Looking at his petite little wife, Gu Jinchen truly felt his heart softening greatly.
Turning to see the half-empty basket, he knitted his brows and tapped her head: "Why didn't you wait for me to return?"
"It's not difficult, it just takes some effort to simmer. I can rest while letting it simmer."
"I just made it, would you like to taste?" she said, handing him the freshly brewed osmanthus sugar water that she was about to taste, and taking out two pieces of rock sugar, eating one herself.
After he tasted the osmanthus sugar water, she tilted her head slightly and asked, "How is it?"
As she spoke, she casually fed him a piece of rock sugar.
Gu Jinchen lowered his gaze to look at her finger that had accidentally touched his lips when feeding him the sugar, and his throat rolled: "Very sweet."
So sweet that it made his heart itch.
"Ah? Maybe I put too much sugar, I'll put less next time, but it should be fine to drink osmanthus paste with water too, right?" Luo Ge murmured, glancing at the osmanthus paste.
Upon hearing her words, Gu Jinchen shook his head with a smile: "I wasn't talking about the osmanthus paste."
"Huh? ...Mmm."
Before she could finish her question, her breath was already taken away.
Tasting the softness at this moment, it was indeed excruciatingly sweet, sweet enough to reach the depths of his heart.
A long time later, fearing that if he continued, he wouldn't be able to hold back, he reluctantly let go.
"Wasn't it very sweet?"
Seeing Luo Ge regaining her breath, that certain man couldn't help but provoke with a raised brow, unsurprisingly earning a glare from Luo Ge.
Her little face was flushed from the kiss, and one had to admit, it was indeed very sweet.
Her gaze was soft and tender, but couldn't hurt him at all, only making his heart itch.
His throat rolled, and he dared not look any further, turning his gaze towards the fruits in the yard.
"Do we need to process these fruits?"
Following his gaze, Luo Ge pondered for a moment before nodding.
With his help, it would be much faster. They might as well process more if possible.
"Yes, by the way, will you go to the mountain again? If you need to go, you can go ahead and take care of that first."
It was still early in the day.
"No need, I found quite a lot today. I'll go one more time tomorrow and that should be enough."
"How do you want to process them? I'll help." As he spoke, he had already fetched the tools they usually used for making dried fruits.
"Peel off the skin and cores, extract the juice and simmer it, these fruits are quite large and have a lot of moisture."
"That does seem less troublesome than making dried fruits."
Hearing this, Gu Jinchen nodded, feeling that it would indeed be easier than making dried fruits.
"Yes, I'll peel the fruit skins."
The first attempt was quite successful, and now that she had a good grasp of it, she could make more in the future.
This way would also save a lot of effort.
"Alright, be careful with your hands."
Gu Jinchen reminded her as he prepared the utensils needed for cutting and squeezing the juice.
The little couple worked efficiently and in harmony, and before long, they had processed the remaining half basket, and prepared another half basket to simmer together.
Out of the original seven baskets of pears, there were now five and a half baskets left.
If they processed another batch later, they should be able to finish another basket.
"Husband, keep an eye on this, I'll go to the garden and pick some vegetables."
Seeing that it was getting late and the two little ones would be back soon, she said hurriedly.
"I'll go, and bring the two kids back on the way. What do you want to eat?"
"Just pick some Chinese cabbage, and check if the tomatoes and loofah have ripened. If they have, you can pick some too."
According to their control of the growth rate, they should be ripe by now.
"Got it." Gu Jinchen responded, reminded her once more, and went out.
When he walked to the door with her, Luo Ge took a look at the timber they had found and brought back, amazed at how fast they worked – they had already found quite a lot in just one day.
The entrance was piled up with wood, each piece being relatively straight, the kind required for building houses.
The timber they brought back needed to be dried in this open space before it could be used.
She then looked at the planned site for the house and saw that the layout lines had already been drawn. Once it was time, they could just follow the plan.
The guys were indeed quite efficient.
"Little Auntie, Older Baby is back."
"Little Auntie, Second Baby is back too."
As she had just returned to the kitchen to check on the fire and pour the sugar syrup into the molds, she heard the two little ones calling out.
She put down the empty pot, took two pieces of rock sugar from the sugar jar, and gave one to each of the little ones to taste.
"Have a piece of sugar first, we'll have dinner soon."
"Okay, Little Auntie, we finished our homework today. Let me watch the fire."
Older Baby tasted the sugar with a squint of happiness, put down his book bag, and went to help Luo Ge watch the fire.
Since he was right there, Luo Ge didn't refuse.
"Second Baby, go wash the vegetables with Uncle." Second Baby scampered out.
Not long after, Gu Jinchen returned with him, along with a basket of washed tomatoes and Chinese cabbage.
"Wife, the tomatoes you mentioned are ripe. I picked some. The loofah isn't ready yet."
"Oh, okay."
Seeing the plump, deep red tomatoes in the basket, which looked very juicy, Luo Ge felt a craving and inhaled deeply.
It had been a long time since she had eaten them, as if she had traveled for a century after coming to this world.
Although only two or three months had passed, after enduring the hardship of fleeing famine, it truly felt like an eternity.
She had really missed these 'homegrown' vegetables.
"Three for a cold dish, three for a tomato and egg stir-fry, and we'll share the rest."
The tomatoes were quite large, so Gu Jinchen had picked them all since they were ripe.
Luo Ge picked out the ones she needed for cooking, and the remaining ones were divided among the family, one for each person.
"Try them, they're quite delicious." After dividing them, Luo Ge took a bite herself first.
Quite sweet, with just a hint of sourness, but mostly sweet. In any case, they were quite good, and she liked them!
The rest of the family was trying this vegetable for the first time. Seeing Luo Ge's delight, they followed suit and took a bite as well.
