Chapter 129: Chapter 129 Understanding Etiquette Better
Opening the door and seeing Jiang Changhai, he was even more surprised, “Changhai, what brings you here? And who is this little kid?”
“A relative’s child,” Jiang Changhai stuck to the same explanation to avoid complications.
Yu Cheng greeted politely, “Hello, Grandpa Ge.”
Although Old Man Ge was puzzled about when the Old Jiang Family had gotten relatives from the city, he happily agreed, “What’s brought you two over?”
Jiang Changhai went straight to the point, “Old Uncle Ge, we came to borrow your pot for a bit.”
“Borrow my pot?” Old Man Ge showed a confused expression—the Jiang Family had pots too, didn’t they?
Without hesitation, Jiang Changhai said, “Yes, our pot is currently in use, not very convenient. Could you please lend us one or not?”
“Of course, come on in,” Old Uncle Ge nodded, inviting them into his house.
He lived alone all year round, feeling very lonely, so he was very happy to have someone to talk to.
Once inside, Jiang Changhai took out some Changbai cakes he had incidentally bought at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative and handed them to Old Man Ge, “Old Uncle Ge, this is my token of respect for you. Thank you for lending us the pot and the firewood.”
Old Man Ge stared blankly at the Changbai cakes for a good while before laughing and taking them, “Go ahead, use them.”
He hadn’t interacted much with Jiang Changhai before, but after spending some time together now, he felt Changhai wasn’t as reckless as people in the village said.
Bringing a gift when borrowing something showed better manners than some others.
Jiang Changhai first scrubbed the pot clean, then gathered firewood to light a fire, because Young Master Yu, who had never cooked for himself, didn’t know how to do anything.
After lighting the fire, he poured three to four pounds of sunflower seeds into the pot, ready to start frying.
Seeing that Changhai was both tending the fire and frying the seeds, Old Uncle Ge offered his help, “Changhai, let me tend to the fire while you focus on frying the seeds.”
“I must thank you in advance then, Grandpa Ge. Once the seeds are ready, you’ll get the first taste,” Jiang Changhai didn’t hesitate to accept, as he indeed couldn’t manage it all alone.
Yu Cheng also felt awkward just standing by, “Uncle Jiang, I’ll fry with you.”
Although he had never done it, he could learn.
“Sure, first watch how I do it, and once you’ve learned, we’ll take turns frying,” Jiang Changhai replied.
Naturally, Jiang Changhai wouldn’t refuse the help; otherwise, after frying so many seeds, he would barely be able to lift his arms.
He had never fried sunflower seeds before, but having watched his mother do it, he imitated her actions and kept stirring continuously.
In the end, whether the fire was too strong or he fried them for too long, he ended up scorching the seeds and had to sadly discard the batch in the pot.
“It’s okay, Uncle Jiang, it’s our first time frying, and we lack experience. It’ll be better next time,” Yu Cheng consoled Jiang Changhai, who was wistfully looking at the discarded seeds.
Jiang Changhai nodded, and when he fried for the second time, with the experience from before, he used a low flame the entire time.
He was also tasting as he went along. When he felt the roasting was about right, he immediately took the seeds out.
After the sunflower seeds had cooled, he tried some and found them to be quite good, very fragrant.
He then had Yu Cheng and Old Man Ge give them a try, and seeing that both of them nodded in approval, he suddenly felt much more confident.
By the next batch, he was already able to teach Yu Cheng how to do it.
After an entire afternoon of work, the two of them together had fried three batches, amounting to roughly twenty pounds.
He took out a cloth bag he had prepared earlier and poured the seeds into it.
“Old Uncle Ge, I’ll leave the rest of my sunflower seeds here, and I’ll come back tomorrow to continue frying,” Jiang Changhai said.
“Sure,” was the simple reply.