Don't panic in a famine, I live in the mountains with my golden finger

Chapter 400 Maltose

Because Sun Guifang successfully found the lost chicken with the help of Lai Fu's dog nose, the news spread in the village, and she even went to the door to deliver a small basket of eggs to Xuyuan.

After many Japanese confectioners heard the news, they were so proud that they would take Lai Fu with them whenever they went out. They would even deliberately lose some things when they had free time and ask Lai Fu to find them.

Lai Fu never gets tired of this.

By then, the malt had grown to the height that Xuyuan wanted, so he took advantage of his recent free time to make some malt sugar.

The sun is strongest at noon, and the rice, lychees and peppers drying in the yard have lost their moisture.

As long as it is exposed to the sun for a few more days, the ground in the yard will be free and can be transformed.

It was lunchtime and the house was quiet except for the constant chirping of cicadas in the woods.

Xu Yuan went into the kitchen and grabbed a handful of glutinous rice that had been soaked in a wooden barrel in advance. This was given to him by Aunt Xu last time, and it came in handy now.

The soaked glutinous rice can be broken by hand, pour it into the rice steamer, add water to the pot, and light a fire on the stove.

Smoke immediately rose from the kitchen chimney.

There was a loud "boom" sound, which happened very suddenly.

Xu Yuan hurriedly walked outside and looked at the sunny weather. It was predicted that it would rain today, but it would not be heavy, just passing clouds and rain. I guess it will be during this period of time.

The door behind him was suddenly opened and Xu Zhi hurried out.

"Sister, is it going to rain? We have to harvest the rice quickly." Then she knocked on the door of another room, waking up the many Japanese desserts who were still sleeping.

"Xiaoduo, the fruits are ripe, help me harvest the grain."

"Got it. I'll get up right away." Guozi's vague reply came from inside.

"Collect it first."

Although the sun was still shining brightly at this time, dark clouds had already appeared in the other side of the sky.

Xu Yuan and Xu Zhi used a grain rake to rake the grains into a pile, and then rolled up the bamboo mat underneath.

Not long after, Guozi and Xuxiu came out of the room quickly, rolled up their sleeves, and helped to collect the rice.

When Xu Yuan and his four siblings had almost finished packing, the rain began to fall as if it had been planned. Xu Yuan spread out the rain sheet and covered the rolled up wicker mats directly with it.

"It smells so good, what's cooking in the pot?"

Many people smelled a faint fragrance when they walked into the kitchen and sniffed it.

Xu Yuan pulled the malt off the bamboo sieve with its roots, threw it into the wooden basin, and replied, "Cook glutinous rice."

"Ah? So glutinous rice smells so good when cooked?"

Many people are quite curious about what glutinous rice tastes like. They remember the rice dumplings they brought back from Aunt Xu's house last time. They were soft, glutinous, salty and fragrant, leaving a long aftertaste.

Seeing Xu Yuan making malt, many curious people came forward and asked, "Sister, are you going to make maltose?"

"Well, now you have some free time, right? If you have time, help me wash the malt and pick out the rotten ones."

"Okay." Many people rolled up their sleeves and agreed happily.

Guozi and Xuanyu changed their wet clothes and walked out of the room.

"Brother, you came out just in time, come and help." Xuanyu waved to Guozi.

"Sister, do you need more fire in the pot?"

Seeing that Xu Yuan was too busy looking at the pot, Xu Zhi took the initiative to ask.

"Take a look at the glutinous rice. If it's cooked, turn off the heat and let it cool."

Finally, all the malt growing on the gauze was taken down. In the wooden basin on the other side, there were many malts that had been selected and washed by Japanese confectionery.

Xu Yuan washed them again, then put a clean bamboo sieve underneath, and began to cut the malt into small pieces and then chop it up.

It was still raining outside, the sky was turning grey, and a breeze blew into the house through the open window, dispelling the heat.

Xu Zhi wrapped the rice steamer in a wet cloth and brought it to the table in front of the window, opened the lid, and then took another knife to help.

After many wagashi washed all the malt, they squatted aside and watched their actions.

After all the malt is chopped up, the cooked glutinous rice will not be so hot.

"Sister, I want to try some sticky rice."

Many people saw Xu Yuan pour all the glutinous rice in the rice steamer into the wooden basin and said to Xu Yuan.

"Then go and get the bowl." Xu Yuan waved.

Since Xiaoduo wants to try it, Xuyuan will of course satisfy him.

Manyu nodded repeatedly and quickly brought the bowl over. Xuyuan scooped a full bowl of glutinous rice and handed it to Manyu, saying with a smile, "Is that enough?"

"Big sister, that's enough." Many people excitedly took the glutinous rice, stuffed a mouthful into their mouths, and squinted their eyes contentedly, "Big sister, do you want to try it?"

"No, you eat it." Xu Yuan shook his head and refused.

"Oh, then, brother and sister, would you like to try it?" Xuanyu walked towards Xu Zhihe and Guozi and asked.

"Let me try it." Guozi responded.

Xu Yuan poured all the chopped malt into the wooden basin, washed his hands, and began to mix it with the glutinous rice that was not so hot, mixing it thoroughly with the malt, and then covered the basin and let it ferment until it was saccharified.

"Sister, is this okay?" Guozi asked curiously.

"Not yet. Let it ferment and produce water. Filter out the residue and boil it in a pot."

The rain outside had stopped and everything was wet, so Xu Yuan decided not to go out and continued to prepare the marinade packets.

……

The night is dark and there is no moon tonight. The whole village is shrouded in fog and is pitch black. Only the frogs in the ditches and fields are croaking cheerfully, one after another, making the sound of buffaloes.

A toad hopped over Xuyuan's feet. Xuyuan kicked it far away and then walked slowly forward along the footprints left on the path in the forest, erasing the traces as he walked.

Although the footprints seen during the day would not pose a threat to the villagers, Xu Yuan still wanted to find out where the animal was hiding so that he could take preventive measures.

So, taking advantage of the dark and windy night, he entered the woods according to the footprints Xiaojiu had found.

Following the footprints, Xu Yuan came to the entrance of a very hidden cave, which was close to a bamboo forest. This place was far away from the village. Normally no one would set foot here. It was also outside the protective cover, only one foot away.

Xu Yuan stood in front of the cave entrance, not intending to go in, and exchanged for a mutated vine attached to a big tree there.

The next moment, the figure disappeared.