Chapter 377: White Sugar

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Jiang Xia stepped in to defuse the situation for Shen Mo, explaining, “My mother needs white sugar to enhance the flavor when making pickled vegetables and meat sauce, but we’ve run out at home. Moreover, if we want to get some from the city, we need sugar coupons…”

This was the topic of discussion that Zhou Lan and Jiang Chuan had just been deliberating upon entering the house. The awkwardness now lay in the fact that while the ingredients and the jars for pickling were ready—with the jars set to be delivered the next day—a large quantity of spices was missing.

It was entirely unexpected that everything would be prepared but would fall short on this detail. Jiang Chuan had even begun to consider finding some free time to drive to the county town’s black market to exchange for white sugar.

Upon hearing this, Tian Zao suddenly thought of her brother, the general manager at the sugar factory. This was also an opportunity to help the villagers, so she decided to make an effort.

She said to Zhou Lan, “Wife of the Jiang family, prepare a list of how much white sugar you need for me. Tomorrow I will call the sugar factory in the county town and try to get them to deliver the sugar by tomorrow evening.”

Everyone was surprised, not expecting the usually strictly businesslike Tian Zao to take the initiative to help solve their big problem. While everyone was curious about where the sugar would come from, Jiang Chuan suddenly had a realization. He remembered that Auntie Tian had mentioned her eldest son worked at the sugar factory, and it all became clear.

Jiang Chuan’s opinion of Tian Zao changed.

He had always thought of Tian Zao as a petty woman, but now he realized that he had been the narrow-minded one.

This meal inadvertently became the catalyst for Tian Zao and Jiang Chuan to thaw their past grievances. Although neither of them spoke of it, they both recognized each other’s work capabilities.

The next morning, as usual, Zhou Lan woke up early to prepare breakfast for the family. It was nearing the end of December, and dawn was coming later and later. Zhou Lan had to get up in the dark, and it was unbearably cold.

As an adult, she could bear it, but she couldn’t bear to have Jiang Gu wake up early with her every day. She told the young girl that she didn’t need to help her light the fire and cook in the mornings anymore.

But Jiang Gu was very stubborn and didn’t want Zhou Lan to be busy by herself. Every morning, as soon as she heard Zhou Lan getting up, she would immediately get out of the warm bed and come out to help.

Today, Zhou Lan was warming Jiang Gu’s soft little hands as they walked to the kitchen. Just as they entered, they were surprised to see that the second daughter, Jiang Xia, was already waiting in the kitchen.

As soon as Jiang Xia saw Zhou Lan, she bounced over, clinging to Zhou Lan’s arm with an expectant look in her eyes, “Mother, what are you planning to make this morning? Let’s make sweet potato pancakes. Can you teach me how to make them?”

Zhou Lan looked at Jiang Xia in surprise, then poked her head out of the kitchen door to look at the dawn’s early light, puzzled.

Jiang Xia was confused, “Mother, it’s still dark outside, what are you looking at?”

Zhou Lan said seriously, “I am checking to see if the sun has risen from the west today. How come Jiang Xia, who can’t get out of bed in the winter, has gotten up so early to learn to cook?”

Realizing that Zhou Lan was joking, Jiang Xia pretended to be angry and lightly punched Zhou Lan’s arm, “Mother, you just love to tease me! Isn’t it because I want to learn to cook so I can help you out?”

In fact, it was because of the dinner last night, which received unanimous praise, that sparked Jiang Xia’s love for cooking. This morning, as soon as she opened her eyes, all she could think about was making a hearty breakfast, and she had no mood to continue sleeping, so she simply got out of bed and prepared to explore the kitchen on her own.

However, she found out that making sweet potato pancakes required kneading dough, and her hands-on abilities were really not up to par. Just as she was worrying, she happened to hear Zhou Lan and Jiang Gu heading to the kitchen, which made her incredibly happy, eager to learn.

Seeing her daughter so eager to learn, Zhou Lan no longer teased her. Rolling up her sleeves, she headed towards the chopping board and said, “Since my sweet daughter wants to learn today, then as your mother, I will teach you properly!” She then turned back to Jiang Gu and gestured grandly, “Xiao Gu, light the fire and boil the water!”

“Alright!”

Previously, it was always Zhou Lan and Jiang Gu bustling about in the kitchen, but today with Jiang