After the family split, with the second branch no longer contributing labor, the eldest aunt was unhappy. She clamored that the third uncle's family should also work in the fields, threatening to split the family further if they didn't. Under this pressure, the third aunt, Mrs. Qin, had no choice but to go work in the fields, leaving only Li Yuju at home.
Unable to contain her curiosity, Li Yuju ran into the yard to see what Li Yuzhu and the others were doing.
Li Yuzhu simply couldn't be bothered with Li Yuju. As long as Li Yuju kept quiet, Li Yuzhu would ignore her completely, treating her like thin air.
However, Li Yuzhu was still worried that Li Yuju might steal her recipe. So she asked Xiaodai to carry the ingredients back to their own house and then closed the door to make ice jelly.
After the incident where Li Yunguang secretly sold Xiaotao, Li Yuju didn't dare to act wildly. She didn't even dare to go and knock on the door and demand that Li Yuzhu open it. Complaining to their grandfather wouldn't work either, since they had already split the family. So she awkwardly picked up the ice jelly seeds that had fallen on the ground and sat alone in the yard to play.
"Xiaodai, cut this watermelon in half. Cut one half into small pieces, and leave the other half for me," Li Yuzhu instructed.
Xiaodai started working right after receiving the order.
Li Yuzhu squeezed the other half of the watermelon into juice, added some lime water, and then left it aside to settle.
Then she took out the ice jelly seeds, washed them, put them in a piece of gauze, and kneaded them in the watermelon juice.
Before long, when the seeds were no longer sticky, she added the settled lime water to the ice jelly liquid little by little.
Looking at the pink, unformed ice jelly in the basin, Mrs. Liu was very curious but also a bit worried. "It looks quite nice, but will it taste good?"
"You'll know once you try it later," Li Yuzhu replied with a smile.
Li Yuzhu poured the ice jelly into a cleaned bucket, wrapped a clean piece of gauze over it, and asked Xiaodai to put it in a well to chill.
After lunch, the ice jelly Li Yuzhu had chilled was almost ready. She asked Xiaodai to take it out.
It was a sweltering summer day. As soon as they got close to the ice jelly bucket, they could feel a faint coolness.
"It really does look great!" Mrs. Liu nodded in satisfaction.
"Sister Yuzhu, Xiaodai wants to eat ice jelly," Xiaodai said.
"Okay!" Li Yuzhu replied. She poured the ice jelly into a prepared basin and then cut it into small cubes with a knife.
The pink ice jelly was crystal - clear and looked extremely tempting.
Then Li Yuzhu picked up a piece of ice jelly and put it in a bowl, and then topped it with a layer of small watermelon cubes. Just looking at it made one feel cooler.
Xiaodai excitedly picked up the bowl of ice jelly and handed it to Mrs. Liu. "Auntie, try it quickly," he said, unable to resist swallowing his saliva.
Mrs. Liu was also extremely eager. Without any hesitation, she took the bowl and started eating.
The ice jelly was soft, tender, and silky in the mouth. Combined with the freshness of the watermelon, Mrs. Liu was amazed by the taste. "It's so delicious!"
Xiaodai took the bowl of ice jelly Li Yuzhu handed him and couldn't wait to take a bite.
"Delicious! Delicious! Xiaodai likes it!" Xiaodai's eyes sparkled as he exclaimed loudly.
Li Yuzhu calmly scooped a bowl for herself and started eating.
Although it was not as good as the ice jelly with brown sugar and various toppings she had eaten in the past, under these circumstances, being able to eat a bowl of such refreshing and thirst - quenching watermelon ice jelly made Li Yuzhu quite satisfied.
The three of them scooped a few more bowls and ate until they were full.
Looking at the remaining ice jelly, Mrs. Liu said, "How about taking some to your grandfather's family? There's so much, and your father can't finish it all."
Li Yuzhu really didn't like those relatives. After thinking for a while, she said, "Mom, how about Xiaodai and I take this ice jelly to the dock to find Dad? It's so hot, and he must need it. We can distribute the rest to his co - workers. It can also serve as a kind of advertisement."
Mrs. Liu smiled. "That's okay. Go ahead. And take Dad's lunch with you. Be careful on the way."
Li Yuzhu thought that if the ice jelly wasn't cold, its flavor would be greatly reduced. So she found some straw and spread it on the donkey cart, and then wrapped a thick layer of straw around the ice jelly bucket.
"Sister Yuzhu, it's so hot. Why are you putting such thick 'clothes' on it? The ice jelly will stop being cold," Xiaodai looked at the ice jelly bucket wrapped tightly and was very confused.
"I'm doing this to make it cool down more slowly. Let's go," Li Yuzhu remembered that when she was a child, the uncles and aunts who sold ice jelly on the streets wrapped the foam boxes tightly with quilts.
In this era, quilts were rare, and there were no foam boxes at all. So Li Yuzhu thought of using straw to replace the quilts.
Li Yuzhu said as she got on the donkey cart. After she was seated, Xiaodai drove the donkey cart and set off.
There was only one dock in the town. Li Yuzhu's father had worked there before, and Li Yuzhu had come with Mrs. Liu to deliver food to Li Yunren. So she easily found where Li Yunren was.
After getting off the cart, Li Yuzhu stood on the shore, looking at the people carrying goods back and forth, searching for Li Yunren's figure.
"Dad!" Before long, Li Yuzhu saw Li Yunren. She excitedly waved and jumped up.
Li Yunren patted the dust off his body and walked towards Li Yuzhu.
Seeing that although Li Yunren had just wiped his forehead, it was still covered in tiny beads of sweat, and his face was flushed from the sun, Li Yuzhu's eyes involuntarily welled up with tears.
Li Yuzhu handed the food box in her hand to Li Yunren. "Dad, eat first. Then try the ice jelly I made after you're done."
Li Yunren took the food box with a smile, opened it, and wolfed down the food.
Li Yuzhu felt both warm - hearted and sad. She said with a smile, "Dad, eat slowly. Be careful not to choke."
Li Yunren looked up at Li Yuzhu with a smile. Since his mouth was full of food, he couldn't answer, so he just nodded, but he didn't slow down his eating speed.
Li Yuzhu knew that he was doing piece - rate work and ate so fast to earn more money. So she asked Xiaodai to scoop a bowl of ice jelly and put it beside him.
After Li Yunren finished his meal, Li Yuzhu quickly picked up the bowl of ice jelly and handed it to him. "Dad, try the ice jelly I made. There's still a lot. Let your co - workers come and try it too."
Li Yunren was a generous man. He got up and called over the co - workers who were usually close to him.
"Delicious!"
"Yunren, your daughter is amazing! This is the first time I've ever eaten this!"
"It's so comfortable to eat a bowl in summer!"
Hearing everyone's praise, Li Yuzhu couldn't help but scoop a bowl and eat it.
Although the ice jelly bucket was wrapped in thick straw, after such a long time, it had lost a lot of its coolness. It wasn't as refreshing as when it was first taken out of the well.
Li Yuzhu fell into deep thought. It seemed that she had thought things too simply.
Since it was free now, everyone praised it so much. But if she wanted to sell it for money, the ice jelly had to be cold.
After everyone had finished eating, Li Yuzhu and Xiaodai packed up their things and then went to stroll around the town. One reason was to check out the current beverage business, and the other was to scout out a good location for her stall the next day.