Chapter 4.1

It was harvest time, a period when rarely was the village so full of people. Those who usually studied or worked outside had taken leave to come home and help. Su Ying also met many classmates and friends. Unlike Su Ying, who was such a workaholic that she couldn’t even make it home for New Year, most people still tried to come back to help during the busy farming season. After all, there were only a few days for harvesting; if you missed the timing, it wouldn’t be right.

In recent years, the village had pooled funds to buy two small harvesters, which greatly improved efficiency and made life easier. In the past, when harvesting was done purely by hand, it would take each household at least five or six days to finish their wheat. Now, it was done in less than two days. After harvesting, all that was left was to dry the wheat completely, and the busiest time of the year was over. One could say that this marked the end of the year’s hard labor.

Su Ying’s camera followed the harvesters as they moved back and forth. One golden field after another was turned into piles of wheat grains. Each bag of harvested wheat was carefully filled. This year’s crop was excellent—full, plump grains and firm wheat ears. Just from Su Ying’s family’s few acres of land, they harvested dozens of bags of wheat, far more than they could possibly eat.

In the following days, every household spread wheat out in courtyards and rooftops to dry. September’s weather was clear and dry, with no rain and low humidity, and the strong midday sun dried the wheat completely in just two or three days. Two large bags were kept aside as seed for the next year, while the rest was sold along with other villagers’ harvests to traders. Five bags were ground into flour for the family’s use.

These days, flour was milled by machine. Su Ying’s father pulled a cart while Su Ying followed behind, helping to steady it, as they went to the fixed place in the village where the flour mill was set up. The dried wheat was poured in, and as the machine roared to life, fine, soft, white flour came out. The wheat bran was not wasted either; it was bagged separately to feed chickens and pigs.

During the harvest, Su Ying had recorded a lot of footage, which she later edited into several short videos. The numbers were very promising, and her follower count quickly surpassed the 1,000 mark. This made Su Ying very pleased. After hitting 1,000 followers, the platform’s monetization mechanism kicked in, and she began to earn revenue. Su Ying was confident that by continuing to create quality content, she would reap even greater rewards.

After father and daughter brought the milled flour home, Su Ying noticed the two bags of wheat her father had saved as seed and got an idea. She scooped out a large handful, poured water over it, and let it soak. Her father saw this and immediately guessed what she planned to do.

The next morning, the wheat had been soaking overnight and had begun to sprout. Su Ying spread the soaked wheat evenly on a bamboo tray, intending to grow malt sprouts. She placed the tray in a cool, shaded spot, spraying it daily to keep it moist. In just a few days, the roots had intertwined, and the fresh green shoots thrived.

But Su Ying didn’t let the malt sprouts grow any further. She lifted the mat of sprouts, chopped it finely with a knife, and piled the chopped malt in a small basin. Fresh glutinous rice, which Aunt Xiang from next door had brought over, had been soaking overnight. She steamed the rice thoroughly, poking holes in it to ensure even cooking. The cooked glutinous rice was sticky and plump. After cooling it to room temperature, Su Ying mixed the rice with the chopped malt, kneading it thoroughly by hand, and left it in a warm place to ferment.

Several hours later, she uncovered it to find plenty of liquid seeping out. She strained the mixture through a fine cloth, saving the juice and feeding the dry residue to the chickens and pigs. She poured the juice into a pot, boiled it on high heat, then simmered it on medium as the water evaporated. When tiny bubbles began to form, she switched to low heat and stirred constantly. When the syrup reached the “thread stage,” Su Ying removed it from the heat. The maltose she had made was jarred up and set aside.

From soaking the wheat, sprouting it, mixing it with rice, to the long process of boiling, the entire process was captured by Su Ying’s camera. The finished maltose, stirred with chopsticks, turned a faint white. It was sweet and sticky, clinging to the teeth, but rich with wheat fragrance and natural sweetness—the childhood snack Su Ying loved most when her father made it. The raw footage took several hours, but Su Ying spent a full day editing it down into a five-minute highlight video. Not long after posting it, the video received many likes.

“This brings back memories, maltose!”
“So this is how maltose is made.”
“I used to eat this all the time as a kid. I didn’t know it was made from wheat and glutinous rice!”
“It doesn’t look too hard. I want to try making it too!”
“Turning in my homework soon!”

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The comments section was buzzing, and the platform tagged her as a “Rural Blogger.” Su Ying’s short video career had finally found its footing.

She remembered her classmates who had returned home a few days ago; everyone had agreed to gather at the class monitor’s house. The get-together was set for that evening. Su Ying decided to bring along the maltose she had just made. While it was still warm, she also roasted some soybeans over low heat until they popped, then ground them with a pestle into fine soybean powder.

She cut a large block of maltose with a rolling pin, pulling and stretching it slowly as the residual warmth made it pliable. As the maltose stretched and was exposed to air, it gradually turned white. With the soybean powder preventing it from sticking back together, the strands became finer and finer. Finally, Su Ying divided the candy into small portions, completing the Dragon Beard Candy.

She packed the candy into a tin and put the remaining pieces on a plate for her parents to taste. Unlike the sticky maltose, Dragon Beard Candy melted in the mouth, offering a completely different but delightful flavor.

After telling her parents about the class gathering, Su Ying set off just before 5 p.m. She carried the tin of Dragon Beard Candy and arrived at the class monitor’s house after a 20-minute walk. Many classmates had already arrived. As soon as Su Ying stepped in, her good friend from school, Li Tangtang, came over to greet her.

Although they hadn’t attended college in the same city, the two had always kept in touch. Li Tangtang knew about Su Ying’s resignation and that she was now making short videos. They hadn’t seen each other in a long time, and they immediately stuck together just like old times.

Curious, Li Tangtang asked, “Ying Ying, what delicious thing did you bring?”

A self-proclaimed foodie, she reached for the food tin before Su Ying could even answer.

Su Ying opened the tin and said, “I made some maltose and Dragon Beard Candy. I knew you liked sweets, so I brought some for you.”

Li Tangtang’s name suited her perfectly—she had loved sweets since childhood and was the first among their peers to get cavities. But she could never resist candy. Seeing the fine, hair-like strands of Dragon Beard Candy, she exclaimed, “Ying Ying, you’re amazing! You can even make Dragon Beard Candy!”

She grabbed a piece and popped it into her mouth. The soybean aroma blended with the natural sweetness of the maltose, melting instantly on the tongue with a delightful layered texture. Unable to resist, she ate one piece and reached for another, urging the others in the house to try as well.