Chapter 33 Sending Chestnuts
The next day, the weather was not good. When we opened the door, we saw it started raining.
"Qianhuan, it's raining. I'm afraid we can't set up the stall today." Liu said a little depressed. She didn't want to stop selling things for even a single day. If she took a day off, she would earn less than one or two taels of silver.
"Dad, Mom, since it's raining, let's rest at home for a day. Let's pick out 4 kilograms of chestnuts and fry them. I'll keep 16 kilograms for myself, and I'm going to give away the remaining kilograms."
"Qianhuan, who are you planning to give it to?"
"Mom, I plan to send five kilograms of chestnuts to the village head's house and return the scale to him. These five kilograms of chestnuts will be a thank you gift from the village head for lending us the scale. I'm going to send three kilograms to Uncle Zhang's house next door. We just moved here, and Uncle Zhang helped Dad cut bamboo. Aunt Zhang also sent us a lot of vegetables she grew herself. We should reciprocate." Qianhuan suggested.
"Qianhuan, if you hadn't told me, your father and I wouldn't have thought of this. It's true that we should give it as a gift. They helped us, and now we don't have anything to give back. The only thing we can give is these sugar-roasted chestnuts."
Liu didn't expect that her daughter was so capable of handling things. Neither he nor Liang Laoer expected it, but her daughter did.
"Yes, we should repay a drop of kindness with a spring. The head of the village and Brother Zhang's family are good to us, so we should share some of the delicious food with them." Liang Laoer also strongly agreed with Qianhuan's suggestion.
"There are still 8 kilograms of chestnuts left. Who are you going to give them to?" Liu couldn't help but continue asking.
"Mom, there are still 8 kilograms left. I plan to send 5 kilograms to Grandpa's house, and the remaining 3 kilograms will be given to my aunt and Wenjie."
Although Qianhuan hated Old Lady Liang and Mrs. Zhu very much, Old Man Liang and cousin Wenyong still cared about their family, so she still had to send them some.
"Qianhuan, it's amazing that you still want to be filial to your grandparents. Dad thanks you." Liang Laoer was filled with emotion. His mother had always disliked Qianhuan because she was a girl, but he didn't expect that his daughter would actually put aside the past and send him food.
"Dad, I give these chestnuts mainly to grandpa. Even if grandma doesn't like us, grandpa really cares about us." Qianhuan has always been clear about what she loves and hates.
After that, the family of three started to work in the kitchen. Half an hour later, a pot of fragrant sugar-roasted chestnuts was ready.
At this time, the rain gradually subsided. Liu wrapped three pounds of chestnuts in oil paper, put them in a bamboo basket, and went to Zhang's house with Qianhuan, holding an umbrella.
At this time, Zhang's daughter-in-law was doing embroidery in the house. When she heard the knock on the door, she put down her needle and thread.
As he walked out of the house, he asked, "Who is it? I'm coming."
"Sister Cui, it's me." Liu responded.
"Sister Liu, Qianhuan, why are you here on such a rainy day? Come in quickly."
Zhang's daughter-in-law, Cui, opened the gate, saw the two of them, and warmly invited them into the house.
"Sister Cui, Qianhuan and I came to your house to deliver sugar-roasted chestnuts. This is a fresh way of eating that we developed ourselves, and it tastes really good. We just came back and you delivered vegetables and helped cut bamboo, but we don't have anything good to give you."
Liu came into the house carrying a bamboo basket and was about to take out the chestnuts from it and hand them to Zhang's wife.
"So you bought so many chestnuts yesterday just to make these sugar-fried chestnuts. You just spent money to buy my chestnuts yesterday, and today you're giving them to us for free. How can I accept this?"
"Aunt Cui, it's okay. Purchasing is one thing, and what we give to you is a token of our appreciation. Please accept it. This sugar-roasted chestnut tastes delicious. Brother Huzi will definitely like it."
After Qianhuan's persuasion, Cui did not refuse, but she still secretly kept this favor in mind.
After delivering the chestnuts to the Zhang family, Qianhuan wrapped three packages with oil paper. Two of the packages contained 5 jin of chestnuts, and the other contained jin.
"Mom, there is only one umbrella at home, so you can stay at home and eat hot chestnuts with Dad. I'll take the rest."
"Okay, then I won't go. You should be careful on the road. The road is slippery in the rain. Don't fall."
"I got it."
Qianhuan first went to the village head's house to deliver chestnuts. The person who opened the door was the village head's wife, Grandma Hu.
"Qianhuan, why are you here?" Grandma Hu asked when she opened the gate and saw Qianhuan.
"Grandma Hu, I'm here to return the scale to your family. I also brought five pounds of sugar-roasted chestnuts for you to try. Thank you for lending us the scale." Qianhuan saw that there were people at home, so she stepped through the gate and walked in.
"We are all from the same hometown, so there is no need to be so polite. If you want to return the scale, just return it. Why bring food with you? Are these sugar-roasted chestnuts you mentioned chestnuts roasted with sugar? This is the first time I've heard of it."
Grandma Hu said polite words but still took the scale and the oil paper bag. She placed the scale in the corner of the main door and put the oil paper bag on the table.
"Grandma Hu, yes, this is a new way to eat chestnuts that I researched when I was free. It tastes really good, so I sent it to your family to try. If you like it, tell me next time and I'll fry some more and send it to you."
"Okay, I'll try it later to see if it tastes good."
Then she went to the Liang family's old house. It was raining today, and the whole family was resting at home.
Knowing Qianhuan's purpose of coming, Old Man Liang was very happy.
"Qianhuan, I heard that your family bought chestnuts from several neighboring households at one cent per pound. Is it just for making these sugar-fried chestnuts?" Old Man Liang asked with concern.
"Grandpa, yes, please try it and see if it tastes good."
"Cousin Wenyong, come and try it too."
Old Lady Liang snorted disdainfully: "Aren't they just fried chestnuts? How delicious can they be? Only fools like you would buy chestnuts for a penny per pound."
"That's right, mother. My second brother's family is so unfilial. They want to show their filial piety to our parents by only bringing chestnuts that are available in every household in the village. We have plenty of these at home. Why do we need them to send us chestnuts?" Zhu echoed her mother-in-law.
"Grandma, Mom, the sugar-roasted chestnuts that Sister Qianhuan sent are really delicious. They are better than any other chestnuts I've eaten before." Wen Yong tasted one and couldn't help but retort.
"It's really good and tastes sweet. Qianhuan, thank you for your filial piety." Old Man Liang also nodded and praised.
"Is it really that delicious? Let me try it."
Boss Liang usually doesn't like to eat these little things, but seeing his father and son eating them with gusto, he couldn't help but take a few to taste.
"It tastes really good, fragrant and sweet." Boss Liang also praised it.
"Grandpa, uncle, cousin, eat more if you like." Qianhuan said to the three of them.
"Some people look down on my chestnuts. If you have the guts, don't try even one. Otherwise, it would be too shameful."
She said the latter sentence openly to Old Lady Liang and Mrs. Zhu.
"Who wants to eat it?" Old Mrs. Liang didn't believe that a fried chestnut could be so delicious, and she was still being stubborn.
Qianhuan did not argue with them and continued, "Grandpa, I brought some for my aunt and Wenjie as well. I'll go to their house first and then I'll go home."
"Okay, go home quickly after sending you there, so that your parents won't worry." Old Man Liang said lovingly.
As soon as Qianhuan left, Mrs. Liang and Mrs. Zhu, who said they didn't want other people's chestnuts, couldn't help but put their hands into the oil paper bag when they saw the three men in the family eating them happily. They were slapped in the face so quickly.
When they tasted it, they were amazed and said, "Oh my god, it's so delicious."
Old Lady Liang quickly collected all the remaining chestnuts in the oil paper and said, "You are not allowed to eat them. Save them for Wenzhi. He uses up his brain energy by studying, so he needs to eat more delicious food to replenish his brain."
None of them had eaten enough, and were initially a little unhappy that Granny Liang had taken all the food away. But when they heard that it was for Wen Zhi, they all tacitly kept silent.
It has always been like this at home. When there is something delicious, Wenzhi is always served first, and everyone is used to it.
"Sister Qianhuan, you're here. Mom, Sister Qianhuan is home."
Wenjie was originally sitting inside the house near the door, staring at the drizzle falling from the sky in a daze. When he saw Qianhuan coming over, he shouted "mom" in surprise into the house.
When Chen heard her son's cry, she quickly put down her needlework and left the room, smiling and saying, "It's Qianhuan. How could you bear to come to play with your aunt today?"
"Aunt, I'm here to bring you and Wenjie some sugar-roasted chestnuts. It's a fresh way of eating them that I came up with myself." Qianhuan took out an oil-paper bag from the bamboo basket and handed it over.
"I heard that your family has harvested a lot of chestnuts recently. Is that for making this?"
Chen said this with a smile as she took the oil paper package and opened it. A sweet chestnut aroma filled her nose.
"Aunt, yes, my family made this and took it to the county town to sell. I wanted to earn more money to improve our family's life, and I also wanted to save money to heal my father's leg." Qianhuan replied.
She had been setting up the stall for half a month, and this was the first time she told Qianhuan the truth that she was selling chestnuts in the county town, mainly because Qianhuan felt that Chen was a good person and there was no need to hide it from her.
Many villagers in the village have almost never been to the county town in their entire lives. Only a small number of people with skills occasionally go to the county town to find work during the slack season, but they have no time to wander around the county town.
Old man Wang went to the county town every day, and he probably knew that his family was doing a small business of roasted chestnuts in sugar, but Old man Wang never liked to gossip, and never mentioned it to the people in the village. So the villagers didn't know that his family was doing chestnut business yet.
"What a filial child. But can you sell these chestnuts in the county town?" Chen looked at her suspiciously.
"Aunt, these sugar-roasted chestnuts are delicious. Many people in the county like to eat them, and they sell well." Qianhuan replied with a smile.
"Really? Then I'd better try it." She took out one, peeled it and fed it to her son first.
"Mom, the chestnuts that Sister Qianhuan sent me are so delicious. So sweet. Mom, I want some more."
"You are just a greedy little cat. These chestnut shells are easy to peel. Just grab a handful and peel them and eat them."
Wenjie raised his little hand, grabbed a handful from the oil paper bag, and started peeling it himself.
"Mom, I'm peeling this one for you to eat." Wenjie stuffed the freshly peeled chestnut meat into Chen's mouth.
"It's really delicious, fragrant, sweet and glutinous. It's much better than what we usually cook." Chen also exclaimed.
"Aunt, if you like it, eat more. Next time when we are free, I will ask my parents to fry some and send it to you."
"We just want to try it out. It's not easy for you to go out and do things. Now that you have this small business, you can keep it and sell it for money."
"Aunt, if you and Wenjie like to eat some chestnuts, just tell me. We can afford them. We will definitely give you enough."
"Sister Qianhua, you are so kind to us."
Wenjie smiled widely while eating. Although he was young, he knew who was sincere to them.
"We are a family, so of course I have to be nice to you. Auntie, I'll go back first. When you have time, please bring your brother Wenjie to my house to play."
"Okay. Be careful on your way back." Chen reminded.
"Sister Qianhuan, please come and play with me when you have time." Wenjie also shouted while looking at her back.
"Okay, sister will definitely come over to play when you have time."