Chapter 18
Chapter 18
“Do you see it?” Chu Qingzhi patted the rock. “This is an ice rock. I found it in the forest. Anything within a meter of it will be frozen.”
Chu First swallowed his saliva and looked at the ice rock eagerly. “Fifth Sister, did you find it when you went into the forest to pick oranges last night?”
Chu Qingzhi said very naturally, “Yes, I almost tripped over it.”
She waved her hand. “Everyone, don’t worry about this. Hurry up and squeeze out the orange juice so that we can proceed to the next step.”
As she spoke, she walked towards the stone mill.
She picked up an orange, peeled it, and placed it on the stone mill. Then, she pushed the mill.
When the heavy millstone crushed the orange, the juice in the orange was squeezed out. The juice flowed to the groove at the edge and gathered, flowing into the bucket through the gap in the groove.
The orange juice emitted a pleasant fragrance that spread in all directions, making people want to take a sip immediately.
Chu Rong went forward. “Qingzhi, let me push the mill.”
Chu Qingzhi stepped aside and said, “First Brother, Second Sister, Third Brother, Fourth Sister, peel the oranges.”
“Eighth Sister, Ninth Brother, watch the bucket. When it’s full, change to another bucket.”
“Sixth Sister, Seventh Brother, come with me to filter the fruit juice later. Mother and Grandma, pour the fruit juice into the mold. Grandpa, put a stick in the mold and put it beside the ice rock to freeze it.”
“The ice will soon freeze the fruit juice. After freezing it, put the ice cream in the wooden box…”
She had already secretly cast a spell on the wooden box. When the ice cream was placed inside, it would not melt or get dirty.
Everyone worked for more than four hours and made all the oranges into ice cream bars.
Chu Qingzhi gave one to everyone. “Everyone, try it.”
Everyone held the ice cream bar as if they were holding a treasure. They carefully opened their mouths and took small bites, as if they were eating some delicacies.
Chu Qingzhi touched Chu Ninth’s head and asked with a smile, “Is it delicious?”
Chu Ninth said excitedly, “It’s delicious. Fifth Sister, you’re amazing. The ice cream bar is sweet, and my mouth is filled with the fragrance of oranges. It’s really delicious.”
Chu Qingzhi smiled and said, “Eat it. It’ll melt later.”
Chu Ninth looked ecstatic. “Yes.”
After Chu Qingzhi finished eating the ice cream bar, she asked everyone, “Who wants to go with me to sell ice cream bars?”
Chu First immediately said, “I’ll go.”
Chu Third echoed, “I’ll go too.”
Chu Rong said worriedly, “Are the three of you enough? If not, I’ll go with you.”
Chu Qingzhi said, “Father, go and help us borrow the cart.”
Chu Rong nodded. “Alright, be right back.”
Chu Second walked up to Chu Qingzhi and lowered his head, looking embarrassed. “Fifth Sister, I want to go with you.”
Chu Qingzhi looked at Chu Second. This second sister was a little introverted. She was alright when facing her family, but outside, she was very shy. “Second Sister, why do you want to go?”
Chu Second said expectantly, “I want to see my family doing business too.”
Chu Qingzhi smiled and said, “Alright, Second Sister, you are in.”
Chu Rong borrowed the cart and carried the wooden boxes up. There were a total of four wooden boxes with about a thousand ice cream bars. He tied the wooden boxes to the cart with a rope and covered it with a black cloth before sending the four of them to the village entrance.
This abnormal behavior of the Chu family immediately attracted the attention of the villagers.
“What did Chu First and the others send out? It looks like there are a lot of things.”
“I don’t know. They didn’t go to the fields. They’ve been staying at home all day.”
“Are they doing something illegal?”
The villagers discussed.
Zhao Xiuhua hated the Chu family. She glared at them. “Don’t let me catch you red-handed. Otherwise, I’ll make your Chu family suffer!”
The neighbor on the other side of the Chu family was Chu Tai’s second brother, Chu Qi. He also saw Chu Qingzhi and the others carrying things out and thought that it was something good, so he came to the Chu family, wanting to have a finger in the pie.
Chu Qi arrived at the entrance of the Chu family and asked with a smile, “Brother, what did Qingzhi and the others transport out just now?”
Chu Tai thought that since they were siblings, there was no need to hide it, so he said, “That’s ice cream bar. Qingzhi taught us how to make it.” He could not hide the pride in his voice.
Chu Qi was puzzled. “Ice cream bar? What ice cream bar?”
Chu Tai roughly explained, “It’s a kind of food. It’s ice made from fruit juice.”
Chu Qi was shocked. “Ice? Your family can make ice?”
Ice was a valuable thing in the summer. With ice, wouldn’t they make a lot of money?