Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 159 - 158: Harvesting Chestnuts

Chapter 159: Chapter 158: Harvesting Chestnuts
Qin Yao grabbed the tiger head and packed two dishes from the restaurant, planning to bring them home to satisfy her cravings.
Sanlang and Si Niang swallowed eagerly, as it had been a long time since they had a proper meal since their father left.
When Qin Yao couldn’t resist her cravings, she would shamelessly buy some meat and take the kids to the old house to scrounge a meal.
Thinking of this, Sanlang and Si Niang suddenly remembered their father, and while walking behind Qin Yao, they asked her:
"Mother, when is Dad coming back?"
Qin Yao was startled, what father? Whose father?
She turned around and saw the two children, oh, Liu Ji, was he still alive?
"Once the grain is delivered to the border, he should be back," Qin Yao thought, wondering if she should prepare a shroud for him in advance?
Sanlang and Si Niang exchanged glances and fell silent, feeling a bit down.
Qin Yao took them around to various shops in town, picking up some writing supplies and a barrel of soy sauce and vinegar for daily use.
Passing by an illegal salt dealer, she secretly bought five pounds at a price lower than the market rate for future use.
It was heard that this winter, the villagers were planning to chip in to buy a pig, slaughter it, and celebrate the harvest.
Fresh meat doesn’t preserve well. Qin Yao thought it would be wise to cure some meat in advance so it could last the whole year.
However, curing meat wasn’t really the specialty of He and Mrs. Zhang. Qin Yao planned to seek help from Sister-in-law Zhou, whose cured meat was exceptional.
When the time comes, they could slice it, cook it in a hot pot, or stir-fry it with wild vegetables, all very delicious.
Thinking of these delicacies, along with the fragrant aroma wafting from the food package in her hand, Qin Yao couldn’t help but swallow a few times.
After getting everything they needed, they placed it in the cart, and the three of them happily headed home in their new cart.
Sanlang and Si Niang each held two candied hawthorns, occasionally sniffing them, both expectant and content.
Although they swore not to care about their two brothers anymore, they didn’t forget to buy snacks for them.
Passing by Lower River Village, Qin Yao stopped for a moment outside the blacksmith’s house.
The last time she chopped wood, the axe’s edge got nicked, so she had to bring it back for the blacksmith to remelt and forge a new one.
She paid five hundred cents, took a brand-new knife back, wrapped its edge with a cloth strip, and leisurely drove the cart home.
Because it was a cart, the speed was nowhere near as fast as before, and it took two hours to get back—only slightly faster than walking.
The Dragon and Phoenix Twins had even taken a nap on the cart. Fortunately, Qin Yao had the foresight to bring a thin quilt; otherwise, they would have caught a cold for sure.
When the cart entered the village, it attracted quite a crowd since new things rarely happened in the village, and anything unusual would catch everyone’s attention.
By the time Qin Yao greeted the villagers who came to look at the cart one by one and returned home, it was already dark.
Da Lang and Second Lang had already come back, making two trips and collecting four small baskets of chestnuts.
Because Da Lang was great at climbing trees, the village kids couldn’t compete with them. Even though they went late, their harvest was still bountiful.
The collected hairy chestnuts were all poured onto the floor of the main room. The two sat by the fire, using iron tongs to peel off the spiky outer shells of the chestnuts.
The empty shells were great for starting fires.
The two young men temporarily staying at Qin Yao’s house helped out too, and the four of them had peeled a large bowl of chestnuts, eating as they shelled them.
The raw chestnuts were very sweet, with a crisp and crunchy texture in each bite.
Second Lang had a craving and buried a few in the charcoal stove. He forgot to score them beforehand, and the heat caused them to explode, "bang, bang, bang," sending ash everywhere and leaving a mess.
Afraid of being scolded by Qin Yao, Second Lang hastily cleaned up the hall and himself.
Upon hearing the sound of a cart and horse outside, the two brothers excitedly got up and rushed out.
Sanlang and Si Niang poked their heads out of the carriage, and upon seeing their brothers, Sanlang completely forgot about the morning’s quarrel and excitedly shouted, "Big Brother! Second Brother!"
Si Niang also raised her candied hawthorn, waving it, "Look, Mom got it for us!"
Sanlang suddenly remembered something and said, "Big Brother, Mom got the tiger head back for you."
Da Lang was delighted and stepped forward to help hold the reins, while Second Lang nimbly jumped into the carriage, exclaiming with a "wow."
Da Lang remained steady, helping Qin Yao park the cart and carry the oil, salt, and other groceries into the house before taking a moment to look around the carriage.
The young boy’s eyes lit up, inspecting everything joyfully.
Seeing Second Lang, Sanlang, and Si Niang rolling around inside the carriage, Da Lang called out gently:
"Stop jumping around and come down so Old Huang can rest."
The three of them finally jumped down one by one, holding their candied hawthorn, waiting for their big brother and mom to finish up before heading inside together.
Once the cart was unloaded, the horses were taken to the stable, watered, and fed. Considering the hard work of the day, Da Lang added an extra scoop of sorghum into the trough.
Qin Yao dragged the carriage to the back yard under the wall, covered it with a straw mat to keep out the rain.
After everything was done, they closed the yard gate and the family of five finally went inside.
The main room was warm and cozy. The two lodgers tactfully went back to their room, leaving space for the family.
The burst chestnuts that Second Lang roasted were still on the table. Qin Yao picked one up, peeled it, and popped it into her mouth. It was half-raw, half-cooked, both crispy and soft, with a unique texture but very sweet. She took another.
Da Lang was pacing around the main room, holding the tiger head, distressed about where to put it.
"Put it in the room, it’s a bit scary here," Qin Yao advised.
If Old Liu suddenly came by and saw it, it might give him a fright, and that wouldn’t be good.
Da Lang agreed, and the four siblings all crowded into the room for a while before coming back to the main room, probably having found the perfect spot for the tiger head.
Qin Yao glanced towards the kids’ room, well, they placed it directly on the wooden box by the bed. They really weren’t afraid of scaring themselves if they got up in the middle of the night.
Perhaps Da Lang felt it wasn’t quite right, so he went back in and covered it with a cloth.
Qin Yao thought to herself, if only there was a glass cover.
Unfortunately, she didn’t know how to make glass.
"How many chestnuts did you pick today?" Qin Yao asked, looking at the bowl and the unpeeled hairy chestnuts on the floor.
Second Lang replied, "Four baskets. We’re going with Big Brother again tomorrow to pick them all!"
He said, biting into the candied hawthorn, not worried about chipping a tooth on its hardness, not thinking to roast it over the fire to soften it first.
Sanlang and Si Niang, not in such a hurry, placed their candied hawthorns over the charcoal for a bit, softening the sugar before eating. Still, they made a mess, with sugar bits on their clothes, sticking here and there as they picked them off.
Qin Yao frowned, suddenly remembering the soap she hung under the beam in the storeroom, thinking it should be usable by now.
She got up and went out, bringing the whole basket into the main room, where the four kids eagerly gathered around out of curiosity.
After a month of drying, the once soft soap had become hard.
Si Niang poked it with her little finger, looking at Qin Yao in surprise, "Mom, it’s as hard as a stone."