Farming? I'm making a killing with my fairytale vegetables!

Chapter 157 Fermented Rice Balls

"50 yuan per pound! And shipping not included, this is highway robbery!"

"It's robbery! The streamer is treating us like suckers."

"And there are purchase restrictions too? Why are there purchase restrictions? I don't think they'll sell at all."

“I can accept that the grapes aren’t 50 yuan per pound, but not including shipping is just too much. Grapes are heavy to begin with, and if you don’t even include shipping, how much would they cost?”

"If the streamer offers free shipping, I'll buy it."

Seeing the protests from viewers in the live stream chat, Xia Shiyu said apologetically, "I'm sorry everyone, 50 yuan is a fixed price I set. It's the same price both online and offline. Online sales would also incur high shipping costs, so we don't cover that price."

"The reason for the purchase limit is that this batch of grapes is limited in quantity and helps with sleep, which is something that people with insomnia would really need, so I limited the quantity."

The viewers in the live stream argued even more fiercely after hearing her say that.

"This is getting more and more ridiculous. Eating fruit before bed can actually disrupt sleep, right?"

"Is it really that amazing? There are purchase limits, shipping is not free, and now they even say it helps with sleep."

"Does it really relieve insomnia? If it does, I might buy some and try it."

"How does it taste? It must taste really good. I'll buy some to try."

"Don't buy, everyone. If no one buys, the streamer will lower the price."

Seeing the noisy chatter in the live stream, with some even calling her a heartless merchant, Xia Shiyu said directly, "This is my price. If you are interested, you can buy it; if you are not interested, you can leave."

Then she simply closed the live stream. She had already opened the shop, so she didn't care how much she sold.

After she closed the live stream, she checked the backend and found that even though the live stream had been so noisy, a few people had still made purchases. She wasn't sure if they were from the live stream or from people with insomnia who had been recommended by Yuanyuan.

However, since someone has made a purchase, it is necessary to arrange for delivery. Xia Shiyu thought of the courier cooperation that Xia Wen had mentioned to her before, and decided to discuss this matter.

"Sis, could you please give me the name and phone number of the courier company you mentioned you were working with? I'll contact them."

Xia Wen knew from the phone call that she must have opened a shop, and she was a little excited.

"Okay, okay, I'll send it to you in a bit. Your shop is open now, how's it going? How many orders have you made?"

Xia Shiyu: "I've sold about four or five orders. It's only just begun. I'm not very good at live streaming, and many viewers thought it was too expensive, but I didn't pay attention to them, so I haven't sold many."

Xia Wen said, "Oh, it's okay. It's just the beginning. It's already very good that people are buying at the very beginning."

"I'll give you his contact information. I've talked to him about this before and he was very happy. You can just go to town and find him."

"Okay, I'll also mail some to you and your aunt."

"Haha, that's great! We're in for a treat!"

"Okay," Xia Shiyu replied, and then received the contact information on WeChat after hanging up the phone.

She glanced at the name, Hezhou, saved the phone number, added him on WeChat, and asked him for the town's address. She planned to bring the package over the next day to discuss the cooperation and finalize the package details.

After this matter was settled, Xia Shiyu went to help count the grapes. These fresh grapes had to be handled with care and kept safe.

If they get hungry while doing something, they'll take out a skewer, wash it, and share it with everyone.

Yu Juan exclaimed, "Every time I eat your grapes, I don't want to eat anything else."

"How can we not eat? We still need to eat."

Xia Shiyu shook her head in disapproval, but these grapes were indeed very filling and made her mouth water.

Grandma chuckled, "Look how round these grapes are! Why don't we have sweet fermented rice balls for dinner tonight? They're round too."

"Okay," Xia Shiyu nodded in agreement.

“Okay, Mom, the dough was fermented at home just in time.”

In the South, people usually eat glutinous rice balls during the Lunar New Year. So, every household will ferment the dough in advance and put it in a jar before the New Year.

When it's Chinese New Year or you want to eat them, just take out the dough, shape it into glutinous rice balls, and you can eat them.

Yu Juan took out the dough, kneaded it into a long, thin strip, cut it into small pieces, and then rolled it into small balls.

Xia Shiyu looked at it for a while and suddenly said, "Mom, make me some big glutinous rice balls. I want to eat them with fillings."

"Okay, bring the sugar jar here."

"Okay," Xia Shiyu nodded and came over with the candy jar.

The filling for glutinous rice balls is not simply white or brown sugar; it requires grinding sesame seeds, peanuts, and other ingredients into powder and mixing them with brown sugar.

Looking at the sesame and peanuts inside, Xia Shiyu couldn't help but say, "I'll plant some sesame and peanuts next year too. The candy made this way will definitely taste even better."

Yu Juan picked up a slightly larger piece of dough and began to knead it. After shaping it into a circle, she started to put sugar inside. "That's great! Next year's glutinous rice balls will definitely taste even better."

"Yes, that would be wonderful."

After Yu Juan shaped the large glutinous rice balls, the water in the pot boiled. Then she cracked an egg into the pot, added the large and small glutinous rice balls, and simmered them for a while before adding fermented rice, rock sugar, and goji berries. She then simmered them together slowly.

Once it's cooked, you can take it out.

"Alright, alright, your glutinous rice balls are ready. We were supposed to have sweet fermented rice balls, but these glutinous rice balls are so big, they've turned into giant sweet fermented rice balls."

Yu Juan told Xia Shiyu to take the food to the table.

"Haha, Mom, I just suddenly wanted to eat some." Xia Shiyu helped bring several bowls of glutinous rice balls to the table so that her grandparents could sit down and eat directly.

Xia Lihua shook his head, "Sigh, if we eat this every day during the Chinese New Year period, don't say you'll get tired of it."

Xia Shiyu shook her head. "Even the most delicious food has to be eaten in moderation. I can't do that. I can only eat it occasionally. I'd definitely get tired of it if I ate it for several days in a row."

Grandma called out, "Oh well, never mind all that, come and try these glutinous rice balls first."

Xia Shiyu sat down, first scooped up a small meatball with a spoon, blew on it gently, and slowly swallowed it into her mouth. The soft, chewy texture was mixed with a hint of sweetness, and paired with a sip of soup, it was sweet and comforting.

She then used her chopsticks to break the large glutinous rice ball in half, and the black sugar filling overflowed from the white dough. She picked up one half and put it in her mouth, feeling the sweet taste bloom between her teeth.

"Mmm, it's delicious. Mom, your sugar syrup is as good as ever."

Yu Juan shook her head, "Eat more if you like it, there's still some left in the pot."

Xia Shiyu shook her head, "Eating too much will make it too greasy, this bowl is just right."

Xia Shiyu enjoyed a bowl of soup, the egg flowers mixed with yeast, and the goji berries were both nourishing and sweet, making it a truly warming dish for this winter day.