Chapter Twenty-Five: A Visit to the Mountain

After Lei Bang had left, Chen Xin and her second sister finished frying the remaining food together, then distributed it among the elders in the village with whom they were close. This was a gesture of goodwill, hoping that the elders would continue to help look after the Zhang family in the coming year.

Now, the entire village knew that the youngest sister-in-law of the third son of the Zhang family was exceptionally skilled at making food. The village children, in particular, wished they could live atop the Zhang family’s walls, just to be near her.

Chen Xin was very kind to the children as well. Previously, she had bought round sand and coarse salt, asked Big Brother Zhang to wash them clean in a large iron basin, and placed them in an unused cauldron. Near the courtyard wall, she built a simple earthen stove for burning firewood, and began roasting the sand and salt. Once the mixture was heated, she added vegetable oil and maltose, stirring constantly, then threw in the cleaned chestnuts to roast together.

At first, the round sand was a deep gray, but after being mixed with the salt and syrup, it gradually darkened to a blackish-brown. Combined with the chestnuts’ shells and the bits that clung to them, the sand turned almost black. Although the color was unappealing, this method produced the most fragrant and sweet chestnuts.

The labor of roasting chestnuts fell to Big Brother Zhang, while Chen Xin only needed to control the heat and flavor. Since chestnuts would burst when heated, they had to be stirred constantly to prevent them from staying too long in one spot.

After about half an hour, the sweet aroma of roasted chestnuts wafted through the air, and the shells began to split, allowing the syrup to seep deep inside.

Second Sister asked her husband to fish one out, peel it, and taste it. His eyes lit up instantly, and he grabbed a bowl, motioning for it to be filled.

The chestnuts were scooped out with a special iron mesh ladle, whose holes were just the right size to let the coarse sand fall through, leaving the chestnuts clean and ready to eat.

Using the oil left from frying meatballs earlier, they roasted over twenty pounds of chestnuts. Big Brother Zhang was soaked with sweat, and he and his brother-in-law had to take turns several times.

The roasted chestnuts were poured into winnowing baskets, covered above and below with old cotton quilts to keep them warm as long as possible.

This kind of candied roasted chestnut is a famous snack in the Beijing-Tianjin region. Later, it became popular all over the country—except in areas with very local specialties, you could find it almost everywhere.

Besides the roasted chestnuts, Chen Xin also stayed in the kitchen to make chicken stewed with chestnuts.

While Big Brother Zhang was washing the chestnuts earlier, Chen Xin had him set aside some for her. She soaked them in warm water, peeled them, and removed the thin membrane.

She took a year-old hen, cleaned it, and cut it into large pieces. After blanching it in hot water to remove the blood, she put it into an iron pot with water, slices of ginger, red dates, and the blanched chicken. When it came to a boil, she added the chestnuts, set the pot on a honeycomb coal stove, and let it simmer slowly. For the meat to become tender and the broth rich, it would take more than two hours, so although it was only just after four in the afternoon, by the time the soup was ready, it would be just right for dinner.

After tidying up the kitchen, Chen Xin stepped into the courtyard, where she saw nearly half the space filled with people—mostly village elders, the majority of them women. In their midst were two small tables, each holding a bamboo basket wrapped in cotton cloth, filled with roasted chestnuts.

Some of the younger wives sat in Second Sister’s room, chatting with her, each holding a handful of chestnuts.

Seeing Chen Xin come out, Second Sister gave her a look. Chen Xin nodded, saying she’d go in and change clothes first, and only came out again when she was properly dressed.

“Hey, Chen Xin, why don’t you just stay here? Big Brother Zhang isn’t married yet…” someone blurted out, but Second Sister cut her off with a stern face.

“What nonsense are you talking about?” Second Sister tossed her chestnuts into the basket unceremoniously. “If you love gossip so much, go home and do it. Chen Xin is still in school. Why are you talking about marriage? Besides, she’s Zhang Zhang’s aunt—she’s our family. Are you trying to stir up trouble between us and Chen Xin and Zhang Zhang?”

Second Sister raised her voice, making Zhang family’s position clear for all to hear.

“Calm down, Second Sister, she didn’t mean anything by it. Take care of yourself and the baby,” Chen Xin quickly tugged at Second Sister’s arm, trying to soothe her. The other young wives also helped calm her down. The one who had spoken out of turn was just thoughtless, not malicious.

Indeed, if she’d had any real bad intentions, she wouldn’t have suggested matching Chen Xin with Big Brother Zhang—she’d have tried to intercept things herself. But Chen Xin also understood that, if not for the abilities and resources she had shown, the Zhang family might indeed have considered marrying her to Big Brother Zhang. Not out of calculation, but because it would be best for Zhang Zhang, and Big Brother Zhang would have a good marriage.

But now, that was out of the question. Chen Xin was a university student in the provincial capital, with both wealth and connections. Even Lei Bang from the county’s militia office regarded her as highly capable. The Zhang family wouldn’t dare entertain such a thought. It was better this way. For the sake of Zhang Zhang, their nephew, if Chen Xin became successful, she wouldn’t ignore him. When he grew up, she would certainly look after his uncle and aunt as well. So, truly, things were as they should be.

The young wives’ conversation drifted outside, and a few women who had harbored similar thoughts about Chen Xin quickly dismissed them. After all, they had only thought Chen Xin was diligent and capable, but after hearing Second Sister’s words, they remembered she was also a university student—someone who could, with a single phone call, arrange for buyers for wild goods, whose connections were stronger than the village chief’s. Didn’t they see that the families who had good relations with the Zhangs and sold their wild goods had a much easier time this New Year? That was the real reason so many people gathered at the Zhangs’ to chat.

Feeling that her presence stifled their conversation, and seeing that Zhang Zhang, the chubby little boy, was happily playing with other children and didn’t need her supervision, Chen Xin called for Little Fourth from next door to take her up the mountain for a walk.

Because Chen Xin could make so many delicious things from local ingredients, the older children like Little Fourth admired her immensely. At her invitation, he immediately slung on his basket, grabbed his sickle, and led her toward the mountains.

They all had chores to do at home anyway, so they’d gather pig feed on the mountain and save themselves a trip later.

Besides Little Fourth, a few boys and girls who played with him ran home for their tools, and soon seven or eight of them set off up the mountain together.

“This side of the mountain belongs to my family and the Zhangs. The one across belongs to Niuniu’s family. They have more people, so they got more land. That mountain is smaller, so the north slope is all theirs.”

In this village, besides the cultivated fields, the hills were also contracted to individual households. In recent years, tree felling was prohibited, so apart from gathering naturally fallen wood, the mountains weren’t much use for anything else.