A Former Police Officer Who Died And Get A Second Life!-Chapter 70: Sweet Discoveries

Was it some kind of sensor born from his desire to eat them?

"Those are tiny beans," Leander commented.

"What’s this?" Cari asked.

"With these, you can make something delicious," Qiong Xing said. "Excuse me, is this all the beans you have?"

Delighted at finally finding red beans, Qiong Xing spoke to the shop clerk. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

The man who had been facing away until then turned around and said, "Huh? You know what these are?"

Faced with the grumpy expression and sharp eyes of the elderly man, Cari immediately hid behind Qiong Xing.

He seemed frightened.

"They’re red beans, right? If you still have more in stock, I’d like those as well."

"......If you buy that many, do you even know how to use them?"

Apparently, red beans were not very well known around here.

This was the only shop that carried them and if people didn’t know how to eat them, the only use would probably be to stuff them into pillows.

Of course, in his previous life, Qiong Xing himself had been a devoted user of red bean pillows.

"There’s something I want to make. And since I have a large family, I’d like a bit more quantity."

When he asked if that would be all right, the man still didn’t look fully convinced, but he went into the back and brought out the remaining stock that had been stored away.

"That’s all there is. Ah, you don’t need to pay. I don’t even know what to do with them. They just happened to be harvested, so I tried putting them up for sale, but they never sold, so I was thinking of throwing them out anyway."

Even so, Qiong Xing felt bad about taking merchandise for free, so he added some young soybean and other items that were lined up nearby to his purchase.

After promising that he would come back to buy more, he moved on to look for rice.

When they went to a shop that sold rice, he was surprised to find that there were several varieties.

He bought the standard kind and although it was a bit more expensive, he also purchased a type close to glutinous rice.

After that, he bought sugar, vegetables, fruits, and sesame seeds as well.

"Does that cover everything? Leander, was there anything you wanted?"

The two of them shook their heads and Mayo said nothing.

Taking that as confirmation, Qiong Xing gathered up the bags and headed home.

It was only later that he realized he had forgotten to put everything into the magic bag.

"Alright, today for sure, we well make botamochi!"

With renewed determination, Qiong Xing headed to the kitchen.

With the help of the beastmen in charge of cooking who assisted with the dangerous steps involving fire he cooked the glutinous rice and began boiling the red beans.

"It’s dmells so goooood."

The sweet aroma filling the kitchen made everyone else feel excited as well.

In this world, there apparently was no such thing as sweets.

While there were dishes with sweet seasoning, there were no true sweets meant for children to eat.

Sugar was also fairly expensive, so it was said that it was rarely used in ordinary households.

The cooked rice was mashed until some of the grains were still left intact and since Cari wanted to help, he was put in charge of assisting with making the bean paste that had been prepared separately.

"I think this should be good. Now, please roll all of this rice into bite sized balls, and once the bean paste has cooled, wrap it around the rice balls like this."

At first, everyone seemed confused by the soft, strange texture they had never touched before, but once they got used to it, their naturally deft hands moved quickly and completing one botamochi after another.

Seeing the familiar shape, Qiong Xing couldn’t help but grin.

They ended up making quite a large amount and Qiong Xing and the others decided to serve it to everyone for dinner.

"What is this?"

"It’s called botamochi."

When Qiong Xing held out a small plate with botamochi to Joa who looked puzzled by the unfamiliar shape, he took a bite and then muttering that it was sweet.

"Is sweet food not your thing? In that case, please try this one instead. Cari worked really hard helping with it."

When Qiong Xing handed him another plate, Joa who seemed to dislike sweet flavors ate it with clear enjoyment.

"This... is this soybean?"

"Yes. I personally prefer red bean paste, but I thought there might be people who don’t like sweet things, so I tried making this too."

What Cari had helped with was zunda mochi.

Compared to botamochi, it was seasoned with only a small amount of sugar and some salt, so Qiong Xing thought that even people who disliked sweet foods would be able to eat it.

"Cari mashed it himself."

"Is that so. It’s really taste good."

When Joa praised him with a "taste done," Cari who had been happily stuffing his cheeks with botamochi beside him, looked extremely pleased.

The others who had been wary of the mysterious looking food seemed reassured by Joa’s comment that it was good and began eating one after another.

The texture was unfamiliar, but among the adults, zunda mochi was popular and botamochi was especially well received by the children.

Qiong Xing himself was extremely satisfied after enjoying botamochi again for the first time in a long while.

Incidentally, Leander ended up liking botamochi, Elias favored zunda mochi and Cari happily stuffed his cheeks with both, finding them equally delicious.

Qiong Xing had finally succeeded in making the long desired botamochi, but his original purpose had actually been to prepare preserved foods for Elias’s upcoming heat period.

"What kinds of preserved foods do you have here?"

"Bread and dried meat, I guess? Maybe dried fruits too."

The one who answered was a rabbit beastwoman with long ears.

With her cute appearance, she seemed to be doted on by everyone as the little sister of the group.