Chapter 29 Maltose
Niu Niu looked at Su He with a mix of comprehension and confusion and said, "I get it, Mom."
Unexpectedly, Zai Zai, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly spoke up, "But our old mom wasn't good. The current mom is."
Su He froze at his words. Zai Zai was, after all, the brilliant villain protagonist in the novel. Did he already know that she wasn't the original Su He?
Just as Su He was lost in thought, Zai Zai asked again, "Mom, you won't switch back to the old mom, right?"
Letting out a quiet sigh, Su He replied, "Don't worry, Zai Zai. I'm not going anywhere, and I won't switch back to the old mom."
Reassured by her answer, Zai Zai went back to splashing in the water.
After putting the two kids to bed, Su He entered her system space and posted the mushrooms she had picked that day on the forum to see if anyone wanted to buy them.
From now on, she planned to post anything valuable she obtained on the forum first, since the system's prices were a rip-off.
After handling the mushrooms, Su He searched the space for items she could sell in the real world. After looking around, she settled on selling maltose.
This was the candy she and other kids loved most when she was a country kid. She planned to exchange for some and try selling it to the village children the next day.
She'd sell it for ten cents per small roll. Ten cents wasn't exactly cheap these days, but Su He believed some parents would still spring for it to treat their kids.
Honestly, she didn't even have the bus fare to go to the city. Walking from Shangyao Village to town took over an hour, while the bus took about thirty minutes.
How was she supposed to walk that far with two kids? Besides, she couldn't ask to borrow money from the Fu family.
Rumors said she had gambled away all the money Fu Tinghua left her, but no one knew if it was true. If she borrowed money from the Fu family now, wouldn't that make the rumors seem true?
Her carefully built reputation would be shot.
Su He exchanged thirty points in the space for a roll of maltose, which should sell for over ten yuan.
During breakfast, the observant kids spotted the maltose and asked curiously, "Mom, what's this?"
"This is maltose," Su He answered.
"It's candy! Can we eat it?" Niu Niu, the little glutton, looked at Su He with eager eyes.
Su He hesitated...
"You can only have it once today. Are you sure you want it now? If you eat it now, you won't get more when the other kids come."
Su He had checked the ingredient list of the maltose—in fact, she checked all the food from the space. There were no weird chemicals or junk.
Since time didn't pass in the system's storage, items remained exactly as they were when stored, so there was no need for preservatives.
That's why Su He felt safe letting the kids eat food from the space.
She could also make food from this world and sell it in the space to the system. But unless it was something unique or exceptionally delicious, the prices were too low to be worth the effort.
If she really wanted to sell homemade food, she might as well sell it to people in this world.
After all, many snacks from the future hadn't appeared yet. Su He thought she could sell malatang (spicy street-food skewers) in the city later, but it wouldn't work in the village. Villagers usually ate at home and wouldn't spend money on street food.
After breakfast, Su He went to water the vegetable patch.
The vegetables in the backyard had started sprouting, making Su He happy.
Things were finally looking up, with vegetables soon ready to harvest—self-sufficiency meant no more needing to fetch veggies from storage.
At home, there was an old unused cart. After cleaning it, Su He placed the maltose treats on it and began pushing the cart toward the village.
"Selling maltose treats! Sweet maltose for just a dime a piece!" Su He called out as she pushed the cart, drawing neighbors who came out to see what the fuss was about.
These days, it was rare to see someone hawking wares like this in the village.
"What's maltose? Is it tasty?" a child stepped forward and asked.
"It's delicious! Would you like a piece, little one?" Su He asked with a smile.
She was just asking, assuming the child would go ask their folks for money if they wanted some.
But unexpectedly, the kid nodded and handed her a dime directly.
Su He was stunned. Whose child was this, trusted with money?
In these times, money and food coupons were usually held tight by grown-ups—rarely would they let children handle money.
Instead of taking the coins, Su He asked, "Little one, is this really your own money?"
The child gave her a funny look and replied, "Of course it's mine!"
Seeing no deceit in their expression, Su He smiled and used a wooden stick to twist up a piece for them.
The child watched eagerly, licking their lips as Su He prepared the treat.
"Here you go!" Su He handed over the freshly made maltose.
By then, a crowd had gathered, all curious about the maltose treats.
Maltose had existed for a long time, but it was mostly sold in towns. Kids craving a taste had to make the trip there.
Now that it was available in the village, old folks and kids alike came out to check it out.
"Er Wa Zi, is the maltose good?" A group of kids crowded around the first buyer, mouths watering as they begged.
"It's delicious! Even better than the ones in town!" Er Wa Zi said between licks.
Spurred by this, the other children got antsy, racing home to beg their families for a dime.
An elderly man approached, pulling out a wad of change before selecting two dimes for Su He. "Give me two," he said.
Su He took the money cheerfully. "You got it!"
She twisted two portions onto sticks and handed them over.
Seeing others buying, more moms and grandpas, unable to resist their children's or grandchildren's pleas, began lining up to purchase the candy. Soon it was a regular party.
"Don't rush, there's enough for everyone!" Su He twisted the maltose one by one while Zai Zai collected the money, and Niu Niu passed her the sticks.
"So sweet and yummy! I want more!" one child exclaimed.
Their parent immediately scooped them up and carried them away.
This was getting out of hand—spending two dimes a day on candy for one child was bad enough, let alone when the family had multiple kids!