Gu Yi had a deep, blissful sleep and woke up at 4 o'clock.
Gu Yi tidied up and prepared to go back. Her father weighed the peanuts, and they were 38 jin. Gu Yi paid her mother 6 yuan at the price of 1.5 yuan per jin, and she asked her to have Gu's older brother deliver them to her the next morning.
Gu's mother asked her to stay for dinner and said her brother could take her home. Gu Yi thought that since she was visiting, the Gu brothers probably didn't know and would return home very late.
Now that the weather wasn't so hot, walking back could count as exercise.
Gu's mother couldn't convince Gu Yi otherwise, so she had her drink a bowl of soup before leaving.
Gu Yi arrived home just as the Ye Family started cooking dinner.
She didn't go to the kitchen to help. Instead, she took out the peanuts, sat on a small stool in the courtyard, and started shelling them. After shelling almost a plateful, she took a break.
She poured the peanuts into a basin, soaked them in water, and then went to help set up the table for dinner.
Dinner was still porridge, with a plate of fried beans, a plate of mixed cucumbers, a plate of pickled vegetables, and a plate of boiled peanuts made by Gu Yi.
Gu Yi wasn't very hungry after drinking a bowl of soup before coming back, so she ate a little and then stopped.
After they tidied up, she boiled peanuts again. This time, she didn't cook as much, weighing just over 8 jin of dried peanuts, leaving about two or three jin in the bag.
While waiting for the peanuts to boil, she soaked her feet with mugwort.
She thought about asking her dad to make her a modern footbath container next time she went back, making it deeper. It should work better than this iron bucket.
While soaking her feet, she kept her hands busy, removing the peanut skins she soaked before.
Ye Qian and Ye's mother stood by, watching her curiously. Finally, Ye Qian couldn't help but ask, "Why are you removing the peanut skins? They're edible, you know. Isn't this wasteful?"
"Oh, I'm going to make a new flavor of peanuts tomorrow. Only with the skins removed does it taste really good. You'll be the first to try them once I make them tomorrow. I guarantee you'll want more after trying them."
Seeing Gu Yi's confident demeanor, Ye Qian didn't say anything more.
She didn't even realize it herself, but the image of Gu Yi in her mind had slowly begun to change. Now, Gu Yi seemed like someone who could accomplish whatever she set her mind to.
Gu Yi finished soaking her feet, drank some water, and laid a cloth on the dining table, spreading out the processed peanuts to dry.
To prevent the peanuts from being eaten by mice at night, she went to the kitchen to get a bamboo food cover to cover them.
After doing all this, Gu Yi went back to her room to do yoga, took a shower, and slept peacefully.
Early the next morning, Wang Dong came to pick up the peanuts, paid the money, and didn't say anything about making more. He just mentioned that if more were needed, they'd send someone to let them know.
Gu Yi found this normal, but Ye Family's parents were a little worried about whether the peanuts were hard to sell.
"Mom and Dad, don't worry. Boss Wang is a businessman. Yesterday was just the start. These are new and fresh, and everyone wants to try them, but business can't rely on freshness; the product must taste good. You've also tried the peanuts; they taste good, so business won't be too bad in the future. However, it may not be as good as it has been these past few days. I think Boss Wang wants to see how sales go today to estimate how much to order daily for optimum sales. Don't rush; this process takes time."
"Yes, we understand, no rush. You shouldn't feel too pressured. Being able to sell this much is already great."
Ye Fu knew Gu Yi was right: nothing remains good or bad forever; there's always a process. He understood this and reassured Gu Yi, hoping she wouldn't feel too burdened by wanting to prevent disappointment.
"Yes, yes, we're not in a hurry."
Having been together for a lifetime, Ye's mother knew what her husband was worried about and quickly agreed.
Gu Yi felt a warm glow in her heart, understanding that treating others sincerely was the way to gain sincerity in return.
Gu Yi packed the peanuts she dried last night into a plate and asked Ye Qian to help start the fire.
After the pan dried, she added more than half a bowl of rapeseed oil and directly placed the peanuts into the cold oil, allowing them to fry slowly as the oil temperature rose. Once they turned slightly golden, they could be scooped out and set aside.
Leaving some oil in the pan, she broke dry chili peppers into pieces by hand and fried them until fragrant in the oil.
She poured the fried peanuts back in, stir-frying them with salt, sugar, and five-spice powder until evenly mixed, then removed them from the pan.
Ye Qian kept peeking into the pan, the aroma making her mouths water.
"Gu Yi, it smells so good. Is it done yet?"
"It's done. Try it, but be careful; it's hot."
Gu Yi served the peanuts and handed Ye Qian a pair of chopsticks, and Ye Qian quickly picked one up and popped it into her mouth.
"Wow, it's so hot, so hot!" Ye Qian didn't expect it to be so hot and opened her mouth wide, blowing the heat away.
Hearing the commotion, Ye's mother came into the kitchen and, seeing Ye Qian's expression, felt a mix of irritation and amusement.
"You're a grown-up now; why do you act like a child? No one is competing with you, so what's the rush?" She said, giving her a pat.
"Mom, it's really delicious. You should try it."
Ye Qian finally managed to swallow the peanut and picked one up, blew on it, and offered it to her mother.
"Yes, it's delicious, fragrant, and crispy."
"Didn't I say so? Gu Yi, you're amazing. What is your mind made of? I thought boiled peanuts were already tasty, but these are even better." Ye Qian now admired Gu Yi immensely.
Gu Yi tried one herself and found it lacked a bit of numbing flavor. Currently, in R City, no one ate Sichuan pepper, and there was none to buy. Otherwise, adding some would enhance the taste. Nonetheless, it was quite good as it was.
"I plan to make some of these as well to sell to Boss Wang. They should sell better than boiled peanuts since people can keep them at home."
"This is sure to sell well." Ye Qian said as she nabbed another bite.
"Yes, I'll take some to Boss Wang to try. If he wants more, we'll discuss pricing."
At this moment, Gu's older brother came to deliver the peanuts. Ye's mother asked Ye Qian to pour some water while Gu Yi helped unload the peanuts from the bicycle.
"Big brother, you're just in time. Try this."
Gu Yi waited for her brother to finish drinking water and then brought over the peanuts for him to taste.
"Mmm, it's delicious, fragrant, and crispy. Did you make these?"
"Yes, I plan to take them to the town's liquor shop boss to see if he's interested in stocking them."
Gu's older brother looked at his little sister, feeling an inexplicable tenderness. Yesterday, he heard from his mother that his little sister was starting a small business. For someone who grew up pampered, taking this step was really not easy.
"I can take you there on my bike later. I don't have anything else to do anyway."
"That would be perfect. Let's go now, big brother."
Gu Yi said, finding a small bowl to pack some peanuts for her older brother to take home and share with the Gu Family, while putting the rest into another bowl.
"Mom, I didn't make much today, so I'll take these with me. I'll make more when I come back tonight. Please, could you and Ye Qian shell some peanuts for me if you have time?"
"It's okay, take them all. Let your brother rest a while. Why the rush? Stay and have lunch before leaving."
"Auntie, no need to bother; I'll take Yiyi now, so she doesn't get anxious."
"Alright, alright. Then come over for a meal another day. " Ye's mother knew that this brother-sister pair couldn't be persuaded to stay.
"Sure, auntie, I'll definitely come another day."
"Mom, I'm leaving now."
The two of them said goodbye to Ye's mother, then rode their bike towards the town.