Chapter 61.1

Translated by Aviana

Waiting until the salted peanuts were perfectly boiled, Lin Qingwan decreased the flame slightly. She let them simmer for a while before completely extinguishing the flame.

Lin Qingwan then snuggled on kang along with Yang Tiezhu, the two of them being lovey-dovey with each other. On the side, she let the salted peanuts sit in the pot for another 2 shichens. Anyway, they weren’t complicated and didn’t need much attention.

时辰 (shíchen): 2 hours ( one of the 12 two-hour periods of the day)

In the afternoon, Yao-shi and Yang Tiegen returned home and let Lin Qingwan know that the 200 jin of meat they had bought had all been used up. Now that Laweixian was selling quite well, this 200 jin would be sold in just five days.

The third branch’s husband and wife returned to their rooms to rest. After a while, Yao-shi found that Lin Qingwan was cooking in the kitchen when they got up.

Yao-shi walked over and snatched the spatula from Lin Qingwan’s hand, “I’ll do, I’ll do, you go and sit there.”

Lin Qingwan gave a hollow smile, “I’m merely pregnant, nothing much…”

Yao-shi pushed her out, “The fetus tends to be unstable in the first trimester. It’s good to be careful. I will do the cooking. You go and take a rest.”

Lin Qingwan touched her nose and honestly walked out. Thinking of something, she turned around and ladled a half bowl of peanuts before walking out.

These two girls, Yang Erniu and Yang Sanniu, were busy playing at the corner of the kang, while Yang Tiegen was sitting on a small stool.

Ever since Yang Tiegen had stopped doing odd jobs, the third branch stayed in their room itself and only came to the second branch when it was time to eat.

Lin Qingwan placed the salted peanuts on the kang table and let the two girls take a few before holding the bowl to Yang Tiezhu and Yang Tiegen and had them take them as well.

“Try and see how they taste?”

Upon tasting it, Yang Tiezhu and Yang Tiegen both found it savory. Usually, they only eat raw ones every now and then or roasted ones from the town. However, they tasted usual and peanut-like. But the ones Lin Qingwan made had some special and unique taste, making the two find it novel and delicious.

Lin Qingwan, too, deshelled one for herself. After tasting it, she also found them good. The peanuts bought by Yang Tiegen were round and weren’t shriveled. Not to mention her cooking skills were also pretty good. Lin Qingwan found these peanuts to be tastier than the ones she made in her past life. She wasn’t sure if it was her misconception, but she felt the ingredients that went into it were good, and this might be one of the factors.

“I’m planning on selling these to restaurants in the town, along with Laweixian. What do you think?”

After a moment of contemplation, Yang Tiezhu replied, “This should go well with alcoholic drinks.”

Yang Tiegen also nodded.

“Third brother, you just happen to go to the town to deliver the goods tomorrow, right? Take the rest of these too to Man Fu House, Zui Xian Restaurant, and Fu Yuan Restaurant for trial. Tell the restaurant managers that these cost 20 wen per jin. But this time we won’t charge any payments. In case the results turn out pretty good, then we will proceed with the transaction on a payment basis.”

Yang Tiegen acquiesced.

20 wen was not expensive. They bought these peanuts for 10 wen per jin. Not counting the salt and other condiments used, the profits earned for a jin would be 10 wens. However, the weight of boiled peanuts would be much more than the raw ones. Lin Qingwan reckoned that after boiling, in the end, the weight of those 5 jin peanuts bought by Yang Tiegen would approximately increase by 2-3 jin.

Post-supper, after Yao-shi washed the cutleries, the third branch’s members retired to their room.

As Lin Qingwan was unable to sleep, she took out a fabric, intending to make a thick cloak for herself. Here, the wind was extremely piercing. No matter how thickly she dressed herself, she would still be frigid cold when she went out. But wearing a cloak would be different. With a hood over her head, she could guard herself against the chilly breeze.

However, Lin Qingwan didn’t dare to make it too conspicuous. Thus she picked a jujube-red colored fabric. The color shade would be darker, and after draping over her shoulders, it would seem like she was wearing an oversized, big cotton-padded jacket.

Thinking that she wanted to do embroidery, Yang Tiezhu initially refused his wife from doing so. Later, he consented only when Lin Qingwan told him that she wasn’t embroidering but was making a cloak for herself.

Lin Qingwan had only cut the fabric and stitched a few stitches when sleep enshrouded her. She let out a yawn, put down the fabric in her hand, wrapped herself into the quilts, and sunk into the sea of slumber.

She also didn’t know what was wrong with her. Perhaps it was the cold weather, or perhaps it was due to pregnancy, but she always felt drowsy.

When she was making salted peanuts, she had taken a nap in between. It hadn’t been long, yet she felt sleepy again.

True to Lin Qingwan’s expectations, salted peanuts sold pretty well in the town. After the three restaurants successfully sold all the salted peanuts Lin Qingwan had sent them, the three ordered in different quantities depending on how the sales were in their respective restaurants.

Although salted peanuts didn’t make as high a profit as Laweixian. But, even mosquito legs had meat*. Lin Qingwan didn’t disdain these mosquito legs one bit. Especially in the current situation where she was very destitute.

*Something is better than nothing.

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