Chapter 21 Money-Making Ideas
After moving, Liang Laoer's family of three was penniless except for the one or two taels of silver that Qianhuan had asked back from the Jiang family.
Qianhuan did not give the silver to Liu, and Liu did not intend to take it. After all, in Liu's view, her daughter really liked Jiang Lin, and breaking off the engagement would definitely make her very sad. The silver was earned by breaking off the engagement, and she would never ask her daughter for it.
Qianhuan planned to go to Carpenter Sun's house today to customize another wooden barrel. These urgently needed daily necessities had to be bought when the time came. As for other things, she could only wait until she earned money in the future and then slowly purchase them.
As soon as the day broke, wisps of smoke rose above Qianhuan's kitchen. It was Liu who got up to make breakfast.
She was going to cook a pot of vegetable and brown rice porridge. The vegetables were given to her by Zhang Cui, the daughter-in-law of the Zhang family next door yesterday. Liu picked up a handful of the vegetables, cut them into pieces, washed them, and then threw them into the brown rice porridge that was about 70% cooked.
After cooking the vegetable and brown rice porridge, it was already dawn.
Liu went to the west wing and asked Qianhuan to get up and have some porridge.
Qianhuan is a night owl in modern times, and she still goes to bed late in ancient times, so she can't get up so early in the morning. Every time Liu prepares breakfast and goes to her room to call her, she gets up lazily.
The original owner used to get up very early, but now she gets up late every day. Her parents thought it was a sequelae of falling into the water. They never blamed her, and never suspected that their daughter had changed her mind.
"Mom, after I finish my porridge, I'm going to go to Carpenter Sun's house to order a bucket." Qianhuan said to Liu while drinking porridge.
"Don't we already have a wooden barrel at home? Why buy another one?" Liu disagreed.
"Mom, there is only one wooden bucket at home. Every time you go to the stream to fetch water, you can only carry it back by hand. This is too tiring. If you buy another one, you can go to the stream to fetch water. This way, you can fetch more water in one trip and save effort."
"It doesn't matter if you're a little tired, mother. There's no need to buy any more. You have to spend your one tael of silver frugally." Liu was stingy with money, and she didn't agree to buy another wooden barrel.
"Mom, I made a wooden bathtub for only 5 cents yesterday. A wooden barrel should cost about the same. There is no need for our family to save this little money." Qianhuan persuaded Liu.
"Chunxiang, my daughter is right. Let's buy another wooden barrel. It's all my fault that my leg injury has not healed. I should be the one doing the heavy work at home, but now you have to suffer." Liang Laoer looked ashamed and felt very sorry for his wife and daughter.
"Brother Jun, I'm not suffering, so don't blame yourself. I'll listen to you, and let's buy another wooden barrel." Liu was afraid that Liang Laoer would blame himself, so she immediately agreed to buy the wooden barrel.
After finishing her porridge, Qianhuan went to Carpenter Sun's house. As expected, the price of the wooden barrel was the same as the bathtub, which also cost 5 cents.
Qianhuan paid the copper coins and Carpenter Sun promised to finish it and send it over in the evening.
Yesterday, Liu tilled most of the vegetable patch in her backyard. Now she is sowing vegetable seeds in the soft soil. The sooner she sows the seeds, the sooner she can eat the fresh vegetables she grows.
Liang Laoer was sitting at the door of the backyard, making a broom with bamboo sticks. When the family was divided, there were no extra brooms in the old house to share with them. Fortunately, he still had the skill of making bamboo products. In the past few months, he had been lying in bed every day to recover from his injuries and could not help at all. Now that he can go out and do some work within his ability to help the family, he feels much better.
"Dad, the chestnuts on the old chestnut trees next to our yard are ripe. Many of them have exploded and fallen to the ground. I'm going to pick all the chestnuts off the branches and bring them home."
When Qianhuan came back from Carpenter Sun's house, she saw that the chestnut trees in front of her yard were ripe. As soon as she entered the door, she happily told her father about it.
"Okay, bring them all back. Dad's broom is almost done with thorns. When you bring them all back, break some of them open and I'll help you peel the shells. Then we can cook chestnut rice tonight."
Liang Laoer didn't stop what he was doing. While he was sweeping the broom, he looked up and spoke to his daughter.
"Okay, I'll go and fight right away."
After saying this, Qianhuan went to the kitchen to get a bamboo basket, and found a long bamboo pole to hit the chestnuts.
Several old chestnut trees are at least several decades old. Each tree can yield at least 100 kilograms of chestnuts.
When the house was being built, her family had already harvested dozens of kilograms of chestnuts and ate them. She brought back the rest and piled them in the main room. It is estimated that she can still harvest more than 200 to 300 kilograms of raw chestnuts.
Qianhuan used a hammer to smash out about two or three pounds of chestnuts. After sowing the vegetable seeds, Liu returned to the house and saw the father and daughter sitting in front of the shabby table in the main room peeling chestnuts. Liu also sat down to help peel the chestnuts.
"Dad, Mom, is the only way to eat chestnuts here to cook rice with chestnuts? Are there any other ways to eat them?"
Qianhuan was a little curious. Why were chestnuts always used in cooking rice? Didn’t the people here know that there were many other ways to eat chestnuts?
"Of course not. After the chestnuts are peeled, they can not only be cooked in rice as a staple food, but also used in stir-fried dishes. You can either make chestnut-braised chicken or stir-fried pork with chestnuts, but we don't have chicken or pork at home, so we can't make these two dishes. We can also stir-fry chestnuts, but you need to put a lot of oil in it, and it won't taste good without oil. It's better to cook it in rice. You can also eat these chestnuts as a snack by boiling them in water without peeling them. Some pastry shops even make chestnut cakes with chestnuts and sell them." While peeling the chestnuts, Liu told Qianhuan about some ways to eat chestnuts in their Yunfeng Village.
"Mom, is there no other way to eat sugar-roasted chestnuts?"
Qianhuan listened for a long time, but she only heard that it can be boiled, stir-fried, and made into pastries, but she didn't hear the word "sugar-fried chestnuts".
"What? Roasted chestnuts with sugar? Can chestnuts be roasted with sugar? I have never heard of it. Her father, have you heard of it?" Liu was surprised. She had never heard of roasting chestnuts with sugar.
"I've never heard of it. Sugar is a precious thing. We ordinary people seldom get to eat it, so how could we be willing to use it to fry chestnuts? Could it be that this is the way rich families eat it? Qianhua, who told you this?" Liang Lao Er shook his head repeatedly to indicate that he had never heard of it either.
Qianhuan was secretly delighted. It seemed that this dynasty might not have invented the way to eat sugar-roasted chestnuts yet. Now she finally knew how to make money.
The key point is how to explain to her parents that she can roast chestnuts with sugar?
She was silent for a while, and finally thought of a reasonable explanation. This method could not only explain why she knew how to roast chestnuts with sugar, but also explain all the knowledge she would have in the future. It was a one-time solution.
"Dad, Mom, didn't I fall into the water some time ago? At that time, I was really taken to Hades' Palace by the Black and White Impermanence, but the King of Hell said that I was not destined to die, and that the Black and White Impermanence had taken the wrong soul. The King of Hell said that he would compensate me. During this period, I always had strange dreams when I fell asleep. I learned a lot in my dreams, and this sugar-roasted chestnut is just one of them."
Qianhuan began to make up stories without blushing or beating her heart. She had no choice but to use this reason as an excuse. It was a universal excuse.
"Qianhuan, is this true? Did you really learn how to make sugar-roasted chestnuts in your dream? Did you learn anything else in your dream?" Liu couldn't believe it. She believed that her daughter would not lie, but they didn't even dare to think about learning something in a dream.
"Yes, Qianhuan, hurry up and tell your parents what else you learned in your dream?" Liang Laoer couldn't wait to ask his daughter.
"Dad, Mom, I learned to read and recite in my dreams, as well as sing and dance. Every time I dream, I can learn a new skill."
Qianhuan began to make up stories. Anyway, if she came up with something new that didn't exist in this dynasty, she could say that she had learned it in her dream.
"There is no paper and pen at home, and your father and I are illiterate. We cannot recognize the words you said you could write down. Since you said you have learned to recite, can you recite the Three Character Classic?" Liu just wanted to quickly confirm whether the dream-learning her daughter talked about was real.
"Mom, I can recite it." In modern times, even primary school students can recite "Three Character Classic", let alone her as a college student.
"Then recite a passage to me and your father." Although the couple could not recite the "Three Character Classic", their second nephew Wenzhi often recited it at home, so they could remember some of it.
Qianhuan knew it would be difficult for the couple to believe it all at once, so she started to recite, "When a person is born, his nature is good. Natures are close, but habits make them different. If there is no teaching, the nature will change. ... If a child is not taught, it is the father's fault. If a child is not taught strictly, it is the teacher's laziness..."
After listening to a passage, Liu and Liang Laoer were overjoyed. What Qianhuan recited was almost the same as what she had read when she was a child. Their daughter had never been to school and had never learned the "Three Character Classic". But now she could recite it fluently. It seemed that what their daughter said was most likely true.
The young couple believed it about 70% at the moment. They thought that what Qianhuan described was probably the legendary gift from heaven. They didn't expect that their daughter would have such a great fortune.
The young couple was so happy that they immediately kowtowed to heaven and earth to thank God for his gift.
"Qianhuan, you should also kneel down and kowtow to thank God. This is a great blessing." Liu pulled Qianhuan to kneel down together.
Qianhuan had no choice but to kowtow to the heavens along with Liu. The ancients believed in gods, and Liu and Liang Laoer were no exception.
"Qianhuan, you must never tell anyone that you have been gifted by God, or you will cause jealousy." After bowing, Liu solemnly instructed Qianhuan.
"Your mother is right. Apart from our family, we must not let anyone else know about this." Liang Lao Er also agreed with Liu's opinion. It is better not to let outsiders know about the gift of heaven.
"Mom and Dad, I understand. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone else." Qianhuan nodded repeatedly in response.
She hoped that her parents would think that she was gifted and would keep it a secret for her. After all, the fact that she was possessed by a spirit must not be discovered by anyone, including Liu and Liang Laoer.
"Mom and Dad, now that I've learned how to make sugar-roasted chestnuts, I plan to make some and sell them." Qianhuan spoke out her plan again.
"Although you learned how to make these sugar-roasted chestnuts, you have never actually made them. We don't know whether they taste good or not. These chestnuts are not rare in our Yunfeng Village. If the sugar-roasted chestnuts you are talking about are nothing special, I guess no one would buy them."
Liang Laoer often went to the town to sell game, so he had a quick mind and immediately figured out the key to the problem.
"Dad, you are right, so I plan to fry a pot and let our family taste it first. If you and mom think it tastes good, I will sell it."
Qianhuan is still very confident about sugar-roasted chestnuts, as this is a delicacy that even Emperor Qianlong likes to eat.
"Okay, let's do it as you said. If it doesn't taste good and has no special features, we won't sell it and keep it for ourselves." Liang Laoer immediately expressed his support for his daughter.
"Qianhuan, these sugar-fried chestnuts should be fried with sugar. Sugar is 10 cents more expensive than salt. If they don't taste good and can't be sold, wouldn't the money spent on buying sugar be wasted?" After all, Liu was a woman and cared more about immediate interests.
"Mom, we need to add sugar, but not too much. One pound of sugar can be made into syrup, and we can stir-fry dozens of pounds of chestnuts. Besides, even if we can't sell it, it won't be a waste if our family eats it." Qianhuan felt that Liu's worries were unnecessary.
When she was a teenager, she pushed a cart to sell sugar-roasted chestnuts in order to earn money to support her family. She had already mastered the skill of roasting chestnuts to perfection.
But frying chestnuts is a strenuous job, and she is only 13 years old now. She is very thin and not strong enough. I am afraid that for the time being she can only ask her parents to fry them.