Chapter 92 Picking up mountain products
"Chestnut? What is that? How come mother has never heard of it?" Liu looked confused.
Qianhuan took the bamboo basket off her back, grabbed a handful of chestnuts from it and said, "Mom, look, this is the chestnut I was talking about, don't you recognize it?"
"Isn't this just bitter chestnut? Qianhuan, why are you picking it? It tastes very bitter and is inedible. The hill behind our thatched cottage is full of bitter chestnut trees and no one picks it."
Qianhuan was overjoyed when she heard this. It turned out that people really didn't know that this thing could be made into tofu. This was really great. This way, no one would compete with her to pick chestnuts.
This chestnut tofu is a purely wild green food in modern times. It tastes very delicious. People in many places have never eaten this dish. Only residents in most mountainous areas are lucky enough to taste this delicious delicacy.
Moreover, the method of making chestnut tofu is very simple. Pick up chestnuts and dry them in the sun for one or two days. The shells of the chestnuts will be cracked by the sun. Peel the shells and soak the flesh inside in water overnight to remove the astringency of the flesh. Then grind it into pulp with a grinder, boil it over high heat, and let it solidify after cooling. It becomes chestnut tofu.
She could secretly pick up all the bitter chestnuts from the mountain and bring them home, then make them all into chestnut tofu, keeping a small portion for her own consumption and selling the rest to Zuixianju Restaurant.
In this way, Zuixianju Restaurant will have one more unique and delicious dish. I guess Jixiang Restaurant will never be able to be compared with Zuixianju.
But she always remembered the incident when Jixiang Restaurant smashed up their stall. She was very happy to do something that could both make money and bring down Jixiang Restaurant.
She quickly said to Liu: "Mother, I learned a new delicacy in my dream. The ingredient is bitter chestnuts. These bitter chestnuts can be made into tofu and stir-fried."
"Can something so bitter be made into tofu? Are you sure?" Liu looked skeptical. After all, this thing was too bitter when eaten.
"Mom, I was gifted by God. Didn't I learn to make sugar-fried chestnuts in my dream? Just believe me. If I say I can make tofu, I'm sure I can."
Liu thought about it and it made sense. Her daughter was gifted by God. What she learned in her dreams was really useful. Sugar-roasted chestnuts was a good example.
She said, "Well, I believe you. If you say it can be made into tofu stir-fry, it must be edible."
"Mom, how many mountains in our Yunfeng Village have these bitter chestnut trees?"
"It's only on the mountain in our backyard. Because most of the trees on this mountain are chestnut trees, no one in the village is willing to go up this mountain. No one wants to buy a mountain here."
"Can we buy mountains in Qingxi County? How come there was no mountain land at home when we were still in the old house?" Qianhuan heard another important news that she didn't know. She originally thought that the mountains here belonged to the government, and people could only go up the mountain to collect things, but they could not occupy the mountain land privately.
"Of course we can buy mountain land in Qingxi County. Although one acre of mountain land is much cheaper than one acre of farmland, you have to buy a large piece of mountain land, which costs a lot of money. Not to mention that our family doesn't have money, even the head of the village doesn't have money to buy mountain land. People in our village are poor, and few people can afford it. Besides, the mountain land can't grow food, so no one wants to buy it. Anyway, everyone can dig wild vegetables on it and hunt for them. I heard that several landlords in other villages bought a lot of mountain land."
After Qianhuan knew she could buy the mountain land, she started to think about it again.
She said to Liu: "Mother, I want to pick up all the bitter chestnuts from our back hill and take them home. After lunch, you can help me pick them up."
She nodded and agreed: "Okay, then Mom will help you pick it up this afternoon."
"Mom, please don't tell anyone that bitter chestnuts can be made into tofu. I plan to make tofu from bitter chestnuts and sell it to Zuixianju Restaurant. Then our family will be able to make some money again."
"Well, don't worry, I will never tell anyone. I will go to the mountains every day to secretly pick up all the bitter chestnuts for you."
When Liu heard that she could make money from selling meat again, she was very happy. There was not much money left at home, and they had not bought any meat for the past two days.
We have lived such good lives for too long, and I really don’t want to go back to the days when we had to eat coarse food.
Liang Lao Er also heard the conversation between the mother and daughter in the room. He couldn't help but blame himself and said, "Qianhuan, you and your mother will have to work hard again. Dad can't help at all."
Qianhuan also noticed that her father was lying in bed every day and could do nothing. He was becoming more and more depressed. He looked a little decadent. She was really worried that even after her father's leg healed, he would become depressed.
She felt that she had to find something for her father to do, otherwise he would become less and less motivated.
"Dad, who said you can't help me in any way? I have a very important task for you to do, and mom and I can't do it." Qianhuan stood at the door of the east wing and said to Liang Laoer who was leaning on the bed with a cunning look on her face.
When Liang Laoer heard that he could contribute to the family, his eyes suddenly lit up. He had always blamed himself for having to lie in bed every day, but when he heard his daughter say that she was going to assign him a task, he immediately regained his energy and spirit.
He asked excitedly, "What mission? Qianhuan, just tell me. As long as Dad can help, Dad will do his best to help you complete it."
"The bitter chestnuts that my mother and I picked up need to be put in bamboo fences and dried in the sun. We only have bamboo baskets but no bamboo fences. After dinner, I will go to the mountain to cut some thin bamboos. You can sit on the bed and help the family weave some bamboo fences."
"Okay, Dad can accomplish this." Liang Laoer agreed with a smile.
"Dad, I need at least 100 large bamboo fences. I need them not only to store the bitter chestnuts now, but also to be of great use in the future. I'm afraid you'll be busy from now on."
Qianhuan thought that when making soy sauce later, she would need to use bamboo baskets to hold the cooked soybeans for making koji, which would require a large number of bamboo baskets, and even her father might not be able to complete such a large task.
"It doesn't matter. Even 100 fathers can weave one for you. Just cut more thin bamboos and bring them back." Liang Laoer was afraid that there would be nothing for him to do. It was not easy for him to help his family. He had nothing to be afraid of even if he was asked to weave 100 bamboo fences.
After the family of three finished their meal, Qianhuan took an axe and chopped a lot of thin bamboos and piled them up beside the bed in the east wing. Liang Laoer sat on the bed and began to trim bamboo strips and weave a bamboo fence.
After arranging things for her father, Qianhuan and Liu went up the mountain, each carrying an old bamboo basket. Qianhuan also took two pieces of rags and put them in her own and her mother's bamboo baskets respectively.
She told Liu: "Mother, if anyone comes up the mountain, you should cover the bamboo basket with rags to prevent them from seeing the bitter chestnuts we picked."
"Yes, mother knows."
When they reached the mountain, Qianhuan wanted to practice dancing for a while, so she said to Liu: "Mom, there are too many chestnut trees on this mountain. Let's pick them separately. This way we can pick more. You stay here and I'll go over there."
Qianhuan pointed to a place and said.
"Okay, be careful yourself."
"Okay, I understand." Qianhuan turned around and walked in another direction.
Liu had already squatted down to pick bitter chestnuts. She first picked up the bitter chestnuts that fell on the dead branches and leaves and threw them into the bamboo basket. She then used a bamboo stick to push aside the fallen leaves to look for the bitter chestnuts hiding inside.
Qianhuan walked to a slightly flat place, which was some distance away from Liu's land. She was sure that Liu couldn't see this side, so she took down the bamboo basket and placed it on the ground.
Then she silently sang the song "Human Fireworks" in her heart, singing and dancing. She practiced the dance about three or four times, and then began to walk to several large Castanopsis trees with a bamboo basket to pick Castanopsis chestnuts.
An hour and a half later, Qianhuan and Liu met halfway up the mountain. Liu's bamboo basket was already full of pickles, probably around 40 kilograms. Qianhuan picked up less, probably only around 30 kilograms.
The two men covered the chestnuts in the basket with rags and then went down the mountain and returned home.
Liang Laoer spent the whole afternoon weaving four large bamboo fences. Qianhuan poured the Castanopsis chestnuts on the bamboo fences and placed them in the guest room.
She said to Liu: "Mother, if the sun comes out tomorrow, you can take out this bamboo basket filled with bitter chestnuts and put it out to dry. It will be easier to peel them after they are dried. Tomorrow we will continue to go to the mountains to pick them."
"Okay, mom knows."