Chapter 263 - Chapter 263: Chapter 259: Going Home_1 (1/2)

Chapter 263: Chapter 259: Going Home_1

Translator: 549690339

Jiang Liu knew her son and daughter-in-law hadn’t seen each other for a long time and there must be private matters to discuss. Therefore, she led Yingbao out, shooting her husband a glance before she left.

Old man Jiang understood and made his way back inside.

Earlier this morning, their eldest son had driven the clan leader and his wife to the county town, and so he wasn’t home.

The eldest daughter-in-law, Mrs. Zhou, and their eldest granddaughter were in the fields too, leaving only him and his wife at home.

When Yingbao entered her uncle’s courtyard, she saw hedgehogs piled up everywhere, and in the corner of the yard, there was a large pile of chestnut shells.

“Grandpa, have all the chestnuts been gathered?” she asked.

Old man Jiang kicked away the chestnut shell under his feet to keep his granddaughter from stepping on the hedgehogs. “Not all of them. Your second brother said we should gather them bit by bit. If we harvest them all at once, they’ll get moldy.”

Yingbao looked around and noticed several large bamboo trays filled with purple skinned chestnuts in the yard.

Jiang Liu said, “Once we’ve peeled the chestnuts, your aunt will make chestnut cakes. When your second brother comes back in a few days, he’ll take them to the store for sale.”

Yingbao nodded, picked up a purple-skinned chestnut, bit open the shell, and ate it crunchily after peeling off its hairy skin.

The chestnuts were sweet and large, far bigger than the roasted chestnuts sold by the street vendors in Wa City.

Seeing her granddaughter eating raw chestnuts, Jiang Liu peeled two and handed them to her, cautioning, “Don’t eat too many raw ones, they’ll upset your stomach.”

“Okay.” Yingbao obediently nodded.

“Yingbao, tell Grandpa about Beijing.”

Old man Jiang, sitting on a bench made from an old tree root, asked as he peeled hedgehogs, “What does the Emperor’s palace look like?”

“Beijing has a lot of people, and a lot of carts, and even more people doing business,” Yingbao replied.

Unable to describe the hustle and bustle of Beijing, Yingbao said, “The Emperor’s residence looks like a fairy palace. Its roof tiles are golden. When the sun shines on them, they dazzle people’s eyes. Oh, and I brought some lychee back from Beijing.”

Yingbao rummaged through her bag, pulled out a bunch of purple-skinned lychees, and handed them to her grandparents.

By this time of year, lychee should have been off the market already, but those she had kept in her vault remained fresh and unspoiled.

“Oh my!” Jiang Liu exclaimed in surprise taking the lychee from her granddaughter. “So this is a lychee! It’s my first time seeing one.”

Old man Jiang had seen them before, but like his wife, he had never tasted one before.

The old couple each peeled a lychee and popped it in their mouths, exclaiming, “It’s so sweet!”

Jiang Liu quickly peeled another one for her granddaughter and watched with delight as she gobbled it up.

After chatting with her grandparents for a while, Yingbao said her goodbyes and headed home.

Her father, Jiang Sanlang, and his wife were in the living room. Seeing their daughter return, they eagerly waved her over. “Baobao, come here.”

Yingbao approached them, and upon closer inspection, saw that her father’s beard was rugged, and his face pale and gaunt, having aged considerably in the last two months.

Jiang Sanlang invited his daughter to sit on the chair next to him. “The mushrooms you grew have been harvested and dried. There are twenty-eight pounds of golden mushrooms and twenty-seven pounds of snow fungus. I have kept an account of it all and had Erquan deliver them to the county store,” he reported.

He handed a ledger to his daughter, “Keep this safe. Even between brothers, we keep clean accounts. Your cousin has a copy as well. Oh, by the way, the specialty shop is doing quite well. Erni has been called to help.”

Yingbao leafed through the ledger. It not only recorded the quantities of golden mushrooms and snow fungus, but also the weight of fruit preserves, grapes, apples, and pears.

Even the number of gourds sent to the market was recorded.