“So good, ah~ Father is the best!"
Baibai smiled proudly at those shiny donuts they created. There were a dozen of honey-glazed donuts on the plate; they were all shiny and smelled sweet. Baibai's donuts were smaller with a bigger hole, while Jing Chen's donuts were more proportional.
In addition to honey-glazed donuts, Jing Chen also created four more cinnamon sugar donuts. The cinnamon and rock sugar was ground into powder using mortar and pestle. Actually, Jing Chen wanted to create more; but they didn't have a lot of cinnamon to begin with. He needed to save cinnamon for daily cooking necessity.
Baibai really liked the donuts. He sneakily ate one (or two) when Jing Chen didn't look. It was soft, rich, sweet, and crispy on the outside. Baibai was itching to try the cinnamon sugar donut, but Jing Chen guarded them tightly. Baibai felt so disappointed.
"Don't sulk, Baibai can eat it later after Daddy and others have finished their work."
Baibai pouted as he helped Jing Chen clean up, "Baibai knows… but daddy is very slow~ Does sewing take that much time, ah?"
"You, ah," Jing Chen flicked Baibai's head, "You will know it when you try it tomorrow."
Baibai groaned.
"Tired?"
Jing Chen asked as Xue Yu got out of the room. Wenwen and Yiyi followed behind.
"Um, not really. Oh, Chen-ge's upper cloth is almost done," Xue Yu replied.
"Really, ah? So fast?"
"The cotton is easier to stitch," said Xue Yu. Jing Chen noticed Xue Yu hid his hands behind his back, but he didn't comment. He guessed Xue Yu had needle injuries in his fingers, but he didn't want to show him.
It was Xue Yu's pride as his wife, so Jing Chen kept his mouth shut.
"Baibai and I cooked you some donuts. You must try it before Baibai eats them all," said Jing Chen as he led them to the table.
"What is a donut?"
Wenwen asked since never heard it before. Yiyi and Xue Yu were confused as well. Baibai, who felt he was waiting long enough for them, quickly replied,
"It is some kind of bread, but it's not steamed; it's fried with a lot of oil! Father must have learned this skill in the north! Come and try it Uncle Wen, it's soooooo good~!"
Jing Chen chuckled. He took a seat beside Baibai and let each of them taste the honey-glazed donuts first. Baibai quickly ate his portion since he wanted to try the other donut.
"Mmm, so soft!" Wenwen praised, "Brother-in-law’s skill is really great, ah!"
"Baibai helped father make this?" Xue Yu asked. Baibai gave him a wide smile, "Yes! Baibai made the smaller ones! How is it, daddy? Good, right?"
"Mm. Very good," Xue Yu smiled. He looked at Yiyi who ate quietly beside him, "What does Yiyi think?"
Yiyi was still mad at Baibai, but he didn't hesitate to nod his head. "It's good," he answered truthfully.
Jing Chen gave them another plate. He explained, "This one has cinnamon and sugar at the top. It has a quite strong taste, so eat slowly."
Xue Yu noticed that there were only four donuts on the plate, so he offered to share his with Jing Chen. Jing Chen didn't say anything, but he gave a teasing smile that made Xue Yu look away embarrassedly.
"Uh, it's kinda spicy," Baibai complained. He gulped his drink greedily since he felt his throat was dry.
"Not that spicy," Yiyi disagreed, "It's still sweet. But the smell is really strong,"
"Yiyi likes spicy food, ah, I don't. I like the honey one better," said Baibai.
"I also like the one with honey more," Wenwen said. Yiyi looked disappointed.
"Daddy likes both," Xue Yu added before anyone asked. Now all eyes were on Jing Chen.
Jing Chen smiled. Since when it turned out to be a competition like this?
He winked at Yiyi, "Father likes the cinnamon sugar donuts more," Yiyi laughed happily when he heard it.
"However," Jing Chen said, "Cinnamon and sugar are expensive. Since father wants to sell donuts in the future, we will use honey which is the cheaper option."
They were all surprised. Yiyi raised his eyebrows, "Father wants to sell donuts?"
Jing Chen nodded, "Not only donuts, there will be spring rolls and chicken wings as well."
"Chicken wings! It's so expensive!" Wenwen exclaimed, "Who will buy it in the village, brother-in-law?"
"I don't plan to sell them here. I want to rent a food stall in the county town and sell them there."
Xue Yu felt uneasy, "Will it be okay? It'll be hard, since Chen-ge has to go very early everyday."
"Is there any easy way to make money?" Jing Chen softly said, "Of course it'll be hard, but this is what we can do at the moment. We can't keep going to the mountains to hunt and put ourselves in danger."
Although Xue Yu understood, it didn’t mean he agreed with Jing Chen. How much did it cost to rent a food stall in the morning market? What about the materials needed to make the snacks? They still had some money left, but would it be enough? What if people didn't like the food? What if they thought it was too expensive? A lot of worrying thoughts running in his head, but Xue Yu didn't know which one he should tell first.
"Father, don't worry! People will like it, since it's so, so good!" Baibai said. He believed people would like what his father cooked. He didn't eat a lot of food before, but he knew what Jing Chen cooked was different and unique.
"Yes, Yiyi also believes that. We'll help to make sure father doesn't get too tired as well!" Yiyi added.
"I'll also help, brother-in-law! We'll make more money to be rich~!" Said Wenwen.
Jing Chen thanked them all for the support. He nudged Xue Yu's shoulder, "Will Xiao Yu help me too?"
"Of course I'll help!" Xue Yu said. He was startled, "I'm just thinking about the expenses. I hope we can get enough profit to cover them all,"
"We will, don't worry. I plan to sell the wings at 7 wen, donuts at 5 wen, and spring rolls at 4 wen." Said Jing Chen.
"So expensive!" Xue Yu exclaimed, "Will people buy it?"
"They will," Jing Chen promised, "People in the county town are different, they aren’t as poor as the villagers.”
I want this to be full chapter, but I have to split it since it passed the limit. Sorry for that, but I'll post them tgt!
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