Chapter 53 Chestnut and Sausage Rice (1)...
The temperature did drop a little the next morning, and it did rain lightly. The air was a bit chilly, and Yu Miaoyin's skin broke out in goosebumps when she opened the door. Actually, she had woken up groggily in the middle of the night to turn off the fan and hadn't been woken up by the heat.
Everyone says that Yuncheng only has two seasons; there's no real spring or autumn. You can only feel a slight change in the seasons, and it can change drastically in just a few days. Yu Miaoyin took out her light jacket and put it on. The trees outside were still vibrant and the leaves were lush and green, but she felt a chill in the air.
It felt like autumn had arrived.
She took out Xiaotangbao's clothes for her to wear, braided her hair into two little braids, and put a small umbrella in her bag. After breakfast, Yu Miaoyin took her to school.
They arrived at the market again. Today, chestnuts were on the market. Yu Miaoyin went over to take a look. The chestnuts were all round and beautiful.
Chestnuts are available for sale at this time of year, but there aren't many vendors selling roasted chestnuts on the streets. Thinking of the braised chicken with chestnuts she ate during the Mid-Autumn Festival, Yu Miaoyin started craving chestnuts again.
She thought for a moment and asked the shopkeeper how much the chestnuts cost.
The owner was an elderly woman, who looked to be in her sixties or seventies. She first showed her some chestnuts, saying, "These are all from our own farm. I guarantee they're very good. If you want them, I can give you a discount, young lady."
Yu Miaoyin agreed, saying the chestnut was very good. "It is very good. Thank you in advance, Grandma."
Because she owns a shop, Yu Miaoyin ordered quite a lot of chestnuts, which surprised her grandmother. "Girl, are you sure you want this much?"
“Yes, I’ll use it to open my shop,” Yu Miaoyin said.
Grandma nodded. "Alright, alright. I'll pick out the best chestnuts for you. I see you came alone, so I'll have my son deliver them to your door."
Yu Miaoyin had indeed been worrying about how to bring it back to the shop, and now that her grandmother had offered to deliver it to her, she was naturally happy to agree. Afraid that her grandmother might forget, Yu Miaoyin wrote her a note saying, "My shop is right here."
Grandma looked at the note again and again, nodded, and her brows relaxed. "Okay, I'll send it to you as soon as possible."
Yu Miaoyin was thinking of making braised rice, so she went to buy some more sausages. She's been buying sausages here every day lately, and the owner recognizes her and gives her a discount.
After returning to the store with the purchased ingredients, Yu Miaoyin asked Aunt Zheng to soak the rice in advance.
"Are you making claypot rice today?" Aunt Zheng asked, noticing the sausage Yu Miaoyin was holding.
"I just bought a batch of chestnuts to make chestnut and sausage rice." Yu Miaoyin put the sausage aside.
Aunt Zheng also put on long sleeves. Although it wasn't raining, the sky was so dark that it looked like a downpour was about to pour down at any moment.
The weather is a bit gloomy today.
He Li arrived a little late. When she opened the door, Yu Miaoyin was just handing over the chestnuts to the man who had delivered them.
He Li opened the door, turned around and saw a familiar figure. "Ayou, what are you doing here?"
Upon hearing the voice, He Tianyou turned around with great surprise and called out to her, "Sister."
Yu Miaoyin: ? ? ?
These two know each other.
"Let me check on the chestnuts, you guys go and chat," Yu Miaoyin said understandingly.
"Okay, thanks boss." He Tianyou jogged over. "My mom just told me the delivery address is right next to yours, and asked me to bring you something. I didn't see you here, so I thought you weren't opening the door."
He took some things off the tricycle. "Mom said these are for you and Xiaoran. She also said the weather has gotten a bit cooler lately, so you two should be careful not to catch a cold."
“Okay, say thank you to me, Mom,” He Li said.
"Xiaoyin bought chestnuts from our family?" He Li glanced at the chestnuts on the tricycle.
"Yes, Mom said a generous girl came and bought a lot of chestnuts, so I should deliver them to her right away." He Tianyou was also very happy when he talked about this. After selling this batch of chestnuts, he would never grow chestnuts again. He Tianyou sighed inwardly. After graduating, he returned home with great ambitions, wanting to make a name for himself. He never thought that making money by farming would be such a pipe dream.
He Tianyou didn't know what to do with that contracted land. Chestnuts are perennial plants, so dealing with them was quite troublesome. Chestnut merchants kept pushing down the price, only a few yuan per kilogram. If you thought the price was too low and didn't want to sell, it was no use; the price would drop even more later. You'd either end up crying over your chestnuts or selling them at a bargain price.
To minimize losses, He Tianyou and his mother each set up a stall to sell chestnuts. He Tianyou also planned to sell roasted chestnuts when the weather got colder.
"Thanks to the boss, my losses have been reduced a little. I just don't know what to do with the chestnut trees. I'll just have to take it one step at a time." He Tianyou's voice gradually softened, and a hint of disappointment could be heard.
"That's true." He Li could only sigh in agreement.
"I'm taking Xiaoran home tonight for a while. Could you tidy up my room?" He Li said to He Tianyou.
He Tianyou rubbed his hands together happily, "Okay, we've missed you so much, and we also miss Xiao Ran."
"Go ahead and get busy, I need to prepare to open my shop too," He Li said, then smiled at Xiao Yin. She was truly grateful to Xiao Yin, who had really helped her brother a lot.
“Okay.” He Tianyou agreed. Just then, Yu Miaoyin finished checking the chestnuts. “Boss, you can weigh them now. You definitely won’t be shortchanged.”
As he spoke, he took out an old-fashioned scale.
"Okay, that's really good. I'll transfer the money to you now." She had heard their conversation and could only sigh that growing agricultural products was truly difficult.
After paying, He Tianyou glanced at the small restaurant and asked curiously, "Boss, what are you doing? You've bought quite a lot."
This was a small restaurant, and he couldn't imagine what the owner could do with chestnuts. Most people buy chestnuts either to boil them to satisfy their cravings or to make roasted chestnuts.
"Would you like to try making chestnut and sausage rice?" Yu Miaoyin said, and then she carried the chestnuts down and poured them into the salt water.
When he heard that the owner was going to make braised rice with Chinese sausage and chestnuts, he nodded and said, "I've never had it before. I'm free right now, so I'll have lunch here."
After saying that, he ran to He Li's shop to see if he could help. The two of them would occasionally bicker and argue, which Yu Miaoyin could hear clearly. She felt like she was watching a short sitcom, which was quite interesting.
It feels so good to have family.
"Come on, let's peel these chestnuts." Yu Miaoyin called to Aunt Zheng. She had learned this method of peeling chestnuts online, and it turned out to be quite effective. In just a few moments, she peeled off a round, golden chestnut.
Aunt Zheng picked it up quickly and peeled the shells fast and well.
He Tianyou saw the two people peeling chestnuts in the shop and went over to them, saying, "Boss, let me help you. I sell chestnuts, so I can easily handle one."
"Okay, then as a way of thanking you, I'll treat you to a meal," Yu Miaoyin said.
He Tianyou was touched. After all, he had once said that if someone was willing to buy his chestnuts, he would do anything for them. Helping to peel a chestnut was a simple matter for him.
His chestnuts were easy to peel, and with the three of them peeling together, the chestnuts were all peeled in no time. "Thank you for your hard work."
After Yu Miaoyin finished speaking, she started making the sausage and chestnut rice. She brushed a layer of oil on the casserole, spread the soaked rice on top, and then added sausage, chestnuts, and shiitake mushrooms. She poured the prepared sauce around the rice, covered the pot, and started to simmer.
These casserole dishes were bought from Liang and Kang, and now they're finally being used. There's still some time before the children finish school, but she always makes them early because they take a long time to make, and the children are always in a hurry. She's seen quite a few of them holding a vocabulary booklet and memorizing words while waiting in line.
She was also making other dishes. She didn't add any other vegetables to this braised rice with chestnuts and sausages, because she was afraid that people would find it too greasy. She also cut potatoes into shreds and washed the Shanghai bok choy she bought to make a simple stir-fried Shanghai bok choy.
Even before it was time to eat, people were already drawn by the aroma. Liu Jiang arrived at the small restaurant early to buy his food. Lately, the restaurant had been packed, and he was always squeezing into line with a group of students. Rumors were already circulating that he was fighting with the students for food. Liu Jiang felt bitter; all he wanted was to eat properly.
The rice in the clay pot had been simmering long enough, and the aroma of rice had already filled the air. Yu Miaoyin lifted one of the lids to check on it. After confirming that it was almost done, she poured a ring of oil around the edge of the pot. "Wait a little longer, it will be ready soon."
She erased the braised pork with preserved mustard greens from the day before yesterday and wrote down today's specials: braised rice with chestnuts and sausage, stir-fried Shanghai bok choy, and the shredded potatoes were still marked, proving that there were shredded potatoes today. Liu Jiang ordered an extra serving of sour shredded potatoes.
How come he never realized he loved potatoes so much before? He never gets tired of Boss Yu's shredded potatoes; the more he eats, the more addicted he becomes.
Time ticked by, and Liu Jiang waited anxiously, partly because get out of class was about to end, and partly because the aroma wafting from the kitchen was making his mouth water; he could almost picture the smell just by looking at it.
"It's almost ready," Yu Miaoyin asked him. "Want to take it away or eat it here?"
"Pack it up." Liu Jiang isn't going home today because he has a ton of work to do at school, and he's really annoyed.
All we can do is go to a small restaurant to buy a meal and eat slowly while we think of a solution. How can we persuade the parents and this classmate to see the error of their ways?
Yu Miaoyin stirred Liu Jiang's portion of rice, coating each grain with the dark brown sauce. Then, with a flick of her iron spoon, she lifted the crispy rice crust from the pot, placing it perfectly on top of the rice. She then put the lid on and took it out for him. The hot and sour shredded potatoes were also packed and placed on top.
Liu Jiang swiped the money over and said, "Thank you, boss."
Yu Miaoyin took out an empty clay pot, brushed some oil on it, spread the soaked rice on top, added chestnuts, shiitake mushrooms, and sausages, and turned on the stove. "Yours is ready too."
After saying that, Aunt Zheng brought over He Tianyou's portion.
Just now, when he smelled the aroma, he was already deeply attracted by the fragrance wafting out. The aroma of rice mixed with the oily fragrance of sausage, and even the fresh fragrance of chestnuts. Then, he could even smell a burnt aroma.
He really made a killing on that meal.
After thanking the aunt, He Tianyou quickly started eating. The aroma of the rice, along with a hint of char, the salty fragrance of Cantonese sausage, and the scent of chestnuts, swirled in the steam. He stirred the rice at the bottom with a spoon; it wasn't burnt or undercooked, but rather golden brown and crispy. He felt the crispy rice crust was the soul of the dish, so he took a bite first.
The rice crust was perfectly crispy without sticking to your teeth. Although it was drizzled with oil to make it so fragrant, He Tianyou could taste a hint of the rich, oily aroma of the Cantonese sausage in it. Cantonese sausage is already quite fragrant, and some people even put it directly into the rice cooker to steam, allowing the sausage's oil to seep into the rice. This makes the rice exceptionally fragrant without being overly greasy.
"There's another one, hot and sour shredded potatoes." Aunt Zheng brought out another dish for him.
He Tianyou looked at the hot and sour shredded potatoes with some surprise, "The boss is too nice."
Aunt Zheng nodded in agreement: "Yes, our boss is a really nice person, and her cooking is delicious. Many people like her."
"Thank you, Auntie." He Tianyou took a bite of the shredded potatoes and praised them highly. Stimulated by the sour and spicy taste of the potatoes and enticed by the aroma of the braised rice with chestnuts and sausages, He Tianyou used a spoon to scoop and flip the rice, bringing up the sausages, chestnuts, mushrooms, and golden, crispy rice crust. After mixing it, the rice became exceptionally appealing, with the sausages, chestnuts, and mushrooms on top glistening with oil.
He Tianyou swallowed hard...
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