Chapter 967: Fragrant and Sweet Honey

Although Wang An didn't need Wang Yi's help when it came to fighting, he felt genuinely happy that Wang Yi had the thought.

Thus, Wang An asked Wang Yi with a smile

"Xiao Yi, school starts in a few days, right? Is there anything else you want? I'll buy it for you whenever I have some free time."

Wang Yi had always been easy to raise; the key was that the boy rarely asked for things on his own, which was quite rare.

Wang Yi glanced at Mu Xueqing, then said to Wang An with a grin

"Big brother, could you give me some money? I want to buy things myself, is that okay?"

Hearing this, Wang An was momentarily stunned, subconsciously recalling the predicament of his own school days when he didn't have a single cent in his pocket.

It had to be said that very few students in this era had money in their pockets; people called the students of this time "impoverished students."

It wasn't that parents didn't want to give, but mainly because the vast majority of parents didn't have any money themselves.

Smiling, Wang An said to Wang Yi

"Give you some money? Hehehe... sure, how much do you want?"

Wang Yi hesitated for a long time before finally steeling himself and saying

"1—um, would 2 yuan be okay, big brother?"

After speaking, Wang Yi looked at Wang An with hopeful eyes, though it was obvious he was a bit nervous, as if afraid Wang An would disagree.

After all, 2 yuan in this era was definitely not a small amount of money.

One must realize that tuition at this time was only 1.2 yuan a year, white flour was only 18 cents a jin, and rice was only 22 cents a jin. Comparing this to the wages of a temporary worker at the time further illustrated what 2 yuan actually represented.

Upon hearing "2 yuan," Wang An burst out laughing. Suppressing his laughter, he asked curiously

"What do you want to buy with 2 yuan?"

In truth, Wang An already had a guess: Wang Yi wanted the 2 yuan to help that classmate named Gu Xiaoshuang pay her tuition, or perhaps to keep it as a backup in case Gu Xiaoshuang couldn't afford it.

Wang Yi scratched his head, pondered for a while, and then said, "I was thinking that..."

Just as he was about to speak, he seemed to realize something and changed his tune

"I haven't decided yet. I don't know what I'm missing. I'll just wander around the supply and marketing cooperative when the time comes, hehehehe..."

Without exposing him, Wang An took the tofu cloth used for filtering honey residue out of the basin and tossed it into another empty basin, then instructed Wang Yi

"Xiao Yi, scoop some water into this basin and soak the tofu cloth."

Wang Yi stood up and said

"Aye, got it, big brother."

While Wang Yi went to scoop water, Wang An didn't stay idle; he stood up to look for canning jars in the cupboard.

Once Wang An had placed several canning jars beside the honey basin, he pulled out a "Big Unity" ten-yuan note and handed it to Wang Yi, saying with a smile

"What can you even do with 2 yuan? Here's 10. As long as you study hard, big brother will cover all your expenses for your schooling in the future, hehehe."

Studying at this time didn't cost much, but as long as one had money, life at school would certainly be very comfortable.

Unexpectedly, when Wang Yi saw it was 10 yuan, he didn't dare take it, muttering

"I don't dare keep this much money in my pocket. What if I lose it? Big brother, two yuan is enough."

Looking at the sensible Wang Yi, Wang An felt deeply gratified. His younger brother would certainly turn out fine in the future.

Thus, Wang An put the ten-yuan note away and took the few one-yuan and two-yuan notes tucked inside it, along with several small bills of ten, twenty, and fifty cents, and one and two cent coins. Totaling about six or seven yuan, he stuffed them all into Wang Yi's hand and said with a smile

"If you're afraid of losing it, take less. Leave the rest at home in your room; no one will touch it anyway, hehehe..."

Patting Wang Yi on the shoulder, Wang An didn't lecture him with things like "don't spend it recklessly" or "be frugal."

Mainly, in Wang An's view, being frugal was appropriate when you had no money, but if you had money and were unwilling to spend it, that wasn't called being frugal—that was called being stingy.

Wang Yi stared blankly at the money in his hand, then suddenly said to Wang An with a face full of smiles

"Thank you, big brother, hehehe..."

Wang An smiled back at Wang Yi and then focused on pouring the honey into the canning jars.

Pure wild honey was in a semi-liquid, semi-solid state and was extremely viscous. Fortunately, the mouths of the canning jars were relatively large, so it wasn't likely to spill over.

It had to be said that honeycombs in this season were at their peak production for the year, yielding far more honey than usual.

With Wang An and Mu Xueli's honeycombs placed together, they produced a significant amount of honey. After filling 8 canning jars to the brim, there was still more than half a jar left over.

These canning jars had a capacity of 500ml, so all this honey together weighed over 12 jin.

Of course, this was because honey is denser than water; normally, 500ml of water is 1 jin, but 500ml of honey is 1 jin and 4 taels.

Looking at the honey remaining at the bottom of the basin, Wang An subconsciously shoved his head into the basin and stuck out his tongue to lick it.

Smacking his lips, Wang An nodded and praised

"Holy crap, this stuff is delicious! So sweet and fragrant!"

Many people like honey perhaps because, besides the sweetness, it has a very rich floral aroma.

Immediately after, Wang An said to Mu Xueqing and Wang Yi

"Quick, wifey, go get some small spoons. Xiao Yi, go call Xiaomei and Xiaoli into the room. Let's have some first."

Just as Wang An finished speaking, he heard Mu Xueqing say

"Maybe we should wait for Father and Mother to come back and eat together."

Wang An was stunned for a moment. Mu Xueqing's suggestion was indeed reasonable; waiting for the whole family to gather before eating something good was a traditional virtue.

But when Wang An looked at the ten-plus jin of honey, he said

"There's so much honey, no need to wait. Besides, this stuff gets cloying if you eat too much; we won't be able to eat that much anyway. Go get the spoons."

Hearing Wang An say this, the two of them agreed.

Mu Xueqing walked toward the cupboard, while Wang Yi jumped on the spot and darted outside. Wang An, meanwhile, shoved his head back into the basin to continue licking the remaining honey.

Soon, Wang Yi led the two little sisters into the room, and Mu Xueqing had already prepared the spoons.

Thus, the five of them each took a spoon and scooped from the half-full canning jar of honey.

At the first taste, everyone had an expression of pure enjoyment.

Impatiently, they dipped their spoons into the honey a second time. By the third spoonful, Wang An, Wang Yi, and the two little sisters couldn't eat any more.