books44 Chapter 8 Discovering Chestnuts
Chapter 8 Discovering Chestnuts
"Host, the space upgrade is complete."
Fei Hu's voice reached Song Jiaojiao's mind, making her overjoyed. It was like a pillow being handed to her when she was sleepy; her space had been upgraded, and now she could take out ten taels of silver from the five million. However, she needed to find a legitimate way to obtain the silver. Luckily, she had dug up some He Shou Wu (Polygonum multiflorum) on the mountain, and she would go to the town tomorrow to ask if the pharmacies would buy it.
Thinking of this, Song Jiaojiao quickly finished the watery porridge in her bowl.
"Mother is going to sharpen the knife. Eldest sister, after you and little sister finish eating, clean up the table and bowls. Once we're done, we'll set off."
Upon hearing this, Mu Qing and Mu Xue sped up, grunting in response without even looking up.
Just after noon, Song Jiaojiao went out with two maids. This time, Mu Qing led the way. Compared to Song Jiaojiao, who possessed the original owner's memories, Mu Qing was obviously more familiar with the environment of Qingshui Mountain.
As soon as Song Jiaojiao arrived at the place Mu Qing had mentioned where there were many wild vegetables, she noticed something unusual: there were many spiky spheres on the ground, some of which were half-open, revealing brown, semi-spherical fruits with hard shells.
Isn't this just a chestnut? Chestnuts can be roasted, boiled, or stewed with chicken—they're so fragrant and tender! Ah... I can't take it anymore, just thinking about it makes my mouth water.
"Big sister, little sister, come help Mom pick chestnuts."
"Chestnut?"
Mu Qing and Mu Xue looked completely bewildered. What are chestnuts?
Mu Xue saw Song Jiaojiao squatting on the ground picking up prickly berries. She asked, "Mom, what are chestnuts? Why are you picking up prickly berries?"
"Prickly fruit," Song Jiaojiao thought, looking at the chestnut in her hand. "That's quite a vivid description."
"This is the chestnut, the prickly fruit you mentioned. Chestnuts are delicious, fragrant, soft, and sweet."
As she spoke, Song Jiaojiao took a wood-chopping knife, found a half-open fruit, and gently pried it open with the knife, releasing the brown fruit. Then she used the knife to peel off the hard outer skin, revealing the yellow flesh, and handed it to Mu Xue.
"Try it, you can eat it raw too. It's crunchy and fragrant, with a sweet taste that gets better the more you chew it."
Mu Xue took the chestnut, took a big bite, and chewed slowly. Her eyes grew brighter and brighter: "Mom, it's delicious. It's better than bitter wild vegetables. It's sweet. Sister, you should try some too."
As he spoke, he stuffed a half-eaten chestnut into Mu Qing's mouth.
Mu Qing chewed slowly, her face beaming with undisguised joy: "Edible, delicious." Looking at this large pile of chestnuts, she knew she wouldn't have to go hungry for a long time to come.
Thinking of this, Mu Qing started picking chestnuts; the more she picked, the longer she could eat them.
"You two slow down, be careful not to prick your hands. Mu Qing, haven't any villagers come to pick these chestnuts before?"
Mu Qing's hands didn't stop moving as she said, "Some people used to pick them up, but they didn't know how to eat them. They took them home to use as firewood and kept frying them, so gradually no one picked them up anymore. Mother, how do you know they're edible?"
Hearing Mu Qing's question, Song Jiaojiao paused guiltily. It's because I'm no longer the original owner of this body, as everyone in China knows. However, there's a fruit that looks very similar to this chestnut, called a horse chestnut, and many people mistake it for a chestnut and get poisoned.
"Didn't Mother hurt her head yesterday? Then she remembered some things from the past. I remember eating this chestnut before."
"I see, Mother. Does your head still hurt? Go and rest for a while. My little sister and I will pick it up." Mu Qing looked at Song Jiaojiao with concern after hearing what she said.
"Alright, you and your little sister can pick them here. No rush, I'll go see if there's anything else we can eat nearby." With that, Song Jiaojiao got up, finding an excuse to take the he shou wu she had dug up that morning out of her spatial storage.
After walking a distance up the mountain and making sure that Mu Qing and Mu Xue couldn't see her movements, Song Jiaojiao looked around to make sure no one was there, and then took out the Polygonum multiflorum from her spatial storage.
Just as Fei Hu said, it looked exactly the same as what was put in, and it came out exactly the same as what was taken out, even the soil on the He Shou Wu was still as if it had just been unearthed.
Song Jiaojiao put down the Polygonum multiflorum, looked around, and sure enough, saw a patch of Isatis indigotica. Isatis indigotica has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, cooling blood and relieving sore throat, and most importantly, it also has antiviral properties. Perfect timing to take it home and dry it.
Realizing it was getting late and He Fan would probably be back soon, Song Jiaojiao turned around and went back to find her younger sisters.
The two of them were really fast; they filled most of the baskets in no time.
"Eldest sister, second sister, that's enough. Let's go back now; your eldest brother should be back soon."
Mu Qing looked at the large patch of chestnuts that remained, feeling quite reluctant to leave. There were still so many; they would spoil if it rained. So she spoke up.
"Mom, there's still a lot here. Let's take these back first, and then I'll come out and pick up some more."
"Alright, big sister, come again tomorrow. You won't run away from here anyway. You can come with your little sister and big brother tomorrow. You've had a tiring day today, go home first."
Song Jiaojiao knew that this little girl was afraid of being hungry, and she wanted to take home any food she could find to feel at ease.
Song Jiaojiao put the he shou wu (Polygonum multiflorum) in her hand into her basket, then covered it with isatis root, which also conveniently blocked the chestnuts. She carried the chestnuts down the mountain.
"Wang Chi's wife, coming down from the mountain!" Aunt Lin from the village called out when she saw Song Jiaojiao coming down from the mountain.
"Yes, eldest sister, second sister, quickly greet her, this is your Grandma Lin."
"Grandma Lin," Mu Qing and Mu Xue called out in unison.
"Hey, Da Ya and Er Ya, come visit your sister Qing'er when you have time." Aunt Lin smiled and patted Mu Qing and Mu Xue's heads.
"Aunt Lin, where are you going?" Song Jiaojiao wiped the sweat from her forehead and replied with a smile.
Aunt Lin shook the basket on her back and said, "I'm going to cut some pig feed before it gets dark. You're carrying something heavy, so hurry back. I just saw the village chief come back."
"Okay, Aunt Lin, you can continue with your work. We'll be going now," Song Jiaojiao said, watching Aunt Lin walk away.
Aunt Lin is the youngest son and daughter-in-law in Third Uncle's family. They have two sons and a daughter. The Qing'er she mentioned is Wang Qing, the eldest daughter of her family, who is 14 years old this year. She is not much older than Mu Qing.
"Mom, let's go home quickly. Grandma Lin said she saw the village chief come back, so my older brother should be back too," Mu Xue's excited voice came.
After saying that, he skipped and hopped home.
Song Jiaojiao smiled helplessly and quickly followed.
Just as I reached my front door, I saw Hefan. Standing next to him was a tall, dark-skinned man.
"He Fan!" Song Jiaojiao shouted loudly.
Upon seeing Song Jiaojiao, who was carrying a basket on her back and looking breathless, he quickly went up to her.
"Mother, you're back. Let me do it."
As he spoke, he took the basket off Song Jiaojiao's back and quickly placed the things in the yard.
"Sister-in-law," the man standing to the side called out.
Only then did Song Jiaojiao see the person clearly. It turned out to be none other than Cheng Yun, a friend of Wang Chi who used to call him brother.
"It's Brother Cheng, come in first." Song Jiaojiao took a deep breath, finally calming down, and said.