Sharing the Chestnuts

Qi Jianshe immediately agreed and wheeled out his bicycle, each member of the family carrying a bag as they set off to deliver the chestnuts.

“Autumn chestnuts and spring water caltrop seeds—they’re both delicious, but so troublesome to prepare. Especially those water caltrop seeds; they’re even worse,” Grandfather Qi said seriously from the side. “Fresh water caltrop seeds are highly nutritious, but preparing them is a real hassle.”

“There’s nothing you can eat that isn’t troublesome,” Grandmother Qi replied with a laugh. “Even eating rice is troublesome—you have to plant seedlings and tend the fields, fertilize them, haul water during droughts, harvest the rice, thresh it, dry the grains in the sun, and then mill them before you can have a fragrant bowl of rice.”

Grandfather Qi wasn’t offended. He only sighed, “It just shows that there’s no such thing as a free meal in this world. Every bit of food only comes after a lot of effort.”

Xie Yihuang laughed as she worked, “Now I get it—Grandpa really respects Grandma.”

“What’s all this about respect?” Grandfather Qi chuckled. “Just say I’m afraid of my wife, that’s all. Don’t you know that men who fear their wives prosper?”

“I hadn’t heard that before, but now I have,” Xie Yihuang replied with a sly grin.

After delivering chestnuts to three households, Qi Jianshe returned, only for Grandfather Qi to send him off with another 200 jin of unprocessed chestnuts, this time to Old Liu.

That evening, every household that had received chestnuts was busy.

At the Qijianhua household:

Qi Jianhua and his wife, Mao Fangning, were bustling around. Little Ahua was helping too, though while the adults were sorting the chestnuts, she was just playing with the ones already shelled.

“So many chestnuts—who knows how long it took Jianshe to gather them all,” Qi Jianhua mused.

Mao Fangning smiled softly. “I heard several families got some, so it seems there was quite a harvest this year.”

Qi Jianhua nodded. “We don’t really count the amount anymore; it’s the thought that matters. Whatever the case, it’s enough that we know.”

Mao Fangning said with a gentle smile, “When Jianshe gets married, we should send him extra gifts.”

“I’ll leave that to you,” Qi Jianhua replied, smiling as well. He had to admit, when it came to these things, he never had to worry—Mao Fangning was truly adept at handling everyone.

In the Qiyulan household:

“I suppose liking to eat them is one thing, but all this fuss is another,” Qi Yulan said, sounding a bit annoyed, though her hands never stopped moving. The chestnuts were already there, and she wouldn’t feel right unless she finished processing them.

Wen Chenggong chuckled. “Once they’re cooked, you’ll forget all about the trouble.”

He glanced at little Xue’er, who was playing with her silver bell in her stroller, his eyes full of joy. “By the way, my mother called earlier. She sent us a package—a few specialty products from the north.”

Wen Chenggong worked at the post office, but he was from the north, assigned here after graduating from college.

Qi Yulan nodded. “In that case, I’ll ask Jianshe to get some seafood in the next few days—kelp, dried shrimp, and such. They don’t have those up north. We’ll send some to your parents.”

Wen Chenggong agreed. “I was also thinking, maybe we should go north for New Year this year to visit them.”

Qi Yulan considered it. “Let me check my vacation days. If possible, we should go. Xue’er hasn’t met her grandma yet.”

“Alright,” Wen Chenggong said warmly, looking at his wife.

At the Xie family in Xiezhang Village:

Mr. and Mrs. Xie didn’t go to the market that day. If they didn’t process the chestnuts soon, they’d go moldy.

“Jianshe must have sent over all the chestnuts from his house,” Mr. Xie remarked as he worked, curious about the hefty bag—easily more than a hundred jin.

Mrs. Xie shook her head. “He said there’s more at his place. They found a lot this time—my father picked them on the mountain. Once we dry them, we can store them as food for later.”

Mr. Xie nodded. “Our food factory buys chestnuts too. Tomorrow I’ll ask if they need more. If they do, I’ll talk to the manager. It’s all the same—business is business, no matter whose chestnuts we sell.”

Mrs. Xie agreed. “Ask my father how much they have left. We won’t sell our own—looks like a lot now, but it’s just a bit in the end.”

At the Liu household:

Old Liu called his apprentices over to help, and with so many hands, they processed everything in just an hour and a half.

“Tomorrow, have some of these chestnuts boiled, and use some of the shelled ones to stew with chicken,” Old Liu instructed, his passion for good food evident.

As Liu Fei tidied up, he asked, “Grandpa, if I’d known you liked chestnuts so much, I would have brought them myself when Grandma Qi asked me, instead of having Uncle Jianshe deliver them.”

Old Liu snorted, “You went to help, so how would it look if you brought chestnuts back with you? Having Jianshe deliver them is different—it means something. Kids just don’t get it.” With that, he popped a raw chestnut kernel into his mouth, nodding in satisfaction. “Fresh chestnuts are the best.”

So, five days later, when Old Liu came looking for more chestnuts, Grandfather Qi was astonished—was Old Liu eating chestnuts day and night? But Old Liu explained that it wasn’t just him—his apprentices ate them too. Of the 200 jin delivered, only about 100 jin were edible after processing, and with an average daily consumption of 20 jin, it was barely enough. Grandfather Qi was dumbfounded, but that’s another story.

After sending out all the chestnuts, Grandfather Qi also had Jianshe deliver some to the Tian family, his future in-laws.

No matter what, family comes first—one cannot treat others generously and neglect their own.

Because of all this, the more than a thousand jin of chestnuts were soon nearly gone, with only about 200 jin left at home.

Seeing this, Grandfather Qi chuckled, “I was worried about how to deal with all these chestnuts, but now it seems there’s nothing left to worry about.”

Indeed, they had so many friends and relatives that there weren’t enough chestnuts to go around.

Fortunately, Grandfather Qi had never planned to fill everyone’s bellies—those who got some were lucky, those who didn’t would have to wait.

That night, Xie Yihuang returned to her room and distributed the chestnuts she’d set aside to her six closest friends.

“I’ve seen chestnuts before, but never fresh ones with their spiky husks. I’ve only seen them in short videos, never up close,” Liu Xiang’er exclaimed joyfully when she received hers. She carefully peeled a kernel, popped it into her mouth, and after a few chews, swallowed. The fresh, sweet flavor lingered in her throat. “Delicious! Who would have thought even raw chestnuts could have such a rare, delicate sweetness—that’s something only the freshest chestnuts can offer.”