By noon, Li Menglan, Li Zhiming, and Li Zhihao—the three siblings—returned with a full load. After the better part of a day... Li Menglan made a rough estimate. The snails the three of them had caught weighed at least seventy to eighty jin.
"Little sister, does that mean you're making these black shells tonight... oh, no—it should be snails!" Li Zhihao was showing more and more potential as a foodie. Hmm... Old Master Zhao would have a successor in the future—one old foodie and one young foodie!
Li Menglan shook her head slightly. "Second Brother, not yet. These snails need to be placed in clean water after being caught, with a little salt and a few sections of chili pepper to purge them. Only after they've spat out all the sand inside can they be eaten."
"Oh... then how many days do they usually need to be kept?" Li Zhihao pressed, unwilling to give up.
"Let me think!" Li Menglan recalled that in her past life, her aunt in the countryside had once kept snails. "Generally speaking, it's only about two or three days."
"Little sister, since we have nothing to do this afternoon anyway, why don't we walk a bit farther and pick up more snails? What do you think?" Compared to eating, Li Zhiming cared more about the economic value of the snails—whether they could actually make money was what mattered most.
"That works too! If we pick more, we can sell more later." Recently, Li Menglan had also grown increasingly obsessed with making money.
To put it in her own words... she was practically about to drill herself into the eye of a coin.
"Lan girl, I heard you three siblings talking about eating from afar. What's this? Could it be that you've dug up something delicious again?" Old Master Zhao walked in with a booming voice, speaking loudly.
"Grandpa Zhao, don't even mention it. Today I really did find a new delicacy, but it'll be a few more days before I can make it for you to taste." When Li Menglan saw Old Master Zhao, her face was all smiles!
There was no helping it... whether these snails could actually be sold still depended on Old Master Zhao's intentions.
The scheme Li Menglan had in mind was actually very simple. She planned to first make some spicy snails for Old Master Zhao to taste. If it worked out... she would sell the recipe to Zhao's Restaurant.
"Grandpa Zhao, how did it feel going around Shangliang Village with my grandpa today?" Li Menglan cleverly changed the subject as she filled the wooden basin of snails with clean water.
Having gotten the answer he wanted from Li Menglan, Old Master Zhao stopped pressing her. "Mmm... Lan girl, honestly speaking, your place is quite nice. This old man likes it very much."
"As long as you like it, Grandpa Zhao. I was worried you wouldn't like it here; seems I was overthinking." Li Menglan said to Old Master Zhao with a harmless smile. "Grandpa Zhao, would you be interested in going up Crooked Neck Mountain with us to take a look tomorrow?"
Li Menglan knew that Old Master Zhao was a Great General of the Yunliang Kingdom, and that he possessed no weak martial arts skills. It started when Zhao Qingyun had accidentally revealed he knew martial arts while saving Li Menglan from a fall one day...
Er... this was also the small scheme Li Menglan was secretly calculating. The outer areas of Crooked Neck Mountain no longer had chestnuts or persimmons. The only option was to venture deeper into the mountain. If luck was on their side... perhaps before winter arrived, her family could earn a small sum and enjoy a beautiful, harmonious New Year.
"Up the mountain?" Old Master Zhao was taken aback. "Lan girl, what's fun about a mountain? I'm not going. This old man is already of this age; these old arms and legs can't climb anymore!"
Old Master Zhao refused without hesitation.
Li Menglan didn't try to persuade him, instead deliberately sighing with a dejected tone. "Ah... Grandpa Zhao, that's truly a pity. Lan'er was originally thinking of going up the mountain to find something delicious to make for you, to treat you... I truly didn't expect that you would... ah..."
"Lan girl, you're trying to trick this old man again. What delicious food could your Crooked Neck Mountain possibly have? Hmph!" Old Master Zhao couldn't help but let out a light snort.
"Grandpa Zhao, are sugar-roasted chestnuts delicious?" Li Menglan cast him a smiling glance.
Mmm... Old Master Zhao smacked his lips, savoring the memory as he said, "Not bad, quite delicious!"
"Then... what about dried persimmons? Grandpa Zhao, what do you think of those?" Li Menglan smiled like a little fox. Tsk tsk... she was thoroughly pleased with herself!
This time, Old Master Zhao answered without thinking. "Delicious!"
Li Menglan deliberately tilted her head and looked at him. "Then... Grandpa Zhao, do you still want to eat them?"
Er... this time it was Old Master Zhao's turn to stare with wide eyes in shock. He stretched out his hand, pointing at Li Menglan. "Lan girl, you... you mean to say... those sugar-roasted chestnuts and dried persimmons both grow on this Crooked Neck Mountain?"
Shocking! Old Master Zhao was truly shaken—he had never expected that such a small mountain with an unpromising name could produce such delicious things.
"Lan girl, then when are we going up the mountain?" This time, the anxious one became Old Master Zhao.
"Grandpa Zhao, there's no rush. Tomorrow morning bright and early, we'll go together." The smile on Li Menglan's face grew increasingly brilliant.
Amidst Old Master Zhao's constant nagging, the next day finally arrived.
The sky had barely turned pale when Old Master Zhao had already gotten up and prepared. He was only waiting for Li Menglan's command to set off.
The night before, Li Menglan had already discussed with her grandpa, maternal grandpa, and the others. Because this was the last trip into the mountains for the year, everyone in the family besides Zhang Yuniang, Lin Sanniang, Wang Shi, Old Man Zhang, and Li Fujin would stay home to watch the house; everyone else would enter the mountains.
Before departure, Li Menglan worried that her grandpa and maternal grandpa would feel uncomfortable about staying behind. She specifically told them... if they had nothing to do, they could take a small wooden basin to the banks of the Yun River to pick up some snails and bring them home to keep.
These words made Li Fujin and Old Man Zhang—who were worried they would only hold everyone back—feel much better at heart.
And so, Li Menglan, Li Dazhu, and the group set off. Even though Old Master Zhao was the oldest among them all, when it came to climbing mountains and hurrying along the road, he was not the least bit inferior to young fellows like Li Zhiming and Zhang Wenli.
The chestnuts and persimmons on the outer slopes of Crooked Neck Mountain had long since been picked clean by Li Dazhu and his sons. Therefore... this time, everyone could only head deeper into the mountain.
After walking for most of the day without seeing any of the delicacies Li Menglan had spoken of, Old Master Zhao couldn't help but cast a suspicious glance at her. "Ai... Lan girl, I say, you couldn't be deliberately tricking this old man just to make him happy, could you? We've already walked for most of the day. Where have I seen any of the chestnuts and persimmons you mentioned?"
"Grandpa Zhao, why are you so impatient?" Li Menglan turned her inquiring gaze toward her eldest brother. "Big Brother, how much farther is the place where you and Second Brother found the chestnuts last time?"
Li Menglan remembered that her big brother and second brother had said last time that there were still many chestnuts they hadn't finished picking.
"Little sister, it's not much farther. Just turn a corner up ahead and you'll see it." Li Zhiming stretched out his hand and pointed to a small bend not far away.
Li Menglan smiled as she looked at Old Master Zhao. "Hehe... Grandpa Zhao, did you hear what my big brother said? One more turn and we'll be there."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's move!"
The moment he heard the destination was right ahead, Old Master Zhao immediately perked up; he strode forward with large, vigorous steps.