Zhou Xiaoyun’s Happy Life

Chapter 16 Delicious Popsicles (1)

The weather is so hot that it makes people irritated, and there is no electric fan, let alone air conditioning.

Zhou Xiaoyun felt better after taking a big sip of herbal tea. Originally, everyone just scooped up cold water and drank it in summer, and no one thought of drinking cold tea. However, his younger brother Xiaobao tends to have diarrhea when he drinks cold water. Zhou Xiaoyun boiled some hot water and cooled it thoroughly. When Xiaobao was thirsty, he let him drink.

The cup for boiling water was a large white porcelain cup with a handle. At that time, there were no glass cups and stainless steel cups. Everyone drank water from such cups. Two large porcelain cups could fill a thermos.

Since Xiaobao started drinking cold tea this summer, he has rarely had diarrhea. Zhao Yuzhen happily credits Zhou Xiaoyun. Later, the whole family started drinking cold tea.

This does not include Dabao. Once Dabao gets hot, he will drink water from the well and it cannot be changed no matter how hard he tries. Zhou Xiaoyun thought helplessly that Dabao had been a tough guy since he was young, so he didn't force him.

Dabao would strip naked every day in the summer and run around in his underpants. Sometimes he would sneak out to take a bath in the pond without telling the family. Once he was caught by Zhao Yuzhen and was beaten up so hard that he finally became honest for a few days. After a few days passed, he couldn't resist the temptation of several friends and ran away.

Zhao Yuzhen really couldn't control him and simply let him go. Zhou Xiaoyun sometimes thinks that Dabao's personality is like a wild horse, and coupled with his parents' indulgence, no wonder he gets worse when he grows up.

However, it’s been so hot these days that even Dabao doesn’t want to go out, saying that the sun’s rays make people stick to the ground. Zhou Xiaoyun couldn't help laughing at his wonderful metaphor.

“Hey—who’s here to eat the popsicle—”

Hearing the hawker's cry from a distance, Dabao's eyes suddenly lit up: "Mom, mom, the popsicle seller is here, I want to eat popsicles."

Zhao Yuzhen was startled by his fierce sound and blamed Dabao: "Why are you making such a loud noise? Erya just fell asleep, don't wake her up."

Dabao stuck to it and tried his best to shake the hem of Zhao Yuzhen's clothes: "Mom—" the sound of "Mom" was very long,

“The popsicle seller is here, buy one for me to eat.”

Zhao Yuzhen was a little unhappy and did not agree.

Dabao became more and more anxious as he heard the shouting getting closer and closer: "Mom - buy one, just one."

"I want one too." Xiaobao was not happy after hearing what Dabao said. He wanted to eat it too.

Zhou Xiaoyun also wanted to eat, but she didn't say anything. She knew that her family was not well off, so she easily refused to buy snacks for her children.

Zhao Yuzhen couldn't beat Dabao and Xiaobao: "Okay, okay, buy them all, go and call the popsicle seller."

Dabao became energetic, took Xiaobao out and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Hey, come quickly, the popsicle seller, we want to buy popsicles."

 A big old bicycle rode over, and the popsicle seller was a man in his forties. There was a large wooden box tied to the back seat of his car, and the wooden box was wrapped in a quilt.

His face was covered with sweat and his voice was hoarse: "What popsicles do you want?"

Zhao Yuzhen came over and held a five-cent note in her hand: "Take three red bean popsicles."

Dabao likes to eat puffed ice cream that costs two cents a pop. “I want to eat puffed ice cream.”

As a result, my mother gave me a blank look and I didn't dare to say anything. I stared at the hawker eagerly as he opened the wooden box and quickly took out three red bean popsicles.

“Da Ya, come and have one too.” Taking the two cents from the vendor, Zhao Yuzhen gave the popsicles to Dabao and Xiaobao, and gave the remaining popsicle to Zhou Xiaoyun.

Zhou Xiaoyun originally thought that he had no share in it, but now it was an unexpected surprise, so he hurriedly took it.

The red bean popsicles are bright red and square in shape, with only the front slightly rounded and some red beans mixed in. If you can't bite it, you can only lick it one bite at a time. When it melts a little, you can bite into it and you will be able to eat the cold and sweet red beans. It costs only a dime a pop and is really cheap and high-quality. This is also Zhou Xiaoyun’s favorite popsicle.

At this time, the popsicle sellers were all riding bicycles with boxes tied to the streets to sell them, shouting all the way.

 “Hey - who’s coming to eat the popsicle?” The shouting sound often attracts children’s attention. What a beautiful thing it is to eat a popsicle on such a hot summer day!

Every child who heard this sound was clamoring for food. The generous ones would buy food for them, while the reluctant ones would inevitably scold or even beat the disobedient and noisy children.

 Later, supermarkets sold many brands of ice cream, with a wide variety of flavors and shapes.

 At that time, there were only three kinds of popsicles sold in Chuanxiang, all of which were rectangular.

 The most common one is a five-piece water popsicle, which is usually light red or yellow in color and has a very greasy sweet taste.

The better ones are the red bean ones, which cost a dime each. The small half-cut red beans are extremely delicious.

 The most expensive one is the puffed ice cream, which got its name for some reason.

 It cost two cents a piece, but I couldn’t bear to buy anything to eat. It's really sweet and fragrant, big in size, and has a creamy aroma, similar to the taste of modern ice cream. Most popular and sought after by children.

If any child has such a puffed ice cream in his hand, he will definitely be reluctant to eat it all at once and will have to walk around in front of his friends before eating it.

 (End of this chapter)