The five of them spent a total of thirty-eight taels of silver, and after Broker Liu had given them the slavery contracts, they returned to the pawnshop with the new hires.
Afterward, they went to Ju De Lou again, requesting Shopkeeper Li to send someone to collect the remaining batch of bean paste and shrimp paste. Afterward, they headed back home with Ye Zi’an and the new hires.
By the time they got home, it was already late, so the news of Yang Chuxia buying more people didn’t create much stir in the village.
Ms.Wang was perplexed as to why she bought so many people, but after Yang Chuxia explained, she realized she had misunderstood.
Since Yang Chuxia had Land Officer Yang inform the villagers that she was purchasing pine nuts, the village was quiet for days as everyone was out collecting pine nuts.
The task was not strenuous, so both the elderly and young alike could do it.
During these few days, Yang Chuxia had been busy looking for vacant stores with Broker Liu. After several inspections, they finally chose a store. Surprisingly, it happened to be next to the filthy and detestable uncle’s dumpling shop that had once warned Yang Chuxia during the Sea God Festival.
The uncle was taken aback when he saw Yang Chuxia, remembering who she was. To his surprise, they ended up being neighbors.
Once the shop lease was finalized, Yang Chuxia started to find people to renovate it. Afterward, she bought a large amount of peanuts and soybeans.
Finally, she bought the pine nuts that the villagers had collected over the past few days.
Of course, she didn’t forget about Zi’an’s leg. She drew detailed pictures of the Aristolochia plant and distributed them among the villagers, asking them to be on the lookout while collecting pine cones and to bring back any similar herbs they found.
In fact, she knew the chances of finding any were slim, but she couldn’t feel at ease if she didn’t try.
One day, Yang Chuxia got up early as usual because she had collected hundreds of jins of pine nuts from the villagers the day before.
She had to soak the pine nuts first thing in the morning, then cook and roast them.
Actually, cooking the pine nuts principally made them easier to crack open when roasting due to thermal expansion and contraction, but also served as a means of disinfection.
"Xiaxia, do these need to soak until tomorrow before we can cook them?" Ms.Wang asked while pointing at the basins full of nuts.
"No need for that long. Soaking for just over an hour should suffice." Yang Chuxia said.
When the pine nuts were ready after soaking, Yang Chuxia instructed two of the newly-hired young maids to help. One was tasked with managing the fire, and the other with preparing the seasoning.
After the pine nuts had been cooked, and the water had been drained, they started roasting them.
This time they didn’t roast in a single pot, but used two. Each of the two maids controlled a pot over the fire, while Ms.Wang and Yang Chuxia flipped the nuts.
It took until evening to roast several hundred jins of pine nuts. Yang Chuxia left some outside for the villagers to snack on, and the rest were stored in bags made of oil paper and cloth to prevent moisture and oxidation, which could lead to mold or a rancid taste.
After dealing with the pine nuts, she started processing the peanuts and soybeans she had bought.
As it turned out, Ms.Wang was adept at roasting peanuts and soybeans. Originally, Yang Chuxia thought to have Broker Liu find an expert in that.
But after finding out Ms.Wang was skilled in this respect, and having tasted the aromatic, crispy, perfectly roasted beans without a hint of burning, Yang Chuxia dropped the idea.
After Yang Chuxia suggested adding some salt and various seasonings, Ms.Wang ended up creating several different-flavored batches of peanuts and soybeans.