Cheng Loanloan touched her head, and something round poked her hand.
She felt a little familiar with this spiky ball. When she pried it open with her fingers, she was startled; it was a chestnut. She looked up and saw a chestnut tree above her head, hidden within an old, large tree. The chestnuts this season were covered in a verdant green shell, and from a distance, it was impossible to clearly see that the tree was full of chestnuts.
She was worrying about what to eat for dinner, and now food was delivered to her doorstep.
Cheng Loanloan hugged the tree trunk and shook it, and a pile of chestnuts rained down.
The commotion here attracted the attention of Aunt Wang and Aunt Fugui outside. Aunt Wang had sharp eyes and immediately saw what it was.
She bent down and picked up three bird eggs from the ground: "Alright, half for each, no more fighting."
With that, she picked up her basket and pulled her son, Ni Qiu, towards Cheng Loanloan.
Aunt Fugui quickly followed after putting away her bird eggs.
There wasn't just one chestnut tree here; at least three or four grew together. The three women each shook a tree trunk. In the forest, only the rustling of leaves could be heard. The group, uncharacteristically, didn't argue or talk.
Everyone understood that if they were slow, others would come to share the already not-so-many chestnuts later.
Cheng Loanloan filled a basket, and Aunt Wang's and Aunt Fugui's baskets were also full. The three women's movements finally slowed down.
At this moment, more people passed by and quickly joined the chestnut-picking team.
Cheng Loanloan had over twenty catties of chestnuts in her hands, enough to eat for many days. She wasn't greedy for more and laboriously carried the heavy bamboo basket to meet her four sons.
Along the way, she carefully searched in the forest. If she could find a patch of wild chestnut trees, even if there was no harvest this year, the people of Dahe Village wouldn't starve. But to her disappointment, this area only had those four chestnut trees.
"Mother, these are wild fruits I found!"
Zhao Sidan offered a handful of bluish-green and red fruits as if presenting a precious offering.
Zhao Dashan and Zhao Ergou also had a relatively good harvest, their baskets full of wild vegetables and mushrooms. The group went to find Zhao Sanniu.
He was chopping firewood halfway up the mountain, and a tall stack of firewood was already piled at his feet, tied with grass ropes. The five family members returned home with a rich harvest.
When they returned, it was still early, not yet time for dinner.
Cheng Loanloan told her sons to quickly peel the chestnuts. She planned to make sugar-roasted chestnuts as a snack for these little rascals.
These chestnuts were not yet fully ripe and were very tough, but they were edible. After peeling and washing them clean, she carved a cross into each chestnut and placed them in a large pot to cook.
She poured all the lard rendered that morning into the pot. After the oil was hot, she added a pile of rock sugar, cooking the rock sugar into syrup.
Wu Huiniang watched from the side, heartbroken. Half a bottle of oil, which could last at least two or three months, was used up by her mother-in-law in one cooking session.
Oh well, more than half a year ago, there wasn't any oil to eat, and didn't they still manage to get by? After the syrup turned brown, she poured in a basin of chestnuts, stirring continuously with a shovel. The high heat was turned to low, and the chestnuts slowly changed color.
A gust of wind blew, and the aroma of chestnuts wafted into the courtyard. Zhao Dashan, who was busy working, took a deep breath. Heavens, what was cooking in the kitchen that smelled so good? Zhao Sidan had already dropped the work in his hands and rushed into the kitchen, swallowing a mouthful of saliva: "Mother, the chestnuts smell so good!"