard her, he put down the hand that will take out the money. After thinking about it, he didn't insist on giving. He just smil3d and thanked her again, "Thank you boss, I will come earlier tomorrow." He then said goodbye and leave.
Li Hehua smiled and watched the man turn and leave. Then, she put away the basket and went to west side of the street. After saying hello to Cao Simei, she hurried to Shangshui Village to find the little guy.
***
T/N: End of Chap. Here's the photo of dorayaki.
*Dorayaki
Won't be updating next week. It's our midterm exam. Thank you for your support!