Travel through the farmhouse leisurely

Chapter 20 Night Discussion Selling Chestnuts

Lin Xiaoqiao also helped old man Li peel a chestnut. Old man Li tasted it and thought it was good, so he asked, "Old woman, what is this? Haven't you eaten it before? It's delicious."

Li Erhu was much more straightforward, eating one after another: "Well, it's delicious, sweet, glutinous, and has a delicate fragrance."

After listening to what they said, Mrs. Sun didn't speak yet.Lin Xiaoqiao rushed to ask: "Do you think this can be sold? Is this delicious?"

The three of them were stunned when they heard this, and old man Li obviously thought further: "This stuff tastes weird, I guess if you sell it, someone will buy it. But what is it?"

After hearing this, Mrs. Sun thought very far, she knew that this was the fruit peeled from the pile of prickly balls that no one wanted, and if she sold it, she might really make money.So Sun replied: "This is the fruit in the prickly ball that we peeled out from Xiaoqiao. It can be eaten after being boiled in water."

Everyone was very surprised, Lin Xiaoxi said in surprise: "Ah, this is a prickly ball, I remember it doesn't look like this? How can it be such a delicious thing?"

Lin Xiaoqiao said with a smile: "Yes, it's the prickly ball that was peeled out. I just found it by accident when I was playing there. Sister, is it delicious?"

Lin Xiaoxi nodded repeatedly, and everyone happily finished eating the few chestnuts together.After Li Erhu finished eating, he still felt a little unsatisfied, so he said, "It tastes very fragrant, the more you eat, the more delicious it will be."

Hearing this, Lin Xiaoqiao met Li Erhu's eyes, blinked and said, "Little uncle, let's get some more, cook them and sell them in the town to try."

After Li Erhu rolled his eyes, he nodded and said, "Well, I think it's okay. Anyway, these things don't cost money, and they taste good. You can try them out in the town."

"Well, I think it's okay, anyway, it's just a matter of spending some firewood." Old man Li continued, and Mrs. Sun nodded to express her approval.

Lin Xiaoxi raised her hands in agreement: "I agree too, let's go to the mountain to pick some more, I'll take a look today, there are a lot of them on the mountain."

So this time the Li family was ready to go all out, a group of five people went up the mountain to pick thorns and balls, even the Sun family went.Old man Li originally wanted to say that it's fine for the two elders to go, and let Sun and Lin Xiaoxi rest at home.But Lin Xiaoxi and sisters are not willing to go, and Sun insists on going. Ever since she heard Lin Xiaoqiao's unintentional words last time, she has been thinking about how to get her family out of poverty.Now that she finally came across such an opportunity, she might be able to save money and use it for Erhu to marry a wife, so she must contribute.

So a group of five people brought four big cloth bags and went up the mountain to pick the prickly balls in high spirits. They said it was picking, but in fact they just picked it up on the ground after knocking it down with a stick.

After working on the mountain all afternoon, I picked up four large bags of chestnuts, weighing about two hundred catties.Everyone was tired, their backs were sore, and after a hasty dinner, everyone still peeled fifty catties of chestnuts enthusiastically.

In order to make it easier for the eaters to peel the chestnuts, Lin Xiaoqiao suggested that Li Erhu split the chestnuts one by one, and then put them in the water to cook.Fifty catties of chestnuts were cooked twice in total, and then left to let them cool down naturally.

Seeing Lin Xiaoxi's greedy look, Mrs. Sun thought about it and peeled two or three catties of chestnuts and cooked them for everyone to eat together.Everyone in the main room was eating boiled chestnuts happily. Lin Xiaoqiao thought that if she had the opportunity, she must try to make sugar-fried chestnuts. The taste was simply too delicious.I remember when I was studying at that time, I had a special liking for sugar-fried chestnuts. I couldn’t quit, and I had to buy it almost every two or three days.Because of this, she was afraid that it would be bad to eat too much chestnut, and she had learned about some characteristics of chestnut before.After checking, I found that eating chestnuts will have many benefits, so I ate chestnuts fried in sugar with peace of mind.

She remembered that there seemed to be a passage saying that chestnuts are rich in nutrition and have the reputation of "the king of dried fruits".Stir-fried chestnuts in sugar began in the Song Dynasty.After autumn, the aroma of freshly baked chestnuts floats on the street and attracts passers-by. Men, women and children love this snack. After eating it, the lingering fragrance is full of mouthfeel and endless aftertaste.From a very early time, it has been chanted by the generation of Beijing and Tianjin to praise the chestnuts fried with sugar: "Pile up chestnuts and fry them deep yellow, and the guests will have a long talk and taste the wine. The cold fire is half-lighted, and the front door is high Shout 'Gumball'".

Guo Langao, a man of the Qing Dynasty, said in "Shaishutang Transcripts": "When I came to the capital, I saw a firewood pot outside the door of the shop. One person was facing the fire, and the other was sitting on the machine, stirring it frequently with a long iron spoon, making it even. .” Described the scene of frying chestnuts very vividly and specifically.However, there are still eight words for the key to sugar-fried chestnuts: "Hybrid with sugar, use coarse sand" so as to achieve "full of the middle, the shell is extremely soft and crisp, and the hand is slightly peeled, the shell is easy to separate and the film is not sticky" ideal effect.

Chestnut also has certain medicinal effects. Chestnut has various functions such as nourishing the stomach, strengthening the spleen, nourishing the kidney, strengthening the waist, strengthening the tendons, and promoting blood circulation.It is especially suitable for symptoms such as soreness of the waist and knees, weakness of the waist and feet, frequent urination caused by kidney deficiency, and chronic diarrhea caused by deficiency of the spleen and kidney.Su Zhe, a litterateur in the Song Dynasty, cured his waist and leg disease by eating chestnuts when he was old. He wrote a poem because of this: "When you get old, you will suffer from waist and foot problems. The mountain old man takes chestnuts and passed on the old prescription, and the guest comes to explain it." In the evening of morning revival, three swallows and slowly collect the white jade pulp." The unsaturated fat and multivitamins contained in chestnuts have good preventive and therapeutic effects on diseases such as hypertension, coronary heart disease and arteriosclerosis.The elderly often eat chestnuts, which can achieve the purpose of resisting aging and prolonging life.

Alas, the more I think about it, the more I think about it, now the most urgent thing is to think about it, how should I sell the boiled chestnuts tomorrow?So Lin Xiaoqiao asked: "What do we call this fruit when we sell it?"

They really didn't think of this problem, they couldn't just call it a prickly ball.Old man Li said: "We haven't thought about it yet, we can't still call it a prickly ball, right? How about calling it Heiguo?"

Sun also said: "I really don't know what to call it. Heiguo, it doesn't sound very nice to hear this name."

Seeing that none of them could come up with any good names, Lin Xiaoqiao felt that it was a bit clichéd, so he said, "Or call it Fuguoer, anyway, no one knows that this prickly ball can be eaten, and others eat it. I don’t even know what the fruit is. Fuguoer, eating a fruit that brings good luck to people, hearing the name, I think everyone should buy it. Grandma, grandpa, what do you think?”

When everyone heard it, they all thought it was pretty good, and Sun boasted: "Look at our little granddaughter, this melon seed is very useful, and she knows what it's called Fuguo. I said that you two sisters are grandma's Fuguo. Lie."

Old man Li also said cheerfully: "The old lady is right, the sisters Xiaoqiao are the blessings of our old couple."

(End of this chapter)