The chestnuts from Henan Prefecture were certainly big and plump, but because of their large size, they were hard to ripen and not as good to bite into as the smaller chestnuts from Hebei Commandery, which were more fragrant, sweet and soft.
Especially the ones from Qianxi County which had the best quality.
"You don't know the taste. Freshly fried hot chestnuts with a little pointy tip, press it with your hand and the skin peels right open. The chestnut meat inside is smooth and clean. Put it in your mouth and it's a burst of sweet fragrance. Take another two bites, the soft and sweet meat melts on your tongue, it's truly hard to stop." As Zheng Ruqian described it, it was as if he could smell the fragrance, swallowing his saliva several times.
Zhang Auntie's eyes widened, her face full of wonder.
Even Xu Mo was curiously flipping through books, seemingly trying to find a description of this delicacy from the ancients.
There was no need to mention Wen Zhiyun and Chang Yan.
Only Jiang Sheng gulped, his round eyes swirling as he cocked his waist and said, "I don't believe it... unless you let me try it."
Zheng Ruqian laughed and went over to pinch his little chubby cheek, "Try it if you want, I didn't only buy chestnuts this time, but also brought back the sand for frying them."
With a glance from him, Wang Xiaosong immediately scurried out and lugged in a bag of sand and rocks.
Zhang Auntie went over to help rinse away any dirt, then wiped it clean of moisture and put it in an iron wok to stir-fry until completely dry.
She added two large spoonfuls of sugar and mixed well, then poured over two spoonfuls of oil, and finally put in one jin of chestnuts, stir-frying until thoroughly cooked.
"Why is there sugar and oil added?" Jiang Sheng mumbled curiously.
Zheng Ruqian ruffled his little round head. "Candied chestnuts must have sugar, the oil helps caramelize the sugar."
Jiang Sheng was intimidated by him and hurriedly covered his two little buns, hiding behind Xu Mo. "But the sugar all sticks to the shell, you can't eat the shell. Wouldn't adding sugar be wasteful?"
Zheng Ruqian had wondered the same thing before.
At the time, the shop owner in Qianxi County answered, "Because as the sugar caramelizes during stir-frying, the aroma spreads far and wide, attracting more customers, and making the chestnuts look more delicious and appetizing."
It sounded quite reasonable.
As Zhang Auntie stirred the wok, the aroma of caramel slowly diffused out, clinging to everyone's mouths, making them even more eager to taste it.
After about half a hour, the sweat-drenched Zhang Auntie scooped out a chestnut, peeled it under everyone's gaze, and stuffed it into little Jiang Sheng's mouth for him to check if it was properly cooked.
Although the stir-fried chestnuts didn't have any sticky caramel coating, the inherent sweetness and soft tenderness instantly occupied his mouth. The sandy yet tender texture was simply entrancing, making one insatiably crave more.
Jiang Sheng had only chewed two or three times before swallowing it down.
"How is it?" all the brothers anxiously asked.
Zhang Xianglian also smiled invitingly. "Is it cooked?"
Jiang Sheng bashfully wound his fingers together and truthfully admitted, "I didn't taste if it was raw or cooked..."
The delicious chestnuts were just too tasty that he forgot to check if they were properly cooked.
All the brothers facepalmed.
Only Zhang Auntie nodded and scooped out all the chestnuts. "They should be cooked, otherwise little Jiang Sheng wouldn't have swallowed it."
The chestnuts of uniform size were all glistening with oil and caramel fragrance. Everyone crowded around as soon as they were moved to the table, not bothering about master or servant, employer or worker. They just grabbed a few in their hands to peel and eat.
If before they were only salivating from the description, now when they actually tasted it, they understood why Zheng Ruqian insisted on transporting chestnuts from Qianxi County of Hebei Commandery.
"The commoners of Fengjing will surely welcome this."
"It'll sell better than glutinous rice stuffed dates."
"The people of Fengjing will enjoy this treat."
Some murmured praises as they ate, others spoke out suggestions.
Jiang Sheng didn't speak, just kept peeling shells.
Although the stir-fried chestnuts were easy to peel, it still took effort to peel them by hand. He was fine for the first few times but gradually lost patience near the end.
Just when Jiang Sheng was about to tire of peeling and wanted to shake out his hands for a break before continuing, a fair hand stretched over, placing four or five peeled chestnuts on it.
Before he even lifted his head, another hand passed five or six peeled chestnuts to him.
Next was a dainty, smaller palm, then a callus-free palm. They all handed over five or six peeled chestnuts each.
In the blink of an eye, Jiang Sheng who was still wrestling with the shells received a huge handful of peeled chestnut meat.
He popped one in his mouth, covering the rest as he secretly smiled.
Beside him, after peeling over ten, Wang Xiaosong stuffed them into his shirt and ran towards the backyard.
His younger sister Wang Xiaozhu was there picking herbs.
Everyone was delighted, except for Zhang Xianglian who wanted to say something but held back. She knew today was the first day of the new year so swallowed her words.
Some things weren't suitable to say on a day of reunion.
When the chestnuts were finished, the sky had gone completely dark.
Everyone noisily started preparing for dinner.
The dumplings were wrapped early on. The lamb elbows were also chopped into pieces, only needing to braise. The other dishes like roast chicken and vegetables were all shredded and plated.
With so many people, work went quickly. Usually it was just Zhang Auntie cooking with Wang Xiaozhu's help. Even five or six simple dishes took half a hour.
But now with all the men, women and children working together, the fires below the stove never stopped, continuously licking the pot bottoms to transmit heat, simmering the soup and braising the dishes.
By the time the sky was fully dark, all the dishes were carried to the big round table in the main hall.
Young and old, workers and servants all squeezed around the one table, with no distinction between nobles and commoners, master and servant.
They had no family, no parents, no place to return to.
As the dazzling fireworks bloomed over Fengjing, they raised cups to drink freely, picked up chopsticks to share this feast.
Jiang Sheng was the youngest, sipping tea from a small cup. Catching the colorful glow in the night sky from the corner of his eyes, he immediately tossed down his utensils to happily run into the yard.
In Shili Town they had seen the village officials set off little fireworks.
In Xieyang County they saw wealthy merchants set off fireworks.
In Anshui Prefecture they saw powerful aristocratic families' fireworks displays.
From the fleeting few breaths of the village officials' tiny fireworks, to the merchant families' shows lasting half a cup of tea, to the full incense stick long productions of the noble households. The extravagance and scale gradually increased.
And now in the prosperous flourishing city of Fengjing, she witnessed the grandest fireworks of the entire Dayu Dynasty, also experiencing the longest fireworks show in her life.
Dazzling lights blossomed beautifully in the darkness, captivating everyone. It also made Jiang Sheng unconsciously murmur, "When can we set off fireworks like this?"
Of course she was just idly daydreaming.
There was once a time when the siblings had discussed earning money to set off new year fireworks, but when they actually had money, they realized that the prices of fireworks were unbearably expensive.
Even the brief little fireworks set off by the village officials cost several tens of taels of silver.
And Wang Fufeng himself had said that his family's annual fireworks cost at least a thousand taels of silver.
Judging from the magnificence tonight, the Fengjing fireworks probably cost over ten thousand taels.
The more one understood, the clearer it became that extravagant fireworks displays were not something they could currently afford.
So Jiang Sheng could only secretly whisper her little wish amidst the deafening explosions, then prop her cheeks on both hands as she gazed yearningly at the sky.
"Look look, that's probably the Jiang Family's fireworks..." Jiang San pointed to the southeast direction yelling.
There, an especially huge and beautiful crescent-shaped firework slowly blossomed.
And a tall, straight-backed young master gently smiled at the girl beside him. "Cheng Huan, do you like it? I had them made for you."
